It's been a long time since I fly fished. When I got good enough at casting and started catching them, I gave it up to hike or read a book under a tree while my husband fished. That looked a little like a cut throat. Was it? And where? The stream looks wonderful. The thing my husband regretted most when he became unable to get out and about was giving up fly fishing.
We were fortunate to have retired from LANL in 1993. He died in 2017. But, ya know, there's never enough time. Greedy for life. Congratulations, and make the most of your retirement.
In the new Substack I’ll launch later this year, he makes another cameo. (He belongs to a friend, and he actually fishes for small Brook trout with his eyes in shallow water.)
The new publication is about amazing things (dogs, game birds, fish, wildlife, people, places…) I’ve observed in a life long love affair with the outdoors.
I'd be careful touting "the wonders of the natural environment" narrative. It has for centuries been linked to Malthusianism and Misanthropy. Including Nazism:
It had a lot to do with the massacre of 8M Irish in the so-called potato famine, which was in reality forced starvation by a Malthusian Aristocracy.
An good example of how environmentalism easily goes wrong is the Sierra Club. It was once very pro-nuclear, because it wanted to protect the natural environment with the cleanest of all energy sources. But then the Malthusian wing took over, financed by the Malthusians who dominate the Aristocracy in Western Nations. They saw nuclear as a way to increase industrialization and human population.
Matthew Ehret does an excellent job explaining the partnership between environmentalism and Malthusianism:
The Roots Of Modern Eco-Terrorism: From MK Ultra And The Unabomber To Maurice Strong And Yuval Harari:
Fair enough but after 70 odd posts on this platform, we believe no one could possibly mistake our take for any of that horsesh*t.
Point was that wearing a t-shirt, attending a protest holding a sign, putting a bumper sticker on your EV, joining Sierra Club or Environmental Defense Fund and reading Mother Jones and Katherine Hayhoe and Bill McKibben are not going to teach a person about the actual environment.
As a reader who has been with us from the beginning, we know you get that.
I like how they say they are all for protecting the Environment, but they sure as hell don't want us plebes to be able to enjoy it. Reserved for the Aristocracy. While we get fenced in by 15min ghettos, living in rat infested apartment blocks.
Too many homo sapiens are stuck in an urban mindset where even human life becomes almost worthless. The evidence supporting that statement is all around us, just watch the TV local news tonight to see where the latest shooting was. Hint, it wasn't on the range, or hunting supper.
People have asked "what are you going to do in retirement?" And when I explained, they said "you'll be bored to death, wanting to go back to work in 60 days.".
It's been 4 months and I have not been bored one day. They have no context. Outdoor life. No boredom, only adventure and constant learning.
Most folks don't understand that there is life everywhere. Death Valley, full of life. Chernobyl exclusion zone, life thrives. Glad you have your chance to stick your toes in the mud, the best therapy
Absolutely true. I have long held the opinion that most "environmentalists" are either of the type that follow around places to visit on their Instagram account (meaning they only see overvisited places that others congregate at) or they never escape their SUV and living room and see the environment in pictures on their phones (not realizing that most of the world has no cell coverage). Most "environmentalists" only pretend not to be wholly dependent on their outdoor products made from petroleum that are the only reason they are even able to visit the overused places they consider wild.
Some of the most impactful experiences I have had as a field geologist were doing months of field work in the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Reservation (you can't see the real Grand Canyon in the National Park as they won't let you). I got to know the daily habits of several individual rattlesnakes of various species, was visited up close by desert bighorns, wild donkeys, coyote puppies, followed around by hummingbirds, and got to know the local Hualapai quite well. I worked one summer in Albania, got served freshly killed rabbit for dinner by my hosts, and saw how life was lived in the 19th century without public water supplies and electricity. Then I got to experience Ethiopia, where life has not changed much in the past 2,000 years and camped for months on the banks of the Awash River. I had to be cautious about the hippopatamuses, the thousands of crocodiles, carpet vipers, hyenas, African lions, and got to know the locals who herded goats and camels, lived off their herds and migrated anywhere they chose. All this was while looking at fossil evidence of many past species, including our human ancestors. We killed and butchered a goat almost every week for ourselves. No one in the first world understands either how MOST of the world lives, or the wild environment, yet it is constantly used by them as some divine standard. People are part of nature but they forget that and instead adopt what is essentially a Biblical viewpoint (which they also deny) that they are in charge of the world and must save it. Most have delusions of grandeur and suffer cognitive dissonance.
I really like your shared experiences. I'm writing a post for next week about my 5 experiences in the Grand Canyon. One of those trips was with Steve Austin, who has a PhD in geology and has done plenty of 'boots on the ground' on a wilderness permit going down from the western end of the North Rim (no trail) with my daughter. We never saw another hiker, but did see a coral snake, a desert bighorn, drank filtered water that still tasted like frogs, and were stalked by a mountain lion. On the 3rd day, we came somewhat close to death, because we couldn't find a spring shown on our map. By dark, we dry-camped and if we still couldn't find it at dawn, we had decided to try to make it out of the canyon without water. I got up at first light and hiked both directions along the contour of the spring's elevation. On the second attempt, I was ready to give up, when I saw a half dozen hummingbirds rising up and down in the air over a little ridge ahead. I knew there must have been flowers and water there, and we were saved. I love hummingbirds!
