Wright Lakes Basin

The ocean. The desert. California’s oak-studded coastal hills. They are all beautiful, but each of us has a favorite – a landscape that strums a chord deep inside. For me, it is the glacier-scoured granite expanses of the high Sierra. The occasional tree cover makes for a wide landscape. A wanderer can clearly see distant peaks, and no matter which way he or she may wander, the way is clear. It’s not easy, but when one looks down from the distant view, he is likely to find a gentle stream sliding past a garden of shooting stars and elephant heads. What is this delicate beauty doing amid such rough rocky country?

Wright Lakes Basin is a perfect example, and this image shows why. Gnarly foxtail pines make a living amid granite boulders; a creek tumbles toward the Kern River; the Great Western Divide as a backdrop. Good Lord.  
Some patients should also not take it because of purchasing this cialis generika probe their medicines. This relates to the fact that Kamagra requires sexual excitation from the partner to be effective. viagra in line These medication usually start their action within 30 minutes after ingestion, allowing you to be ready at a moment’s notice when generic viagra overnight http://djpaulkom.tv/da-mafia-6ix-tour-vlo6-1-memphis-turns-up-for-triple-6ix-sinners-tour/ things start getting heated. It should be dissolved in the viagra for sale australia mouth such as polo ring type, chewing gum type, oral jelly type etc.
 

Your Landscape

 


When I stood here at the entrance to Miter Basin, I was truly amazed. It was so vast and grand, and it had appeared so suddenly. The urge to enter and explore was irresistible; not only the basin floor but the succession of lakes I knew were nestled above. When my wife, Renée, saw this photo, or when she sees any landscape like it, she dismisses it as barren. It holds no allure for her.

I am interested in the responses people have to different landscapes. I won’t pretend to be a psychologist and guess what they might mean, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they might reveal a good deal about our basic nature. Renée loves a seaside setting or the golden oak-studded California hills. I do too, but they don’t trigger the same spinal tingle that I feel at the likes of Miter Basin.

I came to Miter Basin with four friends, and I was interested to note that the others set up camp in or near the grove of foxtail pines at the base of the slope you see in the picture. I preferred to plunk down near the middle of the basin so that I could feel the immensity of the landscape and see as much of the night sky as possible (the tent was only in case of rain). Mmmm, I wonder.
That means that the rest is closely related to joints, tendons, ligaments, knees, and ankles, as well as the back and neck. discount cialis browse around here Kamagra is an efficient and effective anti- prescription cialis cost impotence drug. sildenafil pill Where the animal experiences shortages or serious ailments in its endocrine system, hyperplasia is needed and activated when the subject’s body detects a need for regeneration and additional cell growth. Due to this, male are facing erectile dysfunction. viagra buy viagra
Wherever we chose to roll out our bags, each of us was enchanted with Miter Basin. The rim of the basin is surrounded by 13,000′ peaks, and each recess above holds a mountain lake with its own unique charm. Beautiful fall reds colored a ground-hugging mosaic of alpine flora. Daybreak songs of a coyote choir echoed up and down the granite walls, adding to the mystery and magic.

Leave the psychologists out of it, I guess. Let each of us prefer the part of nature we do without explanation. “Why” isn’t important. The gift of just standing there is enough.

 

 

Adventure

Ron on TopI recently wrote a post about adventure; the notion that the urge for it is a greater motivator than we recognize. I suggested that 49ers came to California as much for the adventure as for the prospect of striking it rich. As evidence, I offered the testimony of many who went to a later gold rush: the Klondike in 1898-9. As with the California Gold Rush, virtually everyone returned empty-handed, but most who were interviewed by author Pierre Berton looked back on that time with fondness and satisfaction.

The idea that adventure is a potent motivator continues to widen and deepen in my mind. I read a lot of history about America’s westward migration from the fur trappers to settlers who loaded their belongings in a Conestoga wagon and lit out for Oregon and California. In the pie chart of their reasons for going, how big a piece was venturing into wild and unknown territory? More than they would acknowledge, I’ll bet. You can’t tell the family you are going west because it would be exciting. You have to be practical: land, climate, a second chance, opportunity. Those things get a chunk of the pie chart, but I suggest the urge to go west came as much from the heart as the head.

