In Southwestern Colorado the Dolores River tumbles out of San Juan Mountains to join the Colorado River not far upstream from Moab, Utah.The first Spanish frontiersmen named it for Our Lady of Sorrows. They must have been having a bad day; the only thing sad about this lovely canyon is the McPhee Reservoir which blocks the upper river to irrigate bean fields near Cortez, Co., but in a big snow year, like the one just finishing, enough water passes by the dam to create a river renaissance. Two hundred mile and twelve day trips are possible, although most people do shorter segments.

April 9-With a crashing roar, the ski lifts closed for the season. Folks walking down Elk Ave. might not have heard the cacophony, but it resonated to me, and for a few days threatened to send me into darkest despair. In retrospect and introspect, I have three words: Get a life.
To hell with that. I have a life, and at least for the cold months, my life and lifestyle involve skis and skiing. My transition to warm month activities is sometimes shaky. Most of the time I face it cold-turkey, but occasionally make attempts to taper off my gravity fix by spring skiing in the backcountry.

May 9-We are finally underway!It took two weeks at the dock for my husband Dave and I to prepare Mariposa for our cruise. Mariposa is our boat and she is a true champ. She is a 38 foot long, 22 foot wide sailing catamaran. She draws about 4.5 feet, which means we can sail or anchor in water no shallower than about 5 feet (to be on the safe side) and we’ll have six inches of water under us.