©Bert Gildart: For the past few days Donald Trump has been discussing “The Wall,” and he’s finding it may not be as easy to separate the U.S. from Mexico with a huge, huge barrier as he had promised.  Yes, some places may need a means of excluding Mexicans from entering the U.S. and that was certainly true in Arizona’s Organ Pipe National Monument. Here, parts of the terrain are ideally suited to stealth, and monitoring revealed that at the height close to 1,000 illegals were stealing across the 30-mile long border on a NIGHTLY basis.  Many were drug runners, and some threatened visitors, and sometimes tragedies occurred.  In 2002 Ranger Kris Eggle was killed by a drug runner.

Dozens of “People trails” were being established and the trampling from thousands of footfalls quickly eroded the critical habitat required for the endangered desert antelope.

Here’s the way a five-mile section of road in Organ Pipe appears.  Some of the fencing is obviously
cheap but one section, perhaps a mile long, was expensive and is used in other sections of the park.
As best I can determine, cost per mile is $2-3M. 
When used in conjunction with other forms of detection, it has worked.

You can’t have this type of impact on a park designated as an International Heritage Park so here, in this specific part of the U.S., a wall was needed.  Americans paid for it and the cost as best as I can determine for the high metal barrier section was $2-$3M PER MILE.

It is now safe again to hike remote sections of Organ Pipe, thanks in part to fencing.
It’s also made it safer for law enforcement rangers.

But the border fence didn’t completely solve the problem and to accomplish the goal of eliminating drug runners and, yes, sometimes undocumented aliens simply looking for work, officials had to do lots more, and here are a few of the extra measures that were required: They increased the border patrol from 50 to 500, installed huge monitors and night cameras, and periodically they make helicopter patrols. The combination has worked, and the park, which closed subsequent to the murder of Ranger Eggle, reopened two years ago.  Now there are fences separating the border but some are more effective than others.  The fences shown here separate a five mile segment of the U.S. from Mexico.

Building a wall worked in Organ Pipe and now the beauty of this incredible desert park
can be safely explored, here along the Ajo Mountain Loop Road.

Do we need a wall in other parts of the USA?  Do Americans need the kind of protection Organ Pipe required?

Those are questions I can’t answer, but if we do, I doubt seriously if DT will be able to live up to his campaign promise. What I can say and want to emphasize is that if we do need a wall, it’s not because I agree with “OUR PRESIDENT’S” hyperbole that [Mexicans are] “bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists…”

But to give the devil his due he concluded by saying “…some are good people.”

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Mountain Biking in Anza Borrego

©Bert Gildart:   Included here are several images, and two of them show a river flowing near Shoshone, Nevada, just outside of Death Valley. Before reading any further, try and imagine what happens — eventually — to this, the Amargosa River?

I think the fate of the river is amazing, and have tried on numerous occasions to photograph it, but it has either been traveling below ground or there simply hasn’t been enough water to reveal it as a river. But two days ago, such was not the case.

The Amargosa River flows
almost 200 miles then enters Death Valley National Park.  What Happens to it Then?

©Bert Gildart: Several days ago Janie and I attended a presentation in Organ Pipe provided by two U.S. Border Patrol agents.  It was an excellent talk, and we took away much information.   One thought, however, that sticks with us is that the marijuana crop is now ripe and drug dealers are now attempting to smuggle tons of it across the border that Organ Pipe shares with Mexico.

One of the agents said if we see people with huge backpacks most likely they’re smugglers and they may well be carrying guns.  “Leave the area immediately,” he urged, “and notify us.”  The agent went on to say smugglers don’t want to see visitors any more than we want to see them.  He said smugglers have scouts posted on hills with commanding views, and when they see Border Patrol agents they have signals that warn “the mules” to scurry back to Mexico.”  The two men also spoke about the skills members of their unit possess to track smugglers.

Jane Gildart, who says that here she could jump across the border.  (The waist-high fence is for stopping cars.)
Dave Vedder with pair of black water bottles.  Black is used by most undocumented immigrants
because they don’t reflect sunlight; three hikers, which the landscape can easily swallow.

Securing the American border has a long history that can best be appreciated by hiking some of the park’s trails.  About a week ago friends from Tucson (Rich, Emma and Eleanor Luhr) joined us and we hiked to the Milton Mine.  The mine was named after Jefferson David Milton who was of the first people to patrol the area, doing so in 1887.  Davis rode horseback between Yuma and Tucson.

As we explored the area once patrolled by this now historic man, we found a few discarded water bottles and several worn out shoes.  We found carpet material, used by smugglers.  When placed over their boots fibers in the carpet obscure tracks.  One of the presenters noted, however, that some of their trackers have become so talented they can follow fibers through the brush.  Indeed, Janie and I were impressed by the described capabilities of men and women now attempting to protect the wonderful resources so unique to Organ Pipe.  For one month, now, Janie and I have been enjoying those resources.  Sadly, we may soon have to get on to other business.

