Posts Tagged ‘Utah’
04/03/2012
backcountry skiing Big Cottonwood's USA Canyon, behind The Canyons, site of the proposed "SkiLink"
Once again, the Wasatch mountains outside of Salt Lake City, Utah are being threatened by ski resort expansion under the guise of a transportation solution. I spent many years in the Wasatch, and during my absence, Dick Bass has managed to put not only a chairlift in Mineral Basin on the back side of Snowbird, (read “DogBird”, the name coined by mountain guide Dennis Turville) but a crazy tunnel (locals call it the Bass Hole) complete with magic carpet conveyer belt-type rig, under Hidden Peak to allow intermediate skiers access to the once pristine back bowl, Then there’s cat skiing somewhere near Ruth’s pass above Alta, and not to mention the insanity of helicopter skiing on national forest lands.
This proposed development would severely impact the backcountry ski experience and wilderness qualities of the beautiful Wasatch mountains. If you’re a Utah resident, or even a visitor to the Wasatch and you’ve had just about enough encroachment in one range, visit SaveOurCanyons’ website here to chime in and see what you can do to help give your two cents worth.
A sane backcountry skier points out where the proposed SkiLink would go, obliterating acres and acres of pristine backcountry ski terrain and wilderness area.
Tags:Alta, Big Cottonwood Canyon, Conservation, Dick Bass, DogBird, heli-skiing, land protection, Mineral Basin, Mountain Spirit, Over expansion, Save our Canyons, Ski area, Ski area development, Snowbird, The Canyons, USA Canyon, Utah, Wasatch mountains, Wilderness
Posted in Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Conservation, Environment, Sustainable Travel | Leave a Comment »
16/09/2010
A wrap-up discussion about what it means to be a local farmer, and who benefits..
Tags:farmer's markets, Gainesville, Local Economy, Mountain Spirit, Randy Ramsley, Sustainable Agriculture, Utah
Posted in 1- Video Posts, Conservation, Environment, Health, Leadership, Your Food Supply | Leave a Comment »
26/08/2010
Meet Randy Ramsley, a “farmer hero like Salatin and Allen” says blogger Lorna Sass in a post about Ramsley. We came across Ramsley’s farm just east of Escalante, UT. See the video below.
From: The Wasatch Journal
By Chip Ward
Caineville, Utah, is a remote, dusty outpost between where we have been and where we are going next. Under a harsh sun, its bare mesas, with their pleated skirts of pale ash, may seem plain, especially compared to their more colorful and celebrated redrock neighbors down the road. Most visitors zoom by it on their way to or from Lake Powell or Capitol Reef National Park. It is easy to miss the dance of luminosity and shadows that define the horizon, but there are subtle hues of violet, yellow, and blue among the gray tones. This is a landscape of nuance, patina, and pentimento.
Those who do stop are often towing all-terrain vehicles behind their trucks, using Caineville’s wide-open spaces and extreme landforms to test their machines against the limits of gravity. You could say that Caineville is what you make of it—a haven of solitude and beauty, or a carnival of combustion, depending on who’s in town.
Randy Ramsley is one of a handful of Caineville residents who is always in town. For a decade now, Ramsley has been farming the bottomlands of the Fremont River as it makes its slow descent toward read the rest of this article
Tags:Cainsville, Escalante, organic farming, Randy Ramsley, Utah
Posted in 1- Video Posts, Health, Traveling, Your Food Supply | 1 Comment »
05/07/2009
Reconnecting with a Mentor
By R. Richards, MSI Founder
Screen Shot of "American Bedouin"
According to an excellent 2007 Aljazeera Feature video, Erga Rehns has been living the life of a Bedouin in the desert with the Bedouin tribes of Wadi Rum for seven years. I’m not sure if she still does though. I’ll have to do more research in order to contact her again. The last, (and first) time I saw her in person was in 1981, when we first met at her little art studio and home in Obidos, Portugal.
