...because it incorporates all three of my primary outdoor passions, and the title of this blog.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
My Idea of A Diversified Portfolio...
I have quite a few of the clever "Life Is Good" shirts, but this is my favorite...
...because it incorporates all three of my primary outdoor passions, and the title of this blog.
...because it incorporates all three of my primary outdoor passions, and the title of this blog.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
My Backpacking Locations
I've backpacked these 52 locations and would recommend most of them. Some are great for beginners, others moderate in difficulty, and some just plain tough. However, rather than attempt to rank them, it would be best if you contact me regarding a specific area, since many factors enter into such a ranking.
wildernessinspector at gmail dot com
Alaska
- Arizona
- Grand Canyon National Park (with photos organized by trail) 1985, 1989 (and rafted canyon 1999)
Havasu Canyon/Grand Canyon West (with photos) 2001 - Superstition Wilderness in the Tonto National Forest (with photos) 2002
Canyon de Chelly National Monument (2008) - Arkansas
- Buffalo River National Trail 1999, 2002
- Ozark Highlands Trail in the Ozark National Forest (with photos) 1997
- Colorado
- Mount Zirkel Wilderness in the Routt National Forest (with photos)1987, 1990
- The Colorado Trail (with photos) 2001
- Uncompahgre/Big Blue Wilderness in the Uncompahgre National Forest (with photos)
1989, 1993, 1994
- Weminuche Wilderness in the San Juan National Forest (with photos organized by trail) 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1999
- Idaho
- Targhee National Forest/Jedediah Smith Wilderness (with photos) 1998
- Illinois
- Sand Ridge State Forest (with photos) 1998
- Shawnee National Forest 1992
- Indiana
- Hoosier National Forest (with photos) 2003
- Kentucky
- Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (with photos) 2000
- Land Between the Lakes (with photos) 1996
- Mammoth Cave National Park (with photos) 2001
- Pine Mountain Trail (with photos) 2002
- Red River Gorge (with photos) 2007
- Michigan
- Bay de Noc - Grand Island Trail in the Hiawatha National Forest (with photos) 2001
- Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior (with photos of island and moose) 1993, 1996
North Manitou Island/Sleeping Bear Dunes Natl Lakeshore (with photos) 2009
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (including neighboring Grand Island) (with photos) 1996
- Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park (with photos) 1992
- Sylvania Wilderness in the Ottawa National Forest (with photos) 1992
- Minnesota
- Superior Hiking Trail in the Superior National Forest (with photos) 1996
- Missouri
- Mark Twain National Forest / The Berryman Trail (with photos) 1997
- Montana
- Gallatin National Forest/Lee Metcalf Wilderness (with photos) 1998
Glacier/Waterton National Park (with photos) 1997
Bob Marshall Wilderness in the Flathead National Forest (with photos) 1997
New Hampshire
- Pemigewasset Wilderness in the White Mountain National Forest (with photos) 1995
- New Mexico
- Pecos Wilderness in the Santa Fe National Forest (with photos) 1989, 1991
- North Carolina
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park (with photos) 1995
- Lake Watagua segment of the Appalachian Trail (2006)
- South Dakota
- Black Hills National Forest/Black Elk Wilderness (with photos) 1997
- Tennessee
- Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (with photos) 2000
- Cherokee National Forest (with photos) 1998
Cumberland Trail (with photos) 2002 - Land Between the Lakes (with photos) 1996
- (Great) Smoky Mountains National Park (with photos) 1995
- Utah
- Bryce National Park (with photos) 1999
- Manti-LaSal National Forest 1999
- High Uintas Wilderness in the Ashley and Wasatch-Cache National Forests
(with photos) 1990 - Zion National Park (with photos) 1999
- Virginia
- Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area (Jefferson National Forest) 2003
- Pine Mountain Trail (with photos) 2002
- Washington
Olympic National Park (with photos) 2000 - Pinchot National Forest - Goat Rocks Wilderness (with photos) 2004
-
- Wisconsin
- Kettle Moraine State Forest -- Ice Age Trail (with photos) 2000
- Chequamegon National Forest (with photos) 1996
- Wyoming
- Grand Teton National Park (with photos) 2000
- Targhee National Forest/Jedediah Smith Wilderness (with photos) 1998
- Wind River Range/Bridger-Teton National Forest/Bridger Wilderness (with photos) 1998
Yellowstone National Park (with photos) 1997 You
can get buried in
Worries of the world,
But you can never
Get too deep
For the woods.--Ollie Olsen--
This is a perpetually unfinished work
as every year I discover
new favorites.May it ever be so!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Backpacking Info
How-To" Books (techniques)
Philosophical Books ( the "why", not the "how")
True Experience Books (actual backpacking adventures.)
