I arrived at the vineyard Monday evening just before sunset. I had to drive down a long, windy gravel road that led deep into the Montezuma Canyon. The area is totally off the grid, and the canyon is amazing. It really is an oasis in the middle of the dessert. Lots of cows on the road, too.
I met Danny, the farm owner and manager, and Hank, his blue heeler, as I pulled up to his adobe house. He introduced me to the other WWOOFers, two from the UK and two from France. All guys about 20 and all friendly. I was a bit surprised to see the inside of the house where they were staying because it was so luxurious. They were all playing guitar hero on a big screen TV and had a table set up for beer pong. I'm not a fan of video games (Ms Pac-Man being the exception) or beer pong and my first reaction was oh my god, I just walked into a fraternity! Not the bare-bones organic farm life I expected or wanted. I started wondering how fast I could find another farm.
No worries... it got better.
Danny gave me a tour of the vineyards on the mule--the ATV that can traverse the rough canyon terrain. He owns over 100 acres of property, but only about 30 of it is suitable for growing. He has over 20 acres of grapes and is planting another 6 acres this summer. He also has some fruit trees, but all of the apricots and cherries were obliterated by a late frost this season. Peaches may survive, and the grapes are all going strong.
Danny's family bought the property 6 years ago and he took it over 3 years ago. He decided he wanted to grow organic grapes with nothing more than some introductory viticulture classes. And he decided to do it in the middle of Mormon country, which considers alcohol to be similar to the plague. So far, it's going well. He makes his own wine in a nearby cave, but only for personal use because it will be a few years before he can get a license to sell it publicly. He sells most of his wine grapes to nearby wineries. Table grapes and other fruits sell at farmers markets in Monticello and Moab.
Next to one of the vineyards, sitting along the canyon wall, is a cozy white trailer. Danny told me all the rooms in the house were full, so I'd have to sleep there. I think he thought I'd be disappointed, but that was the best news he could have told me.
I love my trailer! It's clean, has more space than I need and it gives me some privacy and solitude, which I've learned to appreciate. It also means I can go to bed before the other WWOOFers are done making a late night racket in the house. Of course, I'm welcome in the house whenever I want. It takes about three minutes to walk there.
We went back to the house for a bean soup dinner and I got acquainted with the other volunteers. At about midnight, Danny asked if we wanted to go for a ride. All six of us piled into the mule, two standing on the back, and Danny drove us deep into the canyon. When he reached a small clearing we got out and followed him over some rocks. It was pretty dark and hard to see the ground, but the sound of running water grew closer and closer. Eventually, we shone a light over the edge of one the rocks and saw that it stood over a waterfall that dropped about 20 feet straight below us. We kept climbing across rocks until Danny told us to turn off the flashlights and look up.
It turns out this is one of the best stargazing regions in the country. I had never seen so many stars! Not only that, but shooting stars flared across the sky every few minutes. I had only seen two shooting stars in my whole life, but that night I lost count. We all found places to lay down and stare straight up at the sky, which we did for almost an hour. A really good bottle of rum was passed around the whole time.
I ended up sleeping on the sofa in the house that night because it became too late to get the trailer set up. I fell asleep feeling pretty good.
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