Cordell M Andersen

Until today, May 5, 2022 I’ve done this FOUR TIMES! Each time after giving up due to problems, but then remedied with yet ANOTHER SURGERY to keep me going. To today 15 surgeries, plus two radiation treatments and becoming a cancer & heart attack survivor, etc.

All of a sudden by Fall 2020 I was in a wheelchair, and in November the 3rd back surgery but made me worse, then the 4th spine surgery to kind of fix me a little. But by mid-2021 my spine became DANGEROUSLY MISALIGNED as shown above on the left–a fall could paralyze, or kill me, so I carefully went to work again on ANOTHER COMEBACK as too much of me worked pretty good to accept the other dire alterative–but with great precautions.

But, now also with a dangerous HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE problem, but as explained in past posts, learning to reduce salt and sugar intake, but JOYFULLY LEARNING THAT 1-2 HOURS OF VIGOROUS OUTDOOR HIKING REDUCED MY BP for the TWO DAYS.

So….INTO THE HILLS every other day! Now forced to use the previously hated TREKKING POLES….thought previously THEY WERE FOR WIMPS! Now without them I’m maybe dead on tough foothill & High Uinta trails!

Do you remember CLIFF ROSE and its BEAUTIFUL WOOD? Up above the parking lot of the Grove Canyon Trailhead, on the right we see a whole forest of Cliff Rose, that we’ll visit later when it begins the SPECTACULAR BLOSSOMING STAGE.

NEAR THE PARKING LOT WE SEE A CLOVER PLANT....and LOOK FOR THE FOUR LEAFED ONE to bring me GOOD LUCK! Didn’t find one, but HAD GOOD LUCK ANYWAY!

This past week several hikes along the foothills, getting higher and higher. This photo zooming in on Provo Peak (on the left), then Little Squaw Peak, Squaw Peak, Y-Mountain, Maple Mountain, and Provo at their feet, with Orem, and then Pleasant Grove along the foothills of Mt. Timpanogos.

I was well rewarded with the first blossoming of WESTERN BLUE FLAX, upper shots at the entrance to Grove Canyon. Higher in the foothills, leading to the Uintas, they blossom profusely, and even are found in the lower High Uintas among the Quaking Aspen.

Another tiny wild flower seen already, but in upper left the sprouting of a new plant, and the Lady Bugs out protecting them from aphids and other tiny insects.

Near the Trailhead I found this plant beginning to blossom as seen below.

And, out now all along the foothills AMERICAN VETCH.

And, I discovered a WHOLE GARDEN ON A ROCK!

FUNGI form a symbiotic relationship (partnership) with ALGAE creating what we call LICHENS. The fungi and algae each fill a role in the survival of their partner and together fill a slow, but crucial role in the process of breaking down rocks and trees. It was said by an expert: “LICHENS ARE FUNGI THAT HAVE DISCOVERED AGRICULTURE.” Rocky Mountain Goats eat lichens as an important part of their diet. Over 3,000 varieties have been identified in the Rocky Mountains region.

More and more shrubs and trees are now blooming and will soon adorn our foothills with beautiful green colors.

This was one of the first wild flowers I found in the foothills, but way up Grove Canyon. It is now blooming along the lower foothills.

This TINY BLUE WILD FLOWER is one of the smallest. I should have had my Nikon camera with close-up lens to show you how beautiful it is. Maybe next time.

By the next hike or so this one should be blossoming.

I’m getting higher and higher, far above the parking lot, but am aiming for getting higher up than ever before. No es una gran logro, pero tomando en cuenta que hace 1 ano y mas, NI PUDE CAMINAR, para mi es UNA GRAN BENDICION PODER HACERLO, Y PODER AGUANTAR EL DOLOR!

You might remember way back I got some pictures of this plant sprouting, and then later the one on the left. Here we see the whole plant to connect the two pictures.