Philosophical Books ( the "why", not the "how")
True Experience Books (actual backpacking adventures.)
I've worked on numerous volunteer trail projects over the years, all of which can be viewed here. I strongly encourage everyone to consider volunteering for such a project, and perhaps you'll get to have a supper of deer, elk, and. moose with the crew of the long-running PBS series "This Old House" as we did in '97! See my photo of Steve and Norm.
Backpacking How-To's for Beginners by Ryan Moulton
Thursday, October 2, 2008
My Volunteer Trail Projects
(Unless marked otherwise, all projects were through American Hiking Society)
--1997 Bob Marshall Wilderness of the Flathead National Forest in Montana.
--1998 Gallatin National Forest of Montana.
--1999 Manti-LaSal National Forest. of Utah
--2000 Columbia River Gorge (Chinook Trail Conference) in Washington State's Beacon Rock State Park.
-- 2001 The Colorado Trail above Copper Mountain Resort.
-- 2001 Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan
--2002 a Sierra Club Service Project in the Superstition Wilderness of the Tonto National Forest.
-- 2002-- Cumberland Trail Conference in Tennessee.
--2002 Pine Mountain Trail Conference in Virginia and Kentucky.
--2002 Buffalo National River in Arkansas
--2003 The Palmetto Trail in South Carolina
--2003 Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area (Jefferson National Forest) in Virginia
--2003 Apache Sitgreaves National Forest on northern Arizona's Mogollon Rim
--2004 The Florida Trail in Osceola National Forest along the Suwanee River
--2004 Goat Rocks Wilderness of the Pinchot National Forest in Washington
--2005 Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts (Sierra Club Trail Project)
--2006 South Carolina's Palmetto Trail in the Francis Marion National Forest
--2006 Independence Grove of the Forest Preserve District of Lake County (Illinois)
--2007 Spring Valley Trail in Arizona's Hell's Canyon Wilderness
--2009 Acadia National Park in Maine with the Appalachian Mountain Club
I strongly encourage you to consider volunteering for a project if you
can spare the time. (Maybe you'll get to have a supper of deer, elk,
and. moose with the crew of the long-running PBS series "This Old
House" as we did in '97! See my photo of Steve and Norm.)
--1997 Bob Marshall Wilderness of the Flathead National Forest in Montana.
--1998 Gallatin National Forest of Montana.
--1999 Manti-LaSal National Forest. of Utah
--2000 Columbia River Gorge (Chinook Trail Conference) in Washington State's Beacon Rock State Park.
-- 2001 The Colorado Trail above Copper Mountain Resort.
-- 2001 Hiawatha National Forest of Michigan
--2002 a Sierra Club Service Project in the Superstition Wilderness of the Tonto National Forest.
-- 2002-- Cumberland Trail Conference in Tennessee.
--2002 Pine Mountain Trail Conference in Virginia and Kentucky.
--2002 Buffalo National River in Arkansas
--2003 The Palmetto Trail in South Carolina
--2003 Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area (Jefferson National Forest) in Virginia
--2003 Apache Sitgreaves National Forest on northern Arizona's Mogollon Rim
--2004 The Florida Trail in Osceola National Forest along the Suwanee River
--2004 Goat Rocks Wilderness of the Pinchot National Forest in Washington
--2005 Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts (Sierra Club Trail Project)
--2006 South Carolina's Palmetto Trail in the Francis Marion National Forest
--2006 Independence Grove of the Forest Preserve District of Lake County (Illinois)
--2007 Spring Valley Trail in Arizona's Hell's Canyon Wilderness
--2009 Acadia National Park in Maine with the Appalachian Mountain Club
I strongly encourage you to consider volunteering for a project if you
can spare the time. (Maybe you'll get to have a supper of deer, elk,
and. moose with the crew of the long-running PBS series "This Old
House" as we did in '97! See my photo of Steve and Norm.)
