by C. A. Farlow
"But that’s just it! We’re gathering information to stop the construction not support it.”
Susan sighed. “Sharon believes that all data will be misused. But it sounds like she stopped listening. You better get to bed. I’ll talk to Sharon, and see if I can clear up this mess. And leave the dishes. I’ll get them later.” She waved at the sink and headed out of the kitchen.
Lauren wandered off to her room. She knew sleep wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. She wondered if she would ever sleep again, given all she knew about all the projects she had completed. I am as culpable as all the clients who lost control of the information.
Lauren watched the dawn paint the eastern sky with streaks of oranges and reds. “Red in the morning sailor take warning…a storm is coming. Great. Maybe we can get an early start tomorrow.”
Hoping to beat Sharon and Susan to breakfast and avoid another confrontation, Lauren headed to the kitchen. But the enticing aromas of frying bacon and coddling eggs that filtered down the hall told her at least Susan was already up. She smelled cinnamon the closer she got to the kitchen. Sharon must have sticky buns in the oven. Lauren sighed.
Both women were already seated at the table huddled over steaming coffee mugs. Trying to gauge the mood in the room, Lauren said a quiet “good morning.” She knew she wasn’t going to escape an uncomfortable situation. “Seems we’re all up early.”
Settling at the table, Lauren considered Sharon. The gulf that separated them was far wider than the distance across the table. Lauren knew that she and Sharon were at an impasse and that if a resolution was to be found, she knew they both needed to make the effort to acknowledge each other’s position. Their friendship hung in the balance, and she didn’t want to lose that.
“Sharon, do you have something to say?” Susan prodded, in her usual take-charge way. She wasn’t going to allow either woman to get out of talking. She rose to serve breakfast.
Sharon stiffened in her chair and opened her mouth, but Lauren spoke first. “I’m sorry we disagree about the Zirkel project, but I believe gathering the best information and knowing how it’s gathered will help environmentalists do good work. I’ll do my best to see that the Sierra Club will share the project results with you and Steamboat Heritage. And I promise, I will follow the data through to its end-use. I’ll do everything I can to ensure Colorado Power doesn’t misuse or misrepresent it.”
Susan placed a mug of coffee in front of Lauren, and she immediately encircled the cup, warming her hands on the ceramic surface. “Your concerns are valid, and I realize I need to review how the data are used.” Lauren slumped in her chair as if these admissions cost more than simple words could. She realized that Sharon had called her entire professional life into question. Acknowledging that she would review her professional choices was important, and she was committed to do that. But clarity of thought would only come with time and research.
Sharon cleared her throat. “I was hoping you would decide to help us fight the corporate enemies directly, but I appreciate your willingness to help us partner with the Sierra Club. Your experience, science, and intelligence will be invaluable, and I know we can block this construction.”
Lauren jumped as Susan slid a dish piled high with eggs and a huge sticky bun in front of her, but she ignored the food. She leaned closer to Sharon. “I’ll do what I can. But I have a responsibility to complete this work first.”
“I understand. But you don’t realize how hard it is to fight all the time.” Sharon looked so sad, so defeated. She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’m tired. The fight never seems to end. Now that it’s in our backyard, the costs of failure are so much higher.”
“I understand.”
Breakfast was finished in silence. Standing, Lauren turned to Susan. “I’ll get the dishes. It’s the least I can do for your wonderful meals. Jamie will arrive today. We’ll spend the rest of the day running the final checks on the electronics. Tomorrow, we’ll head out to the trailhead around five in the morning. I’m not comfortable waiting any longer with how the weather is looking.”
She leaned down and hugged Susan. “Thank you both for your hospitality.” Then she turned to Sharon, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I promise I’ll address your concerns. I don’t want to lose either of you over a job.” Lauren started clearing the table.
“Sharon’ll give you a hand.” Susan pushed Sharon from her chair. “Won’t you, honey?”