From as high along the foothills as I have ever got to, I got this fish-eye photo of beautiful UTAH VALLEY gradually being decorated by nature with its many varieties of trees among our homes. Father’s Escalante and Dominguez were the first white men to record a visit here in 1776 and in a letter to the King of Spain called it the “most beautiful and fertile land” they had seen in all their explorations, including their swing up from Santa Fe, following the “Old Spanish Trail” to the Uintah Basin, and from there came by Utah Valley where they had a good relationship with the Timpanogos-Ute Indians and promised to return and establish here a Mission. But, they never returned. Can you imagine how the history of Utah would have drastically changed if they had of kept their promise? In my YouTube video on the Pioneer Timber Slides I give their exact quote and details.

Up high in the foothills I all of a sudden had a quite large bird soaring above me. Often we imagine we are seeing a Golden Eagle–and sometimes we are, but even my slightly blury pictures show us otherwise. We are seeing a TURKEY VULTURE, or BUZZARD, native to Utah, easily identified with a telephoto picture by it’s red head.

We are now back down near the Trailhead and begin our study of SAGEBRUSH so critical to the deserts and foothills of Utah. As the season progresses we’ll keep an eye on it and follow it’s development, some of which we observe in the montage above.

NOW ON TO WHAT’S LIKELY OF MORE INTEREST…..

THE HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS…STILL ON THE NORTH SLOPE

Our last tour was of the West Fork of Blacks Fork (of the Green River). This week I’ll show you a few pictures from two of my three explorations of THE MIDDLE FORK OF BLACKS FORK.

It is rarely visited as you will see, but one of the most important explorations as I discovered there more TIE HACKER RUINS THAN ANYWHERE ON THE NORTH SLOPE. My research showed nothing ever recorded or mentioned about this area by the scientists. So my 3rd exploration was to go back and forth as I went up the drainage to locate every site, get an accurate reading on each with my SPOT TRACKER, then measure and photograph everything. AND, OF COURSE END UP DOING A LITTLE FISHING AT BOB’S LAKE.

MUCH MORE DETAIL, INCLUDING TOPOGRPAHICAL MAPS, CAN BE FOUND IN MY BOOK, pages 204-207

One gets to the area by going down north on the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway and turning east on the NORTH FORK ROAD with 20 miles to go to get to the road that is marked for the East Fork of Blacks Fork Trailhead.

At 20 miles from the Scenic Byway, you come to a junction and turn south on the road to the East Fork of Blacks Fork Trailhead, and shortly cross this bridge.

The junction and bridge is seen in the center of the picture. Shortly, as you can see, you will come to a gate that you go through. There are no signs, but believe me the road takes you to the “unofficial Trailhead,” I have named–a distance of about 2 miles….

As you can see…..SOMETIMES THEY ARE TOUGH 2 MILES!

….and sometimes you’ll have to park your car and hoof it to get to the “trailhead”

Believe it or not, THIS IS THE TRAILHEAD!

A short hike through the lodgepole pines has you arriving at a beautiful meadow with 13,165 ft. TOKEWANNA PEAK in the distance–one of the seven officially named 13,000+ ft. peaks in Utah. The 8th would be the 13, 387 ft. high Mount Jedediah–I named to honor for me the greatest of the explorers and mountain men of the West–JEDEDIAH SMITH, whose story I tell as a Preface to one of the sections in my BOOK.

On my important 3rd exploration, from this point I hiked to the right and went some downstream looking for signs of a tie hacker SPLASH DAM. Later I’ll explain what a SPLASH DAM was for the Tie Hackers.

Instead of tie hacker ruins I found a MONUMENT TO A UINTA LOVER —

SOLOMAN “SAM” LIONEL GALLEGOS

Then, up the drainage in search of beautiful VISIONS OF NATURE and the TIE HACKERS.

On the lower portion of the stream I did see two fisherman. They were the only two human beings I had seen on my three backpack/explorations, but they were just on a short day hike to fish. By the way, they are casting a spinner! Can you see it?

