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Advice from a Real Traveler

This part of Idaho was certainly making me regret not getting a cargo trailer with interior wheel wells. The gravel road through the canyon was about 1.5 lanes wide, and there were few wide-spots or turn-arounds.

So how do you play a messy situation like this? I wanted to go along with it to a certain extent without getting reckless. But remember, you don't quite know you have pushed your luck too far until it is too late. So I started playing "leapfrog" with the canyon: stopping at the wide spots, and walking until I found the next wide spot. Doing all these round trips soon adds up to a lot of walking. But my dog, Coffee Girl, thought this was quite fun.

It is funny how your confidence grows as you punch your way through a canyon. I found a small field where I could camp for the night. It was perfectly solitary and quiet. The lack of an internet signal probably helped as a mood-enhancer.

A raptor of some kind flew along the wall of the V-shaped canyon. The canyon held in the sound. It felt eerie. 

Visually, the V-shaped canyon was only moderately interesting, and yet the overall experience was a bit exciting. How did Rinker Buck end his book, "The Oregon Trail"? 

Uncertainty is all. Crazyass passion is the staple of life and persistence its nourishing force. Without them, you cannot cross the trail.

Of course I was only a couple miles from the Oregon/California Trail.

What a spice uncertainty can be! It is so much more effective and durable than other things that get tried.  Rather than 'spice' let's say that uncertainty is the fuel or food that your imagination runs on, and imagination is all.


Comments

Ed said…
A good posting by the kaBLOOnie philosopher.

However, I wish you would explain why interior whee wells would have inproved the experience.
Ed, of course there are trade-offs, but when you are on a narrow mountain or canyon road, you naturally dwell on the width of your rig: my trailer is the same width as the tow vehicle (6 feet), but the exterior wheel wells increase the total width by 21". And these roads ain't got no 21" to spare.