San Juan Hill, Utah

At Rural Ways, luxurious living is not a way of life, and we feel prepared to work for food, shelter, and a fire in the wood stove. That being said, our lifestyle is one of effortless ease when compared to the Mormon pioneers. On Monday, we went down to the confluence of Comb Ridge and the San Juan River, near Bluff. It was there, about 120 or 130 years ago that the Hole-in-the-Rock pioneers, on their way from Escalante to the area around Bluff, created a wagon road from the river to the top of Comb Ridge. This was AFTER they had spent the entire winter building a road from Escalante that crossed the Colorado at the Hole in the Rock. The dugway to the top of Comb Ridge, what they called San Juan Hill, was so steep that some of the livestock died in harness while trying to climb it. As the three of us hiked up the nearly sheer wagon road, I said to Valerie that what the Hole-in-the-Rockers did would never be done today. It was so arduous that no one would consent to it anymore. I mean, the federal government just extended unemployment benefits for another couple of years. Why not take it easy today on the sofa and, in time, when the economy picks up, we can look for a job answering phones?