I was very disappointed with your closing comment about a 'biblical viewpoint'. I love the bible, God's Word, and understand that the 'dominion mandate' in Genesis 1:26 and 28, is counterbalanced by 2:15, which by commanding Adam to "keep" the Garden of Eden, is telling us that God wants us to take good care of our environment.
Nice! I'm looking forward to more. During summers, I live in a yurt overlooking the Nome River and a view of the Bering Sea, four miles to the west. I'm surrounded by a dozen different tweety birds, as well as nesting Robins, Sandhill Cranes, Ptarmigan, Tundra Swan, Canada Goose, and a bunch of other smaller ducks and migratory waterfowl. There's a young Snowy Owl hunting the chicks and there is always a Raven overseeing everything. Saw a grizzly bear in the lake the other evening and there's a herd of Musk-Ox that have been hanging around this part of the Nome River valley all summer. The bear is probably hoping to catch a Musk-Ox calf. Musk-Ox are closely related to Mountain Goats. It's hilarious to watch the young ones play around butting each other like Kids.
So, it's a different scene than the Rockies, though still very rugged with cold, fast streams, soon to be boiling with Pink and Silver salmon followed by Dolly Varden trout and big, fat grayling feeding on the salmon eggs.
It's treeless here, just open permafrost tundra. You can see a long ways. Incredible sunrises and sunsets.
Best time to visit Nome is 1 June to ~15 July. Gets pretty rainy mid-way through the summer. Fall time is also magnificent when the weather is fair. Colors start to change in first week of September, plus the bird migration south is at its maximum.
It's been a long time since I fly fished. When I got good enough at casting and started catching them, I gave it up to hike or read a book under a tree while my husband fished. That looked a little like a cut throat. Was it? And where? The stream looks wonderful. The thing my husband regretted most when he became unable to get out and about was giving up fly fishing.
Yep, cutthroat. Which puts us in the Yellowstone ecosystem (but not in the park, too many Tourons…).
What your husband expressed is my own biggest worry. Time. Just retired end of February.
We were fortunate to have retired from LANL in 1993. He died in 2017. But, ya know, there's never enough time. Greedy for life. Congratulations, and make the most of your retirement.
That’s the life I lived hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. It will always be my happy place.
It has been mine since I was a kid.
From 58 degrees north latitude to 36 degrees south.
And still going…
Nice video, but the dog should have had a bigger role.
Hang in there.
In the new Substack I’ll launch later this year, he makes another cameo. (He belongs to a friend, and he actually fishes for small Brook trout with his eyes in shallow water.)
The new publication is about amazing things (dogs, game birds, fish, wildlife, people, places…) I’ve observed in a life long love affair with the outdoors.
I'd be careful touting "the wonders of the natural environment" narrative. It has for centuries been linked to Malthusianism and Misanthropy. Including Nazism:
William Kay on Ecofascism and Nazi Germany:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ut0ZKgg_20
It had a lot to do with the massacre of 8M Irish in the so-called potato famine, which was in reality forced starvation by a Malthusian Aristocracy.
An good example of how environmentalism easily goes wrong is the Sierra Club. It was once very pro-nuclear, because it wanted to protect the natural environment with the cleanest of all energy sources. But then the Malthusian wing took over, financed by the Malthusians who dominate the Aristocracy in Western Nations. They saw nuclear as a way to increase industrialization and human population.
Matthew Ehret does an excellent job explaining the partnership between environmentalism and Malthusianism:
The Roots Of Modern Eco-Terrorism: From MK Ultra And The Unabomber To Maurice Strong And Yuval Harari:
https://matthewehret.substack.com/p/the-roots-of-modern-eco-terrorism
Fair enough but after 70 odd posts on this platform, we believe no one could possibly mistake our take for any of that horsesh*t.
Point was that wearing a t-shirt, attending a protest holding a sign, putting a bumper sticker on your EV, joining Sierra Club or Environmental Defense Fund and reading Mother Jones and Katherine Hayhoe and Bill McKibben are not going to teach a person about the actual environment.
As a reader who has been with us from the beginning, we know you get that.
So what you are telling us is you are Eco-Logical whereas they are Environ-Mental.
Nicely done!
Yep. You get it.
I like how they say they are all for protecting the Environment, but they sure as hell don't want us plebes to be able to enjoy it. Reserved for the Aristocracy. While we get fenced in by 15min ghettos, living in rat infested apartment blocks.
Members of this team do not get fenced in by 15 minute anythings….
Whoa be those who would try…
Nicely done!
Too many homo sapiens are stuck in an urban mindset where even human life becomes almost worthless. The evidence supporting that statement is all around us, just watch the TV local news tonight to see where the latest shooting was. Hint, it wasn't on the range, or hunting supper.
Keep up the good work, and enjoy life!
People have asked "what are you going to do in retirement?" And when I explained, they said "you'll be bored to death, wanting to go back to work in 60 days.".
