My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

JD.....as the often seen bumper sticker states....."Utah Rocks".....



I had finally got to the point where we just had to move on.....so we drove to the southeast through barren lands, passed by Valley of Fire State Park, then drove into the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, continued along the western shores of Lake Mead and finally we stopped, and ended up camped along the western shoreline of Lake Mead.....still in Nevada.....that was important to me.....



Now I've stayed here a few times in the past so I pretty much knew what I was getting into. This is certainly not a favorite place of mine but healing the pulled muscle is about all that is on my mind right now (well.....staying Covid-19 free is right there too).....and I knew that this would be a somewhat good spot to hang out.....





There's lots of hard surfaced roads to walk on and of course there's a huge lake which is a big plus..... so we've been camped here for a few weeks now.....



I thought I might break my posts down by highlighting our various activities as opposed to journaling about various days. So of course one of our activities here is swimming in Lake Mead.....





Tanner.....he swims daily.....often he can be found diving for beer cans.....





.....as there's something about that reflection that captures his attention.....much like a fish I sometimes think.....

 

[ITTOG]

So awesome that Tanner has your Keep America beautiful gene and also cleans up trash. Love it.

Alan.....we are staying busy and currently are averaging 11.25 miles walking per day.....just enough to hit 4,000 miles for 2021. I said I'd never do another 5,000 mile year after the first one in 2019, yet I ended up doing it again in 2020. The muscle pull continues to nag me so no doubt this will a long term heal....my plan now is to lay low until March.....

Morning coffee with my best friend.....

View attachment 636920

ITTOG.....and then they encountered significant rockfall. But ten Nepalese climbers continued up the mountain and they were rewarded with the first ever winter ascent of K2. They walked together to the summit with not a single one trying to step ahead of the others to claim the summit alone. One thing that stood out to me when I made my visit to Nepal was the good nature and friendliness of the Nepali people. I look at America at this moment in time and I can't help think how envious of them that I am. They have so little yet their happiness is real & unique and their smiles are the biggest that you'll ever see.....it's so fitting that they got the summit.....

Winter K2 Update: FIRST WINTER K2 SUMMIT!!!! | The Blog on alanarnette.com

www.alanarnette.com

K2 Climbed in Winter for the First Time!

Around 5:00 pm on Saturday, January 16, 2021, a team of 10 Sherpas and Nepalis stood on the summit of the world’s second-highest mountain, K2, on the border of Pakistan and China. It was the last of the world's 14 8,000 meter peaks still unclimbed in winter.

rockandice.com

It was cool to read all the summit stories and see how excited and proud the team was for each other but probably even more so for their country.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Temperatures here can get down to 30 degrees in the early morning hours.....





And late afternoon temperatures typically will rise to the high 50's and even up into the 60's.....





The skies here are typically clear as the entire area is suffering from an extreme drought.....

"Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma, Arizona, have not recorded measurable rainfall since Dec. 10, 2020. Las Vegas last officially recorded measurable rainfall on Dec. 17. Before that date, rain last fell on April 20, 2020. Since then, Las Vegas has only recorded 1% of their normal rainfall."



This past weekend temperatures rose into the lower 70's and that's what allowed me to get up the courage to go for a swim.....





I take my phone along with me to get these action shots of Tanner in the lake.....





Life ain't perfect.....but we're hanging in there.....

 

[halseyt]

Do you paddle the kayaks there?

 

[tgil]

Great pics, as always! What do you suppose the water temp was? Guarantee too cold for me to get in, intentionally!

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[billum v2.0]

Life ain't perfect.....but we're hanging in there.....

Maybe not, based on your photos, you're a lot closer than most.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

ITTOG.....I wonder what it is that prompts Tanner to do that....I sure wish I knew. It's as if he mimics me. And yea, the climbers that achieved the first winter ascents of K2 are heroes in their country (and to me as well).....

halseyt.....I have kayaked here in the past but I won't chance it this time. I just won't do anything that might cause injury to my pulled muscle.....

tgil.....I don't know the temperature of that water but I assure you that it is really, really cold. Great quote and that sure is the truth.....

billum v2.0.....that's so true.....and sadly I'm seeing that here on a daily basis.....



