craigdailypress.com

A homeless man has found a shady spot in Craig he likes.

"Big John" said he has been hitchhiking and walking across the United States for 40 years.

"Ever since I was little, my parents took us cross-country," John said. "When they quit, I kept doing it."

John has been on the road since he was 14 years old, he said. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

"There are more things to see in this country than 10 people will see in their lifetimes," John said.

He said that of all the small towns in America that he's been through, Craig is the nicest.

"This is the first little town I've been in that people are nice," John said, "even the cops."

John said he stopped in Craig on his way to Routt National Forest for the Rainbow Family of Living Light gathering, and he liked it so much, he came back.

"I came back because of the people," he said.

John set up his tent in the shade of a tree behind First Christian Church on West Victory Way.

"(They) said as long as this tree is here, I can stay," he said.

In Craig, John said he has been working odd jobs, including painting The Flower Mine, and selling his art.

John said he enjoys drawing because it comes easily to him, and it provides him with a source of income.

"If it weren't for my ability to draw and my love for art, I would probably starve to death," he said.

John said that he sells his art whenever he can, anywhere he visits.

He said he doesn't follow the Rainbow gatherings, but in his travels he has been to about 80 of them.

"I do it to get away for a while and get back to nature," he said. "I don't have to worry about the crazy things going on in civilization."

The Rainbow gathering in Clark is this year's national gathering, John said.

There are monthly gatherings, but the big one happens around the Fourth of July every year, John said.

John said that a best thing about the gatherings is the freedom.

"I can sit up on a mountain and just draw," he said.

Denise Ottaviano, an information officer with the Forest Service, said that the estimated attendance for the gathering is approximately 15,000 people.

With all those people, it's natural that Craig received a sprinkling of the Rainbow people.

Kirk Mahaffie, the store manager of the Craig City Market, that he has seen a couple of the Rainbow attendees in his store who have stopped in to stock up on supplies.

"We've seen a few, but we haven't a single issue (with them)," he said.

Bonnie Dalton, who works at the East Kum & Go, said the Rainbow gatherers haven't caused any problems.

She said that she wasn't aware of any problems, and customers haven't complained about the Rainbow people, "only the fact that a lot of them weren't showering."

Although there haven't been any problems in Craig, Ottaviano said there have been a lot of citations written at the gathering.

She said that there have been 541 violations written to people in the Routt National Forest.

Of that 541, 289 were for illegal occupancy, and 158 were drug-related, Ottaviano said.

Even though drugs and alcohol were evident at the Rainbow Gathering, John said that he doesn't do them.

"I don't do drugs, and I had my first beer in six months (Tuesday) night," John said.

He said that the idea that all homeless people are hooked on drugs or alcohol isn't true.

He said that being homeless isn't as bad as it's cut out to be.

"Most people that are homeless are homeless because they want to be," he said. "Probably 90 percent."

Dominic Graziano can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 209, or dgraziano@craigdailypress.com.