Guadalupe Outlier - Greater Chaco Landscape

Over twenty years ago I was wandering around out in the Greater Chaco Landscape of New Mexico.  Nancy and I were living in Seattle.  A conversation with a friend had led to me making a trip to New Mexico and spending some time in his family's cabin near Cuba, NM.  Driving north from Albuquerque Cabezon loomed large on the horizon.  Over the next week I explored dirt roads leading out into a stunning landscape.  Stopping often to make photographs, it was a photographer's holiday.  Meeting a local rancher, he asked "are you looking for the old Indian ruins"?  He pointed me in the direction along the mesas by the river.  I found Guadalupe.

Much has changed over those twenty years.  The site was discovered in the early 1970's.  Located on BLM land it is the responsibility of the BLM for the stewardship of this sacred site.  Nancy and I have returned numerous times to this very special place.  We have seen many changes.  Most not for the better.  Once a location found as it was when the Ancestral Chacoans left, today the BLM has desecrated the site with metal roofs placed on sacred kivas, cemented walls, and the removal of most of the signs of the Pueblo People.  

Last week I flew the site to document and record the site conditions.  My heart was saddened by what I saw.  

Click here to see Guadalupe as it is today.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

America's 11 Most Endangered Places 

On May 30, 2019, the National Trust announced its annual list of 11 most endangered places.  America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places is a list of places in the United States that the National Trust for Historic Preservation considers the most endangered. It aims to inspire Americans to preserve examples of cultural heritage that could be "relegated to the dustbins of history" without intervention.

At the top of the list is Ancestral and Sacred Sites of Southeast Utah.  This includes Bears Ears, Combs Ridge, and Hovenweep.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has offered almost 19 million acres of public land for oil and gas leasing—an area larger than the entire state of West Virginia.  All this is being done at the same time the administration is revising the management plans for more than 24 million acres of public land and proposing to slash conservation protections by 80%.

Help us as we strive to document and preserve cultural, sacred sites, and endangered landscape in the Southwest.  To learn how you can help visit Question of Power.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

112,000 Acres of Public Lands Leased by the BLM 

Since the beginning of 2018 the BLM has leased 112,000 acres of Public Lands in Southeast Utah. This is all part of the Greater Chaco Landscape.  In many cases as little as 2% of the recently leased land has been surveyed for cultural and sacred sites. There are 1700 known sacred sites in three recent lease sales.  The Trump administration immediately targeted this region for development by reducing the size of Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 85% and leaving that previously protected landscape open to mineral, oil and gas development.

Last week I spent time in part of the Bears Ears previously protected landscape, an area called Valley of the Gods. Standing under a brilliant blue sky surrounded by red sandstone mesas, buttes, and towers, all remnants of an ancient landscape, it was a time and place to renew my soul.  Difficult to imagine the long term effects of opening up this and the surrounding landscape for oil and gas industrialization now that protection for the areas has been removed.

Follow this link to experience the beauty of Valley of the Gods.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

BLM Fire Sale of Public Lands

Conservation and tribal groups are criticizing the Bureau of Land Management for its latest oil and gas lease sale of more than 70,000 acres of public land in Utah. The sale, which occurred this week, brought in around $1.63 million, according to the BLM, more than half of which came from 32,027 acres in San Juan County. The sale is the third since March 2018 to include land between Bears Ears and Canyon of the Ancients National Monument, much of which conservation groups say should not be leased. “This area has more archaeological sites than any other area open to oil and gas drilling in the United States,” said Josh Ewing, director of Bluff-based conservation group Friends of Cedar Mesa.

The All Pueblo Council of Governors; San Juan County Commission; the Navajo Utah Commission; the Town of Bluff and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) were among those that sent letters to the BLM and Utah Governor Herbert, asking them to stop the leases near Hovenweep National Monument from advancing.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

HWY 2 - Day 12 - Cashmere, WA - End of HWY 2

Final day traveling the Great Northern.  Filled Ol' Sport with the last tank of high test.  Filled me with a big breakfast and several cups of steaming hot coffee.  Heading into Tumwater Canyon HWY 2 sweeps through the evergreen conifer forests winding along the raging Wenatchee River.  Rolled on the throttle, leaned and pressed into the turns...WOW...What a Ride!  Shadows on the road filled with cold air.  Couldn't help but think of the past two weeks on the road with O'l Sport.  Didn't want it to end.  Maybe we could just keep going down the road together forever.

At the crest of the Cascades the road climbs up and over 4,061 foot Steven Pass. The highest and northern most Cascade pass.  A popular ski area, Stevens Pass dishes out grand views of the surrounding peaks.  Stopped to take it all in.  Didn't want the moment to end.

From Stevens Pass it is a downhill run to the end of HWY 2 in Everett.  A few miles down the narrow curving asphalt a small pull-off provides access to one of the regions prettiest and most powerful cascades of bone-chilling snowmelt.  Deception Falls is the perfect example of a classic roaring waterfall.

Far too quickly I was out of the tranquility of the Cascades and on the final leg of my 2800 mile journey.  Pulling into Emerald City Harley-Davidson to drop off Ol' Sport I was met by my two beautiful granddaughters and family.  The perfect ending.  My daughter made a special dinner of fresh caught local salmon tonight.  As we sat around the table talking and laughing about some of my road stories, it became clear what I had experienced the past two weeks on the road.  I had experienced America. The land, the places, the people that make up our great country.  America the Beautiful.

