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October 17 - October 23, 2019
regnum
duffel—
A thousand miles to the south, the Comanche—a tribe that had risen to prominence for their unrivaled mastery of horses descended in part from the herd that was brought north during the Coronado expedition—had not only succeeded in stopping cold the advancement of white civilization on the prairies of central Texas, but had in some places actually managed to drive it back, forcing the line of settlement to retreat more than a hundred miles to the east.
A thousand miles to the south, the Comanche—a tribe that had risen to prominence for their unrivaled mastery of horses descended in part from the herd that was brought north during the Coronado expedition—had not only succeeded in stopping cold the advancement of white civilization on the prairies of central Texas, but had in some places actually managed to drive it back, forcing the line of settlement to retreat more than a hundred miles to the east.
So America's houses had different origins all European. It is interesting that while the house was mattered the wheel never developed.
a frontier farm in Walworth County, Wisconsin, sixty miles south of the place where the distinguished naturalist John Muir was raised in almost identical circumstances. Like Muir, Powell had a deep interest in botany, geography, and geology. As teenagers, both men indulged their fascination with science and nature by capping off fifteen-hour days of backbreaking farm labor with bouts of nighttime reading in order to teach themselves the rudiments of natural history. And, like Muir, Powell seized the first chance he got to break loose from his family and set out on a series of long, solitary,
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a frontier farm in Walworth County, Wisconsin, sixty miles south of the place where the distinguished naturalist John Muir was raised in almost identical circumstances. Like Muir, Powell had a deep interest in botany, geography, and geology. As teenagers, both men indulged their fascination with science and nature by capping off fifteen-hour days of backbreaking farm labor with bouts of nighttime reading in order to teach themselves the rudiments of natural history. And, like Muir, Powell seized the first chance he got to break loose from his family and set out on a series of long, solitary, rambling excursions that deepened his love of the land.
A reflection on the degree to which the frontier and it's unexplored lands molded and inspired the American character.
When white explorers advanced into the American wilderness for the first time, they were almost never pioneering a new route. Men like Lewis and Clark, Jedediah Smith, and John Charles Frémont were, with rare exceptions, following the immemorially ancient trails used by Native Americans for trade, hunting, and war. Not so with Powell. Although parts of the Grand Canyon were known intimately, many sections had never been touched. The shoreline of the river itself was so riven by impassable cliffs that the first traverse on foot would not take place until 1977.
When white explorers advanced into the American wilderness for the first time, they were almost never pioneering a new route. Men like Lewis and Clark, Jedediah Smith, and John Charles Frémont were, with rare exceptions, following the immemorially ancient trails used by Native Americans for trade, hunting, and war. Not so with Powell. Although parts of the Grand Canyon were known intimately, many sections had never been touched. The shoreline of the river itself was so riven by impassable cliffs that the first traverse on foot would not take place until 1977.
Still one of the least populated areas of the world.
the most austere and hostile quarter of the West, an area encompassing one-twelfth the landmass of the continental United States, whose breadth and average height are surpassed only by the highlands of Tibet.
the most austere and hostile quarter of the West, an area encompassing one-twelfth the landmass of the continental United States, whose breadth and average height are surpassed only by the highlands of Tibet.
And like Tibet it took an invasive group to size the opportunity to explore it.
In the space of a week, the level can easily surge to 30,000 cfs, and a few days after that it can once again rocket up, surpassing 100,000 cfs. Few rivers on earth can match such manic swings from benign trickle to insane torrent.
In the space of a week, the level can easily surge to 30,000 cfs, and a few days after that it can once again rocket up, surpassing 100,000 cfs. Few rivers on earth can match such manic swings from benign trickle to insane torrent.
the river annually removes nearly sixty dump trucks of sediment for each square mile within its watershed, dismantling the landscape grain by grain, pebble by pebble, and freighting the entire mass toward the Sea of Cortés.
the river annually removes nearly sixty dump trucks of sediment for each square mile within its watershed, dismantling the landscape grain by grain, pebble by pebble, and freighting the entire mass toward the Sea of Cortés.
Hard to truly appreciate that magnitude.
A single cubic foot of the semisolid Colorado is seventeen times more silt-laden than the so-called muddy Mississippi, a river that carries twenty-four times more volume and drains an area five times the size of the Colorado’s basin.
A single cubic foot of the semisolid Colorado is seventeen times more silt-laden than the so-called muddy Mississippi, a river that carries twenty-four times more volume and drains an area five times the size of the Colorado’s basin.
