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Show THE Page 8 OGDEN VALLEY NEWS March Close Encounters By Drienie Hattingh During February I had three very scary encounters. These incidences are not foreign to those who live in and visit the Valley and happen primarily ir the spring when the ground begins to thaw. I refer to these dreaded incidents as encounters of the first, second, and third kind. Encounters of the first kind: Standoffs between vehicles and gravel and smaller sized rocks that slide down onto the road. The car usually wins, but it isn’t uncommon to suffer tire damage kind occurred a couple of weeks ago on a bright Sunday morning. As I traveled around the reservoir on my way to Ogden, I said my usual prayer and crossed my fingers as I approached the notorious rock slide area. Sure enough, there were the remains of a current rock slide. I pulled over to move the rocks off the road because, even though they weren’t that large, I knew they could still cause substantial damage to a vehicle. A friend had recently paid $250 to repair a damaged oil tank after driving over a small rock. A young man driving by stopped to help clear the road while I kept watch for approaching traffic. Encounters of the second kind: Standoffs between vehicles and substantial sized rocks that roll or slide down onto the road. Vehicles often receive extensive damage and serious accidents may result. Encounters of the third kind: Standoffs between vehicles and boulders that become dislodged from the mountain side and tumble dangerously down onto the road or onto unsuspecting vehicles. If not avoided, the boulder will most likely win. Caution, this encounter can be life threatening. have not experienced any serious encounters of the first or second kind, but I have had a couple of very close encounters of the te kind. e dark, moonless night as I came aeennd the last corner before approaching Pineview Dam, the car right in front of me swerved sharply to the left, finally sliding to a stop precariously close to the dam’s edge. That is when I saw the large boulder looming directly in front of me; it was higher than the hood of my car. I too had no time to hit the brakes so I jerked the steering wheel sharply to the right to also avoid a collision with the rock. Then my eyes fixed in horror at the rocky cliff in front of me. As I swerved sharply to now avoid the cliff, I expected to roll my vehicle. Kudos to ohatiaated for my stable, road hugging Trailbl My second close iecintites of the third Z } Hy A good samaritan stopped to help remove a landslide of rocks off the road. Soon enough I was on my way again, crossing the dam wall and heading down the canyon with a sigh of relief—I had just survived an encounter of the second kind! Then, as I came around a bend in the canyon, I noticed a blur out of the corner of my eye. A huge bolder hopped once in front of my vehicle before rolling off to the side of the road. Stunned, | pulled off the road again. The rock was about three Volume XI Issue XI 15, 2005 of the Third Kind feet in diameter! Shaking all over, I realized that I just had cxperienced my second close encounter of the thirdk Living in beautiful Ouden Valley — have enormous advantages. breathe in clean, fresh air as we abserv mountain vistas and wide open dotted horse and cattle ranches. And we share this piece of paradise with wonderful, friendly neighbors. We coexist with bald eagles, hawks, mountain bluebirds, lazuli buntings, hummingbirds, wild turkeys, “Rocks come tumbling down there all the time.” The officer just shrugged his shoulders and smiled. [ turned back to my scoop of grain and looked at Johan. I could see that his thoughts were the same as mine. We just have to accept it? BEI A passing car gives an idea of the size of some moose, elk, deer and And the pristine, w Reservoir, filled glitters like a huge blue sapphire right in the center of it all Because of all we are blessed with, I almost bought into one of our local law officer’s reactions when Johan and I were enjoying our usual scoop of grain at the General Store. As two police officers sat at a table next to us, only two days after my close encounter of the third kind, I asked, “Did you hear about the huge boulder that came down onto the road near the dam wall?” “No” the I related myy experience to them but, 7 my surprise, they only laughed. “Ify: want to live in the voles you just i 6 accept ae like that “Don’t you think conxetiting should be done aiaul it?” I wanted to know. Contig of the boulders. Of course one has to sacrifice some things when you live in a unique place like Ogden Valley; we have to get along without lots of things. But falling rocks? Could this be the attitude of local and state government too? Why haven’t they done anything about this safety issue? How many have had their cars damaged or even been injured over the years because of close encounters of the ee second, and third kind? If everyone had this attitude, lots of everyday hazards would never have been corrected. A friend pointed out that visitors to the Valley from California and Florida may not take so kindly to rock damaged cars and personal injuries. If they found out that these encounters are a preexisting problem and nothing has been done about it, they might get their lawyers involved. After all, there aren’t even any signs warning drivers of “Falling Rocks. When one travels to other mountainous areas of the country like Colorado, there are countless examples of how this problem is addressed. There is steel netting, cement blasted into unstable mountain sides, tunnels, retaining walls, concrete slides, and, at the minimum, signs warning of “Falling ocks.” While I love living in Ogden Valley,I dread the close encounters of the first, second, and third kind. Isn’t it time for this safety issue to be addressed? 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