everyone had staked out a picnic table with a small iron grill nearby and a place to park and a place to set up a tent and everyone had set out their six packs of beer and pop and boxes of cooking pots , pans and junk food and army surplus plates and pocket knives and little bundles of pinyon to burn and little hatchets to split it with , and everyone was combing the woods looking for sticks and twigs for kindling and making small talk when they encountered one another , and , little by little , they all gave up hope and packed up and went home , or back east , or west , or on their way , as the sky grew grayer and more ominous , and the rain fell cold and turned to snow , and the far off peaks grew white that very afternoon , and soon it was just ronnie and cindy and some guys from indiana whose car broke down , who 'd been hitching rides into the nearby town of idaho springs from one family or another all day , getting parts and exchanging them and trying new things , and god knew they 'd probably still be there next week , when cindy suggested they try this again .