Some people are lucky enough to be a primed for a turning point in their young lives, and come across just the right person at the right time that poses questions, and challenges one’s view of the world – who plants the seed for a paradigm shift. Most people aren’t’ aware they’re ready for that change, until years later, when they realize the shift was primed by those mentors. (more…)
Tags:Aljazeera, Alta Utah, American Bedouin, Chiusa Italy, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Erga Rehns, Ex Patriots, Experiential Education, Holistic Living, Jeanne Pickett, Klausen, Living abroad, Luciano Cappella, Martin Strolz, Materialism, Mentors, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Obidos Portugal, Peru, Simplicity, Spiritual, Strolz GmBH, Strolz Ski Boots, Sud Tirol, Sunapee, Sustainability, Travel, Utah
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Film/DVD, Holistic Living, Inner Work, Inspirational People, Leadership, Power of Place, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | 10 Comments »
27/06/2009
Decisions, Decisions – Motorhomes or Going Light
" Capt'n Fast und Light"
Huge motorhomes rumbling down the Motorways and Interstates are proof that humans have entirely too many non-renewable resources at their disposal. What it takes to move these beasts of burden one kilometer in energy could light the two lightbulbs in my yurt for a week. OK, I actually owned a motorhome when living in Sedona Arizona, as an alternative to apartment living. We’d drive out into the desert at night and base there, while I led trips for Sedona Adventures. And yes, we drove it to Washington state, fully loaded for the Outward Bound summer season. If a motorhome is one’s main residence, it may be “going lighter” on the planet, (I think) – Maybe lighter than owning a MacMansion. If, however, it’s one’s vacation mode of travel, please read on. (more…)
Tags:12 volt showers, Captain Vancouver, Conservation, desert living, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, fuel ecomony, going light, Holistic Living, hot showers, Motorhomes, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, Natural resources, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Outward Bound, Peru, pulling boats, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah, vans
Posted in Conservation, Environment, Sustainable Living/Communities, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
20/06/2009
One Boy’s Passion for Wilderness Survival Skills
Marco & Jelena Wells
One never knows when an inspirational person will cross one’s path. Today, for me, it came in the form of Marco Wells, all of 12 years, who visited us in Piha, with his sister Jelena, mother and father Tina and Steve and grandmother Helen from the former republic of Yugoslavia, (who recently attended our wedding a few weeks ago.) From the start, it’s a bit hard to determine who’s the biggest inspiration in this family, whether it’s Helen for starting her journey to New Zealand from eastern Europe years ago, or Marco’s dad who fosters his son’s love of the outdoors and wilderness survival. Then there’s his mother, who gets just as excited as her son, when we got the compass out and starting shooting bearings off the nearby peaks. It could also be his wonderful sister who’s eyes lit up during our day hike, when she looked over the edge of the windy cliff, which dropped a few hundred metres down to the Tasman sea. But this story leads me back to Marco.
A few weeks ago at our wedding, “Grandmother Helen” (we’ve also adopted her as our own), told us about her grandson who “is interested in the out-of-doors”. Well, when I started talking to Marco today at our home, “interested” was an understatement. Marco is passionate about wilderness skills, wild edibles, feeling the wind, and even a bit of climbing and just being out there. He’s got it in his blood.
Today's Hiking Buddies
My wife and I later wondered aloud, after they had left back for the Auckland area, what makes one boy passionate about the outdoors and the next, not. I was that boy which started with my romping and winter camping trips around the John F Gile Memorial Forest and Morgan Pond in New Hamsphire. Marco, his dad and I talked about “nature deficit disorder” and, stating the obvious, I mentioned the threat of video games, technology and kid’s lack of nature time.
