Occupation of Independence

  It just isn't obvious to a traveler how important it is to get "north" early in spring.  But that depends on what you call north.  It need not mean snow, ice, and mud. I underestimated how pleasant it is to camp in sagebrush and grass at this time of year.  The weather is chilly, but dry.  The roads are completely dry.  It is windy of course but it is everywhere, in spring.  If it is really chilly and windy my dog and I take great walks, without worrying about rattlesnakes and ticks.  Hungry coyotes are her main danger.   The chilliness ensures the best sleeping of the year.  It is warm enough to resist using propane heating.  Most days it is warm enough to mountain bike.   Off in the distance, the higher peaks are still snow-covered and beautiful.  Tourism is off-season this time of year. And I underestimated how civilized Idaho is.  There is a home-grown version of Tractor Supply called D & B Supply...

What a relief it was to leave the overcrowded camping in the Southwest, and head through Nevada and Idaho.  For proximity to town I stooped to camp at a place likely to be listed on one of those vile free-campsites apps.  For a couple days, my luck held and my little dog and I had a great time walking single track trails, while some bad weather blew over. Then a 'van nomad' showed up.  I became furious and left a couple hours later.  And yet I was laughing at my own rage.  The other camper wasn't doing anything wrong.  It was what he represented that offended me -- let's just leave it like that, rather than go into my standard stump speech. There was a promising gravel road a couple miles away that I had always meant to check out.  There are patterns that one can "smell" off a good atlas.  There is only Hope -- there are no guarantees.  The geography had not really changed from the last location, but mentally and emotionally it was a who...

Southern Idaho.  Many times I have wished to run into more horses and horsepersons in the so-called Western states.  I suppose there is just so much overhead and inconvenience involved that an ATV makes more sense to most people. But I got lucky yesterday.  Something immediately grabbed me about the guy.  He was retirement age and gnarly, weathered, and laconic.  He had an impressive grey handlebar mustache.  His horse was half-draft horse, with huge hooves.  The ol' cowboy had three dogs along. I liked how home-made or at least home-repaired his horse's tack looked, as did the cowboy's clothing.  I have seen people riding horses in the Colorado mountains, but they looked like McMansioners or trust-funders.  And their clothing looked new, clean, and fake.   This guy seemed authentic.  He was not a tourist or recreationalist.  He had a job to do: he was working for the Stockman's Association, and needed to check on the wate...

A traveler can pass many historical markers along the highway.  How many do they stop in to visit?  Probably not that many. When going through Nevada I crossed the old "Californee"   Trail, Pony Express route, and first transcontinental telegraph route.  I did stop in and read the historical sign.  Did the government hire a new prose stylist?  It was interesting to read about.  What grabbed me was their emphasis on the sheer physicality and athleticism of the Pony Express riders. I thought about a friend who did all 800 miles of the Arizona Trail last year and is doing the Pacific Crest Trail this year.  I then drove into the foothills of the nearest mountain range to look for a place to camp overnight.  A hundred feet off the road was a herd of ten antelopes.  Didn't I once read on Wikipedia that they were the second fastest land mammal? Something about that juxtaposition of images made me smile, and it isn't that often that animals ma...