France and the United States together excavated 357 million tons of dirt while digging the Panama Canal, during roughly fifteen years of total labor. In Powell’s day, the ancestral Colorado was capable of transporting the same amount of soil, by weight, in less than a fortnight.
France and the United States together excavated 357 million tons of dirt while digging the Panama Canal, during roughly fifteen years of total labor. In Powell’s day, the ancestral Colorado was capable of transporting the same amount of soil, by weight, in less than a fortnight.
Putting that area into perspective is always a challenge.
they christened every major feature the crew encountered—the buttes, the promontories, the side streams—like Adam naming the animals.
they christened every major feature the crew encountered—the buttes, the promontories, the side streams—like Adam naming the animals.
The schist’s ferocious resistance to erosion gave rise to rapids unlike any they had yet seen—a gauntlet of truly colossal hellbenders.
The schist’s ferocious resistance to erosion gave rise to rapids unlike any they had yet seen—a gauntlet of truly colossal hellbenders.
he could set out and do the whole trip all over again—which he did in May of 1871, producing the maps and the topographic data that had not been possible on the first venture. Several years after that, he conflated the events that had taken place on both expeditions into his official report, entitled Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries.
he could set out and do the whole trip all over again—which he did in May of 1871, producing the maps and the topographic data that had not been possible on the first venture. Several years after that, he conflated the events that had taken place on both expeditions into his official report, entitled Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries.
On the maps that are used by the boatmen and guides, more than a hundred buttes, rapids, and plateaus bear the names that he and his men assigned to these features.
On the maps that are used by the boatmen and guides, more than a hundred buttes, rapids, and plateaus bear the names that he and his men assigned to these features.
when it came down to headstrong exuberance, the refusal to permit itself to be corralled into any scheme other than its own, and a willful insistence on asserting its autonomy, the Colorado was in a class by itself: the most American river on the continent.
when it came down to headstrong exuberance, the refusal to permit itself to be corralled into any scheme other than its own, and a willful insistence on asserting its autonomy, the Colorado was in a class by itself: the most American river on the continent.
I see this book is about man vs nature, the foolishness of accepting that challenge and yet the ireristability of trying.
To subdue a river such as the Colorado—not simply to whip it into submission for a season or two, but to break and yoke the thing by taming its rampages, vanquishing its moods, and converting its kinetics into energy that serves human beings—such a task is not only a colossal technical undertaking but, perhaps even more significant, a monumental act of audacity.
To subdue a river such as the Colorado—not simply to whip it into submission for a season or two, but to break and yoke the thing by taming its rampages, vanquishing its moods, and converting its kinetics into energy that serves human beings—such a task is not only a colossal technical undertaking but, perhaps even more significant, a monumental act of audacity.
Natural power vs human audacity.
a place whose laws were rigid and immutable, but also now capable of yielding to the even stronger forces of man’s intellect and will.
a place whose laws were rigid and immutable, but also now capable of yielding to the even stronger forces of man’s intellect and will.
not be much of an overstatement to say that, along with splitting the atom and sending the Voyager spacecraft beyond the solar system, Hoover is the most remarkable thing this country has ever pulled off.
not be much of an overstatement to say that, along with splitting the atom and sending the Voyager spacecraft beyond the solar system, Hoover is the most remarkable thing this country has ever pulled off.
Viviv8b
As colossal as Hoover was, Shasta was quite a bit bigger, and both were dwarfed by Grand Coulee, whose mass outstripped that of Hoover and Shasta put together—the first man-made structure to exceed the volume of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
As colossal as Hoover was, Shasta was quite a bit bigger, and both were dwarfed by Grand Coulee, whose mass outstripped that of Hoover and Shasta put together—the first man-made structure to exceed the volume of the Great Pyramid of Cheops.
By 1980, when the National Park Service finally completed an inventory of all the rivers in the contiguous United States, more than seventy-five thousand dams had been erected on the country’s three-thousand-plus waterways—
By 1980, when the National Park Service finally completed an inventory of all the rivers in the contiguous United States, more than seventy-five thousand dams had been erected on the country’s three-thousand-plus waterways—
By the year 2000, the amount of water that was stored behind the giant dams on earth was between three and six times more than existed in all the world’s rivers—
By the year 2000, the amount of water that was stored behind the giant dams on earth was between three and six times more than existed in all the world’s rivers—
‘Be reasonable!’ they say. But I’ve never felt it did any good to be reasonable about anything in conservation, because what you give away will never come back—ever. When it comes to saving wilderness, we cannot be extreme enough.”
