Ear to the ground

“I hate to say it but Michael Phelps has actually gone way up in my book.” 

– A Durangoan commenting on the Olympian’s recent bong scandal

Check mate

Local recreation is once again nabbing headlines in unusual places.The Muskogee Phoenix, a daily serving several counties in Northeast Oklahoma, recently profiled one of La Plata County’s lesser known species – “the Durangotang, subclass chess nerd.”

An Okie from Muskogee stopped over at Durango Joe’s on a Wednesday in early February to take in the coffee shop’s weekly chess night. “On Wednesdays chess nerds of all varieties converge on Durango Joe’s from throughout the Four Corners,” the reporter wrote.

Prior to a match-up, the man from the Phoenix assessed his subject matter. “Durangotangs are usually spotted in jeans and Merrells,” he wrote. “They often travel in Subarus. Like a waitress holding a tray, many carry with them an air of outdoorsy, piney, coolness that would humble a neurosurgeon.”

On that note, the reporter settled in for some heated black-on-white action. Ethan Nissani, and Patrick Reilly squared off in a chess match the writer characterized as “a battle of Durangotangs.”The Phoenix described the match blow-by-blow and square-by-square including the game’s high-point where “Black mates with the beautiful ng4xh2.”

Nissani eventually conceded the game but not without asking, “What happens in Durango, stays in Durango, right?”

Authentic America

Durango scored yet another high-profile headline in the otherTelegraph (that little, start-up publication in London). The local burg got airtime in the story, “The USA: An insider’s guide to authentic American experiences.”

The account opens with, “From wild west ranch stays to taste tours of bourbon distilleries, these experiences could happen only in America.” The reporter then transports readers to Wilderness Trails Ranch east of Durango. “An unspoilt landscape bigger than Surrey and punctuated with mountains topping 12,000 feet is right on the doorstep,” he writes.

For a couple thousand pounds, Brits can “ride, hike, learn to rope cattle, singalong by a campfire, swim in the pool” for a week.