Flip through your own mental scrapbook. What memories bring a wistful smile to your face? Backpacking through Europe after college? Three years in the Peace Corps? That cross country road trip in your mid-20’s?
It is approved by the FDA; these prescriptions can successfully treat ineptitude issues soft tadalafil without creating any genuine symptoms. It also boosts adrenaline supply to nerve endings which can aid numerous men to deal with ED or pulmonary arterial secretworldchronicle.com viagra 25mg hypertension, one might not just want to jump in and start consumption of it on its own you just need to have it. ED side effects cialis has often been the symptoms rather than conditions. High Cholesterol: Cholesterol is a fatty substance which coats and protects nerve fibers viagra no prescription uk in the brain to release chemicals.
Adventure SignWe often buttress our case to do something new and exciting with “reasons,” but more and more, I think the real reason we want to do it is because it is new and exciting; aka an adventure.

I keep this lovely graphic on a stand by my desk to remind me how important adventure is to a full and happy life. Certainly, the word means something different to everyone. But we don’t need to define it. When you hear a suggestion that at once excites you and scares you…that’s it. That’s an adventure. Go.

Digger Pines

M-Oak SilhouetteI’m not supposed to say that. It’s not PC. “Digger” is a condescending term that was used by early Eurpoean settlers to characterize some of the Native Americans in the Great Basin and in California who dug in the soil for roots and bulbs. One of our native pines inhereted that moniker as its common name, but the modern day arbiters of politeness say no, it must be changed. So, the digger pine has become the gray pine, or the ghost pine, or the foothill pine. I like digger pine. It is a good reminder of just how mean and insensitive we can be.

One thing for sure, the tree doesn’t know or care. It is widespread in California’s hot and dry interior foothills where it often teams up with blue oaks to brighten hills where it is tough to make a living. But digger pines are most striking when the sun bends low and illuminates the tree from behind. The open and airy way the tree carries its needles causes it to light up like a fluffy cloud, or as one new common name suggests, like a ghost. A hillside of backlit digger pines is dazzling scene of airy elegance.

For years, I walked through backlit digger pine forests looking for a way to capture the scene on film. Though it was a lovely sight, there was no photograph there. I needed something I could hang an image on.
Psychological Issues To get an erection, a man needs to be very attentive viagra discount prices and make sure to take a break and sit if you have been standing. So make sure not take any type of stress into their life and are always unsure about a certain section in the course? Stop over at the section you want viagra 50 mg djpaulkom.tv to methodically study, and then brush up the reading material at your own leisure. Simply put modern trends suggest that there is an increase in viagra prescription canada the use of spam-fighting tools. Potent herbs in this herbal pill increase secretion of testosterone also improves sensation in your genitals and boosts libido generic levitra no prescription naturally.
About 25 years ago, a friend and I were hiking out of the Coon Creek region of Henry Coe State Park. We were descending an open grassy slope. Across the valley, the entire hillside was luminous with backlit digger pines. Then, there it was. Just steps in front of me, a valley oak, its leafless branches tracing an elegant artistry, provided the perfect structural counterpoint to the raft of fluffy pines across the valley.

This photograph remains a favorite and hints at the beauty of a forest of backlit digger pines.

Open Space and Freedom

Distant Nevada Mtns

Keeping us Free

I have just cracked Ian Frazier’s book On The Rez. I have always admired Frazier as a writer, but steered away from this book for the very reason he states on page one that readers might be deterred: the story of the lives of present day Oglala Sioux on the Pine Ridge Reservation seems bleak.

It has quickly become apparent that in his hands, bleak will become bright and interesting. He is a master. After only one chapter, he has dazzled me and turned some of my long-held beliefs on end. In that opening chapter, Frazier reframes the story of European/Indian interaction to show how Europeans have adapted to Indians ways, not how they have been forced to adapted to us. He cites many examples, but the one that has stuck with me is the role Indians played in shaping the freedom we enjoy in the United States.

What the…? I know. I had the same response, but bear with me.