As I worked my way up the drainage I crossed a section of a rough intrusion that I had also seen on the West Fork of Blacks Fork. Once past that I entered a lush area of even more wild flowers than seen on the lower drainage.

I don’t recall seeing any area in the High Uintas with such a profusion of colorful wild flowers.

STICKING CLOSE TO THE STREAM I ALL OF A SUDDEN I FOUND PILES OF ROTTED LOGS, LIKELY FROM THE EARLY PERIOD. WHO KNOWS WHY THEY WERE ABANDONED.

Then I came to the first stumps from the tie hackers–almost completely rotted away indicating they were from the early period.

Soon I discovered ruins of a cabin–small, with rocks in one corner suggesting a fireplace, and found a square nail: ALL SIGNS OF TIE HACKERS FROM THE 1867-1880 PERIOD.

In less than a mile I began finding stumps that weren’t rotted away, and a little further I entered a long section of more and more ruins. They weren’t all rotted away, were larger, no rocks inside, and had windows. No square nails, only round ones invented in 1910–all signs of the later tie hacker period from 1912 to 1935 when mechanization made obsolete the tie hackers.

One of the ruins seen middle left below, was the largest ruin I’d seen anywhere…..I recall it being 36 feet long, by 18 feet wide, and had signs of having had a rustic floor.

Nearby the large ruin I found two ruins with features that suggested they were sweat houses, used commonly by Scandinavians.

The scant history of the Tie Hackers from the early period is almost non-existent since that period was before the organization of the Forest Service, and most of the tie hackers were Irish lumbermen immigrants who didn’t know how to read or write, and so there are no journals, or letters to tell their story.

But the later period is completely different with the Forest Service beginning to keep records and regulate the tie hackers, who were almost all Scandinavians, mostly Swedish–who had the tradition of sweat baths.

What I was finding was a TIE HACKER SCANDINAVIAN/SWEDISH COMMUNITY. The large ruin was likely a dinning hall, also used for social activities, and maybe even a school, as it was common in the later period for entire families to be together in communities.

With my SPOT TRACKER I took readings on 14 sites as you see above. #1 was from the early period, and most likely a more thorough search of the area would turn up more signs from that period–in spite of much of it having rotted away.

Each railroad track….and in the beginning of the Transcontinental Railway there was only one track, but for EVERY MILE APPROXIMATELY 3,500 RAILROAD TIES WERE NEEDED–adding up to many millions needed. Without the TIE HACKERS the railroad(s) would have never happened, and without the railroad the “WEST WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN WON” so I justifiably call the “TIE HACKERS THE UNSUNG HEROES, WITHOUT WHOM THE WEST WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN WON!”

……and as evidence that LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS FAIR, it is a fact that the volumes of very large books that document the Transcontinental Railroad construction, and the TV series HELL ON WHEELS, NEVER MENTION THE TIE HACKERS! Only one or two episodes of HELL ON WHEELS show wagons arriving with railroad ties, but we are never told where they came from, or who made them. Yet, one of those HELL ON WHEELS ghost towns, BEAR RIVER CITY, was labeled in a newspaper, “The Liveliest, if not the most wicked town in America!” which story I tell in my BOOK, and a suggestion has been given that it could be made into a GREAT WESTERN MOVIE, featuring Sherriff Tom “Bear River” Smith who became famous for trying to stop “the bloodiest fight between white people in the history of Wyoming.” He went on to Abelene, Kansas where he was killed in a shootout and became President Dwight Eisenhower’s hero–every time he came home to Abelene he would go to the cemetery and place flowers on Tom’s grave.

NOW, LET’S GO FISHING!

We head for Tokewanna Peak. There are portions where the trail just disappears. Even the WILDERNESS SIGN was lost in a jungle of vegetation. The best way to get to Bob’s Lake is to follow the stream, and when it divides, keep to the right and follow it up to the lake. The other fork goes to the left up to where there are a number of small lakes, two with numbers: G-72 and G-74. Both had been planted experimentally with brook trout in 1984. A follow up survey in 1986 showed winterkill for G-72 and stocking discontinued. G-74 is much shallower, but showed it still had wary brook trout, and was aerially stocked in 2018, with plans to stock on a 3 year cycle.