‘Be reasonable!’ they say. But I’ve never felt it did any good to be reasonable about anything in conservation, because what you give away will never come back—ever. When it comes to saving wilderness, we cannot be extreme enough.”
Reminds e of: moderat off no virtue.
David Brower,
the government’s engineers had committed a fundamental math error by neglecting to subtract the Echo Park reservoirs’ evaporative loss from that of the downstream alternative. He concluded his presentation by declaring that it would be folly for members of the subcommittee to rely on the claims of an organization whose employees “cannot add, subtract, multiply, and divide.”
the government’s engineers had committed a fundamental math error by neglecting to subtract the Echo Park reservoirs’ evaporative loss from that of the downstream alternative. He concluded his presentation by declaring that it would be folly for members of the subcommittee to rely on the claims of an organization whose employees “cannot add, subtract, multiply, and divide.”
In the mornings, the trilling notes of the canyon wren, the sweetest song of the river, dribbled down the walls.
In the mornings, the trilling notes of the canyon wren, the sweetest song of the river, dribbled down the walls.
brittlebush flower
brittlebush flower
Encelia
Litton’s predominant impression was that this was not a place where nature was an implacable enemy to be battled, but instead something to be enjoyed and savored.
Litton’s predominant impression was that this was not a place where nature was an implacable enemy to be battled, but instead something to be enjoyed and savored.
best way, the only way, to protect the country’s remaining scenic treasures was to enable a wide range of citizens—schoolteachers, janitors, housewives, hairdressers, factory workers—to see these places firsthand and to experience their wonders for themselves. Only then could they fathom the magnitude of what was at stake.
best way, the only way, to protect the country’s remaining scenic treasures was to enable a wide range of citizens—schoolteachers, janitors, housewives, hairdressers, factory workers—to see these places firsthand and to experience their wonders for themselves. Only then could they fathom the magnitude of what was at stake.
A troubling contrast to Thor’s is the growing tendency to restrict access to certain wilderness areas in the name of protecting them. What you can’t enjoy or at least see you are willing to make other use of.
single-engine Cessna 195,
single-engine Cessna 195,
My father flew its brother airplane the Cessna 190 our family took many trips on that plane. One result is that my brother became a private pilot as well and my nephew his oldest son Is a commercial pilot.
his guides gradually began to see themselves not as part-time summer employees but as role models and teachers.
I’ve done two trips through the canyon one on rafts and the other on a dorry accompanied by several rays. On both occasions the guides were always fountainhead of knowledge about the canyon.
his guides gradually began to see themselves not as part-time summer employees but as role models and teachers.
The boats also had the potential to do things that no other craft could, which meant they could be absolutely thrilling to drive. But they could only achieve that kind of performance at the hands of an oarsman who understood the nuances of white water and knew exactly how to thread the eye of the needle.
The boats also had the potential to do things that no other craft could, which meant they could be absolutely thrilling to drive. But they could only achieve that kind of performance at the hands of an oarsman who understood the nuances of white water and knew exactly how to thread the eye of the needle.
the arcane art of reading white water.
the arcane art of reading white water.
The river was a beast that could be neither controlled nor tamed, only run with. And to be allowed to run with the beast, you had to accept and embrace and ultimately find a way of celebrating its inscrutable, ungovernable, glorious wildness.
The river was a beast that could be neither controlled nor tamed, only run with. And to be allowed to run with the beast, you had to accept and embrace and ultimately find a way of celebrating its inscrutable, ungovernable, glorious wildness.
cadged
tamarisk trees
scarcely a boatman in the canyon didn’t dream of one day strapping himself into the driver’s seat of a dory.
scarcely a boatman in the canyon didn’t dream of one day strapping himself into the driver’s seat of a dory.
Uinta Mountains
once you start rowing dories. . . . It’s just like—God, there’s just nothing better. Once you’ve been in a dory, that’s it. And the only way to really know it is to do it. .
once you start rowing dories. . . . It’s just like—God, there’s just nothing better. Once you’ve been in a dory, that’s it. And the only way to really know it is to do it. .
his most provocative discovery was the realization that winning a race had no connection with his true goal, which was to reach a point in space and consciousness that would enable him to bear witness to the beauty and the complexity of the natural world—and to glimpse, however briefly, the sort of person he might become if he permitted himself to cross a kind of international date line of the soul and merge with those things. In the end, he realized, the journey itself was the destination.
his most provocative discovery was the realization that winning a race had no connection with his true goal, which was to reach a point in space and consciousness that would enable him to bear witness to the beauty and the complexity of the natural world—and to glimpse, however briefly, the sort of person he might become if he permitted himself to cross a kind of international date line of the soul and merge with those things. In the end, he realized, the journey itself was the destination.