Sharon nodded. “I’ll get the dishes. Have another cup of coffee and relax. When is Jamie getting here?”
It seemed a truce was forming and Lauren allowed herself a small smile. “Around noon. Okay, to use the garage to complete all the final run-throughs?”
“Absolutely.” Susan finished her coffee and placed her cup in the sink. “I’m going into the office this morning to check on the cats. Do you want to come with me or spend the morning here with the grump?” She pointed over her shoulder at Sharon. “We got a new ultrasound machine. It has digital printouts.”
“I think I’ll come with you.” They both laughed. Susan knew her too well. “Wouldn’t want to miss out on seeing some new toys.” Lauren stood. “I’ll go get my coat and meet you in the garage. We can take my SUV and fill it up on the way back.”
Susan grinned. “If you see Boscoe, send him to the garage, and we’ll take him along. He loves to ride in the car and go to the office.”
Jamie arrived late that afternoon. “Man, look at this place. I thought you said they had a cabin in the woods. This is a frickin’ log mansion. It’s incredible.”
“Yeah it is, but they earned every bit of this and more. I’ll take you up to your room so you can get settled, and then we can head over to the garage and go through everything. I’ve got the equipment laid out and sorted. All I need you to do is check the monitor software, the battery charges, and pull a couple of probes out of their casings to ensure that there’s no corrosion on any of the electrical connections.”
Jamie brushed snow off his shoulders as they walked through the foyer towards the stairs. “Sounds like you’ve been busy. But you need to chill. No need to be this stressed, we’ve got it under control.”
“Right, that’s what I’m worried about.” She sighed. “Nothing is ever under control when we’re in the field.”
The pair headed up the three flights. “Here you go, I’m right across the hall.” Lauren pointed to an open door. Entering the spacious bedroom, Lauren turned. “After you freshen up, head downstairs, turn right at the bottom of the stairs, and go straight down the hall, through the kitchen, and out the door on the left. That’ll take you into the garage. I’ll meet you there.”
“What’s all the hurry? I thought we had a couple of days to sort all this out and then head to the lake.”
Lauren blamed the weather, but that was only one reason. She knew that she was trying to distance herself from her confrontation with Sharon and all the emotions it brought up as quickly as possible. “There’s a cold front headed this way, with more than a foot of snow forecast for the Yampa Valley. Who knows how much will fall in the surrounding mountains? I don’t want to get trapped in the mountains in a tent during a blizzard. Let’s plan on leaving here at five tomorrow morning.”
Jamie’s eyes widened and he flopped onto the bed, bouncing on the quilt covered surface. “Geez! Are you kidding me? Five a.m.? We’ve got plenty of time to get all the stations set up. If we can’t head out before the storm, let’s wait until there is a clear forecast.”
Lauren shrugged. “No can do. I want us outta here by tomorrow morning.”
Chapter Six
“WE’LL LEAVE THE TRUCK in the trailhead parking lot. I’m sure Peter doesn’t want any problems with a violation of Forest Service regulations.” Lauren took mental inventory of their supplies and sampling equipment as they drove. “With weather like this I’m not sure how long we’ll have to set up the stations.”
The skies had darkened to a slate gray and the ceiling was slowly sinking to
wards them as they climbed along Seed House Road toward Mount Zirkel. “The National Weather Service reported cloudy conditions for several days ahead of the approaching cold front. We should have plenty of time to ski into the lakes and get the stations set up before any real weather hits the area.”
Lauren wasn’t as sure. She never fully trusted weather predictions. She’d been sunburned, windblown, sandstormed, frozen, snowed-in, typhooned, monsooned, and hurricaned in too many remote areas when clear weather was forecast to fully trust weather forecasts. “Let’s try to make the deployment as quick as possible.”
“At least the area has already had significant cold, and we can count on three to four feet of good ice on the lakes.” Jamie’s comments swirled around Lauren as fast as the ground blizzards kicked up in their wake.