WE ARE GETTING CLOSE TO OUR DESTINATION…JUST UP AND AROUND THE SNOW BANK TO THE LEFT.

Here we are at BOB’S LAKE. It looks small, and certainly isn’t big. Another view below is better.

On my first visit in 2008 I didn’t know what kind of fish to expect, but cast away with my Thomas Cyclone, and WHAM! It felt like I had a large, very strong fish on. He wasn’t all that big, but strong as he was a TIGER TROUT, that once for once, are pretty strong.

On my first two trips to the area I had only seen a footprint of one human being, but didn’t see him or her. On that last trip I was down the canyon, and all of a sudden SURPRISED BY THE FIRST HUMAN BEING BACKPACKERS SEEN!

They were a handsome couple: Mike & Nicole from Germany – they met in Switzerland. Apparently they had heard something about my previous reports and so were on their way to a

GREAT WILDERNESS ADVENTURE.

From there I headed for civilization at Mountain View, Wyoming, and was cleaning and organizing all of my equipment.

For some reason I had taken out of my Nikon camera the memory card you see to the left with it’s wealth of photographic documentation of likely my most important exploration. But in preparing for my next move, I all of a sudden COULDN’T FIND IT! I meticulously went through everything, including every nook & cranny in my car, and in my trailer. But, NOTHING!

I was literally sick, but had no choice but to prepare to GO AND DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN! NO SMALL ACCOMPLISHMENT FOR A 77 YEAR OLD TIRED MOUNTAIN MAN!
At the Rest Area I took my pot and utensils into the rest room to wash them, and as I was doing so I all of a sudden heard something drop onto the pot bag on the floor. I looked down, and……

…..THERE MY MEMORY CARD WAS, seemingly HAVING DROPPED DOWN FROM HEAVEN as an ANSWER TO MY DESPERATE SEARCHING & PRAYERS! WOW, HOW GRATEFUL I WAS, so headed for the Maverick Convenience Store

& CELEBRATED WITH A BIG MT. DEW & A DONUT!

THE BOOK IS A TRIP GUIDE with updated information, topographical maps with routes & distances, and MUCH MORE–like a GUIDE TO DO A 856 MILE AUTO-LOOP TOUR of the HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS, with HISTORY, the LEGENDS, the SURVIVAL STORIES OF THOSE WHO DIDN’T MAKE IT and WHY, plus CRITICALLY MY 8 SURVIVAL STORIES & WHY I’M STILL HANGING AROUND...and IMPORTANTLY MY ENTIRE WRITING ON THE ANTI-AGING CHALLENGE….look at me at 83 compared to Bill Gates at 63!

FOR FULL INFORMATION ON THIS & OTHER AREAS, AS WELL AS TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS WITH ROUTES, DISTANCES & LABELS — get an online copy of this book, some have called THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS, send me $20 (don’t be afraid of sending a $20 bill as we aren’t south of the border) along with your email address, and I will immediately email you the link to download the book with my permission to share once with a friend. Or, send $25 for a thumb drive that will have the book, plus The History of it’s creation as detailed in a speech I gave at the Utah Valley Historical Society; plus my CHECKERED HISTORY & VISION QUEST–0-22 years. Send to: 

Cordell Andersen, 444 Elm St., American Fork, Utah 84003

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The Law: LEAVE NO TRACE!

…..VISIONS OF NATURE

….A JEWEL STUDDED CONGLOMERATE –-My “QUEEN OF ROCKS”—

Me calling it “beautiful” would have many calling me “CRAZY” for which I’m proudly known–even a BYU Agronomist/Animal Husbandry professor who visited me on my dairy in Guatemala began calling me a “RODEO CLOWN” because we didn’t use neither alfalfa, nor silage–both staples in the dairying industry in Utah. I rather showed him our lush pastures–a grass with 23% protein, the same as alfalfa, with our cows pasturing 24 hours/day, 365 days a year….and me laughing at him like a RODEO CLOWN…..

ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK!

I still love to call myself a RODEO CLOWN!

AGAIN ON THE LEFT WE SEE WHAT NORMALLY WOULD BE SORT OF DRAB OR ROUGHLY UGLY SCRUB OAK, but on the RIGHT WE SEE HOW I WOULD TURN IT INTO BEAUTIFUL FRAMES I WOULD MAKE FOR MY FRIENDS in a TINY WOOD WORKING SHOP IN A SHED when we lived in Springville, Utah.

SO, my BIRTHDAY PRESENT for me was to again get way up the mountain with a beautiful view of Utah Valley–and get just a little stronger, with slightly improved balance–preparing me for the HIGH UINTAS come summer…in my 87th year.

A BIG PART OF MY PREPARATION IS TO SOLVE THE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE PROBLEM. Part of that was forced on me during my year+ of being a cripple and losing 32 pounds, but I have now noticed some of it coming back. So, I experimented with myself and learned that after eating EXCESSIVE SUGAR>>MY BLOOD PRESSURE WAS HIGH FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS. Even more so did my BLOOD PRESSURE GO UP FOR TWO DAYS AFTER EATING EXCESSIVE ITEMS WITH SALT like you see to the right below..so I grabbed some of the things responsible for both problems, and…..

….. BURIED THEM IN MY GARDEN PLOT TO FERTILIZE MY: DANDELIONS & the Guatemalan “Miracle Weed” MACUY.

Soon I’ll get around to telling you all about those two items and my diet.

……and my BIRTHDAY PRESENT FOR ALL OF YOU has been the MAGNIFICENT VISIONS OF NATURE ….I have shared with you in this post…..now I want to share with you some of the

HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS.

THIS WEEK WE’LL CONTINUE OUR TOUR AROUND THE WILDERNESS AREA, HEADING FOR THE WEST FORK OF BLACKS FORK (of the GREEN RIVER) with our first target being DEADHORSE LAKE we see below.

Below we will look at a map showing the area accessed on the NORTH SLOPE ROAD, the junction with the West Fork road about 18 miles from the Mirror Lake Scenic Byway.

THE TRAILHEAD IS ABOUT ANOTHER MILE FROM HERE, and THEN FROM THERE A 7.5 MILE HIKE TO DEADHORSE LAKE. BUT LET ME MENTION RIGHT HERE THAT ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE CANYON THERE ARE HALF A DOZEN SMALL ISOLATED OFF-TRAIL, SELDOM VISITED, LAKES YOU CAN SEE ON THE ENLARGED SECTION OF THE MAP BELOW.

FULL INFORMATION ON THE LAKES IS FOUND IN MY BOOK WHICH YOU CAN GET FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS AT THE END OF THIS POST.

In the right center of the photo is seen EJOD LAKE. Small and not very deep, but has Cutthroat trout the reproduce naturally.

From Deadhorse Lake, to get to CRATER LAKE, you backtrack down the trail to a junction with the West Fork trail, and you continue on the HIGHLINE TRAIL climbing RED KNOB PASS from which, in the photo below, we look back towards Deadhorse Lake and Pass. The weather is a bit tough–which photo, along with the next, were purposely included so you’ll l always be warned that the weather in the Uintas is usually unpredictable….or maybe predictable as it almost always rains some daily…..usually in the afternoon. SO ALWAYS GO PREPARED FOR RAIN WITH A PONCHO THAT WILL ALSO COVER YOUR PACK–unless you have a rainproof cover for you pack as I do.

