Dad; the Future

Dad would drive Wolf and me and my little sister on a dirt road along the high grove of tangerines. There were always scores of jackrabbits on that road after dark, running along in front of the car in and out of the headlights. This was huge entertainment for Wolf, who would jump in the front seat to be ready when we turned off the pavement and told him to watch for the rabbits. When they showed he would be beside himself barking and carrying on. Our fun was watching Wolf in all his excitement.

Once Dad went with me and Wolf on an overnight backpack trip up into the high mountains behind our house. I was seventeen, strong and fit, and already with a love for the mountains and nature. I led Dad up Icehouse Canyon to a place that Wolf and I usually explored by ourselves. I carried everything - our sleeping bags, all the food, but don't even remember the heavy load. I do remember being thrilled to be sharing my beloved wild country with Dad. He was not a big outside type of person but took the time to take some interest in what I cared about so much.

When Wolf was older and before I married Janet, Dad and Wolf and I would sit in the basement couch, watching TV and eating peanuts in the evenings. Dad would feed some to Wolf, and reach down and stroke the old dog's head and rub his ears.

Both have passed on now. It is easy for me to believe that they are enjoying each other's company again.

When my end comes I doubt I will be fearful, knowing that rest awaits and that I have tried to be a simple and good person. The transition will be eased for me, having been shown how to cross, and knowing that Dad and Wolf will be waiting to greet me in friendship and love.

Before I am there though, I have many miles of trail and mountains to climb, in attention, appreciation, and joy, for the beauty of this earth.

Border Collies and Backpacking in Western Colorado

I drove down to New Mexico 3 and a half years ago to get Maggie, as a companion for my old Border Collie Bud. My other young dog, Ben, came the next July because of behavior problems at my exwife's home.

Both dogs started backpacking with me as soon as they where pups. Both smelled fresh grizzly tracks when they were in their first year.

The youth of these two dogs has affected my outlook on life, made me feel younger. There is nothing so great as loading my pack with food and water and heading down a canyon trail with these two dogs, as we did a couple of weeks ago in far Western Colorado, almost to Utah.

I have a long way to go with these two dogs in front of me, leading the way. It will be a trail filled with freedom, beauty, and friendship, in the mountains and canyons of the West.

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Sunset

As the bus leaves downtown, it rises high over the railroad tracks, providing a clear view of the mountains to the west.

And the sunset. The sunset - some high clouds tinged with yellow, then pink, rising to shades of blue and grey. Tonight its bright circle was visible for half a minute through the clouds. The yellow light shone on our bus like a chariot ascending to the afterlife as we crossed over the river.

Folk Festival; Freedom, and Gas Consumption

It takes a stout heart to go to entertainment events alone. You get the idea that all the couples and groups are imagining you as a loser, unable to get a date, a person without friends. They may be right, but I don't care much, not really giving a rat's ass what others think of me.

My independent attitude partly may come from my desire to do the opposite of what is expected, trying to avoid unthinking conventional behavior. For example, I sit at a bus stop and watch scores of vehicles race by like lemmings, no matter our unbelievable consumption of gas in this country, making us dependent on foreign oil and aggravating global warming to boot. They continue on and so will I - having some peace in my life while I relax on the bus, read, watch the sky, rest. Other times I will ride my bike, for miles, to get where I am going. I end up in better shape, and will likely avoid health problems associated with thinking we have to drive a 1000 pound vehicle everywhere we go, ignoring that we have legs and a strong back.

But back to my subject, being alone at a folk festival, where I noticed a nice looking lady sitting by herself, on some steps. don't remember what I said when I approached her, but she invited me to sit down. Before long we were exchanging stories about our beloved dogs, relationships, and music.

It probably is to be expected that I move ahead slow, after have one long relationship with one woman in my life. I won't gauge my pace on what others expect, because I cherish my freedom so much. You would to if you had seen all the magnificent sights I have, up high at the edge of treeline, with snowy peaks towering above, a valley of tall fir out below, and a hawk flying overhead.

