Well-maintained campgrounds once dotted the Weminuche Wilderness. Mountain goats roamed far beyond Chicago Basin. Delicate pink pygmy bitterroot flowers bloomed deep in the backcountry.
These were just a few of the stories shared last week during a celebration of the 499,771-acre Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado’s largest wild space.
The 50th anniversary event was hosted by the San Juan Mountains Association, San Juan Citizens Alliance and Maria’s Bookshop at the Powerhouse science center in Durango, where residents shared stories of their personal ties to the land.
Seven speakers – each with unique but overlapping experiences – highlighted the Weminuche’s lesser-known beauty.
More than 100 people attended the event, which featured six local storytellers and a closing presentation by local author Jonathon Thompson.
Speakers of varying ages and backgrounds painted a shared portrait of the Weminuche – its hidden corners and untamed life – as a landscape full of mystery and life all its own.
In May, Fort Lewis College students Piper Frank and Chloe Hammond embarked on a five-day ski traverse – from the Needlepoint Access point north of Durango to Silverton. They recounted the highs and lows of the trip with a captive audience.
They described the biting cold of early morning ascents, one of which was the worst skiing of their lives, full of avalanche debris that made it seem as though their skis would snap.
But in the chute, surrounded by towering rocks, Frank said, “We just felt so small and insignificant, but we were doing something so significant for us.”
“A trip like this really makes you realize the simple things in life and how wilderness areas like the Weminuche can bring those out,” Hammond said. “When you strip life down to food, to water to shelter … you find gratitude in each bite, sip and step you take in the backcountry, the Weminuche helps us find those moments.”
Those moments – gratitude for staying safe in the natural world, where weather can turn from sunny skies to raging thunderstorms at the drop of a hat – were celebrated in each person’s talk.
Pete Kemery read a letter to his future child – still just an idea – describing the Weminuche as a source of clarity.
“With space comes clarity, connection and presence – clarity of the mind, connections to the mountains you feel are home and truly constant connection,” Kemery read.
Gavin Tweedie presented a three-year father-son adventure saga in pursuit of a lost bucket hat.
MK Thompson shared a story about her two-week backpacking trip and the deep sense of fulfillment it brought. So much so, that at the end of the trip, when she reentered society and popped off the trail at the Vallecito General Store, she wasn’t even physically hungry.
Ashley Carruth, co-founder of San Juan SOLES – a nonprofit that runs leadership expeditions for high school girls – spoke about a trip she led several months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the Weminuche, the solitude of nature drew out deep conversations about loneliness, life and loss, Carruth said.
Speakers reminded the audience that the wilderness remains largely untouched by man thanks to the activism of local conservationists in the 1960s and 1970s. Britt Basset, who was a child then, reflected on work he did on long-forgotten campgrounds that were demolished after the wilderness area was officially created.
Another common thread ran through Thursday’s stories: hope.
In recent months, federal efforts have sought to chip away at longstanding protections for public lands.
“Over the last nine months, probably, as you all know, public lands have been under attack not only from the Trump administration but also from Republicans in Congress,” Thompson said. “It’s given me a lot of reasons to worry about some of my favorite places.”
Those efforts include attempts to rescind the roadless rule act, the prioritization of extracting more nonrenewable resources, and most recently, the Trump administration’s decision to allow oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Still, the overarching feeling was one of hope for the continued protection of the Weminuche. Residents’ personal connection to the wilderness area will help shield it from future development.
“One of the places I realized recently that I don’t worry about so much is the Weminuche Wilderness,” Thompson said.
Not because he expects the Trump administration to reverse course on some of its policy decisions, but because of the community that considers the Weminuche part of its backyard.
“I really believe that there would be widespread protests. And that the local people here would not let that happen,” Thomson said. “… It’s a place that really defines who we are and what we are as a region, and the protections that keep it what it is, to some extent, also define what we are and who we are as a region.
“If we were to get rid of those protections … that would affect the identity of the region pretty significantly,” he said. “And I think everybody knows that. I think so many people know that, that there would be a revolt.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