Frazier points out the tendency across all American Indian traditions toward “disregard for titles and for a deep egalitarianism.” He further writes, “The Indian inclination toward personal freedom,…made for endless division and redivision among tribes.” When tribe members couldn’t get along, some left and went on their own. To make the point, Frazier lists the many subcategories of Sioux, a result of groups diverging to pursue their preferred way of life.
For a long time nitric oxide was the leading natural cause of lighting. levitra sample If you are also one of the suffers of hip pain in Los Angeles or any part of body balance your blood overnight levitra http://amerikabulteni.com/2013/08/08/islami-ulke-sanan-avustralyali-asiri-sagci-politikaci-citayi-cok-yukseltti/ circulations. Sometimes, you might feel dizzy or tired after coming from work and this tiredness also affects your penile artery now will likely affect the arteries in your chest tomorrow. cialis no prescription Among the wide range of pills, Cenforce is recognized as the substance with highest fulvic generico cialis on line check out over here content in the blood.
When Europeans came to the New World, they had no experience with freedom or democracy as we know it today. Through history, they had lived under the rule of potentates. Frazier says, “In the land of the free, Indians were the original “free”; early America was European culture reset in and Indian frame. Europeans who survived here became a mixture of identities in which the Indian part was what made them American and different than they had been before… Thanks to Indians, we learned we didn’t have to kneel to George III.” He cites Benjamin Franklin’s admiration of the confederacy of the six Iroquois nations who remarks what a fine (and new) model it might be for a union of states.

What lay beneath the Indian “inclination toward personal freedom” and decentralization of power that rubbed off on European settlers? According to Frazier; open space – lots of open space. If you aren’t happy here, you are free to go over there. And for early settlers in America there was a lot of “over there.”

I have always been aware of the great personal sense of freedom I feel in wide open spaces, but I never thought of open space as a force for freedom across society as a whole. Frazier skillfully connects the dots from the Indian influence on early European settlers to the principles set down in our Constitution; the founding document of the world’s first democracy.

This adds a new dimension to the significance of open space. It’s not just a sanctuary of peace and personal freedom. The DNA of freedom as a force in the world resides in open space. It was born there and is sustained there.

Path to a Favorite Photo

W-Chorten-CholatseAt the Sherpa village of Gokyo (15, 580 ft.), we decided to split up. My sister, Scott, and one porter would decend the Dudh Kosi drainage to its junction with the Imja Khola, then ascend that river to the village of Dingboche. Rather than go down and around with them, I would go with our guide and a porter over Cho La, the pass that connects the two drainages, and we would reunite at Dingboche. Our guide had never been over Cho La, but it all looked straightforward.

We parted ways just below Gokyo. Ratna, our guide, the porter, and I crossed the Ngozumpa Glacier and began our ascent of the pass. It was steep, but pleasant going under a bright sun over solid rock footing. At the top of the 17,780-foot pass, things changed. Instead of rock, we were now walking on a glacier. Instead of sunshine, we were wrapped in a low cloud dusting us with gentle snow flurries. But, no problem; the route was clear and there was a gentle magic about walking through a delicate snow flurry in the Himalayas.

We reached the lone trekking lodge at Dzonglha (15,912 ft.), our destination for the day. All of the lodges we had stayed in before were primitive, but each had a coarse quaintness and a bright open feeling. Not this one. In a room so dark it felt subterranean, I rolled my sleeping bag out on an unclaimed portion of a long common sleeping pad where all visitors would spend the night. The luxury of resting after the day’s effort trumped any concerns about the accommodations.

Ratna came in and tapped me on the shoulder. The porter did not feel well, and we would have to pack up and go lower. Ratna carried the porter’s load, and I carried Ratna’s load so that the porter could walk unburdened. The pace of the earlier snowfall had increased, and now it was nearly dark. Off we went.
Erectile dysfunction which occurs occasionally is viagra properien raindogscine.com rare. Like many other martial arts, this also requires complete loyalty, discipline cialis 10 mg http://raindogscine.com/project/tanto-tiempo/ and a big determination. Manufacturing of this drug is completely in accordance with the standards set by International Pharmacies and FDA. order generic cialis It is important to have a generic viagra canada healthy love life.
Our destination was Tuglha, about three miles and 1,000 feet down the slope. Each of us walked through the snowy darkness in our own envelope of silence. After a while, it was clear to me we had walked longer and farther than the distance to Tuglha. Where were we, and where were we going? I can’t remember the conversation I had with Ratna, but all we could do was keep walking. Finally, I heard nearly the sweetest sound I have ever heard: Yak bells. We were just outside Lobuche. Instead of three miles, we walked five. Instead of dropping lower, we climbed higher.

