Chesterfield Chipmunk sat dozing in his extra-comfy recliner. A late-winter blizzard had closed roads, government offices, and most businesses in the quiet Colorado city of Trinidad. Chet hated being snowed-in, and he didn’t know what to do when he couldn’t leave his Queen Anne Revival style house. Chet took a photo of the scene outside his window. Not a good photo. It was all white, like a sheet of paper. This is what it looked like:

What’s a chipmunk to do? Fortunately, he and his mate Kimana had an extensive treasure trove of DVD’s, which included many classic movies. Chesterfield liked adventure movies, especially those that involved some humorous elements. During the last two days, he had watched all of the movies in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, plus The Treasure of Sierra Madre, and The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw. He really enjoyed Treasure Island and had viewed three adaptations of Stevenson’s novel.

When Kimana insisted that she have a chance to watch both versions of Father of the Bride, Chet escaped to an upstairs room to read. [WHAT?!! READ!! The little critter really was desperate for something to do!!] Eureka!! He found his precious copy of Classics Illustrated Treasure Island.

In the weeks following the Great Blizzard, Chesterfield continued to be enthralled by stories of adventure. As winter slipped away, and as Spring blossomed, he watched all of the Indiana Jones movies, in addition to several pirate movies and that delightful Romancing the Stone. He even continued to read! He decided that Jack London was his favorite author. When a new neighbor renovated an early 20th century house, he found a “pirate’s chest” which seemed to contain the entire library of Classics Illustrated; he gave this collection to a grateful and very happy Chesterfield. As the little chipmunk perused the adaptations of works by Scott, Kipling, R.H.Dana, and J.F. Cooper, his reading skills grew to such a level that he even took on The Odyssey.

Chet and his friend Guido, the gnome who ran the ristorante across the street from Chet’s Picketwire Café, met frequently for coffee and conversation. Chesterfield often talked excitedly about his love of adventure and the stories he had recently read. One evening, over their espresso, “Stripes” enthused about Classics Illustrated Adventures of Marco Polo. Guido, of course, had read The Travels, and so the two friends discussed the adventures of the renowned traveler. Guido also brought up other Italian explorers, such as Cristoforo Colombo, Amerigo Vespucci, and Giovanni Caboto.

“Hey, Chet, I have some exciting news. Today, I heard from our friend Roy L. George. He’s putting together an ecognomic expedition to visit the Ruby Mining District near Crested Butte.”

“Ecognomic? Whassat?”

“Oh, that’s a combination of words. ‘Eco’ from ‘ecology’ and ‘gnomic’ – about gnomes.”

“Well, that could be interesting. Let’s see if we can join them.”

The Eco-gnomes scheduled their journey as a way to celebrate Midsummer Day. Before dawn that day, Chesterfield and Guido mounted their mighty iron steeds and headed north out of Trinidad. An easy 35 minutes on I-25 to Walsenburg, where they turned onto CO-69. Then 40miles northwest to Bradford, and from there about five miles to the summit of Promontory Divide. They considered this Divide to be the southern end of the Wet Mountain Valley, although many geographers thought the Valley extended farther south.

The two trekkers from Trinidad continued north on CO-69 about 40 miles to where the road intersected US-50 (and the Arkansas River) at Texas Creek. Less than an hour later, they were in Salida, in a coffee shop called Sacred Ground. Their friend Roy L. George had arranged to meet them there as he rode west from Cañon City.

After their coffee break, the traveling trio headed west on US-50, over Monarch Pass, to Gunnison. At Gunnison, they turned north on CO-135 for the 35 mile ride to the former coal-mining town of Crested Butte.

The members of the Ecognomic Expedition gathered at a taqueria in Crested Butte. After their lunch, Roy L. George mounted his antique Gnome et Rhône motorcycle and led the group to an outfitter located south of town on Journey’s End Road.

The outfitter rented a string of trail burros to the Expedition. He also allowed them to camp on his property overnight, and he further provided storage for their motorcycles while they trekked into the mountain wilderness. An aficionado of motorcycles, he was excited to host this impressive array of powerful machines; besides Chesterfield’s classic Indian Scout, there were bikes from BSA, Harley, Ducati, and Honda.

Early the next morning, the outfitter loaded the burros and his guests on a large animal trailer and drove them a short distance south to the confluence of Cement Creek and East River. This would be the starting point for the expedition. 😊

Chesterfield was too small to handle a burro by himself, so he rode with Roy. “Hey, Roy, where are we going?” “We’re headed for North Italian Mountain.” “North Italian Mountain! Guido should like that! Why are we going there?” “Well, remember, we gnomes are guardians of the earth’s treasures. This mountain is one of only four places in the whole world where there are mineable deposits of gem-quality lapis lazuli.” “I’ve never heard of this lapis stuff. What is it?” “Lapis lazuli is a metamorphic rock characterized by an intense dark blue color streaked with pyrite inclusions. It looks a little bit like turquoise, but the blue is much darker.” “Oh, cool!” “We might find some other special rocks, such as amethyst. There’s also an abandoned silver mine in that area.”

The group proceeded northeast on Forest Road 740 which ran along Cement Creek. That afternoon, they selected a campsite along the upper reaches of the creek, on the east slope of Hunters Hill. The next morning, they continued a short distance north along the small stream and then turned southeast near Mount Tilton. From there, they followed a relatively gentle slope to North Italian Mountain.

At their destination, the gnomes quickly scattered and took up their individual rock-hounding quests. One gnome, who had a deep interest in ancient religions, stopped to pray to the venerable deities Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hathor, beseeching their guidance as he sought deposits of copper and azurite. [He was also fascinated with another guardian of the earth’s treasures, The Mistress of the Copper Mountain, from Russian folklore.]

Chesterfield tagged along with some of the other gnomes as they searched for interesting minerals and semi-precious stones. And then, he made a Great Discovery! A dark blue rock bigger than himself, in fact as big as a red squirrel! He was convinced this was lapis lazuli although a small voice in his head said it could have been some other blue rock, such as azurite. Guido and Roy L. George came over to examine his find. Roy said that this rock was an exceptionally fine specimen of lapis lazuli.

Chet was under the spell of an unrestrained, extravagant fantasy. He could find some silver or maybe even gold nearby; then, he could have someone make beautiful jewelry for his mate, Kimana. Perhaps a butterfly brooch, since her name means ‘butterfly’.

Of course, all of the gnomes in the Expedition were exceedingly knowledgeable in the fields of geology and mineralogy. To Chesterfield’s delight, a member of the group was also skilled in the arts of lapidary; he had even studied with a Navajo silversmith! This friendly gnome agreed to create several pieces of jewelry for Kimana.

Two months later, a package from Tségháhoodzání (also known as Window Rock, Arizona)arrived at the chipmunk home in Trinidad. It was full of exquisite jewelry made of stunning blue stones set in silver. Kimana adored her new butterfly brooch, along with a necklace with a matching ring. There was also a ring for Chesterfield.

And they all lived happily ever after