To some extent I feel the same way about photo contests. It is the pleasure I get from seeing an image come to completion that drives me, not the hope for recognition by others. Of course I do love it when people say they enjoy my photos.
Of all the writers who have attempted to explain the obsessions that fire extreme mountaineers, one of the most eloquent is the novelist James Salter. In 1979, Salter published a novel called Solo Faces, which is loosely based on the life of Gary Hemming, a remarkable American climber who, in 1962, put up the first ascent of a route called the American Direct on the Aiguille du Dru, a spire in the French Alps
Of all the writers who have attempted to explain the obsessions that fire extreme mountaineers, one of the most eloquent is the novelist James Salter. In 1979, Salter published a novel called Solo Faces, which is loosely based on the life of Gary Hemming, a remarkable American climber who, in 1962, put up the first ascent of a route called the American Direct on the Aiguille du Dru, a spire in the French Alps
the appeal of the American Direct and the appeal of a Grand Canyon speed run have much in common. The allure of both lies in the notion that both lines possess such shining simplicity that the path they inscribe on the imagination is a statement of daring and beauty—a thing whose boldness and clarity are too overwhelming to be ignored.
the appeal of the American Direct and the appeal of a Grand Canyon speed run have much in common. The allure of both lies in the notion that both lines possess such shining simplicity that the path they inscribe on the imagination is a statement of daring and beauty—a thing whose boldness and clarity are too overwhelming to be ignored.
when you have fully given yourself over to a landscape, without condition or reservation, and when you have come to love that place deeply and with all of your heart, you will do almost anything to celebrate and extend your connection to it.
when you have fully given yourself over to a landscape, without condition or reservation, and when you have come to love that place deeply and with all of your heart, you will do almost anything to celebrate and extend your connection to it.
True of any great passion.
the dream of forcing open a doorway to a dimension that would enable you to fully explore what it meant to transcend your limits—to arrive at a destination in time and mind where the dichotomy that separated you from the natural world collapsed, where you and the thing became one.
the dream of forcing open a doorway to a dimension that would enable you to fully explore what it meant to transcend your limits—to arrive at a destination in time and mind where the dichotomy that separated you from the natural world collapsed, where you and the thing became one.
the sea levels around Indonesia and Australia are generally about a foot and a half higher than those off the coast of Peru.
the sea levels around Indonesia and Australia are generally about a foot and a half higher than those off the coast of Peru.
I can't help but wonder how that can be measured? Satellite lasers? It would be interesting to know.
Desert Solitaire,
gamblers in a high-stakes hydrology casino by placing bets on how much water will arrive when the weather warms up, drawing the reservoir down far enough to accommodate this snowmelt, then praying they got things right.
gamblers in a high-stakes hydrology casino by placing bets on how much water will arrive when the weather warms up, drawing the reservoir down far enough to accommodate this snowmelt, then praying they got things right.v
The reservoir wasn’t so much a body of water as a tessellated mosaic of squiggly lobes and nodules connected by long, thin tentacles.
The reservoir wasn’t so much a body of water as a tessellated mosaic of squiggly lobes and nodules connected by long, thin tentacles.
As the legendary quantum theorist Werner Heisenberg lay on his deathbed in 1974, he declared that when he met God, he anticipated asking two questions: “Why relativity? And please explain turbulence.” One version of this story includes a coda in which Heisenberg commented on what he expected to learn from God. “I really think,” he said, “that He may have an answer to the first question.”
As the legendary quantum theorist Werner Heisenberg lay on his deathbed in 1974, he declared that when he met God, he anticipated asking two questions: “Why relativity? And please explain turbulence.” One version of this story includes a coda in which Heisenberg commented on what he expected to learn from God. “I really think,” he said, “that He may have an answer to the first question.”
Turbulence probably plays an important role in cardiovascular ease, in the Genesis of plaques in the walls of arteries.
trunnion
The Bureau of Reclamation, the world’s premier dam-building agency and a colossus of cutting-edge technological know-how whose resources and budget exceeded the GNP of several small countries, had temporarily stemmed the flood crest of the greatest river in the Southwest with a makeshift fortress of plywood.
The Bureau of Reclamation, the world’s premier dam-building agency and a colossus of cutting-edge technological know-how whose resources and budget exceeded the GNP of several small countries, had temporarily stemmed the flood crest of the greatest river in the Southwest with a makeshift fortress of plywood.