Chicago Area Bike Trails
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Backpacking Colorado's Big Blue/Uncompahgre Wilderness
View up Big Blue valley at Uncompahgre Peak, sixth highest in Colorado at 14,309 feet. This is taken from the trail which begins near the forest service campground and follows the Big Blue Creek upriver a dozen miles to reach this location. From here, a spur trail takes you up 3000 feet in about 3 miles to the top of Uncompahgre Peak.
View from Uncompahgre Peak looking to the north. The valley between the two ridges is the trail from the Big Blue Trail to Uncompahgre Peak trail.
Camping above Big Blue Creek near intersection of Big Blue Trail and the spur trail up to Uncompahgre Peak Trail.
View from Uncompahgre Peak looking west at Matterhorn and Wetterhorn Peaks.
==========================================The wilderness, located north of the quaint Colorado town of Lake City, comprises 99,490 acres in the Uncompahgre National Forest (established in 1905) with elevations ranging from 8400 feet to 14,309 feet. Over 75 miles of trails are available, and because about half of the wilderness is above timberline (11,500 feet at this latitude) the vistas are spectacular. Alpine flowers bloom in late July and August. Elk, bighorn sheep, ptarmigan, and marmots reside here.
Uncompahgre, a name given by the Ute Indians to the area around Ouray, Colorado, has been translated variously as "red water spring" and "hot water." A public hot springs pool still exists in Ouray. The area is also known as the "Switzerland of America." Several years ago I hosted an American Field Service foreign exchange student from Carpi, Italy, which is in the extreme northern part of Italy. Luca, upon seeing this area of Colorado, remarked that it did indeed resemble the Alps of Switzerland.
The Big Blue Wilderness includes two of Colorado's famed "14ers," Uncompahgre Peak (14,309 feet high, the sixth highest in Colorado) and neighboring Wetterhorn Peak (14015 feet in elevation.) A trail, which climbs nearly 3000 feet in 3.5 miles allows access to Uncompahgre Peak. The first known ascent of Uncompahgre Peak was achieved in 1874, but the climbers discovered that grizzlies had preceded them. Also adjacent is the "13er," Matterhorn Peak. The two Swiss names recount the area's nickname, "Switzerland of America."
Slide Lake, created by a rock slide into Big Blue Creek in the 1940s, is called a fisherman's paradise, and considerable fishing can also be found along the Big Blue. Good fishing is also found in the four other main rivers in the wilderness, Fall Creek and the three forks of the Cimarron -- Middle, East, and West.
The Big Blue valley, which extends 11 miles to Uncompahgre Peak, is the most magnificent valley I've ever seen, bar none. I've backpacked here three times and will return more times to enjoy the incomparable beauty of the area. Seeing a herd of over two dozen elk circling around us while we labored over the pass by Silver Mountain is a sight I will never forget. Their beauty, agility, and grace are beyond words.
FOR INFO:
Uncompahgre Forest Headquarters
2250 Highway 50
Delta, CO 81416
(303) 874-7691
Exploring Colorado's Wild Areas by Scott Warren; The Mountaineers, Seattle, WA; 221 pages.
Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado: A Guide to the San Juan and Uncompahgre National Forests by Paul Pixler; Pruett Publishing Company; Boulder, CO; 214 pages.
Bike Trails in the USA
Rails-To-Trails and other trails I've biked
Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza is gone...
Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza is gone because after 13 years, AOL has stopped hosting websites. My replacement site is now Bike, Hike, and Paddle. I appreciate AOL's sponsorship for these 13 years and for having allowed me to create Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza way back when websites were quite new, but the way AOL simply stopped hosting has many users extremely angry. I happened to notice AOL's announcement a month ago while visiting Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza because a banner had been placed across the top of the page. AOL stated they'd notify everyone by email but never did, so many users were caught unawares and lost all their pages and photos yesterday and now are up in arms. I spent dozens of hours over the last 4 weeks revising 200+ pages and re-uploading the pages of Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza as well as 500 photos to another host.