Silence shrouded the SUV for the remainder of their trip. Lauren couldn’t get feelings of foreboding out of her head. Come on, Beckwith. You’re just shaken by what Sharon said. Put it behind you and get your head in the game. This weather and the terrain are too dangerous to be distracted.
Yesterday, while they completed their equipment checks in the garage, Lauren shared everything Sharon had said about CP&E. Much to her surprise Jamie said he also shared her rising unease and unsettled thoughts about their data and its use. His twenty years in the industry gave him a broader perspective. He’d worked on both ‘sides’ of environmental projects. What he’d learned was that ultimately everyone came to this point. That everyone needed to balance the objectives of their work with their personal ethics. That everyone needed to make their own decisions about their place in the world. Place in the world indeed, no pressure there. But Lauren’s respect for Jamie increased exponentially.
Arriving at the parking area, they began pulling equipment from the SUV and preparing the first sled loads. They would use the sleds to transport all the probes, monitoring equipment, electronics, fuel, ice drills, and miscellaneous survival gear needed for an outdoors stay in the winter of the northern Rockies.
The two worked well together and were comfortable in their roles. They were on their way with the first load faster than she’d expected. Darkness fell early at this latitude so daylight hours were precious. She had planned five two-hour round trips skiing into the campsite and back to ferry in all their equipment. However, the three-feet of thick powdery snow that had fallen over the last weeks made skiing almost impossible.
Not twenty minutes down the trail, Lauren gasped out a halt. “Let’s switch to snow shoes and take turns breaking trail so we don’t exhaust ourselves too fast.”
Soon they were beyond speaking, too winded from the altitude and deep snow to waste their breath on words. Two hours later, rounding a turn, Jamie halted suddenly.
Lauren, head hanging, missed his abrupt stop and plowed into the back of his sled. “Hey, signal next time!”
Without turning Jamie raised an arm to signal for her to join him at the corner of the trail. Setting her sled’s brake and releasing her harness, she made her way up to him. She stopped beside him, breathless. What happened? She gasped.
Lauren had studied the topography and geology of the area during project planning and chose this area specifically for its isolation and internal drainage. Mountains completely ringed the northern and eastern sides of the area creating a circular basin. The enclosed space contained thirteen lakes fed exclusively by snowmelt from the surrounding peaks. No one could argue that their results would be tainted by water flowing in from elsewhere. However, no amount of fact finding, analysis, or study prepared Lauren for the sight before her.
The huge bowl was filled with a forest of Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and Aspen trees. Granite arêtes ringed the basin. The soaring rocky ridges sparkled orange in the mid-morning sun. Ice-covered lakes dotted the floor of the bowl, scattered through the emerald forest like a string of milky smooth pearls. Snow covered tallis slopes dipped gently away from the sheer rocky peaks. Frozen waterfalls marked the route of the internal drainages that fed the lakes. Centered in the bowl, Gilpin Lake shined like a beacon.
A herd of female elk with their yearlings clustered in the center of the basin. Four bull elk stood equidistance from each other and the herd in the first stand of trees. As if sensing the intruders, the four bulls raised their heads in unison. They regarded the pair with the disdain only an animal without a predator could.
“How can we invade this space?” Jamie whispered. “It’s totally unspoiled by the outside world. Maybe Sharon was right. Maybe we shouldn’t do this.”
Lauren could not take her eyes off the vista before them. “Except if the reports are correct, the outside world is already invading it on the winds. Those lakes will be sterile in a few more years, and the forest stripped bare by acid snowfall. We’ve got no choice. We have to collect these data. No one else can.”
“Okay then, we collect the best data we can. Let the data show what is really happening here. Make sure that the Sierra Club fights a good fight. Insure that CP&E doesn’t skew our results. And we arm Sharon to fight for change.”
