Essays
Philosophical and Political
Post Fire Lava Beds National Monument
I have moved several hundred miles north of the lower Owens Valley where I was camped and am now at Lava Beds N. Monument. I was last here late last summer after the fire that burned 70% of the Monument; ironically, fires to the west brought so much smoke eastward...
Cosmos Manifests as Truth-Beauty-Goodness
I WAS CAMPED IN THE eastern Sierra Nevada of California at 9,000' within a roughly enfolded basin, granite cliffs rising at least another 1,000’ all around except for the gap through which the old glacier had eased downward fifteen millennia ago. A hiker approached to...
Sierra Nevada Water & Trees – Part 4
Today I walked again. I found much to marvel at and many interesting encounters along the way. I saw a parent quail with several newly hatched chicks and wondered where the other parent was. A parent of any species tending their young is always strangely engaging,...
Sierra Nevada Water & Trees – Part 3
I moved camp this morning and caught a ride to the intersection of Porcupine Creek and Tioga Road, several miles north of the Valley. Fourteen miles hiked and a late afternoon return to camp. I’d have stayed out longer but storms rolled in at noon. I was high up on...
Sierra Nevada Water & Trees – Part 2
Another time, another foray along the Merced River toward Vernal and Nevada Falls. Water soothes. As I walked, the sun rose over the Valley rim just southeast of Half Dome. Tall trees stood above the rim, backlit. The one directly between my line of sight and the sun...
Sierra Nevada Water & Trees – Part 1
The day begins with hours beside flowing water. The walk starts near the confluence of Tenaya Creek and Merced River. Late June, and the high country snow is fast disappearing, but the watersheds of both these streams still send down a generous flow, a gift of water I...