Occupation of Independence

  It was delightful and even a bit funny that I stumbled onto one of the old wagon routes that people went west on. After all, I have my needs and they had theirs, and the overlap is only partial. And yet here I am. This experience was exciting because it had some authenticity -- it wasn't just scenery tourism. Let's back up a step. I spend my time on continental land, land that some would call "landlocked." That word isn't really accurate, but it used to be. A continent was hard to cross -- it was just a tangle of obstacles. The sea was easier to cross. Sometimes continents are easier to cross than you might first think. Look at the riverways of European Russia: you can use them to go from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea or the Caspian Sea, with only short portages. The Scandinavians did just that back in the Viking days, and founded Russia. Likewise North America was penetrated in the 1600s thanks to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system. Much of the

I love geography, especially if I can "live" it. That is why I praise camping near South Pass WY, where all the wagon trains, Pony Express, etc., went through. But it was too touristy and motorheadish there, so I left the area.  Obviously I don't use Rand McNally or AAA maps or free camping websites to find my locations. (It is probably comical to see my face when a newbie gets out his Rand McNally atlas when talking to a snob like me.) So how do I find locations? I was looking for a non-tourist-trap. Such places can and usually do have interesting scenery nearby, although it might not be quite picturesque enough to titillate the standard scenery tourist on vacation. There are other negative filters: national parks, lakes, towns that sound "cool" and are full of retirement McMansions or wealthy Lefties. The positive filters are BLM/National Forest boundaries, high altitudes, ridge-lines, and dead-end roads. Avoid any road system that would make for a popular lo

I am getting some things done around here. I had hoped to enroll it as a member of my archipelago of base camps, but I was wrong. Lander WY is too touristy. It is after all on the way to Yellowstone for people coming from the south and east. There is one particular loop road through the forest that I checked out the other day. There must be hundreds of dispersed campers out there, with a certain amount of uniformity: giant fifth wheel trailers with 6-8 kilowatt, open frame generators. It must take at least a couple stout guys to lift those generators off the pickup truck. They usually have several motorsports machines loaded off a flat bed trailer.  They certainly have gone to a lot of trouble and expense to have "fun" this holiday weekend. But are they having fun? A few of them are rock climbing, hiking, or fly fishing. I can see why people get interested in these activities in beautiful locations.  But such people are rare around here. For the most part their "fun&qu

The finest things can be appreciated best when they are contrasted with the overall context or milieu. Take the news media. I am convinced it is unhealthy to make a daily habit of consuming their trashy product. Even politicians don't lie as much as the news media. In contrast there are people like Glenn Greenwald. His recent article on Biden's bombing strikes in Syria and Iraq was frank and hard-hitting, but not in an overly emotional way. It was full of integrity and professionalism.  When you encounter something like this you feel optimistic about the future. I am glad to have donated to him. The timing of his article was fortunate. After all, it will be time for another Pentagon-worship national holiday soon, with all the lies and cliches that go along with that.  'Protecting our Freedoms..."  Blah, blah, blah.