Outdoors

By Bill Barker

For the Gazette-Times

I related parts of our hunt/hike in my previous column, but, as usual, there's more tale to weave. It has to do with choices, their results and whether "old guys" can really be taught new tricks.

One of the first, "let's rethink this," hints I received was about my tent's ability to withstand extreme weather.

Doubts have nibbled at my mind since it became harder to purchase a tent with a solid, non-screen roof. Though those open tops reduce manufacturer's liability - for those without reasoning power to realize ventilation is mandatory when using propane equipment inside - they leave weather protection up to a rain-fly. What if it blows off?

It didn't happen, but it blew so hard, and long, that lots of moisture migrated under the fly up to areas where multitudes of chilly droplets could dive onto warm bags. Question answered. Different tent will appear before next trip.

Then there was Bone Springs. We'd wondered if it was flowing.

Several herds of wild horses - we totaled at least 50 - made it likely. But such numbers of horses (rapidly approaching over-population for the area) need bountiful water. The Bureau of Land Management had contained and covered the spring years before, during an effort to round up herds on the theory they'd migrate to another water source where capture would be easier.

During a dry year, all water had remained corralled by steel, just out of reach.

We found the herd, dead, by Bone Springs.

We'd always hoped it would be restored to its natural state so hooves could dig for water if needed.

No.

Though water was flowing, it still remained contained and covered.

I guess some government agencies find change/learning difficult.

Maybe we delegate too much and speak out too little? Or, perhaps, we elected leaders who were so committed to a certain path that they - like the herd of horses who wouldn't adapt and died - resisted needed changes, and their attitude trickled down to all levels of government.

That's worth thinking about.

I'd learned long ago that the extremely hot water in Mickey Hot Springs benefits feet minced by miles of rugged terrain. After a brief morning's hunt - no sign of deer - and visits with some of the locals at Fields and by Larry Blair's old place, we were soaking foot pain away.

What wouldn't vanish, for me, was a feeling created by a stop to see what Larry's looked like without the house. It had burned.

A neighbor at the end of the lane related a few details of Larry's end I hadn't heard. Since the area had changed, lots of "private" signs, I'd asked If we could go take a look.

"Sure. But, hearing what the place meant to you, if it was me, I wouldn't."

His advice was sound.

Though Larry had been gone a long time, somehow in my mind his house - my home-away-from-home - still echoed with memories of laughter; those had perpetuated a feeling of changelessness. A brief look left a pool of emptiness; a physical manifestation that, for me, a 48-year era had really ended.

I hadn't realized I'd been using an object to deny reality, maintaining my feeling of "ownership" in a vanished past. But, the mountains, desert and the memories abide. It's good we ignored the friendly advice because it resulted in an awareness of "self," changes and some much needed analysis about what's really important. It's not objects, it's the events - and people - which shaped parts of our character/attitudes; eventually forming the individuals we are today.

Given our current economic/environmental meltdowns, perhaps we should all look more closely at concepts we stubbornly cling to; not because they are still working, but because we, and our leaders, all tend to resist changes until they are - shockingly - forced upon us. Then, our sense of well-being and ownership in the system seems to vanish.

In nature, creatures that adapt survive.

We, users of logic, should be far more capable because all the data - on potential economic and environmental disasters - has been available.

Our problem? Denial.

The past seemed so much more comfortable.

Bill Barker can be reached at billbarker@comcast.net.