We all wish AOL had at least allowed a re-direct so people who had bookmarked Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza over the last 13 years would be sent to the new Bike, Hike, and Paddle, but such is not the case. So please forgive my constant repetition of Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza but I am posting this message (and its many uses of the name Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza) hoping search engines pick it up and re-direct those looking for Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza's to its new location at Bike, Hike, and Paddle.
We all wish AOL had at least allowed a re-direct so people who had bookmarked Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza over the last 13 years would be sent to the new Bike, Hike, and Paddle, but such is not the case. So please forgive my constant repetition of Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza but I am posting this message (and its many uses of the name Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza) hoping search engines pick it up and re-direct those looking for Chuck's Backpacking Bonanza's to its new location at Bike, Hike, and Paddle.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Paddling Locations in the USA & Costa Rica
Recreation Area's Black Canyon.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Chicago Area Paddling Locations
Friday, September 26, 2008
Elderhostel Adventures
If you enjoy active, outdoor vacations, you will definitely find an Elderhostel program of interest to you. The only requirement to join this free organization is having attained the age of 55 years. Elderhostel is a non-profit organization specializing in learning -- a sort of college for older folks -- offering an astounding array of many thousands of reasonably priced programs (either in a classroom or in the outdoors) all over the world. If you enjoy doing something or wish to learn something, they have a program covering that area! I have participated in a number of programs (predominantly active, outdoor programs) and below are info and photos of the active, outdoor programs I've taken.
2002-- In Scottsdale, Arizona: Adventure 101 which involved rappelling, white-water canoeing, canyoneering, hiking, and orienteering.
2002-- From Chloride, Arizona: Kayaking the Colorado River below Hoover Dam in the Lake Mead Recreation Area's Black Canyon.
2002-- From Highlands, North Carolina, Appalachian Hiking and White Water Rafting (class 2, 3 and 4 rapids).
2002-- From St. Charles, Missouri, Bicycling the Katy Trail (140 miles along the Missouri River).
2003-- In Hawai'i, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, sailing, and surfing with O'ahu, Maui, and Kaua'i Adventure Program.
2003-- In South Carolina, Paddling Lakes, Rivers, and Swamps.
2003-- In Utah, White Water Rafting and Kayaking San Juan River
2003-- In Arizona & Utah, Houseboating and Kayaking on Lake Powell
2004-- In Georgia, Okefenokee Swamp Safari
2005-- in Massachusetts, Biking Cape Cod and Nantuckett Island
2005-- In Maine's Acadia National Park: hiking, biking, and sea kayaking
2006-- In Florida, Canoeing in the Ocala National Forest
2006-- In Florida, Sea Kayaking Amelia Island and Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp
2006 -- In Arizona, Adobe Photoshop Elements (a classroom program at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona)
2007-- In Arizona, Biking the Border's Wild West
2007-- From Texas, Mexico's Copper Canyon by El Pacifico Railroad
2007-- In Texas, Kayaking Texas Gulf Coast Bays and Estuaries
2008-- In Florida, Canoeing Three Rivers
2008-- In Florida, Suwannee River: Canoe, Hike, and Folklore
2009 -- In Florida, Disney World: The Mystery Behind the Magic
2009 -- In Florida, Explore Wild Florida by Canoe
2009 -- In Pennsylvania, Rafting, Kayaking, and Canoeing the Delaware River
2009 -- In Maine, Exploring the Coast of Maine under Sail aboard the windjammer Angelique
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Sierra Club Outings
John Muir, founder of The Sierra Club, strongly believed that America's finest natural areas could best be protected by taking members out into these areas, for after having experienced them, the people would willingly work to preserve and protect these areas. The Sierra Club therefore sponsors a wide variety of outings each year and I have participated in several.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Scenic Railroads in the USA
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Scenic USA Highways
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Chuck's Backcountry Poetry
Chuck's Original Backcountry Poetry
WanderLust
Curious to know what's over that rise
or around that bend?
What's a mile beyond here,
or a minute beyond now?
Courageous enough to scale that intervening rise
and round that obscuring bend?
To venture that further mile
and live that eternal minute?
What education may the side canyon confer?
What treasures may the endless trail unearth
or the infinite night sky reveal?
What headwaters of new-thought await?
