Thirsty in the Rain

One of my favorite Peter Rowan songs is "Thirsty in the Rain" which says "in green valleys lonesome people trying so hard to tell each other what they think they know, with greedy hands they take each others money just to buy back each others pain, in this land of flowing milk and honey they wander thirsty in the rain"

Don't wander thirsty in the rain.

Some of Garrision Keilors thoughts about the current situation offer some clarity, he sees it like it is.

"What we are seeing is the stuff of a novel, the public corruption of an American war hero. It is painful. First, there was his exploitation of a symbolic woman, an eager zealot who is so far out of her depth that it isn't funny anymore. Anyone with a heart has to hurt for how Mr. McCain has made a fool of her. Never mind the persistent cheesiness of his attack ads. And now this chasm of debt and loss and the gentleman pretends to be shocked. He was there. He turned out the lights. He sent the regulators home.

Mr. McCain seems willing to say anything, do anything, to get to the White House so he can go to war with Iran. If he needs to recline naked in Macy's window, he would do that, or eat live chickens, or claim to be a reformer. Obviously you can fool a lot of people for awhile and maybe he can stretch it out until mid-November. But the truth is marching on. A few true conservatives are leading a charge against the bailout. Good for them. But how about admitting that their cowboy economic philosophy was at fault here? "

And a few of my not so eloquent thoughts:

Being relatively poor has allowed me to obtain very little knowledge of the workings of the economy and the intricate financial markets that our global economy operates on. So like most Americans I am trying to figure out what this whole economic meltdown even means. It seems to me that we are seeing the worst that a capitalist system has to offer. Capitalism essentially gives people (and corporations) the incentive to think of themselves and their profits, period. There is no incentive to look out for others or to even care about what is happening to anyone else. It all hinges on how much you can get, accumulate and hoard. Why does a person even need a billion dollars? What would you do with it?

It also seems to me, as easy as it is to blame government deregulation and lack of over site (ala the Free Market Republicans) or corporate greed, we seem to miss the third party in all of this, us, the people, society. Our society, made up of millions of individuals, has not lived within their means. We have become so materialistic, so bent on accumulating things that we have lost sight of reality. Seems that this economic crisis is simply a symptom of a much larger societal problem, the fact that our whole way of living is based on the consumption of things. Maybe this crisis will force us to reevaluate our love of material things and to remember that simple is better.

Arch Canyon

I spent the last three days with our trail crew and volunteers from Red Rock Forests hiking to the end of the jeep trail in Arch Canyon and builing a trailhead and barrier at the Forest boundary. So that people will know where the road ends and the hiking begins. I had never hiked up the canyon bottom , just looked in from the rim. It is a pretty amazing canyon lots evidence of the ancient ones.

Cathedral Arch on the Forest Service portion of Arch Canyon, the canyon has three large arches hence the name.

Angel Arch futher up the canyon

Playing Everet Ruess below the Dream Speaker Tower

The real Everett

La Sal Colors and Porcupine Fire

What is left of the Pinhook Valley after the Porcupine Ranch Fire. The entire valley was nuked, the oaks should come back next year (they love fire) but the higher elevation spruce and fir will take awhile. You can see how the talus stopped it up high.

Miners Basin color, this used to be a bustling mining town back in the day
Colors in Pack Creek and South Mountain

I just found this cartoon on the "Nobama 08" website. Pretty ironic. If only we had less government oversite the total collapse of the economy would have never happened at least that was the song the Laissez Faire republicans were singing a month ago, oops. I guess unregulated capitolism does lead to corruption. Sorry, now just give us 700 billion tax payer dollars and everything will be allright.

Hannidate

Back when we lived in northern Nevada and I had to drive 3 hours just to get to the area we managed the only thing I could pick up on the radio was conservative talk shows, all my favorites; Rush, Hannity and a local guy named Rusty. I used to get so upset listening to the shows that I actually considered calling in a couple of times on my government satellite phone, until I realized that would probably not be an efficient use of tax payer money. So I would just drive down the dirt roads in the Black Rock desert swearing and talking to myself.

Now that I actually have a little choice in radio stations (KZMU, NPR, or some awful pop country station) I miss hearing old Sean Hannity and his unbiased opinions, so today I went to his web site and found a real treasure "Hannidate" a dating service for conservatives to come together to meet. I know back when I was dating I would often go on dates and then find out they had different ideas and opinions then mine, man was that embarassing. If only they had "Hannidate" back then I could have screened out all those liberal weirdos.

