My Final Update.

And so after over two years of posting, I've left Boulder behind and now I embark upon a new journey to the Czech Republic. I thank both of my dedicated readers, and of course all my occasional ones as well. I hope that at least once these posts made you feel at little more connected to me when I was far away. In a few days I'll be hopping a plane to Europe, and if all goes according to plan I may not be back for a while, but, to my friends and family, remember I'm only an e-mail away. And naturally, this is not the end of the Chronicles, it is only the beginning.

For my last photo I've chosen a shot of a message I found written on a concrete wall surrounding a private property in Valmont, in the eastern outskirts of Boulder.


The full message read, if memory serves me: "TO THE PERSON WHO FILED A COMPLAINT THAT THIS WALL WAS A BIT TOO HIGH, HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE RULE OF LIVE AND LET LIVE?"

That seems a good note to go out on, and I believe I shall. Na schledanou!

~Drakos

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To see what's become of Drakos, check out the next volume:

The Drakos Chronicles: Volume II - drakos42.blogspot.com


Just because I've stopped updating, however, doesn't mean you can't relive my Boulder experience. Check out some of my labeled entries:

-My trips to Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon.

-The circumstances in which I vacated five jobs.

-Some of the many photos I've included in posts.

-Or the details of my various return trips to MD.

And of course you can find every post listed by month, at stage right --->


Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to your comments in my next blog.

Such Majesty 3: Monuments

After leaving Yellowstone we headed east through Wyoming on a winding mountain road through the Bighorn National Forest. But eventually the land evened out a bit, and for miles we saw nothing but rolling hills. We stopped along the way, spending the night in Buffalo, a fairly ordinary Wyoming town. The next morning we continued through the plains until we reached our first stop of our day of monuments, the Devil's Tower. This natural monument is an igneous protrusion, so basically a spire of magma from which the surrounding land eroded, leaving this unworldly mountain. Perhaps you've seen Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Well this where them aliens landed.

Such Majesty

There was one spot near where I took this picture where you could clearly hear some climbers talking to each other halfway up the rock. I guess the shape lends itself to good acoustics. After a nice hike around the tower, we got back on the road and drove through the rest of Wyoming in order to reach our next destination.

The Black Hills of South Dakota, a sacred land we forced the Indians onto, and then off of soon after. There we stopped at the Crazy Horse memorial, which I'll come back to at the end, and then Mt. Rushmore where we spent the rest of the evening.

Such Majesty.. er.. Presidency

We arrived at the monument around five, and since my father wanted to see the supposed "light show" at nine, we had to milled about the park for four hours. Now, don't get me wrong, Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt are just about the only American politicians I admire (up yours, Van Buren). But the park is not that large, so four hours was a little intense. And of course the "light show" turned out to be a crappy spotlight that barely lit the faces. Worst of all it was preceded by a ten minute speech by some random park ranger, and a twenty minute film entitled, Freedom: America's Living Legacy. Obviously the one thing I hate most about America is freedom. But in all seriousness, the speech wasn't terrible albeit a little formulaic, founding fathers and our personal legacy kind of stuff, and the video was more redundant that anything else. Seeing as how we had four hours to visit the museum first, I had already read and seen most of the content of the film (mostly how they carved the faces, and what each president had contributed to our country's legacy). I did see a mountain goat, so... that was cool. But all in all I would have much rather stayed at our previous destination longer.

The Crazy Horse Memorial. Or as my father continually referred to it:"That Indian one." Started more than half a century ago, the Lakota Indians hired Korczak Ziolkowski (a world's fair prize winning sculptor who had worked on Rushmore) to carve a humongous likeness of the legendary War Chief Crazy Horse. The monument continues to be blasted and carved today, despite Ziolkowski's death. When will this be finished? Well odds are not for a long time, as they are funded completely by the "interested public" who donate and visit the site each day. Apparantly it is against the purposes of the project for the memorial to accept government funding (it has declined a ten million dollar grant twice) in order to preserve the integrity. Part of it is that it might seem hypocritical to be supported by the government that quite literally stabbed Crazy Horse in the back, while he carried a flag of truce. I was quite fond of the place, but it's a shame that they cannot justify grant money as a sign of reparation on the part of the American Government for the whole genocide thing. Nonetheless, I tremendously respect their values. Also those constructing it (mainly Ziolkowski's surviving family) don't see the finished monument as the goal of the work. It is the process, people coming together to support a cause that means more than just a face in stone.

