Kentucky

OK. I take it back. Kentucky is worse. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a dirty place. What I think they do—Kentuckians, that is—is dump the trash in the creek all winter with the hope that a spring flood will wash it all out of the yard. I guess it might work, but what happens when your upstream neighbor does the same? The thing is, the western Appalachians don’t have to be ugly. The creeks flow out of hardwood uplands, across sandstone ledges, and through cool groves of dense hemlock. It can be beautiful.

TSC

This week we're working in eastern Tennessee. Some of the time we're in the woods—appalachian hardwoods—which is fine, but a lot of time we're in town. Town mostly means Knoxville, though I was in Chattanooga yesterday. If you love eastern Tennessee, please stop reading, because I have to say that I'm not impressed. A lot of it is crowded, dirty, noisy, and moldy. I'm also struggling with the stereotype of Tennesseeans being overweight hillbillies: Usually stereotypes are dispelled upon closer inspection, but I'm afraid this one is being strengthened. I have found one place I like, though, and I know this sounds contradictory, but my reader knows that I relish the peace that comes with abandonment. While I was walking one afternoon, I came across the old Tennessee Supreme Court building. It was probably constructed 70 to 90 years ago, shoddily upgraded a few times, and finally abandoned. It is currently derelict, with weed strewn parking lots and broken windows. This is my kind of place. I like to go over there and hang out . . . where it is quiet.

Snowbird

At Rural Ways we usually prefer Alta, but there is no denying that Snowbird has a lot to offer. On this day the Bird was just about perfect. The weather was sparkling, the snow was soft, and the company was better than ever (look at Wally enjoying this hike). About the only glitch was an online lift ticket purchase gone wrong. It caused me to miss the first chair on Little Cloud and the subsequent two runs in uncut 18-inch powder. Benson and Wally, of course, being very sensitive to the feelings of others, were not inclined to make a big deal of it.

Alta

It started snowing before we went to bed. It snowed all night. It snowed on the drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon. It snowed all morning. It snowed all afternoon. It snowed when we left. It snowed on the drive down Little Cottonwood Canyon. In sum, we went to Alta on a powder day. Or, as some guy who talked to Wally on the lift ride kept saying, "It's gonna' pillow up." Here's a shot of Benson made famous by his posting it on the look-at-me website.

PC

We were thinking about doing a back country tour, but the weather didn't seem very pleasant when we left the house, so we went to Park City instead. In the event, things cleared up and the conditions were pretty good. Beyond that, as you can see from the picture, the company was excellent.

Burning

Over the past 10 or 15 years, the United States government has put a lot of professional wildland fire fighters on its payroll. Mostly they don't have very much to do, but when they are working they are generally doing things that seem unfamiliar to the average person. Including me. Last week, I was out with a couple of the crews doing some rangeland prescribed burning. It probably doesn't look difficult, and even I can be trained to use a drip torch, but I was pretty ineffective. Not only was I at least 10, if not 20, years older than the oldest crew member, but I couldn't keep my wick lit in the wind. (Those two facts are not related, are they?) Mostly I was just hiking in the smoke while the other guys took extra pulls to clean up my line. Oh well, as they say, an hour of burning is better than a day in the office.

VSO Now on Etsy

VSO is a talented historian and archeologist. She is currently immersed in the story of Jefferson Hunt's rupture with some (soon to be dead, or close to it, from thirst) early '49ers, who preferred Death Valley to the Old Spanish Trail. Be that as it may, VSO also makes paintings. She has a little talent that way, too. The picture above, from Zion National Park, is now available for sale at her Etsy shop, which opened yesterday. If you find yourself tempted to purchase her entire stock, don't hesitate: you won't put her out of business, she'll simply make more.