Which reminds me of another topic I heard about recently. The relatively new phenomenom of people choosing their real estate based on politics. There are actually developments marketing themselves now as "liberal" or "conservative" so you can make sure you never have to speak to somebody with a different viewpoint. Come on people just talk to each other you might actually enjoy it.

Lipstick on a Cheney

Here is a link to an article called "Lipstick on a Cheney". Interesting view about how Westerners have voted in the past and thier view on the politcal posturing of selecting a Westerner for VP. I hope he is right that we western folk "vote with our brains not our guns"

And if you are looking for another reason to vote against the GOP or "Team Maverick" as I have taken to calling them, Rowan told me today that "he was going to vote for the brown guy". He may not be politically correct but even Row knows what is best.

Last days of summer

Leaves starting to change in Horse Creek with Haystack Peak in the background

River on our hike today to Rill Creek, pointing at the top of Haystack where we were last Saturday

Sunset Friday night from a meadow on the side of Mellenthin, the elk were bugling but I did not see any.

Now I know

I wasn't really sure which way my vote was going to go in November but now that I see Hunters and Mullets are voting for Obama, I have pretty much made up my mind (and the high school pep rally cries of "Drill Baby Drill" at the RNC kind of scared me away from "Team Maverick" as well)

Sunrise on the Sierra La Sal

In an attempt to remain unpolitical (is that a word?)on my blog today I am posting one of my favorite photos I have ever seen of the La Sals. I think it was taken by Tom Till?

The sun is just rising over Colorado and highlighting the high central peaks and the shadows are stretching out into Canyonlands.(Just remember all of this will be sold to the corporations and drilled for oil if you elect the Republicans in November.)

Thanks Brother Beck

Thanks Glen for bringing us such riveting commentary and insiteful views from people like Chuck Norris. "Black Belt Patriotism" sounds about right. I think Chuck should be VP or President for that matter.

My favorite parts of the clip are when Chucky starts giving us his opinion on how to decrease the 9 trillion dollar debt and ends up saying "give the power to the people" what is that supposed to mean? How does that decrease the debt? I'm intrigued. I thought maybe reducing spending on unjustified wars would help, but no, the answer all along has been "give the power to the people".

I also love when he admits that over 6,000 people that made over $250,000 a year paid no taxes in 2005, I don't think he even realized that he was giving a perfect justification for Obamas proposed tax changes. Never fear though, Brother Beck keeps it real by bringing the conversation back to how stupid those poor people are that make our fast food for us and keep screwing up our orders.

Politcal Quote/Thoughts for the Day

I told myself that I was going to remain calm and cool and objective during this presidential race. That I wan't going to go flying off the handle with spit flying out of my mouth, waving my arms wildly blaming the Republicans for everything wrong with the country like I am sometimes prone to do. I continue my vow to remain objective as I am beholden to neither party but I am throwing the calm and cool part out the door. What is going on?

How does being a moose hunter or being able to see Russia from a part of your state qualify anybody for being VP? I still like some of what McCain has done in the past,he has worked across party lines, he actually does belive the evidence that Global Warming is at least partly caused by human activity, he has actually supported wilderness bills in the past. But all I am hearing now is the same right wing rhetoric we have heard for the last 8 years. and then he goes to a NASCAR Race today just to top things off! (sorry Julie)

I love what Garrison Keillor had to say in his opinion piece today. Here is a small pice of it you can find the rest at Salon.com called "Bush with Big Hair"

"So the Republicans have decided to run against themselves. The bums have tiptoed out the back door and circled around to the front and started yelling, "Throw the bums out!" They've been running Washington like a well-oiled machine to the point of inviting lobbyists into the back rooms to write the legislation, and now they are anti-establishment reformers dedicated to delivering us from themselves."

How exactly are these "maverick" reformers going to change thier own party that has driven this country into the ground over the last 8 years? Sounds like the same old @#$% to me.

Climbing Haystack and Foraging

This morning the older boys and I, set off up the mountain with several objectives; to summit Haystack Peak, find some elk for the hunt next month, and to forage for berries (chokecherries, raspberries, strawberries and currants).

We did make it up to Haystack at 11,641 feet, however, we saw no elk (but quite a few signs). We were also a few weeks late for the strawberries, but found lots of currants. If you have ever tried to pick currants you know how vicious the thorns are, so we only got a couple bags full.

I was laughing at myself on the way up as I tried teaching life lessons the whole time, saying things like, "Life is like climbing a mountain, son". Am I really that Dad already?

River and Ridge on the summit

Summit ridge with the Moab Rim , Canyonlands and Arches in the background

River contemplating the descent with the Paradox Valley and the already snow capped San Juans in the back.