Wilderness is home to the soul,
and its sights and sounds and scents
vital to the soul's nourishment,
beckoning one's spirit.
Abandon inertia and reap Nature's bounty:
moments to savor,
memories to share; both
mementos to save.
Travel both diverging paths
within yonder yellow wood.
Be one traveler who avoids
the sorrow of the road not taken.
Curiosity kills neither cat nor man,
but bequeaths adventure and mission and exultation
to otherwise humdrum existence.
Acquiescence kills.
Yet few Dare.
Even fewer Do.
But none who Do
ever regret.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Backpacking
Backpacking is Mother Nature's laxative,
purging civilization's discontentments and
jettisoning society's cloying accouterments,
roughage for cleansing our psyche.
Backpacking simplifies existence,
relaxing Life's pace,
opening eyes to mind and soul
and conferring intimacy to all that is observed.
A mountain climbed becomes a mountain earned
just as a burden conquered is a burden mastered.
Backpacking requires Time,
and taking Time elongates Life,
turns Life elastic and
stretches Life to meet the horizon,
or perhaps not meet it.
It matters not,
for that which is stretched
e x p a n d s
amplifies
proliferates
and understanding surges in to possess
the newfound space.
So backpack,
and grow as you go.
--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--
Atop Uncompahgre Peak, Colorado
(14,309 feet above sea level)
(14,309 feet above sea level)
Not the top of the entire world
but certainly tops in mine.
On the ground yet scraping the clouds,
exaltation and vistas immeasurable,
simultaneously pebble-small and redwood-tall.
Where does one go from the pinnacle?
Other than root and stagnate,
there is nowhere but down.
The peak, as all of life's highs,
ephemeral, fleeting, impermanent,
only to be relished, remembered, revered,
as life inevitably fast-forwards.
For descend we must to the valleys
to explore, experience, survive,
ever yearning for new endorphin highs
and praying life conspires us to soon rescale the heights.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
There
Seek diligently to find your There,
ever sentient of There places
which furnish personal pleasure and
meaning and comfort and sanctuary,
where irrelevant time
passes more slowly than childhood summers.
There is where you belong,
your wellspring of self-sustenance,
your headwaters of joy and peace and
infusor of oneness.
There wallow and exalt,
blossoming in intimate verdance.
Do not defend or elucidate your There,
for only self may define personal geography.
Words prove insufficient tools
to construct explanation,
as inept as describing spiral staircases
without the use of hands.
Once There is found,
flee There often and linger.
Roost, extend roots long and strong and deep
and suck There's nourishment.
Plant forever body and soul
so none may pluck you from There.
For There is yours alone,
even when willingly shared.
None can remove you from There or There from you.
Go There.
Be There.
Become There.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Trekking
Vibramed toes crush dirt
and scale boulders,
chewing miles as they transport
eyes and soul to paradise.
Transport?
Or trespass?
If a tree falls with none near,
is there sound?
Does a seeker of solitude
destroy solitude in the seeking?
Does the quest for peace
destroy that peace?
Does beauty pursued
become beauty corrupted?
Is Nature's perfection blemished
by observation?
Do solitude and peace and beauty and perfection
exist only when experienced,
nonexistent but for man's appreciation?
Does infinity end when I stop counting?
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Haiku
Mankind longs to fly.
Simply scale the mountains tall
and your soul shall soar.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Premature Eulogy for Yellowstone National Park
This photo, taken along the south shore of Shoshone Lake in Yellowstone National Park, is representative of the "look" found all through the park in areas hardest hit by the fires of 1988. The poem below the photo was inspired by such sights.
Mute, charred stilettos ineffectually stab clouds,
silent sentinels weeping above fallen comrades,
eloquent, stark testament to lush glory
which for generations had been.
Murdered by the conflagrations of 1988,
experts promptly delivered Yellowstone's eulogy:
Six of every ten acres destroyed.
Soil base scorched beyond revival.
Wildlife annihilated or homeless.
Nothing would live there again.
A pity. Man destroyed Nature
through carelessness and
shortsighted mismanagement.
Yet the canyons' grand waters still plummeted the falls,
lakes shimmered with majestic sunsets,
geysers spewed towering columns of vapor and water
as fumaroles fumed and mud pots oozed.
And Man still visited that which he had murdered.