An infinitesimal representation of the plethora of life to be found in Organ Pipe, an International Biosphere Preserve. 
L to R: House finch helping to pollinate ocotillo, cactus wren, hibiscus.

While visiting this 330,688 acre preserve, we’ve ridden bikes and hiked trails.  We’ve enjoyed evening presentation and the clear night skies, and we have taken advantage of park shuttles, one of which took us to the Milton Mine trailhead.  Here, while hiking to the mine, sharp-eyed Emma (now 15) spotted a Cristata at the tip of an Organ Pipe.  Previously I thought the strange growth was confined to the saguaro.

As well, we’ve marveled at the various species of birds that have adapted to a life in thorns, most notably the cactus wren.

Organ Pipe provides magnificent biking opportunities; a day of hiking to both Milton and Baker Mine
where we observed artifacts discarded by illegal intruders;
Valentine Day celebrated with drive of the beautiful Ajo Mountain Drive.

Certainly the monument enjoys these natural resource features in part because over 90 percent of Organ Pipe has been designated wilderness.  Obviously that presents an immense management dilemma, especially now because the marijuana crop has matured necessitating an increase in surveillance.  Some of the patrol work is conducted on horse, but often, to insure visitor safety, they must respond urgently, and that means they must also use 4-wheelers.

“What do you prefer,” they ask pointedly, “thousands of illegals denuding the landscape, or us trying to ensure visitor safety and reduce environmental impact?”  The answer should be obvious for last year Organ Pipe was able to reopen the 60% of lands that had been closed.  But there is still work to be done.  Last year agents seized 100,000 pounds of pot, while in 2005, they seized but 17,000 pounds.  But hopefully these losses to smugglers will continue to benefit the successful program the Park Service has been implementing.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

(Over the years I’ve written a number of magazine stories about OP and posted about a dozen blogs. 
Here are five examples.)

Organ Pipe1, Organ Pipe 2,
Star Light– Star Bright,

Natural History of Organ Pipe,

Airstream Camper Tips from Organ Pipe

OUR RECENT BOOKS

©Bert Gildart: In the Sonoran desert, characterized in part by Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, everything seems to revolve around water, and generally, from the scarcity of it.

For the past few days as we’ve been hiking and biking the area, that fact has been driven home. Several days ago, we hiked to Red Tanks Tinaja, a formation that is configured to collect water, something it apparently does well, for the damp sands were stippled with the tracks of ungulates, perhaps peccaries or the endangered Sonoran antelope.

But more prominently it was impossible to escape the struggling beauty of saguaros embraced as they were by the limbs of the verdant palo verde. At the trailhead to the Red Tanks Tinaja, Park Service interpretive panels explained that saguaros have been here for almost 10,000 years. To survive, the panel explains that the seeds creating these trees thrive only when they chance to fall in the presence of a nurse plant such as the palo verde. In their embrace saguaros generally survive, for the thick-leaved plant can offer much-needed shade and sometimes, too, shelter from harsh rains. As well, the palo verde can hide its then-tiny charge from being seen and then eaten.”

©Bert Gildart: We’re off the Natchez Trace now and are trying to take a few tentative steps to explore the country music aspects of Nashville.  We also feel privileged that Gary Johnson would drive from his home in Kentucky to visit us here in Nashville.  Gary is another old friend from my days at what is now the University of North Alabama.

Bridge representing one of the last major aspects of construction creating an uninterrupted highway stretching almost 450 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.

But the Natchez Trace is still on our minds essentially because I took so many images during our week travel along the Trace and am just now processing them.  Included here, then, are a few shots from the northern end of the Parkway that dramatize the aftermath of a spring storm; a hike along the Old Trace; and an image of Janie studying an interpretive column noting that General Jackson traveled here to help preserve America’s Freedom in the War of 1812.

Downed tree near Meriwether Lewis burial site; Old Trace trail; Janie studying an interpretive column noting that General Jackson traveled here to help preserve America’s Freedom in the War of 1812.

Finally, I’ve included the image of a bridge representing one of the last major aspects of construction creating an uninterrupted highway stretching almost 450 miles from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.  The Trace is one of the incredible components managed by the National Park Service, and one we’d recommend to anyone.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Miles City Bucking Horse Sale

©Bert Gildart: It’s not too late, but you had better hurry.  Right now Big Bend National Park is experiencing what naturalists say is a once in a hundred year bloom.  Dominating the landscape are Texas Blue Bonnets, Desert Marigold, and Bicolor Mustard.  Interspersed among these fields are Prickly Poppy, Blind Prickly Pear and the very patriotic Texas Rainbow Cactus.   Yucca is also in bloom and these tall stately agave look like so many candelabra lighting up the desert.

