Various Wanderings and Sundry Thoughts along the Trail.

[BoyNhisDog]

None of these images fit into a specific hike but I like them for what they are, visions you might see on any of the wanderings on which you may find yourself on out there, just a set of general ramblings and scattered thoughts.

I ask questions, questions like why is this rock way out here on this plane far away from the buffs and canyon walls. How did it become shaped like it is and has it ever been used for shelter by another being passing through. Over the millions of years, how do these things find a place? What was it like here ten thousand years ago or 200 million years ago? What will happen in the next millenniums?



It is often shocking to the senses just what can be around the next bend, over next ridge or deep behind the next canyon wall. Never have I wandered around in the desert without being surprised or in awe of how things work and how they can lie patiently hidden. No matter how plain the landscape seems there is without fail something of utter importance waiting.



Who was here before us? How did they live and what did they believe? I am always stopped in my tracks by such records whether they be fossils or petrophlyphs. I viewed a couple of series of petroglyphs deep in the Escalante canyon system. At one site they soared far above the present day bench. The high up art looked much older and with a different style than the lower “newer” art that must still have been a thousand years old. The older images which were too high to photograph well were of sheep like these are but with fatter bodies, smaller heads and smaller horns. They were very faded and dim. This must have been the magic food supply for these ancient ones. There were other depictions of lizards, snakes and possibly rain. I long for a huge tablet that would tell of how they lived, played and survived in such a vast wilderness but must be content to try and reach them in thought.



There are newer dwellings obviously built by skilled hands, set in place with good notched axe work, buildings that have lasted a good long time. I carefully inspected the vigilant craftsmanship in this little log house. It had a good wooden floor and a nice little room arrangement. Who built it? Where did they come from and what did they intend to achieve? These were no blunderers or passers by. They had a purpose that would take a good long time.



In the end I believe more answers come at sunset and on into the starry night where the meaning of shape and volume are measured in the colors and patterns of the atmosphere and distances are finally measured not in miles but billions of light years. We can only know what we are able to discover in ourselves and wandering the deserts or any wilderness for that matter is the way I have found, a way that brings some sense of being, a way that pulls perspective into this enigmatic vast place we call the universe.


_________________
Seize from every moment its unique novelty and do not prepare your joys
- Andre Gide

[desertgirl]

Beautiful as always ...Thanks for sharing!
_________________
Photos: http://www.pbase.com/desertgirl/galleries
Life is but a dream ...there is no end to what you can dream!

[Shihiyea]

Beautiful Glen....again, the words that touch the soul and the pictures so pleasing to the eye. Mary

[evenstar]

Thanks again, Glen!
_________________
John Richardson and Richie Rich, El Perro de Playero
http://members.tripod.com/~evenstar/index.html
http://www.arizonahikers.com
When the Man waked up he said, "What is Wild Dog doing here?" And the Woman said, "His name is not Wild Dog anymore, but the First Friend, because he will be our friend for always and always and always. Take him with you when you go hunting."
--Rudyard Kipling, from Just So Stories, 1902

[Arizonaheat]

All I can say is, AMEN. Very well said and awesome photo's as usual.
_________________
Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life.

[Shawn]

And the photographer's hike is when?
_________________
The bear went over the mountain to see what he could see.

[Sande J]

Every experience that you speak of is truly a gift. Because you respect and admire the earth, you will always be a recipient of these gifts. Sharing these pics and your insight can make someone elses day special. Thank you for that.
SJ
_________________
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stone, good in everything..
-William Shakespeare-

[Hikngrl]

As always Glenn-incredible!
_________________
~~~Diane~~~

I want to shine!

[Daddee]

Glenn - another outstanding addition to the ovure.

We need to add a tag-line to Glenn's avatar: Artist in Residence

Make it so Mike....
_________________
"Only small minds want always to be right."
- Louis XIV

"...haven't you lived long enough to know that two men may honestly differ about a question and both be right?"
- Abraham Lincoln

[BoyNhisDog]

Glad you like the photo-essays!. Thanks so much for your replies. As long as you like them, I will share them and look forward to what you are doing as well.

We first moved to the desert when I was 9 years old. We only stayed for three years but I immediately felt the power out there, never forgot it and came back to live my life in it after college. There are many facinating places and I do like to travel but I'll always come back.

We did some exploration down in the woodland forests and grasslands of the Harshaw and Lochiel areas this last weekend. We really have a bit of everything so close. I spent part of my youth in the Grasslands far north of here so it is always an interesting journey when I go into them anywhere.

I was working on more photos from the southern Utah trip last night. I captured about 200 of them and the very cool thing about digital is you are able to check your exposure in the field so there are very few throwaways.
_________________
Seize from every moment its unique novelty and do not prepare your joys
- Andre Gide