Such, gradually emerging, Majesty

As a matter of perspective observe the two photos I have given you of the monuments. The faces of Mt. Rushmore would fit into an area no bigger then the side of Crazy Horses head. This baby is huge. If you noticed the outline of the horses face, that is the glide lines that have been blasted out which will form the shape of his horse. Plus, at nine every night they have a laser show on the side of the mountain. I would have rather seen that then the Rushmore show. Lasers! Currently the project is receiving a great deal of attention, but still I strongly suggest if you are planning a trip anywhere near South Dakota, you check this place out. Also if you didn't check out the link where you can see the scale model of the finished memorial here it is again.

On the course of the trip I read a bit of Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Only a few pages in he says, "One piece of good sense would be more memorable than a monument as high as the moon." After seeing nothing but monuments, mountains, historic landmarks, and shit shooting out of the ground I've got majesty coming out the wazoo. So my immediate reaction to reading this was, buzz off you drunk, all this tells an endless story of the history of the western lands. Echoes of a people who lived with the land for ages, understanding it and holding it sacred, only to see it scarred first by manifest destiny, and then by pollution and development. The dreams of settlers seeking freedom in new lands, and hoping to create a world of prosperity for their children.

But now as I read Thoreau's words again I realize it is not the man-made beauty that speaks for this place. The lands them self tell prehistoric tales of volcanic eruption forming craters and calderas in seconds and then shaping mountain ranges through millennia. And then it is also those who have devoted their lives to the preservation of these lands who make these monuments what they are. The remaining tribes that live within Wyoming and the Dakotas, fighting everyday to save the forests and mountains from developers. The park rangers who stop people from throwing trash into the geysers, and who educate visitors as to why they should care. Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse are meaningless if people lack the "good sense" to carry on what the men and women behind the faces believed in. Independence from tyrants and foreign empires, the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Equality and citizenship for all peoples, and a higher standard of living for all, not just the bourgeois. Regardless of whether or not these men truly believed in these values and ideals, these are what they have left for us to defend. Jeez, I've gotten worse the Rushmore video. I must be suffering from majesty saturation. I need to get back to Maryland and go shopping at Sears or something.

~D
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Eating well on the road is hard. I am so fucking sick of garden-burgers.

Such Majesty 2: Yellowstone

If ever there was a desire to further the personification of our Mother Earth, one possibility now obvious to me would be to tell tales of her flatulence, in the form of the volcanic springs and geysers of Yellowstone. Still, days after, the scent of sulfur lingers in my clothing. The park is home to several geyser basins, which contain hundreds of bubbling holes covered with bacterial colonies of almost unnatural colors and textures. Only a few look anything like I'd imagine a geyser would. Below is a shot of one that was true to my original mental image. This one just happened to go off as we were passing it by, and for close to ten minutes it drenched the walkway with a cool, sulfurous shower.

Such smelly Majesty

I've decided not to show a picture of Old Faithful as you can surely find much better photos easily. Also the only thing remarkable about it is its predictability, which is getting worse and worse as magma shifts the fissures and tourists throw shit into it. There are some geysers in the park that can explode up to 300ft in the air for the better part of an hour, but you need to be lucky to see it happen. But to get back to my point, the majority of the geysers are fairly calm, and are as I've said colorful, occasionally bubbly vats of bacteria. Check out a few in my Piscasa Album.

On wildlife spotting:

A certain acute sense of sight is developed when hours are spent carving the scenery for wildlife. The slightest movement, or simply anything remotely brown triggers it. This sense served me well, but after the trip it has become something of an annoyance. Even on the road back from WY, my eyes dashed back and fourth every few seconds focusing on the humdrum sights of pastured cows, horses, and tree trunks.