Janie, blue bonnets and Airstream

One of the above is presenting itself in numbers we never thought possible.  On a single specimen of the Blind Prickly Pear we counted over 100 blossoms.

L to R:  Texas Rainbow Cactus, perhaps a verbena (anyone know for sure?), Blind Prickly Pear.

Here are a few images we’ve taken the past few days, and it feels as though this incredible spectacle is just starting to come alive and that there may be much more to come.  If you want to see what is quite possibly a once in a lifetime event, better pack your bags.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

The Wave — Where Time Stood Still

©Bert Gildart: As promised (at least on my Facebook account), we’re posting images of the magnificent wildflowers that  winter rains seemed to assure.  It’s a sudden transition, but it’s happening right now.

Just outside the campground proper, a number of flowers have reared their heads.  Along the Perimeter Trail, we’ve seen  Buckhorn Cholla, Hibiscus, and the Brittle Brush.

L to R: Brittlebrush, Buckhorn Cholla, Hibiscus

Sadly, some of this beauty has been off limits to visitors until this past September when it was finally deemed safe to open. Because of the vast amount of drug — and just plain human — traffic passing through this exact same area, over 60 percent of the park was closed in 2003. During those 11 years vegetation was trampled and the endangered pronghorn was inhibited from expanding its range.

Park officials recognized the travesty and found funding was now available to bring in the manpower necessary to control this flow.  Last year funds became available and the Border Control was increased from about 50 officers to 500. As a result, the entire park has reopened, and nature has responded to the enforcement that followed and already nature seems to be reclaiming itself.  Just a few days ago one of the volunteer park interpreters spotted the rare Sonoran antelope in the area Janie and I hiked — the Red Tanks Tinaja.

L to R: Red Tanks Tinaja, Desert Gold, Globemallow, backdropped by Senita Tree

And two days ago, though signs are posted everywhere asking that you “Please Let It Grow,” vegetation has grown — at least in some places.  Yellow flowers (the Desert Gold), are now sweeping across the sands that characterize La Abra Plain, the region flanking the South Puerto Drive. From the same region the orange flower (Apricot Globemallow,) has reared its head and, here it is backed by the Senita Tree.

Truly, this is a magnificent area and there is little wonder that Organ Pipe National Desert was designated an International Biosphere Preserve, meaning that it is unique in the word.

We’re delighted to be here.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Organ Pipe Test Opening

©Bert Gildart:  Three years ago Janie and I hiked the Alamo Canyon Trail in Organ Pipe National Monument – and it was here that we encountered a group of illegal Mexicans stealing along the stream bed.  They were carrying large backpacks highly suggestive of drug smuggling, and the experience was unsettling.  Silently, they glared at us and we glanced back.  Turning, they clamored out of the boulder-strewn stream bed and clawed their way onto the far bank.  Then they disappeared into the brush.  We scurried back to our truck, and then as park instructions requested, we reported the incident to park headquarters.

The experience was, in fact, alarming, and so disconcerting that we have never returned to Alamo Canyon.  But the beauty of the canyon remained fixed in our memories, and because it has been haunting us, and because of increased security measures to help insure visitor piece of mind, yesterday, we returned.

Alamo Canyon is, in fact, a splendid area, lush with both organ pipe and Saguaro, which you see immediately as you hit the trail.  They flank the path and frame the Ajo Mountain Range, whose jagged ridge juts into the blue desert sky.

A stream parallels the trail and because of recent rains it was trickling, creating condition reminiscent of the features that apparently attracted, Bill and Birdie Miller who homesteaded here in the early 1900’s.  Initially, they build an adobe home, but in the 1920’s the couple replaced it with a brick structure that still stands today.

Certainly the availability of water attracted the area’s early homesteaders, but perhaps it was also the beauty of
Alamo Canyon that so characterizes this gem of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. 

About 100 yards past the old brick home, we found a set of corrals and at this point we ran across park volunteer Lee Campbell.  Ironically, we had attended his digital slide show only the night before.  He said the corrals were constructed in the early 1930s.  He also said that Bill Miller left his wife Birdie and that she managed the cattle all alone.  Eventually, however, she sold everything off to the Grey family, whose ranching efforts we had explored several days earlier.

Janie examines the old corral built in the 1920 by Bill and Birdie Miller

For us, Alamo Canyon now stands out as a gem in the Sonoran Desert, offering what we believe are some of the monument’s best and most intriguing groupings of saguaro and organ pipe.  But equally as important, we believe that when we think Alamo Canyon it will be yesterday’s adventure we think of first, rather than of our encounter in January  of 2012 with a band of illegal aliens,who may have been transporting drugs.

