Big Rock Candy Mountain

It started out as a day without any scheduled ceremonies or meetings. Nevertheless, it was an interesting day filled with unexpected experiences and wonderful people. After a very cold night in Panguitch we ran mostly on highway 89 north, into the hills and mountains of western Utah.

The air was fresh and cool with the energizing aroma of sage all around. The strong wind was at our backs luckily, making the uphills seem a bit easier. Most of the interesting experiences started in the afternoon. Salil, our Executive Director who cannot get enough of life on the road and has rejoined us for the third time, was out running through the small town of Junction with Goran as a teammate. Salil writes:

“As I was running through Junction, Utah, I was stopped by two Austrian tourists who were delighted by the World Harmony Run. As we were sharing stories, another car stopped and out hopped Cameron Ellsworth who was eager to hold the torch.

“He was soon joined by his father Bill, his brother Nathaniel and his sister Monique. They were doing a 15 day driving tour of Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, even making it up to Wyoming. We took a photo, shared some stories and went on our way.

(Please send me (Salil) a harmonemail if you see this photo of yourselves. We hope the rest of your trip is enjoyable.)”

There was another family from Connecticut, my home state, that stopped twice, once for Goran and once while Morris was running. It is very encouraging to us when people wave and honk from their cars, but it is truly special when people stop their cars to meet with us personally. These meetings are very precious to us and never forgotten.

As we were on our way to Richfield, I noticed a place nestled in the foothills of the local mountain range with a strong stream running past it. The unusual and attractive hills were contoured as if a huge sugar candy had melted and solidified all around us. It is appropriately called Big Rock Candy Mountain, just north of the tiny town of Marysville. The area consists only of a small motel, restaurant, gift shop, and gas station. I thought I would stop in to see if they had any complimentary rooms available, not really expecting much as there seemed to be only about 10 rooms in total.

The first person we talked to was Stoney Ward, the manager of the motel and gift shop. He was very friendly and hospitable, kindly offering two rooms in the motel.

Knowing that this was not enough for all 11 of us, he also offered the use of one of their cabins in the countryside outside of Marysville. The guys took the cabin as the women needed the two rooms at the motel for six of them, outnumbering the men by one. We were kindly shown to the cabin by Cher and her lovely Pomeranian dog named Gus. The log cabin was very modern and cozy, situated next to a strong stream from the melting snow in the surrounding mountains. We are so grateful to Cher and the Paiute Trail Resorts for such a wonderful accommodation.

With a few hours to spare before having to find or make our dinner, I thought that I could finally relax for a while as there was no internet access out here, so I did not have to work on the website update at the moment. I was hoping to take a peaceful walk by the stream and near the surrounding hills. Just as this relaxing thought came to mind, my cell phone rang. It was one of the women’s running teams. They had the motor home and wanted to drive it to the motel. But the engine would not start and they were stuck out in the middle of ‘nowhere’. So I had to get a ride to another vehicle at Big Rock Candy Resort then drive back 21 miles to rescue the motor home, a.k.a. ‘the R.V.’ or ‘Harmony Home’.

My past experiences of owning old cars and trying to keep them running came in handy. After realizing that the battery was almost dead but had enough power to start the engine, I fooled around with the carburetor and luckily got it started. I made it back to the cabin in time for a short nap and a walk by the stream, then onto dinner.

The other women’s team went to the restaurant at Big Candy Mountain Resort and met Terrrence Briggs, the owner and chef extraordinaire. He was so kind to offer us all meals for the evening. We were surprised to find such exquisite and delicious food here on the ‘side of the road’ with nothing but mountains, river and fields. Terrence later told us that he owns another restaurant in Provo, called ‘Guru’s’, and that we should stop in there to eat when we reach there.

It is so encouraging and heartwarming to find such wonderful people in a place you would not even notice if you blinked when you drove by. Some of the women met Royce Herman and James Rock, a native Navajo, who were working on building a new bike path through the area. They joined us for dinner and we shared some stories about our adventures and about their families. The food and service was superb thanks to Terrence, the owner and chef and to Brenda, our waitress.

We are very grateful to all those who made such a simple day turn into a very special day. As we make our way through this incredibly beautiful state of Utah, we are so impressed with the wonderful and vast vistas unveiled around each turn. But more so, we are quite impressed and touched by the very kind and generous people who live here in harmony with nature and with their fellow human beings as well.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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