Walking of course is a big part of each & every day while camped here along the western shores of Lake Mead. Now Tanner.....he just gots to say hey to everybody that we walk by and the plus side of that behavior is that we've met some really friendly people.....and unfortunately a few not so friendly people.....

While out on our walks we get to see lots of interesting rigs.....

So I'll share a few pictures of the interesting rigs and share a few life stories that were told to me.....

First off.....I just like Airstreams.....full timers here.....



Volkswagens I like too.....never talked to these guys.....





TopoBus was pretty cool.....it appeared that he tows an SUV and has an off road bike.....difficult not to like his set-up.....



Now here's 2 campers that I never figured out.....the teardrop trailer (left) ran a construction generator 24 / 7. Heck sometimes he ran them both.....oh my God they were loud. The other guy (right).....he rarely came out of that little box.....I just don't understand it.....



There was a couple from Germany excited to be flying to Mexico for their mandatory out of country every six months mandate.....they talked about their upcoming hotel stay in Cabos San Lucas & their luxurious holiday stay which included lots of hot showers (I sure get that).....really nice people.....





The woman in this motorhome was not so friendly.....she caught me picking up trash around her campsite (which she blamed on the coyotes). She asked if I was the guy picking up trash on the paved entrance road & when I said yes, she said that my trash bags placed along the roads shoulder were a nuisance.....geez.....



And this was unusual to see.....a Kimbo truck camper stopped in for a few nights.....this was the first one that I've ever seen.....

I've been considering one for a possible trip to South America in 2021.....I traded a few emails with Kimbo the week before but I couldn't get Kimbo to call me so I've moved on.....this guy absolutely loved his and was in his 4th month of full timing.....



This guy retired 8 months ago.....46 years old, sold everything he owned.....bought a Host Mammoth truck camper, a Ford F450 dually, a huge motorcycle and a small sailboat and has decided to live on the road. His girlfriend had just arrived from Canada after shipping her truck camper here and flying in (very typical move by the Canadians to bypass the Covid-19 restrictions).....really nice people that I hang out with.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Always neat to see how other full timers do it. Used to be they were pretty scarce and being so most were easy to talk to. But I did run into a few crabs too.


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[Sierra Valley]

Get your rain gear ready sounds like its gonna get wet! https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/20/weather/southwest-rain-forecast-pattern-change-drought/index.html

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sierra Valley.....maybe.....what I'm seeing on the local forecast is that only one night will have a good chance of rain (unfortunately). I'm hoping for rain since it's needed so badly here. Temperatures will be dropping in the next few days so now I'm in the lake with Tanner swimming most days in the late afternoon.....damn that water is cold.....

Alan.....There are the travelers that are just passing through much like myself, and then there are the people that are actually living here. The National Park Service (they manage & own these lands) has decided not to enforce the 15 day stay limit so apparently people have taken up residence here.....I'm assuming it's due to the Covid-19 and the fact that Las Vegas has such high unemployment that makes them ignore the 15 day stay limit.....




It breaks my heart to see people as old as I am living here in tents. This place often has the feel of a refuge camp.....not a recreation area as was planned.....



I don't know the stories of any of the tent dwellers.....but there's plenty here.....





And then there's the people that are living in their cars.....I've become friendly with the guy that lives in this Jeep. He's 62 years old, spent the past 5 years living on the streets after having suffered a fall which left him partially paralyzed and unable to work.....he lost everything he once had. Last year with his Social Security wages finally available, he was able to buy the Jeep. He tells me that he dreams of having a government subsidized apartment (his income is less than $1,000 per month), a tv & a couch, and a bed of his own. Unfortunately while camped here I've heard other stories much the same.....they all break my heart.....I sure do hope his dream becomes a reality.....



One of my dreams may become a reality.....