(Image: L-R:Randy & Amanda Richards, Grandmother Helen, Marco, Yelena, Tina and Steven Wells)
Kare Kare Beach from our Hike Today
Not Marco! He’s out back building different types of fires, constructing snares and assembling survival kits in a can. OK, I’m sure he puts his own time on the computer too, but he sure knows quite a few native plants and is working on lots of survival skills. On our walk today he was naming a number of plants and their their uses. He taught me a number of things today, but one stuck in my mind. When collecting and using silver ferns for a emergency shelter, be sure to turn the ferns belly up, otherwise, the tiny seeds, adhered to the bottom sides of the fern, will drop off on you during the night causing irritation and itching. He showed me the tiny seeds. Marco, just so you know, I’ll not forget that. (more…)
Tags:Desert Solitare, Edward Abby, Edward Whymper, John F Gile Memorial Forest, Journal of A Trapper, Kare Kare, Kurt Hahn, Last Child in the Woods, Marco Wells, Morgan Pond, My side of the mountain, Nature Deficit disorder, NH, Osborne Russell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Randy and Amanda Richards, Richard Louve, Scrambles Amongst the Alps, Sir Edmund Hillary, Tasman Sea, The wilderness world of John Muir, Utah
Posted in Books, Climb/Ski/Mntneering, Experiential Education, Inspirational People, Mountain People, New Zealand, Power of Place | Leave a Comment »
16/06/2009
Bob Stremba
M.S.I. VP/Board member and fellow spirit adventurer Bob Stremba, EdD, is heading for Oregon and Washington State tomorrow to take a bit of time off between semesters running the Adventure Education Department at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He’s also headed north to climb on Mt. Hood’s southern route again. He’ll be climbing the route with fellow board members of the Association of Experiential Education. Over the years, Bob has also summited Mt. Rainer twice, as well as Mt. Baker and Mt. Adams.
After his trip to the Northwest, Bob will be flying to Russia where he’ll be going into classrooms, facilitating group team building initiatives for Russian students. When I asked how his conversational Russian was coming along, he said he’ll have a translator. However he is working on the written language a bit, I assume so he can write a bit on blackboards and flip-charts. Stremba applied for, and was selected to be the lead (and solo) facilitator for this program. At program’s end, Bob will finish in western Russian – which is only a two hour train ride to Finland, so he figured he might as well leave Russia from the western border. If we’re lucky, we’ll get some updates on this blog during his travels. We wish him the best on his program and further travels to Finland after program’s end.
Tags:Association of Experiiential Education, Bob Stremba, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Finland, Holistic Living, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah
Posted in Experiential Education, Focus on MSI People, Leadership, Mountain People, MSI News, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
07/06/2009
Tolle & Carrey Headline “The Global Alliance For Transformational Entertainment”
Eckhart Tolle, Jim Carrey and Friends Opt for Consiousness-Raising over Lakers
By Los Angeles Times writer James Rainey
Some might say that spirituality and Hollywood go together like sensitivity and pro wrestling.
- Eckhart Tolle
But that’s just the kind of habitual/stereotypical thinking that more than 500 entertainment industry types vowed to vanquish at a conference Thursday night as they came together for the first meeting of the Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment (GATE).
Spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and movie star/seeker Jim Carrey headlined the more-than-three-hour session at an auditorium on the Fox lot in Century City. Along with singer Melissa Etheridge and several other speakers, they urged their colleagues in film, television, music and other media to transcend the tawdry and mundane with higher-minded fair.
It must have been important to those packed into the meeting. They missed the Lakers’ opening championship-round game to be there. (more…)
Tags:Dexter Randall Richards, Eckhart Tolle, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Groundhod Day, Holistic Living, Jim Carrey, Los Angeles Times, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Oprah Winfrey, Peru, Power of Now, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, The Global Alliance For Transformational Entertainment, Utah
Posted in Books, Holistic Living, Inspirational People, Leadership, Spiritual, Sustainable Living/Communities | 2 Comments »
07/06/2009
Is there a link between Frozen Woolly Mammoths and Pole Shift?
When I first read parts of John White’s 1980 book, Pole Shift, what left an indelible mark on me, was reading the link between the green veggies found the stomachs of frozen woolly mammoths and possibility of relatively rapid shiftings of the earth’s magnetic poles called “pole shift”. Then again, maybe I didn’t read correctly, as the excerpts from an old nhne.com article indicate below, where White is interviewed by David SunFellow.
- Pole Drift
I’m not well versed on the subject, but from what limited knowledge I do have on the subject, I find the the correlations interesting. Also, the way that the poles are “drifting” more every year, (also according to NASA scientist turned author/mystic Gregg Braden) has my attention. According to Braden, airports are having to repaint their runway compass coordinates so often, that some have stopped the procedure. (Check out his books, two of which are The Isiah Effect and Awakening to Zero Point.)
