Living on the road surely provides many opportunities to meet interesting folks from just about anywhere you can think of. That happened when I decided to escape the 98 degree heat of far Southern Arizona’s hinterlands and head back eastward to a favorite place in the Dragoon Mountains. I pulled into a camping spot within eye-shot of where I had camped early in 2025 and looked to see if there was anyone I had met before. No, hmm… the area had far fewer campers than my previous stay. Nice and thankfully quiet after driving I-10 with heavy truck traffic for 125 miles.
The road into the Dragoon mountains looked a bit more rugged than it had last year, so when I saw the diesel dually pulling a big horse trailer approach, I wandered over and met the driver, whom I quickly advised that the road ahead might be dicey for the big rig and a tough one to back out of. She and her companion got out of the truck, walked on the road, and decided it wasn’t worth trying. Instead, they camped nearby and set up a makeshift corral for the horses.
Settled in, we visited and got to talking about the usual traveler stuff, starting with “Where are you from”?
Alaska…
That was it, the conversation flowed like the Kenai River. Collene and Paula are commercial fishermen. Collene and her husband are out of Juneau, and Paula hails from Kenai. Paula has a place in Washington state, too, where she keeps the horses. They fish when the commercial fishing season opens. Paula knows Alaska well, having grown up in Dutch Harbor, on the peninsula. Their fishing is primarily for salmon, but they also catch other seafood. Check them out at Takustore.com. Their smoked salmon products are fantastic.
So, we had a quick lunch together, chattering away while they packed up to leave.
Afterward, lo and behold, on my walk back to my rig, another woman walked toward me, who turned out to be a friend I had met here last year. Bryn and her companion Mark, both seasonal workers in Wyoming’s national forests, had just arrived. Amazing. That friendly reunion will be short because this is just a familiar stopover for them. They’re on their way to Portal, AZ, and the Coronado National Forest to do some rock climbing.
Here they are, intrepid travelers, lifelong climbers, partners on the road of life.
