Tuesday, June 14th, 2005
I continue to take it easy. I’ve
been walking only about a half mile a day. I feel better. Less run
down.Brian had scheduled that Havasupai trip for yesterday. I didn’t want
to over do it with the altitude sickness (Mild as it is) so I had to
decline. That sucks. I really wanted to go. I’ve never been there.
Wednesday, June 15th, 2005
I’m still napping two to three hours per day. Sleeping hard, actually.
The weather forecast is sunny and dry, all week. I was able to wear
shorts all day. Not too much to write about really as I have just been
sitting around trying to get used to the lack of air up here.
Thursday, June 16th, 2005
Today Marc and I visited areas of the Rodeo-Chedeski fire near Huber. We
saw acres and acres of standing burn. We also checked out a free Forest
Service campground, numbered 9350, which sits right at the edge of the
Mogollon Rim. It has horse pens, restrooms, camp hosts, but no water. You
can see all the way to Four Peaks from some of the sites. 9350 is
located on the south side of Forest Road 300 (Rim Road) between Bear
Canyon and Woods Canyon.
We stopped in Forest Lakes at a
place called the “Rim Resort” which is a general store, RV dump,
gasstation, and hamburger stand. We had a fine lunch.
We’re back at the lake now and ithas warmed up nicely. The wind has finally calmed down.
Friday, June 17th, 2005
One of the things I’ve been enjoying up here in Rim country is the
ability to receive FM radio. Now I can listen to NPR and 93.9 The
Mountain out of Flagstaff.
It’s good to have some variety besides the tired issues on AM.
Saturday, June 18th, 2005
I hiked to the other end of the lake today, then up the hill to Forest
Road 208. There is a camp ground down there that I like to visit when I
get tired of all the traffic at the main campground. It seems every year
this lake gets more and more crowded and trashed. Soon, I fear, it will
be just like Woods Canyon Lake.
Today was the day they shut down
the two hydro-electric plants at Irving and Childs. One Hundred years
of clean, profitable, electricity. Three generations of workers. Now it’s
over. No more rippling pools of Bass. No more fresh water in the
campground. No more flume rides. No more Stehr lake. With one stroke APS
has erased a huge chunk of my home. How will I sleep this September
without the melodies of the turbines? Where will I get my water?
Marc and I listened to the whole,tragic, sickening ceremony as they
returned all the water to Fossil Creek. It was broadcast on NPR. There
was one yo-yo there who had written the NAU thesis which resulted in
today’s travesty. He was claiming that within months a 15 foot wall would
be built up at the bottom of each of the pools along the creek. Uh-huh. I
don’t know about him but Marc and I have seen how much water was
diverted to the plants and there’s no way that little water could carry
so much sediment.
Sunday, June 19th, 2005
The fire rangers came through today. I heard them putting out the coals
of abandoned camps while out taking my standard Sunday walk through picking up garbage. There
were a lot of cans in the firepits and string in the trees but overall
I’ve seen much worse weekends. I only filled one trash bag the fire
rangers gave me ten.
It turns out we had the horse shoe posts 4 feet too far apart. Our game has greatly improved..
I want to take this time to apologizeto Marc. I’ve been Misspelling his name with a k for years. Sorry Marc.
Monday, June 20th, 2005
I fixed an old hammock I found, and hiked to the lake twice today. Once
for water, and, once for the fun of it. My wind is about as good as it
gets at this altitude and I’m just about ready for some longer hikes.
It rained a bit but not enough to even get me out of the hammock. The radio says 50% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 21st, 2005
7:00 pm. So far today the sky is blue and it’s been nice and warm. Upper
70’s I think during the day, dropping to the 50’s at night. It’s the
longest day of the year.The summer solstice coupled with a full moon.
Purportedly this is an auspicious portent.
Some rain today, not much. Spotted showers predicted through Thursday.
Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005
The Senora is here! I think I’ve mentioned her before. The Senora is
Pastor Olga. She leads a church group out of Deer Valley. More later on
the Senora. Next installment.
Thursday, June 23rd, 2005
Marc left today for 9350 camp. I plan to hike down there monday for a day or two to camp on the cliffside.
There are several fires going to the south. Mostly brush lands in
central Arizona. The two to look out for are the Cave Creek Complex fire
and the Sunset point fire. It’s been raining up here almost every night
on top of a wet winter. Ipray this keeps the forests safe.
As I sit here, facing west, Irecognize the eerie orange glow of the sun, all too familiar, whichaccompanies large fires.
Still no fire ban here.
I’m out of coffee and drinkingre-boiled grounds with dandelion root . Pretty weak.
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