O'l Sport and me.  Just a couple of cool dudes traveling light and simple down that ribbon of highway which connects us all together.  Gonna really miss O'l Sport.  Handed over his key with a misty eye.  Had a hard time walking away.  Stopped and took one final look back.  Put a big smile on my face.  O'l Sport and me.  What a time together. 

A favorite Hunter Thompson quote keeps running over and over in my head tonight..."Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"

WOW...What a Ride!

Kickstand down western end of HWY 2 - 136 miles.  Missing having' O'l Sport's key tonight hangin' on my belt loop.

be strong, be safe, Carlan

HWY 2 - Day 11 - Wilbur, WA - Cashmere, WA

Peaceful sleep last night in Wilbur.  Hope they get the relaxation bed fixed before my next visit.  The Columbia Basin has been the centerpiece of massive project dams and reclamation projects.  Beginning in 1934 Grand Coulee Dam is one of the civil engineering wonders of the world.  At the southern end of the dam project HWY 2 crosses Grand Coulee.  A big body of beautiful blue water.  The area is a popular spot for boaters and anglers.

One of the last of eastern Wahington's unirrigated landscapes is the Moses Coulee.  The Coulee is an 800-foot deep gorge bounded by vertical walls of brown and black volcanic basalt.

From the rolling plains above, HWY 2 cuts down into the coulee, then back up the other side, passing through some of the Columbia River Basin's sole remaining sagebrush and giving a strong sense of how profoundly irrigation has change the region.

Standing at the center of fertile wheat fields 10 miles east of the Columbia River backed off the throttle entering Waterville.  The town was built in 1886 with a population of 1162 strong individuals today.  Stopped for gas, but the pumps weren't working.

On the road for eleven days now.  Rhythm of the road is deep in my soul.  Been missing some good fresh fruit.  Feil Orchard...The Good Fruit People.  Two brothers growing some of the best peaches, apples, and pears in the greater Wenatchee area since 1906.

Pulled to a stop. Put the kickstand down, had one of the sweetest, run down your arm juicy as you bite into it,  peaches I have ever eaten.  Size of an apple, absolutely melted in my mouth.  Could go on but I won't.  Wenatchee is the commercial center of the Wenatchee Valley, and one of the world's most productive apple growing regions in the world.  Not to mention peaches!

With the rugged Cascade Range on the horizon HWY 2 left the lower plains and headed directly into forest covered hills and glacier carved peaks.  Stopped in Cashmere tonight.  World famous for Applets and Cotlets.  Visited the factory.  Ate my way through the sample room.  Highly suggested when you are in the area.

Hard to think about putting the kickstand down on Ol' Sport tomorrow at the end of HWY 2.  Actually...don't want to even think about it yet...

Kickstand down Cashmere, WA. 162 Miles.

be strong, be safe, Talon

HWY 2 - Day 10 - Priest River, ID - Wilbur, WA

How many cords, chargers, batteries, memory cards...list goes on and on...does it take to be a photographer in this current age of technology.  Biggest challenge on the road is to make sure each morning everything is rounded up, coiled up, packaged up, and loaded up before you saddle up.  Let's see, sure don't want to miss any ups.  Sweep the room.  Triple check all the outlets for devices.

Light rain this morning gave me a reason to delay taking off early.  Chance to do some laundry in the room.  Conair works as a good dryer while sipping coffee.

Stopped in at AJ's Cafe in Priest for some breakfast.  All the 6 AM regulars have their own coffee cup with name in this three calendar cafe.  Reminded me of my grandfather's barber shop in Arizona where every regular customer had their own shaving mug.  Nice to know these kinds of communities are still part of our country today.

The past two weeks have seen and stopped in a lot of small towns along HWY 2.  Some are deserted, some just holding on, some striving to be renewed.  Good to see a breath of new life along the way.  Hope would be for the renewal not to be one which loses the original character which build the foundations of these communities.  Time will tell.

Leaving Idaho HWY 2 becomes 150 miles of rolling farmland east of the Cascades. Dark spots suddenly appear from the side of the road.  Ol' Sport and me sweep quick to the left and then to the right.  It's a flock of wild turkeys deciding to cross the highway.  A blip of the throttle and Ol' Sport has those turkeys rushing back into the wheat fields where they belong.  Good thing.  Wrong time of year for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Small-scale framing limped along here for over a century.  The region underwent a wholesale change after WW II.  Irrigation water from reclamation projects turned sagebrush plains into the proverbial amber waves of grain spreading to the horizon against an (almost) always blue sky filled with never ending clouds.

Handlebars straight.  Not a curve in sight.  Directly across the heart of this sparsely populated, nearly treeless region to Wilbur, WA. where an old service station has been brought back to life as a drive-by expresso stand.  Must be getting close to Seattle.

Hoping for some relaxation after 10 days on the road...disappointed in Wilbur tonight.

Kickstand down Wilbur, WA - 165 windy miles (that's headwind windy miles)

be strong, be safe, Carlan