GUNNISON

The dock was quiet for a summer afternoon on Saturday. Boat slips sat mostly empty as the marina prepared to shut down for the year — six weeks early. Eric Loken’s walk from the top of the concrete ramp stretched far below to the shallow water frothing with algae. Until now, the earliest Elk Creek Marina closed was mid-September, said Loken, whose family has had the concession to operate the marina for 32 of the past 40 years. We’re only open five months out of the year so ...