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ORGAN PIPE ADVENTURE FROM 2012

Illegal Aliens, Our Encounter was Unnerving

©Bert Gildart:  Out of concern for visitor safety, much of Organ Pipe National Monument has been closed for about 12 years. (See link to my posting about the murder of Ranger Kris Eggle.) But in February of 2014 the park service brought in Superintendent Brent Range and instructed him to apply his background in law enforcement and try to reopen closed areas.

L to R:  Pleats of the Senita are more boxy and project fewer spines; Janie hiking through Senita Basin; Senita “tree.”

INCREASED VISITOR SAFETY

For starters Superintendent Range increased the ranger staff from about seven permanent rangers to about 20, increased the border patrol from about 100 to about 300, and installed better surveillance equipment. Though we suspect there is more to come, Range opened all closed park areas in September 2014.

For increased visitor enjoyment, the “new” park also began offering van shuttles to wonderful hiking areas, such as the Senita Basin. Our van was full and following an hour drive along a rugged backcountry road to a trailhead, Janie and I struck out on a five mile hike.

The hike enabled us to familiarize ourselves with a most interesting member of the cactus family, the senita. Though the organ pipe is sensitive to cold, senita is even more so, and this monument represents the specie’s most northern extension from Mexico. To cope with the cold the tops of senita are covered with hair-like structures. Structurally, the pleats are more “boxy” in appearance and are more widely separated.

L to R:  To prevent drug runners from plowing across international border in their vehicles, park has erected steel fences.  Road and trail to Quitobaquito are now open and no longer require an ARMED ESCORT, which we joined several years ago.  You’ll still see black water bottles , but they (hopefully) are “artifacts” of a hard core drug era rather than reflective of the times.   But note, as the park service certainly points out, illegal crossings still occur.

We plan to remain in Organ Pipe for at least another week and will be posting more images about this forgotten park. Once it had the reputation of being the nation’s most dangerous park, but we believe that designation is now changing.

Here are a few images of our hike, the senita and “artifacts” from along the road.   You’ll be seeing more posts from Organ Pipe.

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Organ Pipe Recollections From Many Visits Over the Years:  Airstream Camper Tips from Organ Pipe, and Organ Pipe’s World Class Cactus Forest

©Bert Gildart:  Last night I stood on the shoreline that represented the high-water mark of the Lake Mead Reservoir.  From where I stood I could look across Callville Bay and see to the opposite shoreline marked by a continuous white band.  The band represents the lake level as it has existed for the decades following impoundment of Lake Mead.

This lake, once the sainted representation of high-tech engineering, is down over 100 vertical feet representing (for me) an incalculable volume of water.  What makes this such a difficult calculation is that this scene is not confined to just Callville Bay but begins above Grand Canyon at Lake Powell.  Waters that remain then flow through the Grand Canyon but are once again blocked at Hoover Dam where we are now camped. This is the dam created the barren landscape we are now observing.

Water once lapped at shore where this photo taken.

Of course we all heard about the drought in homes distant from Lake Mead, but back there when you say Lake Mead is down over 100 feet these measurements are little more than vague abstraction.

What’s causing this? Immediately it is caused by the prolonged drought Colorado has been experiencing.  But scientists say this is only the beginning.

They’re worried that this region will confront significant water supply challenges as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise.  But that suggests global warming, and we all know that is just the loose-tongue meanderings of some of our nation’s leading scientists – perhaps 95% of them.  “No to worry,” say detractors.”

Note the white ring that covers so much of the landscape in these three images.  Those lines represent the shoreline created by the Lake Mead impoundment.

That’s the way I might have felt before I saw these shorelines several nights ago, and if I wasn’t a believer before I saw Lake Mead, I now have to say that it appears as though something monumental is happening, and it appears as though it will only get worse.

However, the drought has created some interesting side stories, and one of them is shown in the next image.

An interesting aspect of this prolonged drought is the reemergence of the historic village of St. Thomas.

This image shows the reemergence of the old Mormon village of St. Thomas, which existed from 1865 until 1935, when Hoover Dam created the impoundment that covered it.  More on this in next post.

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THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Historic Fort Davis

©Bert Gildart: Several days ago  Janie and I made a trip in Death Valley National Park that we’ve wanted to make for years. We rented a jeep, then made a 200 mile, 14-hour loop drive from our campsite here at Furnace Creek. About 120 miles of the trip was on a blacktop road, and that portion took us to Stove Pipe Wells, up over Towne Pass and then to Ballarat Ghost Town.  There’s where the four-wheel drive jeep tour started.