Ok with Being Alone

It does take a while to get on with things after a long relationship ends, for me anyway.

I am sure she is happier, to be away from someone who is such an unapologetic and contented loner, at least most of the time.

I mean my idea of a social life is sitting in a small town cafe between trips and listening to people talk. A half hour of that is enough, and I then I head out again for days of solitary backpacking in the gorgeous Colorado mountains.

After all is said and done though, there is one thing I can say with honesty and pride:

I met her in 1975 when we both had nothing, and married her for love and only love.

I am not sure it ever diminished.

Adjusting is one thing, but you won't find me complaining much about how things are.

I mean I still have health, which is more than any riches that can be acquired.

I am still strong enough to load my backpack with gallon jugs of water, a little food, and disappear into a hidden canyon for days,

to enjoy the solitude of the red sandstone landscape, the rare display of desert wildflowers,and the companionship of my good dogs.

Then when I return head straight to the dance hall when the band starts at 8:30 and hold and spin those sweet ladies til 1am.

My life has changed plenty, but it is still damn good.

Backpacking Biscuits

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It's a fairly simple affair to make biscuits on the trail - provided you find a biscuit mix that doesnt require eggs.  Powdered milk might make them taste a little better, but is not necessary.  What is important is to bring two small muffin tins you can put face to face with the mix inside, then place them in another pot with a lid - basically making a small oven.  You need to attend these closely, making sure the flame doesnt get too high and burn them.

I often bring honey along to smother the warm biscuits, and along with some coffee have an very fine wilderness breakfast.  I of course share some with Ben and Maggie, who do a good job cleaning up the pans.

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Best Things

How many times do we hear the the best things in life are free, that true happiness cannot be obtained by getting more, buying more.

I am not sure I for one really believed it, considering how much stuff was in my home a couple of years ago. I have taken several runs to Goodwill, and another to the dump to clear it out. It is better, and after all that work makes me think twice about giving in to that urge to acquire one more thing.

What has convinced me of the emptiness of a life spent acquiring more money and what comes with it, is all those nights I have spent in the wilderness, which only required a backpack, a stove, a tent, and a sleeping bag.

And there was that one time, camped up at 12600 feet, 1000 feet above timberline, when the sun broke out late in the evening and created a rainbow south of me, across the valley. There was a good chance I was the only one that witnessed it up there, except for my dogs of course.

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Grizzly Intelligence; Milky Way

Grizzlies in the West no doubt cleaned up Wooly Mammoth remains that hunters killed 10,000 years ago, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Wayne Kasworm.

Now they have learned that a shot from a hunter may mean a fresh meal of elk or deer guts, and stories are told of dinner bell bears, that "trot in to elk kills like a house cat coming to the sound of an electric can opener".

Grizzlies are not dumb. According to the article one learned to associate bow hunter blinds with a fresh deer kill, and "That bear followed bowhunters to the bottoms of their tree stands and waited nearby for them to kill something."

In Montana’s Yaak Valley, Grizzlies will patrol hunters’ favorite roads at night, cleaning up the remains of moose and white-tailed deer. They have been known to follow pack strings of mules, loaded with elk quarters.

Check out this sequence of photo's taken by photographer Richard Smith, of a game warden releasing a Grizzly, who turned and pulled him and the trap out of the bed of a pickup:

http://www.agpix.com/photographer/portfolio/A0223430_1_caption.html



4:28:10 PM comment [1]


When is the last time you were in a place so dark at night that you could look up and see the white band of the Milky Way?

Probably a long time, since we are working people and so darn responsible, but knowing how short life is, the smart thing is to get out of town, up a mountain trail, to get lost in a hidden wilderness, to sit and listen to how quiet a forest can be at dusk.

And that is what this thing will be about; because that is pretty much what I do, at least once a month. If I go longer than that I start wondering what the heck I am working and being responsible for.

And this will be about Ben and Maggie - the Colorado dogs, here a couple of weeks ago at a lake them and me camped above:

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