Allow me to now list the priority of wildlife spotting according to my father:

The Abridged List
-Grizzly Bear
-Bull Moose
-Black Bear
-Bald Eagle
-Bison
-Bull Elk
-Female Deer/Moose/Elk
-Rodents with fat tails
-Rodents with skinny tails
-Other Birds of Prey
-Birds with long necks
-Birds with no remarkable features
-Plants (green, et al.)
-Microbes (within bacteria mats)

I'd say that this is a pretty standard list for most people. I was able to observe these preferences based on what animals my dad stopped the car for. One near the top would merit a round of photos followed by a second drive-by, whereas further towards the bottom perhaps he would slow down to 5 below the speed limit (as opposed to his normal cruising speed of 3 below). And of course, once you've seen one of an animal, it loses it's place, only to return after a few hours of spotting nothing above a small rodent. Apparently once you've seen an elk, it not longer becomes worth stopping to see them. On any other day an elk sighting would be a story to tell for days. But, then again, how often do elk come marching down the road in Maryland. So anyway, I didn't even have to try to see this guy, as he was munching on dandelions right next to the road:

Such Majesty (and yet so adorable).

He must have liked people because he chose to stop right next to a stretch of road where several cars were pulled over taking pictures of the scenery. I assume it occurred in that order.

There is so much more I could talk about in Yellowstone, but I'll leave it to you to go and experience it for yourself. I was able to see most of the interesting sites in two and a half days, but as I had neither the time nor the right people with me, there were tons of trails and campgrounds I didn't set foot on. I end my post with a shot of Artist's Point, the most photographed view in Yellowstone for obvious reasons. I'd tell you to just Google it like I did with Old Faithful, but I just like my photo so much.

Such Majesty.
(With no sarcasm this time)

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Still, to be continued...

Such Majesty 1: Grand Tetons

I'm back in Boulder for the time being, so now I can in good conscience continue this blog...

Last week I was able to take a week long trip with my parents through Wyoming and South Dakota, stopping at a number of parks and monuments along the way, so here it is! My three part coverage of the trip.

Our first stop was at the beautiful Grand Teton National Park. A few miles south of Yellowstone, this park is the home of one of the most magnificent mountain ranges I've ever seen. The titular mountain is of course the Grand Teton, neighbored by the Middle and Lower Teton. These three got there name when French explores, seeing them from over 150 miles ago called them "the three tits (la tres tetons)."

Such Majesty.

Our day at the park was nice. The restaurants found in the park villages all offered an excellent selection of organic and vegetarian foods. Apparently the park service understands the advantages of a conservationist attitude, as it is pretty much there livelihood at sake. Climate change, industrial farming, mass-producing feedlot slaughterhouse, all of these in one way or another put wilderness areas (et al.) in jeopardy.

Anyway, we made our way along the scenic byways that parallel the mountain range, stopping along the way to take pictures. Then, just outside of Moose Junction, we saw a Moose! Can you even imagine!?

Such... Majesty?

Next, we hopped aboard a raft for a scenic float trip, that boasted astounding mountain views and wildlife spotting. It was hot and I got sunburned, and it went really slow. I guess it was kind of fun, and we did see a bald eagle, but that was about it. I wanted to see the big kahuna. The piece de resistance. The other cliche about something awesome.

A whistle-pig.

I was under the impression that this is simply another name for a groundhog. Others have told me it's a marmot. Either way I didn't see one so I don't know. But that waitress claimed they were all over the place. Gypped!

So after the raft ride we moved along to Jenny Lake, where we hiked up the side of cascade canyon, just north of Grand Teton, saw a pretty large waterfall, and then on my own I scrambled, lightheaded, to Inspiration Point. The first of many points.

"Such Majesty!" He said, in between gasping for air.

That night we stayed in the park in one of the cabins. With both running water and electricity it could hardly have been called roughing it, but it was peacefully there nonetheless (although it rained all night on the metal cabin roof). Early the next morning I took a hike through the woods, and came face to face with a coyote, a group of deer, and an ass-load of mosquitoes. After breakfast we hit the road and made our way north to the main leg of trip, three days and two nights in Yellowstone.

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To be continued...