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Show job is to walk along a road claim and see if it shows any signs of use, or if it actually goes anywhere. Their work may be used by the federal Bureau of Land Management in its re-inventory of proposed Wilderness areas. na hot evening in May, I followed Liz McCoy through the labyrinthine offices of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) in Salt Lake City. In a dimly lit back room, were maps covered the walls, the table and the chairs and spilled walked back and forth over the ground that the road was supposed to cross. We found prickly poppies and sego lilies, but no road. Unwilling to give up, we decided to attack the problem from another point. Ignoring the ominous rumbles from the clouds massing overhead, we hiked crosscountry through the glades of pinyon-juniper forest to find the mouth of the canyon. There, we found some scars on trees and in the sand, indicating vehicle passage. But RLELECT MIKE ANDREWS from boxes piled on the floor, Liz found my even those faint traces dissolved within a quarter mile in each direction. Considering how long such scars will last in that arid Road Warrior assignment. It was a ae pled packet including a docu- landscape, no one had used the nameless road in a very, very long time. mentation form, list of instructions, and two Still, we took our measurements and filled in our documentation forms. Dave took readings with the compass; | took photos of the wildflowers, and Jasper collapsed, exhausted. Thunder rumbled closer and rain A CANDIDATE WITH began to splatter onto the sandy soil. We were a long way yet from the shelter of the Principles photo copies of topo maps. A pink swatch of highlighter pen marked the road I was supposed to check. I took three such packets for road claims in the Deep Creek Mountains and emerged from the dark command center into the bright evening, ready for an adventure. Back at home, I consulted a series of road maps, trying to figure how I was going to get truck, but we walked along elated, unfazed my Honda anywhere near the Deep Creek Dave said: "I can't believe we've only been gone two days. It's as if we were in a differ- Right then, my friend David called. He just happened to have a brand new fourwheel-drive truck. Two weeks later, we were driving west on Interstate 80 into the heart of the spring's roughest thunderstorm. Navigating through the rain and twilight ent world." Gail Hoskisson, who coordinates the Road Warriors, told us that most of them with an altimeter and the topo maps, we fol- different world - a world without pavement, lowed the thinning strip of asphalt to the dirt the roar of motors or thé crush of tires. A world where the forest can bloom whether or not anyone is there to see it. @ time the snow-covered peaks of the Deep come back, just like we did, with the dazed look of people who have been to another world. That's the value of Wilderness. It is a + Priorities Programs by the thickening rain and hail. Driving home on the darkening highway, Mountains. Pavement is scarce out there. track. The next morning, we awoke to the songs of strange birds and saw for the first PARK CITY COUNCIL To participate in our campaign to restore government to the people of Park City call 647-9807 | Fe MIKE FOR COUNCIL Creek Mountains. With our altimeter and compass, camera and journal, Dave, Jasper the dog, and I set off to explore the first road claim. We walked up the double track admiring the coral-colored indian paintbrush and the raindrops the juniper trees in the The track hadn't been driven in a long time. Soon, it became completely overgrown with grass and wildflowers. Finally, we found ourselves following mere widening through the trees, going more my instinct than by actual evidence of a route. Every quarter mile or so, we stopped to take photos and measurements, make notes in the journal and on the topo. We felt very scientific about all this, and strove, despite our biases for Wilderness, to be thorough and fair. Obviously, if we fudge our findings and fail to document a road that is in use and leads to some cabin or mine, then neither the Wilderness Coalition, nor the BLM will be TUS AROUND THE WORLD E + How to Books for Beginners OL CRM eC) (ats a ES CUR LUN TAM kG TeNee LC es ST my a ML OTC Bay DAY SALE Through September 30 able to rely on our report. This road, however, showed no signs of recent use and went nowhere, so it probably won't qualify as a right-of-way claim. Enthusiastic from our first, easy success, we set out to document the road in the second packet. Unlike the other road claims, this canyon and its supposed right-of-way had no name. We saw this as an opportunity to follow the tradition of Lewis and Clark and give the road a name, until we realized ' that there was no road. I don't mean that it was overgrown or effaced by Passing years. Baas road just did-, n't exist... , Eventually, we got out “Of the track eet “If we don’t have it just ask” We’re here to serve your beading needs Ta LU aaa WRAP ONLY $1” PER INCH ALL SUMMER STOCK * _ ‘ (WEST SIDE OF SANDY MALL) ; Don't forget to take advantage of the coupons you received in the mail 576-1755 Mon.-Fri. Le 7 18 Historic Main © Park City, Utah & Jackson Holenets sss 801Ba alt Sy El JOvd + SaWIL NIVINNOW shimmering on morning sun. |