by Chris Huffman and Ken Fletcher
TRINIDAD — Jody Jolton was born in Trinidad in June 1935 in the original Mt. San Rafael Hospital to Nat and Evelyn Jolton. Her parents had opened the Jolton’s Ladies and Men’s Ready to Wear Drygoods and Shoe Store in April 1930 in the Aiello Building on West Main Street. Later the store moved to its new location in the Columbian Hotel building where it operated for many years. You can still find the name inlaid in mosaic tile in the 100 block of West Main Street. The store is long since gone, but their mark remains a part of downtown Trinidad. Jolton’s served Trinidad consumers for five decades, changing ownership several times before the doors closed for the last time in the 1980s, but Jody has never forgotten her ties to her home town.Jody returned to Trinidad in 2005, revisiting the stomping grounds of her early childhood days, but recently her travels have taken her farther south. Very far south, to Antarctica to be exact.
Jody wrote to a Trinidad friend, Ken Fletcher, whom she met during her visit in 2005, “I just came back from the most amazing and exciting adventure – my friend, Paul Glaser, and I went to Antarctica – unbelievable scenery with all the glaciers and ice formations, and saw lots of penguins, whales, seals, sea lions, birds and other wildlife – incredible adventure!” The trip was Paul’s suggestion. Jody continued, “We went on zodiacs (large rubber rafts) to land (from our ship), sitting on the edge hoping to not fall over into the sea, and 20 to 30 feet from shore we hopped into the very cold water up to our knees onto the rocks and walked to shore. The wildlife was all around us and remained undisturbed by our presence, as you can see in the photo.”
This photo, sent to Ken Fletcher, of Jody and her friend, Paul, was taken at Neko Harbor, on the west coast of Graham Land. The couple flew from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires on January 27, 2015, where they stayed for a few days before flying to the southernmost tip of Argentina – Ushuaia – which they were told is the southernmost city in the world, before going to Antarctica. From there, they boarded an ice cutter ship. The legendary Drake Passage took them two days to cross in unusually mild seas as the Drake Passage is considered to be one of the most treacherous seas to navigate. They then experienced a nine day “adventure” including some rough seas. Visiting during Antarctica’s summer in January, temperatures were a balmy 20 degrees with constant sunlight and more solar radiation than at the equator.
Antarctica is protected by a unique international treaty, which preserves the wildlife and its natural habitats. To protect the fragile environment, all travelers go ashore in small groups, and are asked to take – and leave – nothing ashore. No country has sovereignty, although several governments maintain permanent manned research stations on the continent. Antarctica has a population of about 5,000 in the summer, and only 1,000 in winter.
Jody may have begun her life in the western frontier of Trinidad, Colorado, but she has visited, with sheer amazement, the Earth’s last frontier, exploring some of the world’s most pristine wilderness – where towering mountains of ice and lava create precipitous coastlines and islands with constantly changing patterns of ice stretching as far as the eyes can see. And in this seemingly harsh environment, she experienced a vast array of wildlife, from penguins to seals to whales. “Life is an adventure! – enjoy every minute!” says Jody.
Thanks for sharing it with your hometown friends in Trinidad, Jody!
