Gunfire and Cannabis

We were just west of Idaho Springs a few days ago, not having any luck finding an official campsite. It was the weekend and they were all full. So we did what we often do and started looking  for a dispersed spot on some Forestry land. It was around 7pm when we headed up an unpaved road which we could see on our map. It started to climb steeply and got very rough and rutted, and our van struggled to make it. Luckily it soon flattened out and revealed a nice little treed turn-out beside a creek that looked perfect to us. It was off the beaten track, dead quiet and we were sure noone would bother us here.

Our "quiet" campsite

As we were getting the roof raised and the inside of the van organised, the silence was broken by the sound of gunfire. Single shots followed by rapid-fire. Frank and I looked at each other. The shooting continued. It seemed to be coming from further up the road and higher in the forest above us. It would pause for awhile then start again.
We wondered if we should just pack up and go somewhere else. But surely they were just some harmless guys doing target practice in the woods. But what if they were drunk and wandering around shooting randomly?  What if we got hit by stray bullets? Was their a shooting range up there? Surely once darkness came they would stop shooting. Or not! Foolishly or otherwise, we decided to stick around. The shooting continued for over an hour. Hundreds of shots must have been fired. The rapid-fire shooting was more alarming to me. Automatic weapons are scarey.
My gut feeling was that eventually the shooters would probably drive back down this road. As dusk approached, I made sure to turn on a few of our lights to make us as visible as possible. I hoped that if they were still shooting randomly, that if they saw us they might refrain from directing shots our way! Frank and I proceeded with our cocktails. If we were going to die, we might as well go out with a gin and tonic!
It was starting to get dark when the lights of two vehicles made their way down the hill towards us. As they went by, we could hear one of them say "look, cool!" The rest of the night was quiet.
We all know our American neighbour's like their guns. We just don't come across this in Canada.

How ironic that I saw this Tshirt in a rural 
gift shop the morning after the gunfire!


Another thing we're not used to is such widespread and open use of marijuana in public. Everywhere we go in Colorado, we smell pot! Colorado is one of the nine States in which it is legal. However, big changes are already underway in Canada, so our reality is about to change. On June 18th, the Canadian House of Commons voted 205 to 82 in favour of legalising pot, and next day it was approved by the Senate. Now it will be up to each Province to regulate its sale and use.
Here in Colorado, it was interesting to see in the Boulder Weekly, their free local newspaper, the last nine pages were advertising for cannabis. Big, whole page colour ads! Maybe that's what we'll see in our Calgary Herald any day now!

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