Alpine recliner. Mt Waas and Mill Creek Peak in the back

9/11

This morning I woke up at 6 AM to put American flags out on lawns for Patriots Day, apparently the scouts changed the time so nobody was there at 6, which gave me some time to think about 9/11 and what it means to me.

I had just started work in the Winnemucca BLM office the day before on September 10. Alina and the kids had not moved to Winnemucca yet, and were still in Springville helping take care of my father who had just suffered his aneurysm. I woke up in a hotel room by myself and turned on the TV and just sat there in shock until Alina called on the phone to ask if I was watching what was going on.

I went to work and they had locked the office, everybody knows that the BLM Office in Winnemucca is a very strategic target so it had to be shut down.

So I went to the only place I truly feel at home, the wilderness. I went up into the Santa Rosa Mountains Wilderness and hiked and thought. Thought about the same things everybody was thinking; Who would do this? Why would they do it? What inspires such evil in humans that they would willingly kill themselves and other humans that they did not even know? How do divine ideas and principles like those taught by Christ and Mohamed get twisted and used as justification for mass murder?

The events of 9/11 were completely unjustified and pure evil and those that perpetrated them should be brought to justice, no problem there. I am not exclusively a pacifist. Sometimes and in some circumstances aggression is warranted.

Now for the part that has been bothering me for 7 years. The politicization of 9/11. It seems as long as you can link something with 9/11 it justifies any action you want to take. Drill every square inch of public lands, no problem, we have to stop importing foreign oil from those people who blew up the World Trade Centers (if we drilled every square inch of the continent it would not stop us from having to import foreign oil). Torture prisoners and hold them without charging them, we have to get information from them to stop another 9/11 (Never mind that we have become exactly what we despise, I thought only the bad guys use torture?), invade and occupy Iraq, they had to have a something to do with 9/11 (Nope, absolutely nothing. But over 40% of Americans still believe there is a direct link).

As I watched the Republican National Convention and saw once again pictures of the towers waved in front of everybody to scare them into voting "for a President who knows how to win the war", I was disgusted.

Honor the dead, honor the county and the ideals it is based upon, and make sure you carefully consider your vote this November.

Long live the Red, White and Blue

Rowans Tree

Rowan trees I found in the Abajos the other day, also known as Mountain Ash. The tree was very important in Celtic Druid rituals. So if you ever need to keep a witch or an evil spirit away just find a Rowan.

Westwater

We floated Westwater Canyon yesterday. We put on as the sun was going down on Friday evening and floated in the dark for a couple of hours to camp at Upper Cougar Bar. My favorite camp on this section was Lower Cougar Bar, big white beach against the black rocks of Westwater, but high water this year removed the beach and Lower Couger Bar no longer exists. The River giveth and and the River taketh away, it will be back some day.

Everybody had good runs with some kayakers taking some swims, just to make things more exciting.



Bird, fish, beef and corn grilling

Paul going through the hole at Skull and me and Nate avoiding it

Bridges

Kachina Natural Bridge

White Canyon had been flowing from the rains the night before. I had forgotten that there is a relatively famous petroglyph panel at the base of this natural bridge. The panel has what appears to be a smiling brontosaurus, just like the kind Fred Flintstone rides at work. Young Earth Creationists (people who belive the Earth is 5,000 years old) site this petroglyph as proof that dinosouars and men lived together thus proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Earth cannot be older than 5,000 years old. Makes sense, there really is not other explanation. The cottonwoods and the bridge were sublime, if I were an Anasazi I would live right underneath it and raise my family and some of them did.

Getting down into White canyon on the ladders. Notice the little pocket of Douglas Firs tucked away into the nice shady north facing alcove.

I also did not know that the "Lightning House" ruin (my name) was in upper White Canyon. We unexpectedly ran into it near Kachina Bridge. I had seen lots of photos of it before but did not know of it's location. It is actually called "Conical Ruin" because of it's unusual construction, but the water marks in the back remind me of lightning striking the house.

Hangin with Teddy

Teddy and Me
Teddy and Muir

Whatever happened to Presidents like TR? I would probably vote Republican if they could muster up another candidate like Teddy. He was a true visionary. He was able to realize that uncontrolled use of our resources for cooperate gain was not good for the land or the country. He set aside vast tracts of the landscape to be managed for the people not for corporate gain. What a concept.

Fire update

The fire has pretty much run it's course and fortunatley only burnt the Pinhook Valley sign and not any campgrounds or cabins. Our campgrounds are up and running again.