It's been 4 months and I have not been bored one day. They have no context. Outdoor life. No boredom, only adventure and constant learning.
Good for you!
When we quit learning, we quit living. No better place to learn than in an environment that makes you think! Best to you!
Most folks don't understand that there is life everywhere. Death Valley, full of life. Chernobyl exclusion zone, life thrives. Glad you have your chance to stick your toes in the mud, the best therapy
Secret (not so....).
Retired end of February. Sticking my fingers and toes in lots of earth till no longer possible.
And writing this Substack. And a new one later this year. Stay tuned!
Absolutely true. I have long held the opinion that most "environmentalists" are either of the type that follow around places to visit on their Instagram account (meaning they only see overvisited places that others congregate at) or they never escape their SUV and living room and see the environment in pictures on their phones (not realizing that most of the world has no cell coverage). Most "environmentalists" only pretend not to be wholly dependent on their outdoor products made from petroleum that are the only reason they are even able to visit the overused places they consider wild.
Some of the most impactful experiences I have had as a field geologist were doing months of field work in the Grand Canyon on the Hualapai Reservation (you can't see the real Grand Canyon in the National Park as they won't let you). I got to know the daily habits of several individual rattlesnakes of various species, was visited up close by desert bighorns, wild donkeys, coyote puppies, followed around by hummingbirds, and got to know the local Hualapai quite well. I worked one summer in Albania, got served freshly killed rabbit for dinner by my hosts, and saw how life was lived in the 19th century without public water supplies and electricity. Then I got to experience Ethiopia, where life has not changed much in the past 2,000 years and camped for months on the banks of the Awash River. I had to be cautious about the hippopatamuses, the thousands of crocodiles, carpet vipers, hyenas, African lions, and got to know the locals who herded goats and camels, lived off their herds and migrated anywhere they chose. All this was while looking at fossil evidence of many past species, including our human ancestors. We killed and butchered a goat almost every week for ourselves. No one in the first world understands either how MOST of the world lives, or the wild environment, yet it is constantly used by them as some divine standard. People are part of nature but they forget that and instead adopt what is essentially a Biblical viewpoint (which they also deny) that they are in charge of the world and must save it. Most have delusions of grandeur and suffer cognitive dissonance.
I really like your shared experiences. I'm writing a post for next week about my 5 experiences in the Grand Canyon. One of those trips was with Steve Austin, who has a PhD in geology and has done plenty of 'boots on the ground' on a wilderness permit going down from the western end of the North Rim (no trail) with my daughter. We never saw another hiker, but did see a coral snake, a desert bighorn, drank filtered water that still tasted like frogs, and were stalked by a mountain lion. On the 3rd day, we came somewhat close to death, because we couldn't find a spring shown on our map. By dark, we dry-camped and if we still couldn't find it at dawn, we had decided to try to make it out of the canyon without water. I got up at first light and hiked both directions along the contour of the spring's elevation. On the second attempt, I was ready to give up, when I saw a half dozen hummingbirds rising up and down in the air over a little ridge ahead. I knew there must have been flowers and water there, and we were saved. I love hummingbirds!
I was very disappointed with your closing comment about a 'biblical viewpoint'. I love the bible, God's Word, and understand that the 'dominion mandate' in Genesis 1:26 and 28, is counterbalanced by 2:15, which by commanding Adam to "keep" the Garden of Eden, is telling us that God wants us to take good care of our environment.
Agree. Great additional context/color!
Thanks!
Nice! I'm looking forward to more. During summers, I live in a yurt overlooking the Nome River and a view of the Bering Sea, four miles to the west. I'm surrounded by a dozen different tweety birds, as well as nesting Robins, Sandhill Cranes, Ptarmigan, Tundra Swan, Canada Goose, and a bunch of other smaller ducks and migratory waterfowl. There's a young Snowy Owl hunting the chicks and there is always a Raven overseeing everything. Saw a grizzly bear in the lake the other evening and there's a herd of Musk-Ox that have been hanging around this part of the Nome River valley all summer. The bear is probably hoping to catch a Musk-Ox calf. Musk-Ox are closely related to Mountain Goats. It's hilarious to watch the young ones play around butting each other like Kids.
So, it's a different scene than the Rockies, though still very rugged with cold, fast streams, soon to be boiling with Pink and Silver salmon followed by Dolly Varden trout and big, fat grayling feeding on the salmon eggs.
It's treeless here, just open permafrost tundra. You can see a long ways. Incredible sunrises and sunsets.
Gonna get there some day hopefully. But not after Sept 15 or before June 15, that's fer sure.
We love remote places where wildlife outnumbers humans by orders of magnitude.
Best time to visit Nome is 1 June to ~15 July. Gets pretty rainy mid-way through the summer. Fall time is also magnificent when the weather is fair. Colors start to change in first week of September, plus the bird migration south is at its maximum.
Beautiful. Looks just like where I live.
Give me June 20 - Aug 1 each year.
But couldn't take the winters!
Roger that, although I love it all the way to the end of October. But the winters here turned me into a snowbird!
I hear the Brown trout get nuts aggressive out there in Oct.
(But fishing in cold weather is a younger man’s game…)