Approaching Mangle Pass

After leaving Ballarat, this section (probably about 80 miles) took us about 30 miles through a narrow canyon where it then reenters Death Valley. At the point there’s a sign pointing to Barker Ranch, the ranch where the FBI captured Charles Manson.

Not much is left there today, as the ranch burned several years ago, but Barker Ranch is in the news because on the weekend of the November the 15th, Charles Manson, who is now 80, got  married. The man is still in jail for murder, so I’m not sure how nuptials will play out, but, locally, the site is generating some interest.

L to R:  Ascending Gower Gulch out of Ballarat; four-wheeling through boulder field; approaching Mangle Pass with monument to Mangle.

DEATH VALLEY GOLD SEEKERS

Essentially we made the trip to recall the rugged country Manly and Rogers traversed in their efforts to rescue the Bennett and Arcane families back in 1849. This country is rugged beyond belief and to successfully navigate it in a jeep requires a spotter (Janie) and patience in selecting an appropriate route through the maze of rocks. Hopefully images reflect the challenges and show the country going up and going down as well as the rugged Mangle Pass. Hopefully, too, they project the excitement Janie and I shared as we traveled through this park’s seldom seen back country splendor.

Passing Stripped Butte, a significant landmark for Rogers and Manly, the men who subsequently saved the Bennette Arcane families in 1850.

 

NOTE: Janie has always said she’d like a Rubicon jeep, but I think last week’s trip cured her of that notion.

DVNP WEATHER: Weather the past few days has been brutally cold, with day-time temperatures never rising about 72.

 

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Indian Hill

©Bert Gildart: We’re still in Death Valley, camped at Texas Spring, and obsessed with the hardships endured by a group of emigrants collectively referred to as the 49ers. There is no other year that contributed so much to the names and legends that were eventually to become part of this park’s story as the year 1849.

The year also contributed much to a significant chapter in American history, the journey to find riches in the California gold fields at a time when the American economy was floundering.

Mountain Ranges through which the 49ers had to pass in order to reach Travertine Springs, site today of the Death Valley Hotel

©Bert Gildart:  Though I try to be laid back and unobtrusive as a photographer it’s hard to completely avoid scrutiny during Death Valley’s annual ‘49ers celebration where most everyone who congregates is hoping to hold the past together.  The period of time they’ve been celebrating for 65 years in this huge desert park is exciting, and part of that history includes the recollections of a gallant struggle for life.  It was a struggle that today forms the foundation for Death Valley’s exciting history, and the celebratory atmosphere of the thousands assembled this past week commemorates that idea.

Today's celebrants follow same route used by gold seekers in1849

So it was not a big surprise when one of those celebrants hurried over to me and motioned for me to follow.  “There’s a man right over here you’ll want to meet,” said the celebrant  with a wave.  “He’s the great, great grandson of one of the original Jayhawkers. Meet,” he said moment later, “Don Christiansen.”

CAPTAIN DOTY:

Don is in fact a third generation descendent of Captain Edward Doty, and significantly from my point of view, Mr. Christiansen seems to have learned all he can about his historic ancestor.

Briefly, for the purposes of this short entry, Doty is remembered as the man who became captain of the Jayhawkers when Asa Haynes became too weak to lead. Doty assumed leadership near Death Valley, where heat, lack of water, and endless expanses of salt created hardships from which several never recovered.

The group that history now refers to as the Jayhawkers originated in Galesburg, Illinois.  There, a nucleus group of young men departed for the recently discovered California gold fields.  As they traveled, others joined, and because of the number of jaybirds and hawks they saw along the Platte River, the group soon took the name “Jayhawkers.”

PLACES OF BEAUTY?

Life was not easy as they traveled and along the way many in the group had to divest themselves of treasured items because of weight.  Then, just north of Death Valley, they had to burn wagons and kill oxen for food.  Bad enough, but when they reached what we today call Death Valley, hardships multiplies.  Many of the places that we look upon today as places of beauty and intrigue proved life threatening to the Jayhawkers.  Some of those places include Zabriskie Point, Furnace Creek Wash, the Devil’s Golf Course, Salt Creek…, and, finally, Emigrant Pass.

L to R:  Image one (Zabriskie Point) and two show terrain those traveling to California gold fields had to endure.  Image three is of Don and Lucye Christiansen.  Don is great, great grandson of Capt.  Edward Doty, one of a group of 49ers that traveled to the California gold fields.

Today, the 49ers celebrate those places and areas of hardships endured by the 49ers, and in the case of Don Christiansen – by his great, great grandfather.  I’ll be learning some of the specifics when Mr. Christiansen and I visit for further dialog.  In the meantime, it is significant to remember that the celebratory atmosphere exhibited by several thousand these past five days is intended to hold together an exciting part of our American history.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Indian Hills

©Bert Gildart: Made it to Death Valley and got a campsite at Texas Springs.  Because of the thousands camped half a mile below for the annual 49ers celebration that was a surprise. Virtually all have generator and they do run them when the are allowed.  That’s between the hours of 7 in the morning to 9 at night. Image the racket.

