My Cave My View

Women Need More and Different Things

Now that I am retired, I have a little more disposable time on my hands, and I am starting to notice things that I had never even once considered. This new awareness may cause problems in our marriage because I have no business asking about things I know nothing about. I am noticing...

St. George Marathon 2026

Stupid is as stupid does. That pretty much sums up how I learn life’s lessons. I wish I had that personality that readily accepts wisdom and advice from others, but I don’t. I am running the St. George Marathon, and it is hot, I am tired, and I still have 17 miles to go. I see a woman holding a...

Last print issue of the San Juan Record. AI image

End of an Era…Change

Change. I love change and I hate change. There are some things that I wish would stay the same forever; like my dear momma cooking tortillas and the smell of green chili roasting on the grill. Another anchor in my life is that on every Wednesday since dinosaurs roamed the earth, I would go to...

Monticello residents line Abajo Drive in the evening, expressing their gratitude and cheering on exhausted firefighters who are heading up into the Abajo Mountains to battle the Babylon Fire that continues to burn west of Monticello and north of Blanding. Tessa Perkins photo

Fire in the sky produces the best of times and the worst of times

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I drove by the wheat fields the other day and was reminded of the “amber waves of grain” from America the Beautiful. I couldn’t help but enjoy the moment of complete satisfaction and gratitude. America is 250 years old and I couldn’t be...

A too kind and loving wife supervising CaveGuy Gary Torres as he cleans up Pineapple Swirl Ice-cream. Courtesy photo

Cleaning the cabin of Benjamin Perkins

I have been to visit the Bluff Fort again. We make this pilgrimage every time a new set of grandkids come to visit. My too kind and loving wife comes from the second wife of Benjamin Perkins - Sarah. So, we have roots in San Juan County at least as deep as the Hole-in-the-Rock that ol’ Ben helped...

Hundreds of years after it was abandoned, an ancient pot still sits under a protected alcove in a remote (and namesless) corner of the canyon country. Gary Torres photo

Ancient pot at end of the rainbow

We were back out exploring San Juan County last week. We were looking for the pot at the end of the rainbow. I may as well have been looking for a unicorn or sasquatch. Years ago, I had heard about a large intact pot in an Indian ruin somewhere in San Juan County. Well, SJC is big and rough,...

Gary Torres at the Scarey Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV. See more photos at the San Juan Record website at sjrnews.com. Courtesy photo

Scary Clown Motel and UFOs

I am staying at the Scary Clown Motel in Tonopah, NV. I am planning to stay here which seemed like a much better idea during the day when I am not scared of clowns. I am usually much braver when it is daylight, or my too kind and loving wife is with me. Let me start at the beginning. I am on my...

The day I learned to swear and drive

The house I grew up in did not have a furnace. We heated with a fireplace. I remember getting up every morning and starting a fire with chips of cedar wood. My mother hated the smell of diesel so she wouldn’t let us start the fire using diesel. In our later years she relented and finally let my...

Gary Torres with his father. Courtesy photo

Uncle Joe teaches me to poach a deer

by Gary Torres My Cave My View Most people called my dad Uncle Joe; even those not related. I was a young boy, about nine years old, when my dad and my uncle Cosme took me hunting up on the mountain. The only problem was it was not hunting season. Some people would probably call that poaching,...

Moses (or at least a credible AI facsimile) joins a group of local hikers for a warmup donut on the Honaker Trail. Courtesy photo

Moses hikes the Honaker Trail

The flyer said, “Youth Hike. 60 degrees. Pack a light Jacket. Bring a lunch, snacks, and water.” I woke up and there was snow on the ground, so 60 degrees, a light jacket and snacks sounded inviting. I consider myself young compared to dirt, so I gathered my hiking gear (Pepsi, Almond M&Ms...