Out-of-this-world in Colorado

 

One of the things I enjoy most about being a writer is the things I learn along the way. I adore research and I especially love to learn the history and lore of new places where I set portions of my stories. Most of my books take place in my two ‘home’ states of Texas and Louisiana. Since I’ve lived in both, I knew a lot about the area – but nowhere near all there is to know. In the writing process, I’ve garnered so much information and knowledge than I would have otherwise. My life is richer for it. One friend told me that I ought to try and get a job promoting the area, but I figure that’s what I’m doing – in my own way. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a few dozen readers (that I know of) who visited the places that I’ve written about – they called it going on the ‘Sable Hunter Tour’. I was flattered to say the least.

My most recent book, PREDESTINED – NATHAN MCCOY’S STORY is set in Texas and Colorado. I have visited the region in Colorado several times, but I’ve never lived there. However, in preparation for this book and a couple of others, I have delved deep into the interesting facts and folklore of the San Luis Valley. Needless to say, I fell in love. The beauty of the place is unparalleled.
                                                      
                                                                           

Stretching from southern Colorado to northern New Mexico, this mythical desert is a large flat basin surrounded by two magnificent mountain ranges, the San Juan to the west and the Sangre de Cristo to the east. I do love the seashore, but if I had to choose – the mountains would win every time. There are several peaks in the Sangre de Cristo that rise over 14,000 feet. Most of the year, these high points are snow-capped. The sight of these giants towering like gods rising from the earth are such a mind-boggling contrast when viewed from the desert basin below – especially from the Great Sand Dunes. 

                                                                         

(courtesy Chris Light – Wiki Commons)

The first time I saw the sand dunes, I felt like I was standing on a distant planet. Stretching over 30 square miles, they look like a restless ocean. 

The otherworldly vista is not the only thing that gives you pause…there’s an uncanny spiritual energy in the air. I know I felt it and I’ve read many accounts of others who feel it as well. That was one of the reasons I wanted to set PREDESTINED there – both Nathan and Clare have a few ‘extra’ sensory perceptions and they needed a backdrop as magical as they are.

I think this special energy is what drew the Utes and the Navaho here thousands of years ago. The tribes used the area for vision quests and as a sacred hunting ground. They considered the San Luis Valley to be the ‘place of emergence’ or the sipapu where they would see star people coming from the sky in flying pods. They called the highest point, Blanca Peak, the Sacred Mountain of the East.


 

Also, they would gather for a ritual at the Great Sand Dunes where the ground would open up and they would be welcomed into caverns deep within the earth for protection and healing. I can’t help but think that maybe this is what happened to the Anasazi Tribe who vanished mysteriously in this region hundreds of years ago.

In modern times, the San Luis Valley is called the Bermuda Triangle of the West. Incredible high levels of magnetism are recorded in the region, the same as at Stonehenge, Enchanted Rock (near me) and Machu Picchu. All of these sacred sites, including the San Luis Valley, share a similar connection to astronomy and an affinity with the stars and the gods who allegedly came from those far distant worlds. There are also many who study the carvings and hieroglyphs found at all those mysterious places and conclude they are depictions of extraterrestrial visitors. In the past people would scoff at such a notion, but not so much anymore – not since the government has come out with their studies and findings. In fact, there are more recorded sightings of unexplained aerial phenomena in the San Luis Valley than anywhere else in North America.

In Predestined, Clare – the heroine – lives in a cottage in the foothills of the San Juan Mountains. I sent her and Nathan on a date to explore the region. They traveled up to Florence to see the arrowhead collection at the Pioneer Museum.    

Later, they traveled through the Sand Dunes National Park and on to the UFO Watchtower – where they later got married in a ceremony far more romantic than its odd location would have you to believe.

 

I’m drawn to places like this – Saratoga Lights in Texas, Marfa Lights in Texas, Brown Mountain Lights in North Carolina – I love to just sit a spell to see what I can see. When I visited here, I wasn’t disappointed. I saw a configuration of lights I couldn’t explain. The owner of this odd little spot is a former cattle rancher named Judy Messoline. She built this place over twenty years ago – first as a joke – until people started coming. Now, tens of thousands of visitors visit to camp out and share a common interest in things they don’t understand.


 

Judy, who started out as a skeptic, is now a true believer. She has witnessed 28 sightings herself. Her most exciting memory, that she observed along with a dozen or more other folk, was of a cigar shaped ship that tore across the valley sky at untold speed.

While I was in Colorado, I had one other mystical UFO sighting. It was from my hotel room in Telluride. From my window I could observe the beautiful peaks of the distant mountains. I’d studied them close enough to know that there were no buildings on the rocky ridges. However, late that night when I got up to go to the restroom, I happened to look out the window and see lights high up on one of the peaks. It looked like one of those revolving restaurants with the glass windows. I could see a rounded row of lights. I woke everyone up to make them watch with me. We stared at it for hours and some tried to convince me that it was someone’s house way up there – but I knew better. I stayed up as long as I could, but I finally gave out and went to sleep. When we woke up the next morning, the ridge was empty. Whatever was up there had flown off during the night. I loved it.

Anyway – I wanted to give you a glimpse of a very unique and mysterious place. And if you would like to read a love story using these gorgeous surroundings as a backdrop – I invite you to read the newest HELL YEAH! – PREDESTINED.

Have you ever seen something you couldn’t explain? I’d love to know. If you have email me at sablehuntertx@gmail.com. I hope you all have a wonderful and safe day.

Love, Sable