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Show r i- M --,.,- s , . , r 4 I .. '. . ..J., v' .- ' .. t j .-v.-.- " v ? v K.'. " i .: ,r- h v. . r,-.Krmii J! ' I U ' . ' - . r -' ' a j ! j - - . . -if ' . J ' - - f " - ... 4 : '. J , r'-"4- - - , 11 ' - i I . r" -4 u. .1.- ,t r s . f J.f- f r-- - 1 ' c-, p ' T - " J ! - ' J , - . . . A - i u 3 ''I . - . - ' - . 1 . " . " !f ' sts at Recapture Lodge enjoy themselves in the solar energy. Bluff's warm summers make this a I slimming pool which has been heated for years by popular spot in Southeastern Utah. , Solar heating is "old hat for Gene Foushee of Bluff s Although tiny Bluff, Kked in the greenery jjong the San Juan River v in Southeastern Utah was ;: :he first county seat of '' sprawling San Juan Coun-; Coun-; j, it is not exactly famous - for "firsts." But all this commotion tj' about Sun Day and Solar f Energy Week makes folks : tee realize that maybe ike swimming pool . at Recapture Lodge may be something special. It has been heated by a simple solar system since it was built in 1965. Gene Foushee, Fou-shee, owner of Recapture Lodge, was given a used solar heating unit in 1964, while visiting his parents in Florida. (Systems of this type were used in Florida in the 1930's for heating water economically economical-ly even though non-con-tinuously due to cloudy days a not uncommon occurance in the Sunshine State.) Since living in off-the-beaten-path Bluff tended to increase Foushee's natural tendency to squirrel squir-rel anything away that might one day be useful, he tied it under his carryall and lugged it across the country. The unit consisted of about 150 feet of copper pipe, mounted on two pieces of copper about 3x8 feet each, and painted black. c Gene Foushee, who moved to Southeastern Utah years ago because of his love tor (i thered rock country, inspects the solar heating unit which warms the water of the c iwimming pool at Recapture Lodge in Bluff. (Alvin Reiner Photos) Pool water is filtered, then is recycled through the pipes before going back in the pool. It is all very simple, and after the pool was built it was mounted on the south fence and maintained the pool's heat to the skin-carressing 80 to 85 degrees swimmers enjoy. A propane heater was used for the initial heating of the pool's water. After a few years, the Foushees began filling the pool about two weeks before opening day, and used the solar heater exclusively to bring the temperature up from the artesian water's ground temperature of 55 degrees. de-grees. Foushee graduated in geology from the Univer-. sity of North Carolina, but fell in love with southeast Utah's red rocks and canyons and Bluff's abun dant water and dramatic location long before he was out of school.'" His nightly slide shows at the lodge, were oriented to protection and proper use of the environment back in the days when guests asked what "ecology" meant. Bluff elementary school children, mostly Navajo, were taught anti-drown-ing skills in the motel pool last spring. For years, until the county sponsored a bus to take the village children to a community pool in Blanding, the pool was open at no charge to Bluff kids, two days a week. On a somewhat larger scale, the Department of Energy and MIT are building a multi-million dollar power generating plant to supply electricity at Natural Bridges National Na-tional Monument, 60 miles mil-es from Bluff. So the sunny days for which the Canyonlands Country ' is famous are at last being tapped for energy-creating uses, without damaging damag-ing the environment or depleting a non-renewable resource. |