From the Pass you zig-zag down some and then go off-trail crossing arctic tundra to the base of Explorer Peak where you can camp in the trees along a nice creek that comes out of the lake. From there you can climb up to wonderful CRATER LAKE, which is Utah’s deepest lake at 147 feet. Traditionally it has had brook trout, but a few years ago Tiger trout were planted to help keep the population of brookies down–and let some grow bigger, and provide some tough fishing. Then a couple of years ago 700 SPLAKE–a cross between brook and lake trout were planted. I haven’t heard how they have done, but they have the potential of growing real big and should do great in Crater’s clear, deep waters.

ONE LAKE IN THE HIGH UINTAS NO ONE SHOULD FAIL TO GET TO.

FOR FULL INFORMATION ON THIS & OTHER AREAS, AS WELL AS TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS WITH ROUTES, DISTANCES & LABELS — get an online copy of this book, some have called THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UINTA MOUNTAINS, send me $20 (don’t be afraid of sending a $20 bill as we aren’t south of the border) along with your email address, and I will immediately email you the link to download the book with my permission to share once with a friend. Or, send $25 for a thumb drive that will have the book, plus The History of it’s creation as detailed in a speech I gave at the Utah Valley Historical Society; plus my CHECKERED HISTORY & VISION QUEST–0-22 years. Send to: 

Cordell Andersen, 444 Elm St., American Fork, Utah 84003

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REMEMBER TO HELP IN UKRAINE @: RED CROSS AID TO UKRAINE

TO COMPLETE MY HIGH UINTAS PROJECT-Churchill and his “NEVER, NEVER, NEVER GIVE IN!” forced me—from 2003 to 2022–to go through 15 surgeries, 2 radiation treatments & become a “CANCER SURVIVOR” as well as discovering wonderful nutrition supplements — all revealed in my HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS BOOK, on pages 616-649, the opening page below……to awaken your curiosity!

NONE OF IT WAS EASY, and I HAD TO LEARN TO ENDURE A LOT OF PAIN–actually worse today & I’LL CONFESS, as I do in Appendix 5, that 4 or 5 times I had what I call my……

“FOREST GUMP MOMENTS”

Discouraged with life–wouldn’t you know it, BECAUSE OF A WOMAN!—he started running all over the country for 3 years and had a following of odd-ball types that ran around after him…..and all of a sudden in the middle of the Arizona desert he stopped and turned towards them. One shouted, “QUIET, HE’S GOING TO SAY SOMETHING!” They expecting some kind of prophetic utterance…..but with heads hung low they all had to find someone else to worship–since FOREST WENT HOME!

BUT, IN MY CASE, I SEEMED TO SOLVE EACH “GLITCH” WITH ANOTHER SURGERY, OR MIRACLE SUPPLEMENT–like Dandelions, AND MADE ANOTHER…..surprise, surprise……..

Since not being able to walk a year or so ago, with a dead right leg, and a misaligned spine that should have killed me–I’ve been doing my darndest–interestingly one of my favorite series on TV, “DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN,” had SULLY, her–mountain man/adopted by the Cheyenne–boyfriend & later husband, had an accident and couldn’t walk–just like happened to me. His self-therapy followed mine and we both learned to walk again— but me now in my 86th YEAR have to sort of…….

….FAKE NOT BEING A CRIPPLE…again!

BUT, thanks to the Lord, I’M GREATLY BLESSED WITH DOING A PRETTY GOOD JOB OF IT…..LAST WEEK MAKING IT WAY UP GROVE CANYON as shown in my last post (scroll down if you missed it) …..

….. but last Friday, my blood pressure was sky high and it took me all morning to get it to near normal–by taking another dose of medication, then 30 minutes later checking the pressure, and then taking a double dose, etc., etc. until getting it near normal and then preparing to GO ALL OUT UP GROVE CANYON…..but at the trailhead REALITY SET IN (as I’m not completely a “dunderhead” — my MAYA BOOK explains that @ https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/), and after a hike along the foothills I decided:

“I’M PRETTY TIRED…..I THINK I’LL GO HOME NOW!”

