Boulder mountain

Boulder Mountain’s last days

I was driving over Boulder Mountain on my way to visit family and friends friday. I stopped and watch several large groups of deer that were on the side of the road. They are so beautiful to watch. Mostly Does and half grown fawns. I slowed down and kept pace with 3 turkeys who were walking along their way. It was a peaceful drive. I noticed the stands of aspen trees standing bare against the breeze that was beginning to blow. Large olds stands of trees surrounded by young trees clustered around them. It looked like children gathering around their parents. Aspens colonies can grow very large and survive forest fires because their root systems grow beneath the ground and send new shoots after the fires. Aspen colonies can live for thousands of years, one of the oldest is here in Utah, possibly as old as 80,000 years old.

Aspens do not thrive in the shade. The new trees do not do well in already mature stands. That is why I saw the aspen trees growing in circles, like waves in a pond. The oldest at the center with succeeding generations growing out from the original. Boulder mountain is very beautiful. The leaves are gone now. The road crews have the snows to worry about. The road is only plowed during the daylight hours. The tourists are mostly gone, the road is solitary once more. Mostly local people and cattle men who are gathering their cattle off the mountain. I had all these things going through my mind when I passed the road to Lower Bowns reservoir.

That brings me to my story. With talk of 11-11-11, the mayan calendar and what lies ahead, a lot of people are asking questions. That is always good, asking is the beginning of the journey. 

Mine began in in 2002. I had moved to Manti to escape the drudgery of the busy and competitive world of the city. I met some people and they knew some people and we decided that we were going to go to the mountains and live. The end of the world was near and we wanted to try out all that new survival gear, shoot our guns, cook on an open fire, that kind of stuff. Off we went to Boulder Mountain and the turnoff to Lower Bowns. We set up camp and cooked our first meal. After a couple of days we started cooking community meals. There were 20 or 30 of us, maybe more, there on the mountain. We sat around the fires at night telling stories. Scary stories of days gone past and the prophesies of the Last Days. That is where things got out of control. The big story tellers had the rest of us convinced that the end was near and here. We talked how we would survive the destruction and be able to say, We told you so. Stories ... they can be so well told that it is hard to tell wether or not they are factual or fiction. Story tellers have been around for as long as there have been campfires. Probably forever. We pay money to hear their tales and watch their movies. Good ones and bad ones, scary ones and others that make you laugh and cry. As the campfires begin to die down and people go about there lives, we are left with their stories. What do we do now? Pass them on to our children? Convert our neighbors? That is the real question! 

I learned my lessens there on Boulder Mountain. I don’t want to live in a tent. I don’t want to shoot anyone to protect my “stuff” I don’t like going without a hot shower. The old story tellers are full of ****

Those Aspen trees, they told the real story. Don’t live in the shade of the old ones. Create a new wave where you can grow in the full sun, unimpeded by the old growth.

That group in Manti? I left shortly after that. Too many rules and old trees telling stories to the new sprouts. I got an email from someone who still lives in Manti. She told me that the end was supposed to happen soon. The old tree told her. Funny thing about old trees, they get older and more disease ridden as the years pass by. Aspens, they only live 40 - 150 years. The old storyteller in Manti is nearing his end of days. He’s past his prime. There have been rumors that a messiah was supposed to come to their meeting and give them all a message. Let’s see was that this last time?  Maybe the time before when they maxed out their credit cards to buy ice cream and crystal and china for the feast of something or another ... Only an empty seat ... They are still waiting.

End of the world? Does anyone know? What lies ahead? Only time will unveil the true stories. I bought an extra can of pork and beans just to make sure I am prepared. At least if the end comes I will be full of gas.