Given the unspoiled scene before her, Lauren gained a true appreciation for Sharon’s quiet fury. She couldn’t believe a company could put profits before such a gorgeous place. That a company didn’t care about preserving a place like this. “I really don’t know anything anymore. I’m glad we decided on underwater sampling devices though. Nothing’ll be seen once the snow covers the marker buoys. But let’s minimize our impact and set up camp outside the basin. We’ll only go down to the basin floor to set out the monitors.” Retracing her steps back to her sled, Lauren began the slow process of turning her sled and heading back down to the last clearing large enough to hold their campsite.
The work had gone well. They had set up all but the last two stations without disturbing the elk. The herd quietly grazed around the basin floor while they completed the deployment of equipment. Sampling had already begun, and the first monitors were returning data through the company’s satellite.
Snow began to fall as Jamie and Lauren headed to the next-to-last station position. Lauren contemplated the darkening sky as the wind velocity increased, her worry growing with each passing hour. Now she watched as black clouds spilled over the northern ridge and began to fill the basin.
Tearing her attention from the clouds. “This weather’s arriving a lot faster than predicted. We won’t have time to finish deploying the last two probes if we do it together. Let’s split up and each take one site. We need to get out of this basin before that storm arrives.” She motioned to the building clouds. “You head downstream, and I’ll head upstream, let’s set the last two stations, and then meet back at the camp. Whoever gets back to camp first can begin breaking down the camp and load their sled. With just our camping gear we should only have one outbound trip each.”
Jamie hitched up his pack. “I really don’t feel comfortable splitting up.”
“We’ve got to do it there is no other way.” Lauren knew the dangers of splitting up, but they didn’t have any time left, the weather wasn’t going to wait for them. And if all the monitoring stations weren’t set at the same time, their data would be useless.
Reluctantly, Jamie agreed to split up. Lauren hiked up to the first lake and made it to the coordinates for the last monitoring station. The snow was falling heavier now and soon the lake shore was lost in the swirling winds. She pulled her headlamp out of her pack; the narrow beam lit a small circular area in front of her. I gotta hurry. If I can’t see the trail back up the ridge, I’ll never find our campsite.
The auger worked quickly cutting through the thick ice, and soon black lake water welled up to the surface. Wasting no time, Lauren pulled the last probe from her sled and hooked up the wires. She gently lowered the probe into the icy water. Just as the probe reached the bottom, and the wires went slack, a loud boom echoed around the lake. Jerking her head up, she surveyed the tree line. Was that a gun shot? What fool would hunt in this weather? No way they could see their targ
et clearly in this storm.
Shaking her head, Lauren tried to connect the probe’s lead wires to the monitor buoy, but, the lake water had soaked her outer mittens. The mittens were freezing stiff preventing her from completing the fine connections. Even though her fingers were starting to tingle, Lauren pulled off the mittens, dropping them by the hole. She quickly completed the connections. Carefully, she lifted the wired buoy from the sled just as another boom crashed around her. Lauren looked up at the clouds billowing overhead. Could that be thunder flurries? Those clouds look thick enough to contain convection. If that was the case, Lauren had run out of time. Gotta speed it up here.
She gently lifted the buoy and placed it in the hole. It bobbed in place, its satellite antenna waving in the air. Lauren began refilling the hole with the leftover ice shavings and was packing those tightly around the antenna, when a third boom shook the ice surface. The wind had blown the frozen lake surface clear of snow and she now stood on a dark crystalline surface. Lauren watched in horror as cracks began to radiate outward from the buoy hole. A tinkling—like breaking glass—sounded as she watched the cracks expand.
“Oh no! This is so not happening.” Lauren leapt across the growing cracks, pushing the sled in front of her. As she approached the shore, Lauren gave the sled a final shove, and it slid easily up the bank, on to solid ground. But the cracks caught her. Heart pounding, she dropped to her knees and then spread-eagled on the ice, trying desperately to distribute her body weight evenly across the surface. She watched as the cracks surrounded her from all directions. She held her breath and tried to remain still. But, with a small pop, the ice gave way, and Lauren was dropped into the freezing lake.