…… and NOW WORKING ON SOLVING THE GLITCH, while being careful with short daily exercise efforts–several times a day— at the stairs, etc. and finished the week with some magnificent new VISIONS OF NATURE I want to share with all of you…. I’ll insert below:

NOW TO THE HIGH UINTAS — THIS WEEK FOCUSING ON THE EAST FORK OF BEAR RIVER TRAILHEAD

This is the TRAILHEAD. Very visible in the background are the evidences of a huge forest fire here years ago, with Forest Service displays giving us great information.

A forest fire–a terrible chaos of nature, soon has nature giving life to the survivors, like the Indian Paintbrush flowers, but you also see other vegetative heroes coming to the rescue.

And, these Yellow Monkey Flowers, but you will mainly see a tree that comes back quickly first and saves the burned areas. It is the UTAH STATE TREE, the QUAKING ASPEN we see sprouting from it’s root system that survives the fire…..

THE QUEEN OF UTAH’S TREES — THE QUAKING ASPEN

So, up sprouts from the ashes our UTAH QUEEN of trees, the QUAKING ASPEN.

And soon it becomes a whole forest of trees that protects from erosion, and provides for the much slower-to-sprout evergreens that over many years will reforest the mountains. In fact, in my BOOK I tell the story of one QUAKING ASPEN with the same root system–the same living organism–in the Fish Lake National Forest that is considered to be the largest living organism on the planet earth. For many years the Utah State Tree was the Colorado Spruce, but all of a sudden an Elementary School took the initiative to do what was logical and right and have the QUAKING ASPEN become our State tree, a very worthy QUEEN! I relate the details of that story also of course in my BOOK–YOU’LL SEE THAT MY BOOK IS NOT JUST A GUIDE BOOK FOR FISHERMEN & BACKPACKERS, but each section is prefaced with HIGH UINTA MOUNTAIN: HISTORY, LEGENDS, & SURVIVAL STORIES>>>>

>>>>THAT HAVE SAVED LIVES!

Here we see the more recognizable beautiful Aspen tree with it’s strikingly beautiful white trunk.

….and here a few showing how majestic they become.

We are now past the burned area and see in the distance rugged MOUNT BEULAH which we’ll be going by shortly.

Along the trail we see a lot of ruins of the Tie Hackers, including evidences of outhouses, garbage dumps, and in the cabins higher doors, plus windows–all evidences that they are from

the 1912-1935 Tie Hacker period.

If you look for nails, you will find only round ones that weren’t invented until 1910. No square nails like we found in Main Fork in our last report on the early period of Tie Hackers–1867-1880.

In the area of these ruins is where you can ford the river, and bushwhack your way off-trail up to Lake Lorena–which is not in the Wilderness area, but is a “wilderness lake.” All the info is in my BOOK.

As I moved up the canyon I passed a herd of free range cattle, and a little later I lie down to rest a bit to be awakened all of a sudden by a CHAROLAIS BULL.

The bull wanted to move his cows up the canyon, and I was blocking his way, and HE HAD FIRE COMING FROM HIS EYES, SNOT DRIPPING FROM HIS NOSTRILS, AND SMOKE BELLOWING OUT OF HIS EARS WHILE PAWING THE GROUND READY TO CHARGE.…so I had to fire a warning shot and he swung away from me as you see here.

This was one of the two places and times when I had to use my .45 Colt Defender to scare off a possible attacker. The other time was with a mama moose when I carelessly got between her and her young one.

Soon we come to a fork in the trail — the right hand fork crosses the river and goes up a long canyon to Priord Lake that we saw from a saddle from the Rock Creek Drainage to the west—seen again below:

Here I am viewing Priord Lake from the saddle climbing up from the Rock Creek Drainage. Also in this above timberline basin is Norice Lake. Another lake is accessed from down the trail where you can bushwhack your way to this lake–Lake BR-44. Once again, info in my BOOK along with topographical maps.

From that trail junction you soon begin to climb quickly, with the river cascading down the canyon.

