It’s raining on a late September Saturday afternoon and a cold 48 degrees as I begin this column. Pristine snow drapes the mountains above timberline. A remarkable gardening season ends at 7,736 feet ...

We all know this year's election is a big one, nationally. But locally, we have one contested race for county commissioner, House District 58 and Senate District 6 races and a bunch of statewide ballo...

“Oh, Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling From glen to glen, and down the mountain side The summer’s gone, and all the roses falling, It’s you, it’s you must go, and I must bide.” The history o...

Last Sunday, Ouray’s wet August weather definitively broke the old precipitation record for the month, 5.28 inches, set during the serious flood year of 1982, when both Portland and Cascade Creeks cau...

Some folks might be tempted to think the biggest problem with the Ouray Police Department has been solved, because the city fired the chief. They think the trash has been taken out, so to speak. But s...

During this summer, like last year’s, it’s not just Earth’s cities and countrysides that are swelteringly hot. The oceans, which cover 70% of the planet, are too. Science writer and essayist David Wal...

Being in the Plaindealer staff box that appears at the bottom of this page most every week has felt a little lonely this year. For more than five months, the only names you’ve seen there are ours and ...

The mineral rush was on! Prospectors found gold, silver and other mineral deposits in the northern San Juan Mountains in the years following the Civil War. The historic Red Mountain Mining District ex...

It’s easy to forget how small Ouray County is, both in population (4,874 2020 census) and land area (542 square miles). It’s only 37 road miles but 4,717 feet of elevation difference from Colona (6,36...

Ouray County’s diverse landscape includes high alpine mountains, the headwaters of the Uncompahgre River, wind-swept valleys, and the Uncompahgre Plateau. From its earliest days, Ouray County has attr...

Summer 2024 could make perennial climate change deniers finally take global warming/weirding seriously. In many farflung places — as well as close to home on this beautiful but very stressed planet — ...

Think back to the summer of 1976. Assuming you were alive, where were you? Did you see a fireworks show, go to a concert, visit Washington D.C., watch a parade, or wear red, white, and blue? Fifty yea...

The bees are back, hugging the grape hyacinths and dandelions, buzzing me as I work. I am living a gardener’s dream. It’s not quite 60 degrees, my carefully nurtured earth in this mountain place is fi...

News of gold and silver discoveries brought fortune-seekers to the northern San Juan Mountains in the late 1800s. After the Silver Crash of 1893, gold took over as the primary mineral produced high ab...

The ominous note came in an envelope with an advertising bill. Instead of payment, the sender included the message on personalized stationery, the kind of notepad one would use for a grocery list or a...

Irony is the juxtaposition of one conceptual proposition with a directly contrary reality, like a “vegetarian butcher” or something that’s “seriously funny.” Or the swift enactment — during Sunshine W...

Animal hides, skins and pelts were in demand worldwide as the 19th century began. Trappers roamed the Rocky Mountains hunting and trapping for decades, but each year brought increasing challenges. By ...

Leap year 2024: An extra day — Feb. 29 — for most of us, a once-in-four years’ birthday for a select few. We can thank the ancient Egyptians for this essential astronomical invention, according to a f...

1873 was a big year for miners in the San Juan Mountains. Two prospectors, Charles McIntyre and Abe Burrows, decided to try their luck at higher elevations and staked several claims. In addition to go...

Last week, Mike and I took a moment for lunch at a local restaurant, sitting in a daze while we began planning the next edition. Thursday is a day of recovery, a day I feel hungover from the exhaustio...