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Showing posts from October, 2021

Photo Friday: Zebra and Tunnel Slots

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I know I reported on Zebra last year, but this time I managed to get a phone, at least, up into the good stuff. And before anyone asks: we checked forecasts and did some serious visual scans of the drainage area for the slot before going in. Here's the scoop: We are still in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and in fact only a few miles from the Golden Cathedral , which I reported on last week. The full Zebra-Tunnel loop is somewhere in the 6-mile range, but there's not much climbing, as Harris Wash at that point hasn't dropped much below the level of the road. Zebra is a very tight slot, not for the claustrophobic! Tunnel slot is easy, though accessing the top end involved a little scrambling. As usual, an early start to beat the heat. Zooming in to admire the cross-bedding in the sandstone The mouth of the slot, and the first hint that the rains that left a lot of mud down along the Escalante might not have all drained off here. We sent the tallest guy in f

Still hiking

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I have a few more photos for you while I'm away. I really can't get enough of that lovely Utah rock. This batch is some more from Zebra Slot. [This post was intended for my absence next month. Instead, it's a preview of tomorrow's post!].  ©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2021  As always, please ask permission to use any photos or text. Link-backs appreciated. Enjoyed this post? Avoid missing out on future posts by  following us .

Writer's Wednesday: News and Tidbits

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    That photo is from New Zealand a couple of years ago, but it will do as a stand-in for what I'm up to next. The blog, and the writing, will be on hold for the month of November while I'm trekking in Nepal! I'm super excited to be doing this, and will try to throw a photo or two your way while I'm there, but no promises, other than a weekly photo from the archives for you to enjoy. I'll be traveling with Second Son and a couple of friends, as part of an organized group of 7. Meanwhile, it's been a while since I reported on my writing. It hasn't been going all that well, in part because of travel past and future (after a trip, I have to edit the photos, and before a trip I'm all about futzing with my gear over and over!). I did finish the total re-write of the story that was rejected from the IWSG collection last year--and I mean total. All I kept were the characters and most of the plot. That's out on submissions, but that's the only writing s

Middle Grade Monday: Maud and Addie, by Maureen Buchanan Jones

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  Title: Maud and Addie Author: Maureen Buchanan Jones Publication Info: May 2021 Fitzroy Books. Paperback is 240 pages. Source: Library digital resources Publisher’s Blurb: In 1910, the two sisters, eleven- and twelve-year-old Maud and Addie, are eagerly anticipating their Summer Social in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. However, the event does not quite go according to plan, and the two girls are swept out to sea as they are rowing home at the day’s end. They find themselves adrift in the unforgiving North Atlantic with only the contents of a picnic hamper to sustain them and a carriage blanket to keep them warm. Finding their way through stormy seas, the girls finally make landfall on a deserted island. With string and a jackknife recovered from Maud’s pockets and a parasol and novel contributed by Addie, the girls create a world for themselves among the island dunes, keeping company with sea birds and other sea creatures. Their ensuing adventures test their wits and, in the pr

Photo Friday: The Golden Cathedral

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In late September I did an overnight backpack trip in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument to an amazing spot near the Escalante River. The Golden Cathedral is doable as a dayhike, but at 11+ miles, my companions (my son and a friend) and I decided we'd rather camp and have time to enjoy the spot. It was a great decision. I kind of wish I'd gotten some photos of the "Egypt Road" on the way in, because it tested the limits of Prius ground-clearance. Imagine our surprise when we got to the trailhead and the only other car there was... yet another Prius.  Our two Prii. The 3rd was parked on the other side of the trees. In some ways, getting to the TH was the hardest part. Once there, we filled out a permit in the box provided, and headed out--down to the Escalante River. You can kind of tell where the land changes. The river runs through a shallow canyon in front of the more rounded bits. The river had flooded recently, leaving a lot of drying mud. Datura blossom

#WEP--The Scream

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WEP challenges are FREE and open to all. On the 1st   of the challenge month, there will be a   get-your-thinking-caps   on post. The badge will include the dates of the challenge and the winner’s   prizes. The InLinkz sign up will open on the third Wednesday and close 3 days later. It will contain no news, just the sign up. Participants link up with their DLs (Direct Links to their entry).  Learn all about it here .    My entry this time is based on an actual incident. Mom and my brothers will recognize it. My apologies to them for the non-trivial liberties I took with history and their personalities. We are now also meant to provide a tag line for our stories, so here's mine: What terrors lurk in the root cellar?     The Scream The house we lived in that year wasn’t much. The wind blew in everywhere you could imagine a draft, and some places you couldn’t. The old enclosed porch we used as a root cellar was worse. It wasn’t just the wind that could get in through the chinks a

Audiobook Review: Beyond the Call, by Lee Trimble and Jeremy Dronfield

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  Title: Beyond the Call: The True Story of One World War II Pilot's Covert Mission to Rescue POWs on the Eastern Front Author: Lee Trimble with Jeremy Dronfield. Read by Donald Corren Publication Info: Audible Audio, 2015. 11 hours. Hardcover 2015 by Berkley, 352 pages. Source: Library digital resources   Publisher’s Blurb: Near the end of World War II, thousands of Allied ex-POWs were abandoned to wander the war-torn Eastern Front, modern day Ukraine. With no food, shelter, or supplies, they were an army of dying men. The Red Army had pushed the Nazis out of Russia. As they advanced across Poland, the prison camps of the Third Reich were discovered and liberated. In defiance of humanity, the freed Allied prisoners were discarded without aid. The Soviets viewed POWs as cowards, and regarded all refugees as potential spies or partisans. The United States repeatedly offered to help recover their POWs, but were refused. With relations between the allies strained, a plan wa

Photo Saturday: Backpacking the Ansel Adams Wilderness

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After more than two weeks of day-hike training and the shorter (but still rather stiff) Pine Creek backpack trip, we set off on the main event, a 4-night, many-lake loop near Mammoth, CA. Day 1 was a 9-mile + hike up to Thousand Island Lake, along the High Trail, one of two trails that count as the Pacific Crest Trail north of Agnew Meadows. Banner (right) and Ritter were the peaks that defined much of this trip, as we pivoted about them. It was a long day, but we made 1000 Island Lake with enough energy to find a nice, tucked-away campsite. It's a very popular area, so we weren't far from neighbors, but we had our privacy. Camp, with our almost-matching TarpTents. There was lots of smoke in the air, which at least made for interesting light. There was so much smoke that first night that we wondered if we should continue the trip, but as nothing could be done that night, we went to bed. It was much better in the morning. First light, and a setting moon. Banner Peak on the left