President Joe Biden starts process to restore Utah’s national monuments

On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an order initiating boundary reviews of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, which his predecessor Donald Trump had reduced by 2 million acres as a political favor to Utah politicians in 2017.

www.sltrib.com

We had a sensational sunset a few nights ago & this is what I saw.....I hope you enjoy seeing what I saw.....stay safe.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Sierra Valley.....you were correct.....a somewhat violent storm passed through Friday night. I read that we got a quarter of an inch of rain at the lake yet Las Vegas only got 0.01 inches. The winds were so strong that when I awoke during the night I had the feeling that I was in a sailboat. Then scattered sprinkles last night on our campfire and more rain is on the way.....hopefully the end of their drought is near.....it's record setting.....




A woman, she walks up to me while I'm bent over in the ditch and she says to me....."that's a fools errand" and I couldn't believe what I just heard and I couldn't help but think what a sad statement that was of our existence....."a fools errand" by definition....."a task or activity that has no hope of success"......







Tanner & I.....we've been working really hard while camped here.....we started out by picking up trash along the paved entrance road.....



.....which is roughly two and one half miles in length.....it took Tanner & I four days to complete just that short section of road.....



Each afternoon we'd return to the camper leaving the shoulder of the paved road lined with plastic grocery bags filled with trash. And the following morning when we returned all the bags would be gone. It turned out that Brian the maintenance guy from the Park Service had our backs and he'd pick up all the trash bags in the evening & take the trash bags to the dumpster. He loved us for our hard work and we loved him for having our backs.....



Tanner & I.....we don't see it as a "fools errand".....we see it as our duty.....heck, we just love being outdoors.....(Lake Mead in the background).....

 

[longhorn1]

Love the pictures of Tanner in the water. His element for sure. 4000 miles walking. Love it. I just got my Fitbit 2020 numbers and I walked 2200 miles. Oh what I would give for most of that to have been out West, not along White River in Indiana. Next will be be beach walking on the Texas Gulf Coast in early March. Thanks for caring with the trash pick-up. In the end it doesn't matter what the scum bags think. The Ranger said it all. That is all the validation we need.?

 

[Ace Brown]

I rarely camp without picking up someone else’s trash. I sure don’t think of it as a fools errand. But I have stopped at a few spots that were so trashed up I just grit my teeth and moved on. I’m limited at what I can carry out too.

Just keep it up Jerry. We all have your back too.


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[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

JD.....2,200 miles ! That's awesome.....

Alan.....the level of disrespect for nature is really difficult for me to understand. It's rare that I'm pleased to be old but often I find myself saying that I'm happy to have lived the majority of my life before this behavior became a normal part of life.....


(Photo.....iohan gueorguiev)



Once we completed cleaning up the entrance road, we moved into the areas where people were camped and here too I was just as amazed at the sight of people camped next to piles of trash. Used toilet paper flutters in the wind.....human waste can be found nearly everywhere you walk.....



Since we've chosen this spot as our place to heal, we've got hours & hours of free time to remove massive piles of trash. We've cleaned campsites, we've cleaned the ditch lines along the gravel roads, and we've even worked our way down to the shoreline.....



We've hauled out discarded tires, lawn chairs, construction materials.....you name it.....it's amazing what people feel free to leave behind.....





The Jeep.....it's my trash truck.....





And what's really, really, really amazing is that the Park Service has 7 large trash dumpsters throughout the area yet so many people can't be bothered with using them. There's also a toilet here.....and again.....so many people won't use it. Notice the rim of the clear 5 gallon water jug sitting inside the old tire in the next picture. That 5 gallon jug was nearly filled with human ******** and left at a campsite. Without a doubt the worse thing I've ever hauled out.....



I've also found some good ******** here.....a pair of sunglasses, a Smith & Wesson pocket knife, a pair of needle nose pliers, cash ($1.23), and probably more that I don't remember. Someone left behind a bunch of wood pallets which I now have at my campsite.....we often have campfires here.....morning & night.....



Broken bottles left behind have to be the worst.....they too are everywhere. I fear for the coyotes stepping on them and cutting their paws. There are without a doubt more coyotes here than anywhere I've camped. One coyote that walks on three legs visits occasionally.....and I just wonder if that coyote stepped on one of these.....

 

[Ace Brown]

Jerry your doing a great service picking up trash. But I draw the limit at human waste. I’ll bury it if my shovel is handy.


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