Monthly Archives: January 2026

White Mountain Reminisce

Bears Ears, Utah #41

2024-06-11

We’re camped in the White Mountains. We’ve returned to our favorite spot, where we spent a month  glamping in the big top tent, back in 2023. It is 11am. It’s Dry, with a capital “D”. We are returning to Arizona from Utah in anticipation of the monsoon rains, but the “Monsoon Season” is still languishing down in Mexico.  Late yesterday afternoon, we pulled in and the dust that we made while parking made a foggy cloud that just hung there. It finally floated off, as the aspen leaves began to quake.

The Color of Utah

Familiar with the whole area, from years of wonderful explorations, we are noticing change. Back at camp we see that the small tree that we used to hang dishes to dry has fallen over, perhaps the snow cover from winter, or perhaps a large elk callously used it. Our aspens that we saved by placing our tent just so and using them to decorate our tent’s patio, remain and have kept growing.  Nobody has come by to chew of the leaves, or rip them out of the ground. We take measurements for the first time. Perhaps, we’ll see how these saplings do as the years go by in this harsh environment.

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North to South and Canyon de Chelly

Bears Ears #40

2024-06-10

After so much time in the outback, arriving in Blanding, Utah had been the shock of civilization. The quiet little town was quite a contrast to the solitude and elbowroom of the uninhabited mountains. It felt hectic to go from store to store, preparing for the next leg of our journey, get a camp set up, shower, pay bills and hear the news on the phone and internet. Civilization, with all of its convenience, by comparison, seemed stressful.

Today, we no longer awaken under the call of birds breaking the silence, the peace, or the pleasant smell of a forest. We’re in a trailer park, amongst monstrous vehicles, with the footsteps and chatter of elderly anonymous tourists, our friendly neighbors. They are moving in less than perfect health, but content, leashed to their small dogs, smiling with waves to fellow assumed Good Sams. I pack up our sleeping quarters and compliment the owner on the tidy grounds, as we leave.

We travel south, through the increasingly more desolate and surreal lands. The last vestiges of civilization are crammed into the thin canyons with the highway.

 

In iconic rock faced valleys are monuments to “Indians” and offers a stay in conical teepees within a luxury resort.

Along the way are a restaurant and a local cross between a convenience store and a very small general goods outlet. I make sure that I slip out to pump the last available gas, probably for a long long time.

It seems that here, people need to make a buck with what they have available, or they’re retired.

Two hours down this road, ancient Canyon de Chelly sits. It is a bigger, more complex grouping of ruins, which were a part of systems of a very different civilization.

We are understandably traveling every bit of naturally naked, save the walls of the SUV.

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Blue Mountain Camp

Bears Ears Utah #39

2024-06-09

All the while, as we lumbered along the thin winding graded roads that traverse the Manti-La Sal National Forest and from the canyon lands of the south, Blue Mountain was an imposing landmark. Today, it has been a goal to be met…or maybe not….

The ancient mammoth formed out of volcanic magma has been a home, hunting ground, and water source. Its height has collected seasonal rains and snow, producing springs around the base for millennia. It has been called sacred by peoples. It looks likely to harbor camping sites under the cover of trees. Still dark clouds threaten.

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First Hike 2026

2026-01-03

We headed up to Redington Pass the other day. It is an easy access and with the climbing, it is such a more well-rounded exercise, more than just walking a path. It is also, traditionally, a nude area and trail with nude use signs posted. So, on this day, we needed a nice quick hike; one which we could be freely nude without being bothered to cover up for weekend and holiday crowds. We park and then have to legally cover our bodies long enough to walk from the parking lot to the other side of the road and then sufficiently away from the road. There, from the “nudity ahead” sign, it is liberation. The minimal coverings are tucked away into a backpack, or under a shoulder strap. There is no need of them, no matter who we encounter.

This day, we decide take the high route, so as to descend further upstream.

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