Still, everything in Dolores was beautiful this week. The Boggy Draw Trail system was also beautiful, but dry and dusty, very dusty. I am sure I speak for everyone when I say, I wish this wind would have blown in some weather. A little sprinkle of rain could have done some good, not only in keeping dust down, but in helping with the air quality.
Resident doing fire relief
Speaking of smoke, Dolores resident Amber Lansing loaded up her car and headed toward Shiprock, N.M., this week to donate water and other needed items to help relieve firefighters working on the Assaayi Lake Wildfire in the Crystal/Sheep Springs/Naschitti areas. The fire is estimated between 11,000 and 12,000 acres near the New Mexico/Arizona border. Communities were evacuated because of the fire and smoke was blown into Southwest Colorado.
Colorado 185 closing overnight
Starting Wednesday, July 9 at 6 p.m. and continuing until Thursday morning, July 10, at 6 a.m., Colorado 184 will be fully closed at mile point 25.1, approximately a mile and a half west of Mancos (open on either side to local traffic only, but no through traffic), according to the Montezuma County Sheriff's Department. The alternate route for those wanting to travel between Mancos and Dolores is U.S. 160 Colorado 145. Continuing for about two weeks, there will be a 24/7 width restriction (and possibly a weight restriction). The Colorado Department of Transportation's project to replace two culverts underneath Colorado 184 west of Mancos (mile point 25.1) will require a full closure of the highway to enable crews to cut into the highway.
The contractor, Mountain Valley Contracting has successfully replaced one of the two culverts through a pipe-jacking process, a trenchless method of pipeline installation utilizing compressed air to drive the pipe through the ground. The process, it has been determined, will not work for placement of the larger 78-inch culvert - rock material is preventing this.
Storage looking spiffy
The Dolores River Self-Storage got a new coat of paint on Tuesday and looked very nice.
The Grieving Goose
I have it on good word that a sad goose is roaming Dolores. Apparently, she was raising a family in Dolores when her family reportedly was taken by the jaws of a fox. She is apparently roaming the town looking sad and forlorn, calling for them. Breaks your heart. Canada geese mate for life.
Shannon Livick