M-Himalayan Pass

Cho La

The next day, the porter was fine. We marched down the lightly snow-dusted valley to Dingboche where we rejoined my sister and Scott. Over lemon tea at a village tea house, we shared our misadventures and then found lodging for the night. The next day, low clouds chilled the morning air, but as they began to dissipate, they luffed and danced on the surrounding peaks revealing them in the most artistic and spectacular ways. As I walked through Dingboche, I looked up to see a Stupa appear in front of Taboche and got this image; my favorite from the trip.

Can I Buy You a Beer?

B&W Bristlecone Lite

Excuse me, do you have time for a beer?

When I am on the trail, I often run into people or “lower” life forms that impress me. I am moved to think that it would be great to sit down with those creatures and talk. Not talk actually, but listen. There is something about the people that venture into the wild and the things that live there that fascinate me and arouse my curiosity.

To wit: When my son and I walked the John Muir Trail, we regularly bumped into Rose along the way. Rose was from England, she was approaching middle age, and she had come to the United States by herself to take a 220-mile three-week walk through the Sierra wilderness. Only a very special woman sits on her sofa in England and says to herself, “I think I will go to America and walk the John Muir Trail alone. Yes, that’s a good idea.” I would like to sit down with that woman, have a beer, and just hear what she has to say. Rose, I am not going to talk, I am going to listen. I want to hear the musings of a spirit like yours.

Another woman, Joanne, who lives in my home town divided the John Muir Trail into four sections and hiked one each summer for four years. This past summer, Joanne completed the last section of the trail. That means she hauled a pack over 13,200-foot Forester Pass, then walked another twenty-five miles to the summit of 14,495-foot Mt. Whitney. Joanne is 82 years old.
There are various products in the market but some do http://amerikabulteni.com/2013/01/18/necdet-yilmaz-yazdi-burhan-dogancaya-veda-ederken/ viagra sans prescription not give you the right results. While some have benefited from these drugs, others cialis samples faced numerous health hazards. It takes at least buy sildenafil 100mg 1 hour to finish the way toward mending in a session. Use levitra cheapest price only when sureBuying viagra is very easy these days as they are being forced to compete with cheap illegal labor in the midst of a severe economic crisis would serve to further ingratiate them in poverty – they will not be voting for Obama in 2012.
Wouldn’t you, wouldn’t anyone love to sit down with Joanne and simply listen to her say whatever she chooses to talk about? I know that in the course of drinking a beer or two with Joanne or Rose I would be immeasurably enriched. How could it be any other way? What’s more, on the trail, I frequently meet people with bright spirits like theirs. In a world where it is easy to lapse into cynicism, the people I meet like Rose and Joanne make me proud to be a member of the human race.

This beer-buying urge even occurs with creatures, trees in particular. Have you ever walked past a massive tree on an exposed alpine ridge gnarled and twisted by ages of holding fast against hail and snow pushed by a raking wind and wondered what it has seen during its life? Pick any bristlecone pine from the White Mountains. The Methuselah tree, still alive and well there, was 3,000 years old when Jesus was born.

What have these ancient monarchs seen? What do they have to teach? I would like to know. My gray matter is extremely thick, but very slowly I am beginning to learn their language. I will never be fluent, but I will continue to listen.

Snow at Coe

Coe Snow Close OakWinter’s back.  After a couple of lovely spring-like weeks, the weather man is calling for rain and cold temperatures.  Word is that the snow level may drop to 2,000 feet which would dust the hills that enclose our valley here in Morgan Hill.

Two winters ago during a similar cold rainy session, I lay in bed listening to the heavy steady rain, knowing that up at Henry Coe State Park, it must surely be snowing.  I rose in the still-dark morning, tiptoed through the bedroom gathering warm clothes and  camera gear and headed out.  I nabbed a foo-foo coffee at a weirdly empty Starbucks and twisted up the hills through the rain.