But the key to quiet camping is solar panels, and we have four on top of our Airstream and two that are free to move for precise orientation with respect to the sun.   At Texas Springs, generators are prohibited.

Two images show us visiting Rhyolite Ghost Town located near entry to Death Valley; middle image, moon rise over Texas spring.

Images posted here include two of our Airstream creeping through the long ago abandoned mining town of Rhyolite located near the entrance to Death Valley.  The third represents a relaxed evening watching the moon rise about our campsite.  Picture us with a glass of wine, sitting back in easy chairs with the temperature about 75.  We’re in heaven, with many 49er activities waiting our pleasure.

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THIS TIME TWO YEARS AGO:

Canyon Country

©Bert Gildart: Here in Great Meadows, New Jersey, where we are visiting family, we are not far from a relatively new national park which combines natural history with military history.   Sandy Hook National Historic Park includes old Fort Hancock, which in turn preserves a row of homes that served as the quarters for army officers.

Between 1958 and 1959, Janie’s dad was a military doctor who served at the old post and lived there with his family, which means Janie lived in a house that is now part of the history of Sandy Hook National Seashore.

Janie standing in front of her old home

We toured the old fort and national seashore with Janie’s son and his family and, of course, our explorations brought back many memories. Janie remembers driving the old peninsula flanked by a bay on one side and by the Atlantic Ocean on the other. Today, the park is also renowned for its beauty, which includes several sweeping vistas of the New York skyline. As part of the skyline view one can see the new Freedom Tower, which has replaced the two Twin Towers. (You can see it if you click the image and look closely.)

L to R:  Nike Missiles located but a short walk from Janie’s old home at Fort Hancock. Parade grounds formed her backyard.  Fort Hancock Lighthouse, nation’s oldest.  Seashore is a biker’s mecca. 

From the park’s broad sandy seashore, which one encounters after driving or biking through the park entrance, the park road soon progresses on to old Fort Hancock and, of course, we had to stop by Janie’s old home and hike the parade grounds which formed part of her back yard. (Two of the images show the officer’s row of homes and her’s was number 13.)

From the porch on her old home, she could see Raritan Bay, but when she ventured from her home she knew that a short walk would take her to several Nike Missiles, used to protect New York City. A short walk in another direction offered her the opportunity to examine old bunkers used to house canons. And in yet another direction a short hike would place her at the base of a light house, said to be the nation’s oldest.

Jane Gildart back dropped by New York skyline and the new Freedom Tower -- as seen from Sandy Hook National Seashore..

 

The day could not have been more beautiful providing the deep blue skies which backdrop several of the images I’ve included here.

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THIS TIME THREE YEARS AGO:

Cow “Girl” Poetry

 

4th ed. Autographed by the Authors

Hiking Shenandoah National Park

Hiking Shenandoah National Park is the 4th edition of a favorite guide book, created by Bert & Janie, a professional husband-wife journalism team. Lots of updates including more waterfall trails, updated descriptions of confusing trail junctions, and new color photographs. New text describes more of the park’s compelling natural history. Often the descriptions are personal as the Gildarts have hiked virtually every single park trail, sometimes repeatedly.

$18.95 + Autographed Copy

• 
  
• Take a look

Big Sky Country is beautiful

Montana Icons: 50 Classic Symbols of the Treasure State

Montana Icons is a book for lovers of the western vista. Features photographs of fifty famous landmarks from what many call the “Last Best Place.” The book will make you feel homesick for Montana even if you already live here. Bert Gildart’s varied careers in Montana (Bus driver on an Indian reservation, a teacher, backcountry ranger, as well as a newspaper reporter, and photographer) have given him a special view of Montana, which he shares in this book. Share the view; click here.

$16.95 + Autographed Copy

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• Pictures here

What makes Glacier, Glacier?

Glacier Icons: 50 Classic Views of the Crown of the Continent

Glacier Icons: What makes Glacier Park so special? In this book you can discover the story behind fifty of this park’s most amazing features. With this entertaining collection of photos, anecdotes and little known facts, Bert Gildart will be your backcountry guide. A former Glacier backcountry ranger turned writer/photographer, his hundreds of stories and images have appeared in literally dozens of periodicals including Time/Life, Smithsonian, and Field & Stream. Take a look at Glacier Icons

$16.95 + Autographed Copy

• 
  
• Look inside

©Bert Gildart:  The most recent issue of Airstream Life contains my story about national parks.  Essentially, my story posed a question that asks whether the NPS has maintained the goals posed by their Organic Act.

