Phase 3: After Chakra 777

So, I realise this has been a long time coming and it should have come earlier and just for you all I'm skiving the work I should be doing to fill in the gaps.

So during my time in Denver I decided that i needed to get out of cities and into the equivalent of the outback. I had begun talking to two guys at the rap show, Adolphus and Watson, when I was looking for people to dance wildly with during Methodman/Redman. They weren't dancing particularly wildly but the girl next to them was so I used my signature move of smiling at watson when he looked over. Adolphus cut to the chase "Got any Ganja?"

So we smoked a blunt I had rolled and started talking. It transpired that they were originally from Detroit but now lived with a bunch of people from detroit in "The Sand Dunes". I enquired more and found that in the San Luis valley at the bottom of Colorado there were the largest sanddunes in North America, built from sand blown up from the Sierra Madre desert. Upon keeping talking about the area it turned out it was a small town at the foot of the mountains and an old hopi healing area that now have heaps of spiritual centres, buddhist retreat centres, hindu temples, peyote sweat lodges, etc. The hook was in. I asked how I could get there and Watson said he would pick me up if I caught the greyhound to Alamosa, 5hrs bus ride from Denver. It was a no brainer, I was hooked.

On Friday morning I walked to the greyhound centre as conventioneers began to empty out of Denver. The bus trip was fantastic, views of the rockies the whole was and I got to practice my spanish with an 8yr old girl on the bus. Now it had occured to me that it was possible that I was walking into the jaws of a Pagan Love Cult but I figured that even if it was a pagan love cult it would be a pretty good way to cut my teeth on watching my back. I mean, If you can't survive/excape cult programing, what hope do you have for living in the real world? Besides, I thought, maybe joining a Pagan Love Cult is just what I need right now. As long as I can escape before Hawaii, whats the harm.

Watson was waiting for me when the bus arrived in Alamosa. The San Luis Valley is the second largest potato producer after Idaho and Alamosa is like a standard regional hub with service stores and agricultural supplies. We drove up the valley with his Girl, a local Crestoner. We smoked a peace pipe and after arriving I had a shower and a look around town. The town was founded due to finding silver and after masacreing all of the hopi in the valley the town was built. After getting settled (listening to Bhangara music and eatting a meal) we went into the town commons where the 19th annual Crestone sustainability and energy festival was happening. Every year they showcase new technologies for sustainable living to help keep towns folk self sufficient and off the grid. It was on all weekend, but very small due to the nature of the town. However, I got to see people riding horse and cart (Carbon Neutral) and build a solar over, talk about different forms of agriculture etc. The best thing was a guy who had molds for casting biogas generators that make methane off green pasture waster.


I learned heaps over the weekend and it was really hands on and good fun. Following we went to the house of one of Watson and Adolphus's bosses. The guys worked doing eco-construction in town, straw bales, mud brick, regular building, etc and had just finished an extention for some women. She had cooked a huge meal and a bunch of her old hippy buddhist friends had come round for dinner as well as the builders and the town mayor.


It was the best meal I have eatten all trip, 3 courses, good wine, hippies for conversation. Watched an amazing sunset and thought about how heaps of rich affluent people are buddhist and still eat meat et al. and just sit around feeling good about them selves rather than doing anything. Ah, good old cynical me.

That night we went to the bar. A small wild west esc pub where everyone knew each other and it was equal parts old cowboys, hippies, queers and misfits, with everyone getting along. I discovered shuffleboard, which is like that game you see on cruise ships, but on a board. Me and Watson won our first game which meant free drinks. I got one with some local honey spirit and the deal was sealed. Night got really wild, played harmonica with the publican over the juke box, stacked the juke box with AC/DC and johnny cash and had a ball. I met/danced with a women called Yvette. She was the first black school teacher in the whole valley. She taught music and spanish. She was also a firefighter, music producer, B&B owner and former tall ship sailor. She had space for me to crash so I headed over. We talked in the morning, she was originally from LA and had lived in San Fran and New York before moving to Crestone a year ago. She had firefighting training so dropped me at Watsons place.

Me and the guys went to the Sand Dunes, which were massive and really hot. I love Watson and Adolphus, we talked, smoked and walked and then went to some Waterfalls comming out of the mountains that had eroded massive boulders. We came back to town and I borrowed a bike and rode the hills as the sun set. It was so spectacular again. I could hear the jazz from the energy festival and that just topped the day. Went to the bar again that night, slightly less raucous but stil good fun. I met three people who had been on 6 week retreat eatting nothing but lentils and rice and meditating. But apparently after that its fine to head to a bar, eat meat, smoke ciggarets and get high. As the night before had been the first night I had gotten really drunk, like proper "Australian Drunk" in a few years I head to Watsons for a tea and a sleep on the couch.

Sunday was cool. I walked up to North Crestone trail head in the Rio Grande forest national park and hiked 8 miles (8 x 1.6km) = 12.6km each way. It was an amazing walk through mountain trails. The other side of the mountains from Crestone is the wetside, crstone lives in its rainshadow so all day huge clouds spilled over the mountains like liquid nitrogen, rolling over the hills and into the valley. Also as a side note, somewhere in the region the amerikan government has a base facility called NORAD which is a secret facility to do with aeronaughtics. Locals told me there is always weird shit flying around and on the road into town is a UFO observation tower set up by concerned citizens :) I made it up to the lake at the top and sat a nd meditated for a while. I arrived back at Watson's cold and wet.

We had a smoke and ate pasta and me, watson, adolphus and caitlin watched "The 36 chambers of Shoalin" an old Kung Fu flick that the wutang clan used for inspiration for their album. We also did a music exchange, spreading the Australian music seed and taking in world music and crestone tunes. I headed to yvette's for dessert.

Monday was Labour day so yvette didn't have to go to school. We headed to the local hot springs, heated to 40 degrees by the blood of the earth and full of minerals. Yvette and I floated and soaked before heading to a guys house for a BBQ. We had a big fire, open sky and food and 40oz. 40's are a malt liquor, 10% alcohol, vey sweet (sugar, not cool) and only $2.45 per bottle. I got far too drunk as the 40 really sneaks up on you.

Tuesday was my last day in town. Yvette headed to work and I poked around some stuff in town and got myself sorted. I said final goodbyes to the town and people I had loved so much. Watson dropped me back in Alamosa and I jumped the Greyhound back to Denver for the final Phase.