Pole Shift Torpedoed by Author
By David Sunfellow
When John White first published “Pole Shift” in 1980, his book sent re-affirming shocks waves through the earth changes community. Many (including this reporter)
- White mentions Mammoths
believed White’s book “proved” that Edgar Cayce, and a host of others, had correctly foreseen a global catastrophe that would destroy much of the planet along with major portions of the human race. White’s book was particularly powerful because it was written by a man with serious professional credentials and, perhaps more importantly, because it seamlessly wed modern scientific data with contemporary psychics and ancient myths and prophecies. While White refused to say in “Pole Shift” that he was absolutely certain that a pole shift was coming, he left no doubt that he thought one might strike sometime near the year 2000.
Now, however, White has publicly said that he doesn’t believe there is going to be a pole shift — at least the kind of cataclysmic variety envisioned by Cayce, Gordon-Michael Scallion, and others. (more…)
Tags:Apollo 14, David Sunfellow, Dexter Randall Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Edgar Mitchell, Experiential Education, Frontiers of Consciousness, Frozen Mammoth, Holistic Living, Institute of Noetic Science, link to pole shift, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, nhne.org, Peru, Pole Shift, Spiritual, Sunapee, Sustainability, Utah
Posted in Books, Climate Change, Environment, Glaciology | 1 Comment »
16/05/2009
From New Zealand to Utah, From Alaska to New Hampshire – Ice bergs to Honeycombs
It’s called calving, when a glacier’s edge dramatically breaks off. Many cruise ships take the tour along Alaska’s shores. From Seward and other harbors along the coast, one can sign on for a daily round-trip to get up close views.
Perito Mereno Glacier, Argentina
The dramatic Perito Mereno Glacier in Argentina’s Southern windswept Los Glaciares National Park has many visitors.and is possibly the most famous rivers of ice in the world because. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1981. Amanda and I stopped at Tasman Lake in New Zealand’s Mt. Cook National Park to see the floating ice bergs in the grey-green water thick with rock flower. We hiked up to the top of an old terminal moraine and saw the bergs as the sun was setting.
White Pine Lake, Utah
More than a few times, I’ve jumped into such frigid waters, after a run or back country mountain sleep, just to wake me up. While at University of Utah, when I was still learning about the mountains, I did an overnight up White Pine Canyon in the late fall and jumped into White Pine Lake near Snowbird. A few minutes later, it had a skim of ice on it. That’s chilly, but there were no icebergs or calving going on, just shivering.
Lake Tasman, Mt. Cook
The Tasman Glacier regularly claves ice bergs but the evening we were there it was calm and each iceberg gave us a show of *“petreflections” of various sizes and patterns.
When the ice goes out in Lake Sunapee, NH, the reader may be curious to know that there usually aren’t big ice bergs. Then again, I didn’t grow up on the west side of the lake, where the whole lot piles up on a windy afternoon leaving dramatic piles of ice, as if the town dump truck and just deposited its backlog for the winter. On the east side of the lake, we observe the ice gradually thinning from the spring melt, and as it thins, darkens to almost a black. It turn into “honeycomb ice” we call it, where its transformed from the meter-thick solid sheet that runs the whole lake, to fragile, loosely held together elongated splinters that fall apart when scooped up in your hand. Those of us that grew us as kids along the shore of a lake will know what I mean. Daily we watch the progression.
*Petreflections Galore
Official Ice Out day is declared when Artie Osborne can take his boat from the north tip at George’s Mills to Newbury, some 10-13 miles distant without obstruction. To my knowledge, he still makes the trip, and in the process, closes the informal town bets for the season. Go swim in an ice-berg filled lake sometime. It’s the right thing to do.
Author’s Note: Also see my earlier entry on largest iceberg breaks off of Tasman Glacier in 100 years.
*Petreflections: A term coined by Kathy Lowe. See her link above.
Tags:adventure travel, Alaska, Argentina, Arthur Osborne, Dexter R. Richards, ecospiritual psychology, Experiential Education, Georges Mills, Holistic Living, Ice Bergs, Kathy Lowe Bloch, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Los Glaciares National Park, Mountain Spirit, Mountaineering, Mt. Cook National Park, mtnspirit.org, New Hampshire, New Zealand, Newbury NH, Petroflections, Randy Richards, Sunapee NH, Sustainability, UNESCO, Utah, White Pine Canyon
Posted in Environment, Glaciology, New Zealand, Power of Place, South America, Traveling | Leave a Comment »
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