A sepia tone photo of the tipi between 2 pines, on a mesa in southern Colorado with mountains in the distance, and about 3' of snow on the ground. In the winter of '84 I decided to learn to ski properly, in the telemark way, so packed my home on my '55 Chevy one ton and headed south. A friend gave me the key to a road up a mesa a few miles from town, where I pitched camp during a snow storm. I decided to try a pot belly stove instead of the camp fire, but soon found when it was sub zero, and I had been gone all day working at the ski area, and taking an EMT course in the evening, by time I got home after dark it took too long to heat up that cold iron to any benefit. There was a 2 week period when the high never got above zero. Over the holidays I got bronchitis working long hours outdoors around Texans at the ski area, and I hadn't had time to get in a cache of wood. Weak & dehydrated I crawled out to break some branches off for a fire to melt snow & make tea. I realized I was close to meeting a foolish end. Fortunately an old friend from Louisiana came to visit, & had me stay in the cabin he rented for a few days. I also learned it was a good idea to take some hot water in a thermos to bed so I would have something to drink in the morning.
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