But the scorched, inhospitable volcanic soil,
endeared only by the unfinicky lodgepole pine,
dutifully harbored generations of pinecone seeds
awaiting only heat to explode into life.
The forest floor, revelling in long unfelt sunlight,
burst joyously into verdant profusion,
with seedlings and wildflowers and grasses,
the ultimate recycling of new life from blackened earth.
Man's infinitesimal stature and foresight
ignorantly declared death upon new life,
again overestimating self and
shortchanging nature's healing power over
Man's destructiveness, as
mute, charred stilettos ineffectually stab clouds,
silent sentinels weeping above fallen comrades,
eloquent, stark testament to lush glory
which for generations had been,
and which in generations
shall be
again.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Give God All The Glory
Mountain peaks engineered with precision,
Majestic creation only God could envision,
Oceans of breadth and depth so profound,
Only He could excavate the ground.
Clear mountain stream and high waterfall,
God's own perfect Eden do recall.
Skyscraper tree and dainty wildflower
Indelibly proclaim God's inimitable power.
Give God all the glory,
Give God all the praise,
As He daily illumines
Our lives with His ways.
Invisible atoms and infinite skies,
Man discovers, but God designs.
Wonders which man could never erect,
Declare God the master architect.
He runs in the rivers, surges in the sea,
Melds with the mountains, yet inhabits you and me.
We are nothing without His hand,
As man's earthly life-course navigates His plan.
Give God all the glory,
Give God all the praise,
As He daily illumines
Our lives with His ways.
--copyright 1997 by Charles Morlock--
Wilderness
Wilderness invades your bloodstream,
roiling through your vessels
and rampantly invading all body parts
with sensuous primordial urges.
Osmose its grandeur
into every fiber of your being.
Fabricate kaleidoscopes of mental confection
whose endless iterations renew and revitalize
every civilization-weary cell,
patching holes in your soul and psyche.
Harken to Nature's susurrus sounds
with all your senses,
feel its stirring vibrations
within and without,
observe the birth of sounds,
taste and smell the crisp, unsullied air,
hear the deafening silence.
Bite off muti-acre portions and
swallow its miles voraciously,
digesting its beauty
and garnering strength
from its rejuvenating nutrients.
Obey
as wilderness impels you
to enter its escape.
Surrender your soul to
redevelopment,
renewal,
rebirth.
And finally, fully,
become alive.
--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--
Life's Rocks, Roots, and Ruts
Rocks, roots, and ruts,
storm-downed trees,
mud-slopped holes,
all temporary speed-bumps
to the mountain biker.
Rocks, roots, and ruts,
landslide-covered trails,
storm-swollen streams,
two-day thunderstorms,
all minor hindrances to the backpacker.
Insignificant trifles compared to
Life's rocks, roots, and ruts --
a relationship's end,
the loss of a friend,
a child's passing,
a despot's gassing,
a job's demise or
an unwanted surprise --
life-altering stumbling blocks for Life's travelers
to detour around, succumb to, or overcome.
Sidestep those rocks,
hurdle the roots,
refuse entrapment in the ruts.
Transform Life's roadblocks
into stepping stones to success,
ever living Life as you wish,
not as Life directs.
--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--
Conformity
This photo was taken from the seaplane dock on Isle Royale National Park as we watched the mother merganser teach her brood how to dive for food.
Very proudly, Momma merganser duckpaddled,
her wake peopled by seventeen newborn
obediently trailing like strung popcorn.
Then Momma dove, completely submerged, and resurfaced
fifteen feet downstream in a perfectly straight line.
The tykes emulated, reappearing five feet downstream
and splayed to the compass points,
from whence each scurried
to recreate the popcorn string.
Amused, I chuckled as this comic pedagogy
replayed a dozen times before me --
of dive, resurface, scurry, regroup --
until I saw myself in the lesson,
ever toeing the line,
subserviently following orders,
religiously adhering to rules,
striving for adulation for conforming,
getting all my ducks in a row.
Required conformity remains
a recurring, necessary lesson in youth,
taught, indoctrinated, daily.
Useful to family and society
for order, safety, convenience, peace of mind,
but at monstrous cost: unnatural; anti-individualistic;
stifling creativity and curiosity;
obliterating divergent thinking;
calamitous to invention.
