The mountains were calling my name
Last summer I finally realized a long standing plan of mine to travel with my friend Joel. During those travels I finally got a chance to return to a place that I love and see some friends whom have been inspirations to me.
Joel and I met in Evanston and became fast friends. Since that meeting eight years ago we have been bumping in to one another at just the right time in each others lives. This trip was no exception to that rule. We covered thirteen states starting in Santa Fe and ending in Ohio. After a show at Red Rocks while in Colorado we visited The Grand Lake Lodge where we both have worked summers and hadn’t visited in a while. I had not been to the lodge since 2001, my last year working there, having been preoccupied with living in Charleston, S.C. and trying to make a living as a waiter in Chicago. Since we both had not seen the people who run the lodge for years and knew we were visiting at a busy point in the season, Joel and I decided to camp out for a night before checking the place out. After a night spent quietly we jumped in Joel’s van and headed to town. The plan was to drive up to the rustic property and wander around trying not to get anyone’s attention before we wanted it. This plan quickly went south when we stopped at the only gas station in town to make a phone call and Reed, The general manager and fearless leader of the lodge, pulled up next to us. After a few minutes of catching up Reed asked what are plans were and insisted we be his guests at the lodge. It was a sort of homecoming for us and once settled in we found out that Reeds family who has owned the place since 1920 were selling it. I quickly made up my mind to work there at the end of the season after we were done traveling.
I have worked for four seasons at The Grand Lake Lodge in Colorado. Every summer for eighty years, the Lodge becomes a haven for students, outdoor enthusiasts, and adventurers from around the country and the world. The owners of the Lodge train these employees to work in positions with little or no experience. The place and the owners embrace independence and a love of life. It’s been a favorite place for me and there is no other place like it. Its odd how someplace so far away and people who I never have met before can click with you right away. At the lodge I always find myself at the right place. Thinking clearly about the things that are important and finding others who I can co-conspire with to find new experiences and opportunities to jump into. This years plan is returning to School. During my stay I had time to collect and organize my thoughts about the future. I am focusing on going back to school in Olympia, Washington and ultimately would like to work for a non-profit overseas.
Having worked there previously it was great to see others that I had worked with. I found myself catching up with people I had been thinking about during my time away. A large contingent of lodgelings are in Denver. One owns a restaurant and has hired many people who I knew from working together. Some have gotten married and have children.
Having not seen the mountains for years and previously living in Colorado I found myself stopping often to look at the view and enjoying the people and music. The lodge bar is a place I hold up as an example of how a good time should be had. It’s a place where after a few beers you can dance your ass off to whoever is playing and by the end of the night everyone else in the bar is either on the dance floor or watching the people on the dance floor. I got there just in time for the annual employee Christmas party. The owners shut down the place and decorate it with a Christmas tree and stockings. Then all employees are treated to an elegant dinner. Picture 120 people who have been living in rustic cabins dressing up in formal attire for a night in a lodge pole pine building in the woods. Now add a bar and a band and multiply by four!! This night is known for having people dancing on the bar and hanging from the rafters. All the people.
The day after the Christmas party the staff starts leaving. People go back to school and return to the world where dogs aren’t allowed in bars and you normally don’t hop in the hot tub after work. Since I loved what I doing and where I was I stayed on as one of the few that would help close the place down for the winter and maybe for good if it sold.
My job after the season was to help to the property manager with the daunting task of clearing a very large number of dead pine trees from the property. A nasty pine beetle has been ragging havoc on the tree population of Colorado. I spent four months from September to December cutting down trees, limbing them, hauling the slash to a clear area and then burning it. Having never done this it was a lesson in manual labour.
All in all I think everyone should visit the lodge. Grand Lake is the kind of town that only one other place I have visited reminds me of the beauty, the unique cast of characters there, and the enchantment of the scenery. That would be Vicabamba in Ecuador. As luck would have it another guy in Grand Lake had been there. If you are traveling next summer put the Grand lake Lodge on your list because no one knows if it will be around after that.
I could go on but right now I need to get on some stuff that hasn’t been getting done. All that time in the mountains kind of puts you into a lull about what you can get accomplished in a day. Peace
Tags: jon jared, jonnie j, The Grand Lake Lodge, Travel
Jon
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