Wherever you are from, I’m sure you’ve had out-of-towners ask you, “Is this weather normal?” Here in the San Juan Mountains, the answer is always yes. From a blizzard in July to 70 degrees in January to the most still and blue-skied day you could imagine, it all falls into the ever broadening range of “normal.” And around here, more than your average number of people actually experience this weather up close and personal. I’m sure many of you have been out in it – like it or not.

One aspect of the weather that has been pushing itself outside of our wide range of “normal” is the severity. In late June, the Animas River in Durango was a confused chameleon. Spring runoff had it colored an acceptable paper bag brown for several days. But then it abruptly went to its late-summer translucent blue-green. And then, seemingly without warning, it switched to an opaque cafe latte between breakfast and dinner.

Intense isolated rain storms have further fueled my lifetime obsession with the geologic process of erosion. For 17 years, I have worked outdoors and witnessed the ebb and flow of weather’s tranquility and ferocity. My time as a Forest Ambassador for San Juan Mountains Association (SJMA) has been no exception. I have seen waterfalls crop up suddenly in places where I’d never known them to occur. But I’ve also experienced those cobalt blue-sky days that are so calm, I wonder if the world has ended and nobody told me. I am perpetually in awe of nature’s beautiful indifference.

Erode is defined by Merriam-Webster as “to diminish or destroy by degrees” and, specific to geology, “to wear away by the action of water, wind, or glacial ice.” In the early 1800s, geologists had settled into two parties when it came to erosion. The exemplary book The Emerald Mile by Kevin Fedarko explains these two diverse schools of thought. The Catastrophists argued that the rugged landforms of our planet came about via “abrupt, cataclysmic events; Then there were the Uniformitarians, eventually called Gradualists, whose observations deduced that topography was formed very slowly and evenly over long periods of time.

Well, they were both right. By the 1960s, geologists understood that the slow moving processes of mountain building and glacial erosion were, to quote Fedarko, interspersed with “brief moments of exceptionally brutal violence in which things happen very quickly indeed.”

While the cataclysmic events in the San Juan Mountains don’t quite classify as “debris flows” like those in the Grand Canyon, we do get “gully washers” which lead to flash floods, rock slides, and mudslides. During these events, the ground and the plants rooted within it cannot absorb the water quickly enough despite how much they might need it. This summer we’ve seen several mudslides that block traffic such as just north of Durango on Hwy 550 and down in the Animas Canyon across the railroad tracks.

Critters such as pocket gophers can unwittingly help with percolation – their extensive burrowing in search of tasty roots aerating the soil and creating quick ways for the deluges to permeate the ground. But the sheer ferocity of recent downpours – which sometimes include hail – produce more water than can be absorbed. And since the San Juans aren’t flat, the result is the abrupt erosion of topsoil as the precipitation pulls it downhill.

So when you are caught out there this monsoon season, be safe but take time to marvel at the beautiful indifference of nature. Perhaps part of your favorite trail will wash out tomorrow. Or the clear creek you fished today will be a muddy mess next week. And when a passerby asks if this is normal, you can smile and tell them yes.

MK Thompson is a Forest Ambassador for SJMA. Learn more at sjma.org or MK’s page, artofmisadventure.com

Ahhh, summer in the San Juan Mountains. I’ve lived all over the country, and there really is no better place to be in the summer. San Juan Mountains Association’s (SJMA) Forest Ambassadors can attest to the popularity of our region as numbers of visitors to popular trails have swelled in the past few weeks.

Working in partnership with the San Juan National Forest (SJNF) and all the other land management agencies that have a role in caring for the vast public lands in this area, those of us at SJMA have watched visitation and recreation reach record levels in the last four years. We often wonder if those numbers will reset. Anecdotally, based on what I have seen as I have traveled around the San Juans this summer and heard from our Ambassadors, volunteers, and land management partners, that certainly doesn’t appear to be the case this summer.

It’s been somewhat of a slow start to the summer, with an unusual amount of rain impacting June. At SJMA, we have routinely adjusted our itineraries for our summer camps and worked with our volunteers and partners to reschedule events impacted by rainy weather or Mother Nature’s shenanigans – like the recurring rock slides impacting access into and out of Chicago Basin (and Silverton, too) via the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.

This past holiday weekend was glorious, and based on reports from SJMA staff and volunteers across the region, everyone wanted to be outside. Unfortunately, one trend that we see is the unrelenting determination of visitors who simply must experience a particular trail when they want to, regardless of natural or crowded conditions.

SJMA Forest Ambassadors reported well over 1,000 visitors at the Ice Lake Trailhead over the weekend, with accompanying parking infractions. Our Alpine Loop Ambassadors encountered more than 1,200 motorized users over the holiday weekend. Those are just two locations where SJMA has a regular presence. All told, SJMA’s ten Forest Ambassadors were spread across a total of ten different locations over the holiday weekend, and cumulatively, they engaged with more than 3,800 visitors.

It’s tough to determine the exact point at which we are “loving a place to death.” There are clear rate-limiting factors, like available parking spaces at trailheads or train tickets that deliver backpackers to Needleton – but even then, some determined folks want to push the boundaries. Other times, our plans are simply interrupted by natural conditions – like the aforementioned rockslide along the tracks between Needleton and Elk Park – or more recently, the series of mudslides that have severely impacted the Animas River Trail between the
Cascade Wye and Needle Creek. Sometimes, it’s a little more difficult to determine when to change plans – for instance, how muddy does a trail have to be before we all should give it a couple days to dry out?

Therein lies the challenge for all of us as stewards of the land. I would guess that most of you reading this column treasure our public lands – and probably moved here to enjoy them. We all know the joy and excitement in planning for our next outing. It is a bummer when things don’t go according to plan, but the reality is that there are factors that impact our plans all the time. We encourage everyone to incorporate contingency plans into your recreation schedule if your primary destination is already at capacity or the weather has impacted trails. We are blessed with a wealth of recreation opportunities in the San Juans, and sometimes wejust have to be willing to pivot and go with “Plan B” (or C or even D).

Our public lands will benefit if we collectively adopt a mindset that we are here to care for these lands that we love in addition to using them for our own personal satisfaction. Managers of public lands don’t arbitrarily impose limits to impact your fun. When policies and regulations go into effect, it is done to care for these places for the long term or – in the case of parking restrictions – to ensure access by emergency responders if the need arises (and it already has multiple times in some of our more popular destinations).

While it may not be apparent that these wild lands are managed, there are a great number of organizations that work in partnership with the SJNF and our other land management agencies to help care for the San Juans. Consider giving back to help care for these lands you love – whether it’s by joining or volunteering with SJMA or one of the many other organizations that help care for the San Juans. Take care out there, and continue to enjoy the most amazing of places – responsibly, of course.