Yearn for individuality.
Evade the harness. Shuck the uniform.
Avoid the lock-stepped. Avert the unvarying.
Shun the identical. Eschew the expected.
Abstain from standardization.
Invent. Innovate. Create. Produce.
Thirst. Investigate. Inquire. Pry.
Diverge. Contrive. Concoct. Swerve.
For conformity must be judiciously practiced in moderation.
Don't let dreams simmer, make them boil.
Live instead of follow,
for you can only lose yourself
when you give yourself away.
--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--
Squaretop Mountain
Wind River Range, Wyoming
Wind River Range, Wyoming
This photo of Squaretop Mountain was taken from the northern shoreline of Upper Green River Lake.
It's there, imprisoned by the fog,
but I know it's there.
For four days I've admired it as it soared free.
I've studied it, photographed it,
hiked beside it and slept beneath it.
Now the enshrouding haze
envelops it, obscures it,
removing it from visual perception.
Still I sense it, feel it.
I know it is there
and soon will soar freely again.
Like my future, my destiny, my fate
similarly ensnared in an impenetrable fog,
revealed bit by bit, moment by moment.
Often imagined, prayed for, believed in,
but as uncertain as one's next breath,
unknown until it occurs,
imprisoned by the future
until released by the present.
Peer though I might, wish though I may
I can neither discern it nor predict it,
any more than I can now see Squaretop,
but can only await its revelation
as each day's revealing sunlight washes away the fog.
--copyright 1998 by Charles Morlock--
Lake Powell Reveries 2003 Early morning thoughts after five nights of sleeping under the stars
Atop the hillside, red sand my bed,
blazing stars enshroud my head,
houseboat below on lapping sand,
Gregory Butte commanding the land.
Eyes weary, I fight sleep off
for awesome firmament engenders thought
of places distant, of adventures near,
of family and friends, of love, of fear,
of earth's great circle spinning here
amongst this starry cosmic sphere,
until thoughts cease and sleep takes hold
in wafting breeze and pleasant cold,
and dreams supplant what eyes today gazed
as kayak and houseboat toppled waves,
of Glen Canyon's glory, long concealed,
by multi-year drought, now newly revealed,
its soaring, timeless, sheer-wall cliffs,
canvas for ageless petroglyphs,
its sandstone flats where dinosaurs trod,
its slot canyons choked with boulder clog,
till sunlight rises and full moon sinks
below azure waters etched with pink
and dazzling sunshine casts its sheen
painting red rock aglow and white rock agleam,
bathing Navaho Mountain in morn's new gold,
reminding of tales the ancients told,
flaunting coyote tracks ringing my bed,
testament that wildness is not dead.
My rousing mind celebrates all it sees,
till swarming gnats end my reveries,
and back to the houseboat I retreat
to forever relish Lake Powell memories.
Copyright 2003 by Charles Morlock
Groovin' Down the San Juan River
To answer the oft asked query after returning from a river trip, this is how! It is called "the groover" because in early river-running days, an ammunition box (like the white box in front of the toilet) was used to accumulate and carry feces out of the canyon, and sitting on the ammunition box left grooves on one's butt-cheeks. Mike and I volunteered to set up and pack up the groover each day as one of our camp chores, something much appreciated by all the others who therefore didn't have to do it, and in recognition of our experiences, I composed the following poem:
The job that no one else wanted to do,
Fell to the stalwart groover crew,
So the first thing set up when we beach the boat
Is the groover box, carried by Chuck and Goat.
A scenic view and some level land
Are the basic needs of the groover can.
We remove the lock and install the seat
And give them scenery that can't be beat.
Place the paddle where all can see
And if it's there, you've got the key!
They're as happy as punch that the job is done
And all traipse the groover trail, one by one.
Relief is only a short stroll away
So mosey on over without delay,
Lighten your load and put on a smile,
Please close the lid, then walk back with style.
But leave only solids, no liquids, you see,
Use the brown river when you pee,
And don't worry about any pollution,
'cause it's all taken care of by San Juan dilution.
Everyone contributes their weighty concerns
Before launch time arrives as our canyon world turns,
And just before shove off we pack away
the groover's accumulation of the remains of yesterday.