Kayaking to Apostle Islands

The goals are lofty and state that the objective of the organization’s 400-plus parks is “….to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

It’s appropriate to ask such as question at this time as the Service is gearing up for its centennial which will occur on August 25, 2016.  In anticipation of that celebration many will recall that on the 25^th of this past August entry fees to our all of our national parks were waved.

To help answer the question in Airstream Life the story reviewed a number of policies the NPS has attempted to implement, to include its grizzly bear management program and its attempts to reintroduce wolves to Yellowstone. As well, I discussed the difficulty of handling illegal immigration in Organ Pipe and the problems some visitors have created when they release snakes foreign to the ecosystem.  Obviously all these actions directly affect the intent of the Organic Act.

PARK ADVENTURES

As well, I described the enjoyment offered in our national parks by describing some of the wonderful adventures parks offer such as backpacking, kayaking, biking and the opportunity to appreciate and learn about nature.  Finally, I attempted to celebrate some of the types of features that parks preserve such as our antiquities.

Tragedies of the '60s necessitated creation of a Bear Management Program, mandated by the NPS Organic Act

These are the types of subjects I’ve written about over the years for dozens of magazines.  I am particularly pleased, however, that for the past 10 years (since the inception of Airstream Life) that I have contributed stories and photographs to every single issue.

AIRSTREAM LIFE READERS

The magazine is a glossy magazine and it is well laid out.  Obviously it is directed toward a specific audience, but of importance to me is that so many of the magazine’s readers are dedicated to the important objective the NPS has attempted to achieve.  It’s obvious the agency is working hard to fulfill the mandates of its Organic Act, and that it wants you to benefit from its manifold accomplishments.  In truth, these parks are so significant that the beauty and the heritage they preserve may help preserve and stimulate mankind.

THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

Memories Through the Years:  http://gildartphoto.com/weblog/2013/09/10/memorable-adventures

©Bert Gildart: Heading home now to Bigfork, Montana, but we left much undone from this trip into the Southwest and expect we’ll soon return.  We have to!

Lake Meade is experiencing low water levels, and that could make for some fascinating excursions.   When Hoover Dam was constructed water levels rose and covered a vast area to include the abandoned St. Thomas settlement.  But the severe drought of the past couple years has reduced water levels on Lake Meade leaving many areas exposed for the first time in years.   Once the town was flooded higher than 60 feet above the tallest structure.  We’ve been told it’s eerie now — a visit to a real life ghost town.

Lone figure helps inspire inspiration from The Wave

Of course, we’ll want to see more of Valley of Fire, one of the most remarkable parks we’ve recently visited.  Though the park is not huge, we didn’t get a chance to see all we wanted, primarily because we spent so much time at the geologically fascinating area called The Wave.  I think the lone hiker in my associated photo peering down onto the chasm supports our thinking.  He’s shown here spreading his arms attempting through a body gesture to understand all that spreads before him.  His expression remains motivational, but so was that of a very elderly gentleman whom we met later.  He was stumbling along with a pair of walking sticks and told us he’d been coming here every year for decades.

“It’s inspiring you know.  And I learn so much.”

Same holds true for us.

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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS THIS TIME LAST YEAR:

*San Diego Wildlife

©Bert Gildart:  Here are a few images that tell a story of a very significant place, one we’re been enjoying these past few days.

Most notable is the one of Janie framed by a cave punched by weather into some igneous rock.  The cave is one of many and all are adjacent to Dripping Springs in Organ Pipe National Monument.  Our visit is notable because this area of the park has been closed for the past 12 years.

One of many small caves near Dripping Springs

In 2002, as reported in blogs over the years, Chris Eggle was shot to death in Organ Pipe National Monument  trying to protect visitors from the danger imposed by desperate drug smugglers.  Mexico is just five miles to our south and until recently established drug routes have coursed their way through this outstanding area of the Sonoran Desert, representing, therefore, a continuous source of danger.

But the work of park rangers and the Border Patrol has improved conditions.  As a result, park officials reopened six miles of the Puerto Blanco Road this past December.

Visitation to Dripping Springs is based on a quota system, and right now only five vehicles can travel the bumpy road at any one time.  With a permit,  bicyclists, however, can visit anytime.

L TO R:  Janie gazing over Sonoran Desert from Dripping Springs; biking to road to Springs, but stopping near compassionate Water Tanks; Janie and Springs.

Park officials say if this experimental opening is successful, they are hoping to reopen the remaining 30-plus miles.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful, they say, if we could open the rest of the park?

Have not talked to anyone who would disagree.

