Musings
Last Adventurer
#preservethegood

As you’ve seen above, #preservethegood could mean anything – it could mean helping someone in a time of need; it could be picking up trash on a trail, or a wilderness area; it could be educating people on leave no trace principles; it could be making a difference in any way you want; and it could be just about anything you want as long as you are focused in keeping the magic and the unique positive things in this world and this life. In terms of tangible things, I encourage you, my readers and followers to use the hashtag when you post a photo of something amazing; or when you’re talking about something exceptional you – or someone else has done to improve the world. I look forward to seeing how all of you end up preserving the good in 2015, and you can rest assured that as always, I will keep preserving the good where I find it as well, because as Plato says, “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” 

#preservethegood
Hiking, State Parks
Last Adventurer
Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

As I mentioned previously, Waimea Canyon is a site that is most definitely one of the “must-view” locations on Kauai, and in the world; and as I also mentioned, the best way to experience it is to hike it. While there are many great hikes through the canyon, the best hike in my book is the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. It is the best hike to me because at four miles roundtrip, it is accessible, it has stunning views of the canyon from inside the canyon, and it ends at the top Waipoo Falls. It also allows the hiker the chance to swim in a waterfall, which is a once in a lifetime experience.

Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

The trouble with Mountain Goats

The trouble with Mountain Goats

A couple weeks ago, I was up at White Mountain in California. The standard route up White Mountain leads past the Barcroft Research Station, which is one of the highest, if not the highest research laboratory in the world. On our way back down from White Mountain, my climbing partner brought my attention to a sign that was near the road/trail to Barcroft. It said, “Attention Hikers. Report all Mountain Goats sightings to DHS.” At the time, we were ready to get off the mountain and back to the car, so we didn’t stop to take a picture of this sign. However, within fifty feet of the sign we were having a vigorous discussion about why the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would want to know about mountain goats. We quickly agreed that it would make rational sense if the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, or Department of Fish and Game wanted to know about mountain goat sightings. But the Department of Homeland Security? Were these terrorist goats? Or terrorists disguised as goats? Or, even worse, goats disguised as terrorists? As we walked, the more the “goat sign” felt like a Doctor Strangelove type situation to me. Were these goats trying to get at our precious bodily fluids? And, while the Department of Homeland Security has to secure the nation from the many threats it faces, since when did goats become a threat?

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Devils Hole

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Devils Hole

Not only is there water in the desert at Ash Meadows, there’s also a bottomless pit as well. Even more importantly, this bottomless pit isn’t just any bottomless pit: it’s full of water – fossil water – that’s fed from an underground aquifer. If a bottomless pit that happens to be full of water isn’t quite interesting enough for you, I’ve got another fact about this geologic feature that might sweeten the deal for you: it contains a species of fish –pupfish - that has been isolated from the rest of the world for over 10,000 years, and only lives in this one specific spot. If that isn’t enough to make you want to visit the Devils Hole, I learned first-hand that the whole area has more security than some jails. That’s right: the Devils Hole has so much security and protection, it makes one wonder if what’s in the hole is really being protected; or if we, the denizens of the planet are being protected from what’s in the Devils Hole.

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Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

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Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge

In Southwestern Nevada, there’s a place where some of the purest, clearest, cleanest and most pristine water bubbles to the surface. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. As I’ve discussed before, large swathes of Eastern California used to be glacial lakes, such as where present day Trona and the Trona Pinnacles are located. There’s also an oasis in the former town of Zzyzx, and groundwater at Salt Creek in Death Valley and Badwater. Even cooler, Death Valley has salt pools that randomly appear and disappear across the Valley floor proper in random locations (one of the more accessible pools is currently located by the Devil’s Golf Course, but it is closing – slowly!). When you look at it like this, through the lens of time, geologic change, as well as the interconnected nature of the environment, crystal clear desert oases really aren’t that surprising.

Big Dune, Nevada

Big Dune, Nevada

Dune. Big Dune. Nope, it’s not something I made up. It is an actual place, and that’s its actual name. To me, the name sounds like something out a spaghetti western, or science fiction movie. The name is so simple, it is possible to imagine just about anything going on there; and who knows – just about anything might be going on there. I came across Big Dune when I was traveling from 20 Mule Team Canyon in Death Valley to Rhyolite, Nevada. Since I’m always game for an adventure, I decided that I would explore Big Dune after seeing if Rhyolite was really haunted; and this is what I learned on my visit:

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Eureka Mine, Death Valley - Likely Closed for Exploration

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Yep, those bars look pretty solid, which means the Eureka Mine is closed. (September 2012)​

Yep, those bars look pretty solid, which means the Eureka Mine is closed. (September 2012)​

Back in February, I was talking about a place off of Wildrose Road, the Eureka Mine, which you used to be able to explore (or so I was led to believe). (Article here)​. A couple weeks ago, after I passed through Trona, I stopped by, because I wanted to check it out as it was closed in February. I stopped by one entrance, and then another, and then another, and found the same thing you can see in all of the pictures: the mine entrances were blocked off. At this point, I stopped, and had a good think. Those metal bars blocking the mine entrances? Fairly permanent. And by fairly permanent, I mean, actually permanent.  I'll admit that I didn't have time to talk to a NPS Ranger about this, since I was on my way to 20 Mule Team Canyon, but at this point, after visiting twice at two completely separate times in the year, I can only conclude the mine is closed for good at this point. It is, however, still a really cool spot to visit, and after all, the mine is probably closed to protect the public from Morlocks, and that's a good thing!

Trona Pinnacles

Trona Pinnacles

Everything has its time.-Dr. Who. Think about that for a second – everything has its time. It’s simple, elegant, and true. Everything – no matter what it is, has its time. There are songs that had meanings in life that you forgot but instantly remember when you hear them again; there’s foods that comfort you when you need them; and there’s smells that have the power to drag you to ancient epochs past. This is to say nothing of people, things, places, and pretty much every tangible and intangible thing in life. Everything has its time. The practical application of this phrase, however, is present in Trona, California, where the Trona Pinnacles currently stand.

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Rhyolite, Nevada - ghost town or GHOST town?

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Rhyolite, Nevada - ghost town or GHOST town?

Each and every morning when I wake up, I lie there a moment with my eyes scrunched shut and my head burrowed into my pillow. Before I let my eyes determine what color they will be that day, based on that morning’s light, I lay still and think two things. I think about what Henri de Saint-Simon was told every day: “Rise, for you have great things to do today”. I’m not sure I’ve necessarily done any great things recently, but for me, it’s always something to aspire to. Second, I lie there and wonder about what I know. I start with the basics: that I am alive, that my heart is beating, I’m breathing, and that my alarm is annoying. From there, I think about what I really know. The answer always surprises me: not much. That’s right, I’ll admit it, I don’t know much. Sure, I’ll concede by all exterior appearances, I know a lot. I’ve experienced things; and I’ve learned things through the course of my life, either by trial-and-error, or actual discovery.