Base of Mount Elbert (highest point in CO) with Zahra
A cold beer, blazing campfire, and the serenity of the great outdoors ... I couldn't imagine a better way to spend my time. Whether climbing one of Colorado's 54 fourteeners, viewing the spectacular autumn colors, or simply enjoying the solitude offered by the vast expanses of wilderness created by the Rockies, I have loved every minute of camping this past year. To quote John Fielder, a nationally renowned nature photographer, 'I think I am correct when I say that there is no place like Colorado. Our mountains are neither the oldest nor the youngest ... What is remarkable is that they have weathered and crumbled to exactly the right degree to make them the most beautiful mountains in the world'. Of course, I agree one hundred percent :)
Colorado aside, I have been blessed to set up my tent in the neighboring states of Utah {Zion & Bryce}, New Mexico {near White Sands & Carlsbad Caverns}, and Nebraska {Lake McConaughy} as well as Montana {Glacier} and Canada {Waterton}. -- I am only including those places that I have camped since January 1, 2010, thus excluding the three weeks camped on the Serengeti in Tanzania during the summer of 2009 :) -- Twenty-eight days spent sleeping in a tent within the framework of one year is rather impressive, but I have no doubt that I can surpass that number in 2011. I think I'll begin with a backpacking trip through one of the greatest natural wonders of the world: the Grand Canyon. Now that's an awesomely appropriate way to ring in a new year of traveling and exploring the secrets of this place we all call home! Until then ...
“I open up a big cabinet, and I have a collection of helmets. I put on the different helmets, and I take tree bottles of Robitussin and drink them really quickly. Then I set my hands on fire-I have to write whatever comes to mind pretty fast, before my hand burnsoff." "I just let whatever comes out, comes out without thinking about it to much. Some of it I keep, some I toss out, some of it I turn into giant cigarettes and somke 'em. I think everybody should just turn off their TV machines and make up their own songs about whatever comes to mind-their couch, their friends, their loaves of bread. Everybody's got their own songs. There should be so many songs out there that it all turns into one big sound and we can put the whole thing into a pickup truck and let it roll off the edge of the Grand Canyon.”
ReplyDeleteBeck Hansen