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AIRSTREAM TRAVELS THREE YEARS AGO:

*Are Birds Political Creatures?  You Bet

©Bert Gildart:  In a different life, 150 years ago, Ballarat Bert was “a single blanket jackass prospector.”  In the harsh land he wandered, those days were all about prospecting; and those of a like mind were “Shorty Harris,” Pete Aguereberry, and Seldom Seen Smith, all of whom Ballarat occasionally encountered.

His principle consort, however, was Panamint Jane, and she had become known for her brave heart, gracious ways and desert knowledge.  Granted that made for some differences, but these were complementary differences, depending, of course, on where we are.  She knew her challenges were great for Ballarat Bert had also gone by the sobriquet of Bourbon Bert and Blasphemous Bert.  Graciously, Panamint Jane stuck to interpreting nature and not the sordid implications of names.

L to R: In another life Panamint Jane and Ballarat Bert wandered the rugged West, searching
for gold and the hidden meaning of desert life.

Out here in the desert each morning provides new stories in the sand, and this is where Panamint likes to let her imagination run wild.  “Here’s where a kangaroo rat almost bought it,” says Ms. Panamint.  “See, it’s racing for its burrow, trying to evade the kit fox.  See this!  Here’s the tracks of a fox.  And here’s the tracks of our kangaroo rat, which just barely made it. It’s all here!”

Ballarat likes other Death Valley stories and one recalls Aguereberry Pete and Shorty Harris, both of whom Ballarat and Panamint had trailed into some of the valley’s harshest lands.

In, of course, their other lives.

At the time, say about 1880, Aguereberry had just meet Shorty Harris and the two struck out for the “fleshpots” of Ballarat, an old evolving mining town.   Ballarat Bert wanted to trail along behind Harris and Aguereberry, but Panamint Jane was insistent, saying, “No-sir-ree. Not if you want to stick with me… We’ll find places on our own, without any of the silly sashaying that goes on out there in Ballarat.”

L to R: Panamint Jane says the colors look like peppermint, strawberry and lettuce.  Tracks in the desert sands.  Amaragosa Opera House.

True to her word, our wandering turned up rocks and dirt the color of peppermint, strawberry and lettuce.  Panamint, whose knowledge seemed to embrace future knowledge, said that she bet the colors were the result of “pigments, such as iron, mica and manganese.”

HARRIS HAMMERED, PETE PISSED

Panamint’s decision to go it alone turned out to be a good one, for Shorty Harris really pissed off Aguereberry Pete.  They found gold alright, but a night or so later Harris got his-self all liquored up, and he began boasting of stuff they found in the Panamint Mountains.  This could have resulted in gun play, but as luck would have it the pair reasserted their claim.  And that’s not all: Even though these two men tested the flesh pots of Ballarat, fate still smiled kindly on the lives of the two men, for they became Death Valley legends.

Well Ballarat Bert and Panamint Jane have more to add, for their adventures have pointed them toward an old famous play house and a big, big desert known as the Mojave.  But you’ll have to return to find out what they go prospecting for next.

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AIRSTREAM ADVENTURES TWO YEARS AGO:

*Climbing Anza Borrego’s Coyote Peak

©Bert Gildart: We’re camped now in our old borax wagon (Airstream) high on a hill called Texas Spring.  Generators are not allowed here so nights are quiet.  We’re delighted to be at Texas Springs and much of our second day in Death Valley was spent exploring the Harmony Borax Works.

Our borax wagon, always ready to accommodate us on new adventures

Twelve years ago we wrote in our book, Exploring Death Valley, that Harmony Borax Works is one of the most popular stops in the park.  “The works made Death Valley famous in several ways.  Borax quickly became the ‘white gold’ of Death Valley after it’s discover on the salt pan of the desert floor in 1881…

“From Harmony Works, the mules pulled the loaded wagons 165 miles to the train depot in Mojave…  In the 1950s and 1960s, the television series Death Valley Days (hosted one season by a movie actor named Ronald Reagan) romanced the mineral, the historic period, and the people who worked the claims to extract the borax…

“By the end of the era in the late 1920s, some $30,000,000 worth of borax had been taken from the Death Valley area…”

CLICK TO ENLARGE

L to R:  Wagon which once helped transport millions of dollars worth of borax to Mojave; night photo
of borax wagon; up close image of borax wagons.

To help romanticize the area Janie and I have worked hard trying to capture the spirit of the times.  We’ve photographed the wagons at night and with a variety of lenses, and hope you like the renditions.  With the exception of the night photo, all images are new.  Don Dennis helped me with the night image several years ago by venturing out well after sundown and then working with me on the lighting. Don and Nancy are a great couple and we’ll be seeing them before long.

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OTHER AIRSTREAM TRAVELS TO DEATH VALLEY:

*HOTTEST PLACE IN THE WORLD

*DEATH VALLEY ON OUR MINDS