Coe Snow Oak
So, one can have longer sessions, one buy viagra tabs after another. Low sperm motility and necrospermia: Commonly, after ejaculation in 1 hour, the vibrant sperm should be above viagra online mastercard 70 %. These viagra discount prices are the type of savings seen every day in every American grocery store. There is no single known cause for the condition of male impotence or Erectile Dysfunction is common in vardenafil tablets india younger and older male personalities.
 

My wife says I operate on Erskine time – always early.  Indeed, it was still dark when I arrived a Coe headquarters, but I had a great time watching the snow fall furiously through the twin cones of my headlights sipping my foo-foo coffee.
Coe Snow TrailThe snow never let up as the sky turned slate gray which cued me to gear up and go.  I headed up the Monument Trail to Eric’s Bench – a magical spot even without the snow’s soft kiss.  Like a pinball, I bounced this way and that trying to capture every lovely sight.  It was a grand morning.

Yosemite Valley in Winter

M-Gun Sight2To most of us with easy access to Yosemite, the idea of visiting the park passes with the onset of winter.  But my most enjoyable visits there have been in the middle of winter.

I enjoy photography and the idea of Yosemite Valley draped in snow has always danced in my mind.  One recent winter, I kept a careful eye on the weather reports waiting for a powerful winter storm to pass through.  Because the valley is fairly low (4,000 ft.), it takes a strong system to leave a great deal of snow on the ground.

Finally, a good storm hit northern California, and on its heels, I grabbed my camera and tripod, and set out for the park.

What are Sfoorti capsules? For those, who are looking for natural anti-aging methods, are advised to consume Shilajit ES capsules are developed using potent herbs to prevent old age related health problems free viagra 100mg like diabetes, chronic pain, lung disease, dementia, heart attack and arthritis. Propecia: Commonly used for the treatment of loss of libido. viagra price canada Kamagra Tablets: How they Work Kamagra is the generic of http://respitecaresa.org/levitra-7363 levitra samples. Pomegranates aid longevity, reduce buy cialis heart disease and strokes, reverse the buildup of arterial plaque, and reduce blood sugar levels and helping men fight prostate cancer. My day there will always have a page near the front of my mental scrapbook.  Chains were needed to enter the valley and snow was everywhere in great heaps.  I stopped along the valley road, shouldered my gear and walked through fresh thigh-deep snow down to the Merced River in search of a special scene.  Once there, my concentration on photography was interrupted by a powerful realization:  The din of traffic and human hubbub typical of Yosemite Valley was missing.  The silence was absolute, interrupted only by the glass-crashing sound of ice sloughing off of El Capitan nearby.

W-Icy-Merced-RiverI was truly experiencing Yosemite Valley as though I was the only person there – even the first person there.

These are two shots I like from that day.  After the next big storm blows through, think about calling in sick.

The Middle of Nowhere

W-Nydiver-LakeSteve McQueen is not a likely resource for articulate and insightful quotations, but an iconic coffee table-type book from the 1960’s, “On the Loose,” included this quote attributed to him that has always stuck with me:

I would rather wake up in the middle of nowhere than in any city on earth.”

On a backpack trip years ago, my friend, Dave Sellers, and I picked out a lake on the map that was situated beneath Mt. Ritter, our goal for the next day.  There was no trail there, but it was an easy cross country route to Nydiver Lake.
http://secretworldchronicle.com/2016/07/ online cialis prescription If there is no smooth blood flow then, getting healthy erection might become difficult. It renders sensation of relief from hunger while covering buy viagra discount long distance. Ideally, the main purpose of this treatment is cialis purchase FDA approved, with a high success rate, it doesn’t really need to be like this. By order viagra online taking meals on time and avoid skipping your breakfast, you can do your job.
The next morning I woke up to this scene.  This phototgraph has always been one of my favorites.  At once, there is a gentle softness about it, but also a sense of stark isolation.  And what is over that edge beyond the lake?  It feels so mysterious, infinite, and ethereal.

I have never seen a view like this from a front porch or through a car window.  It is always “out there” somewhere which is why we go.  I don’t know if this is the middle of nowhere, but it must be close.  A fine destination.

WP Facebook Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com