Copyright 2003 by Charles Morlock
Homage to Alaska
A rugged, demanding land, vaster even than man's ego,
the epitome of wilderness,
as teeming with wildlife as it is bereft of trails,
possessed of a beauty as staggering as its immensity:
mountainsides a vertical patchwork quilt celebrating autumn,
vibrant sunsets bloodying clouds
as evening shadows morph into darkness,
innumerable vistas screaming for attention
as Nature's palette displayed broad stroke
overwhelms mere mortal senses,
a mind quake attempting to seize the unattainable,
yet compelling sight and smell, taste and touch
to gulp and digest for spirit nourishment.
An enigmatic land of immutable contrasts:
exhilarating and exasperating,
enticing and foreboding,
invigorating and enervating,
terrain which can thrill and kill,
cloudless azure skies and smoke choked heights,
shallow silty beaded rivers and hundred fathom translucent fjords,
sea level and continental apex,
glaciers and wetlands,
rock solid mountains and trembling earth,
rainbow tinted daysky and Aurora highlighted nightsky,
towering forests and diminutive lichen,
unyielding boulder fields and mattress soft tundra,
ever sun and never sun.
For eons peopled by hearty souls
toughened by climate and topography
like iron made into steel,
the Tlinket and Athabascan,
Haida and Tsimshian,
the Stampeders and mountain men,
miners and trappers,
all blessed by this land, not broken,
relishing, not relinquishing,
thriving, not succumbing,
exemplars embodying values of fierce independence,
self-sustenance, and personal accountability
as each struggled for life and livlihood.
Just as surely as a people form a land,
the land forms its people,
and just as surely
this land and people transform visitors,
captivating, edifying, mystifying,
and like an alluring, magnetic mistress,
Alaska attracts and compels all to revisit
and once again become intimate with this bewitching lover.
Copyright 2004 by Charles Morlock
Spirits of Canyon de Chelly
Ancient Ones,
Anasazi and Hopi and Navajo,
beckon us --
come visit our once-stately homes
and view our fading rock art --
envision our way of life
and respect our life ways.
Many come, look, and leave,
but the spirits urge lingering,
whispering to all --
remain a while.
Hear the echoes of our voices,
feel our canyon winds,
smell our sweet desert fragrances,
taste our falling raindrops
and watch our arid sand
briefly harden, then billow again.
Feel the shade of our cottonwood
and marvel at our sudden waterfalls,
discern the wild presence
of our unseen mountain lions and coyotes,
then rest beneath our shade houses
and find respite from heat and troubles.
Camp within the embrace of our spirits --
so long departed
yet ever-present.
Osmose our culture emanating from cliff dwellings
petroglyphs, and pictographs,
absorb through every pore the presence
of Anasazi and Hopi and Navajo.
Revere our land as we did
and become briefly, joyfully,
one with our canyon,
our canyon that vibrantly
resonates our culture,
reveals our spirit
regales our history --
of good life lived
and good living yet to come.
Join in it.
Come toss your dream coins
into our de Chelly wishing well.
Contemplate as your ripples
grow ever outward,
broadening and deepening,
as knowledge of our ways
broadens and deepens
your understanding.
Then feel your spirit dreams soar
on our canyon breezes.
Feel our moods change
as it frenzies from breeze into fury,
lashing rain torrents from towering cliffs,
and feel us suddenly retreat
as blue skies and billowy white clouds
just as quickly replace
ashen skies and lightning.
Revel as our ancient spirits
exit our ruins
and invest you with
new-thought.
Traverse our canyon paths,
descend our Twin and Crack-in-the-Rock Trails,
labor up Yei Bi Shei and White Sands Trails,
trod where we trod
and sense us smiling
as you honor our ways.
Cherish the pony whinnies and coyote howls,
trace the circling flight of majestic golden eagles,
delight in our profuse bouquet
of cacti and wildflowers.
Tuck into your heart our stories and songs
and infinite wisdom --
of Mother Earth
of Father Sky
and Great Spirit --
hurdling you backward in time
but forward in personal growth.
And come back. Return often.
Bring others.
And begin your life anew,
now copiously enriched.
copyright 2008 by Chuck Morlock
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