Then you come to the high country. The saddle from which the Allsop Lake picture was taken is seen in the far left upper center. It was at the foot of that saddle where the remains or Eric Robinson were found, 5 years after he went missing.

As we move up the basin we view the beautiful ELEPHANT HEAD FLOWER, and get a great view of a special mountain called THE CATHEDRAL.

And, soon we come to ALLSOP LAKE that has Native Cutthroat Trout.

ALLSOP LAKE as seen from the saddle above Reconnaissance Lake and the Rock Creek Drainage. Canyons like this one were gauged out by glaciers many years ago. Note: A friend provided me with this photo. I’ll have to confess as an old guy my memory has failed me temporarily not remembering his name. Please forgive me.

One of Allsop Lake’s feisty Native Cutthroat trout excited to see me come after him.

I got him, and then released him to grow a bit more. The strain of cutthroat trout is a bit different here, with the golden yellow color.

Here’s the trip information at the time when I lived in Springville up to May 2013. The backpacking distance is round trip.

FOR FULL INFORMATION ON THIS & OTHER AREAS, AS WELL AS TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS WITH ROUTES, DISTANCES & LABELS — get an online copy of this book, some have called THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UINTAS, send me $20 (don’t be afraid of sending a $20 bill as we aren’t south of the border) along with your email address, and I will immediately email you the link to download the book with my permission to share once with a friend. Or, send $25 for a thumb drive that will have the book, plus The History of it’s creation as detailed in a speech I gave at the Utah Valley Historical Society; plus my CHECKERED HISTORY & VISION QUEST–0-22 years. Send to: Cordell Andersen, 444 Elm St., American Fork, Utah 84003

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FOR ME UNENDING MARVELOUS…..

“VISIONS OF NATURE”

LAST WEEK I GOT TO THE FACE OF THE MOUNTAIN WHERE YOU SEE WAY BELOW US A WINDING TRAIL RIGHT CENTER…..AND FELT GREAT SO KEPT CREEPING UP THE MOUNTAIN!

WE NOW CONTINUE OUR TOUR OF THE HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS, following the descriptions in the book pages 175-176.

GET THE ONLINE BOOK SO YOU’LL HAVE MUCH MORE DETAIL, INCLUDING TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS.

Along with getting you the 5 miles to the HELL’S HOLE BASIN & ITS LAKE, I will introduce you to the “UNSUNG HEROES WITHOUT WHOM THE WEST WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN WON–THE TIE HACKERS.”

MY BOOK HELPS REMEDY THAT HISTORICAL ERROR, AS I DISCUSS THEM, THEIR HEROIC EXPLOITS, COURAGE WORKING RIGHT THROUGH THE WINTERS, THEIR GHOST TOWNS–one of them called, “The liveliest, if not the wickedest town in America,” another site named “SUICIDE PARK,” AND HOW THEY GOT THEIR TIES NORTH INTO WYOMING. One way was described in a Forest Service display on the Whitney Road a mile or so north from the Hells Hole Trailhead, taking off up to the west. Said display has weathered away and is today illegible, but I got the following picture back in the early days of my UINTA PROJECT.

To get to Hell’s Hole Basin, from the edge of the parking circle in the Google Earth view, a trail crosses Hayden Fork, and goes east between two hills towards Main Fork of the Bear River. Main Fork was crucial for the Hilliard Flume as water was needed for the flume, so the HOWE FEEDER FLUME was constructed taking water out of Main Fork, said flume coming between the two hills, then downstream it added its water to the Hilliard Flume. As you do the short hike to Main Fork, keep an eye out to your left and you should see what I picture below–unless it is all rotted away since it was way back in the 1870’s, with most of it today gone–EXCEPT IN MY PHOTOS WHICH ARE THE ONLY ONES PUBLISHED OF THIS GREAT EFFORT.

THEN YOU COME TO A ROAD–A CLOSED ROAD–AND CONTINUE SOUTH, and AS YOU GO LOOK TO THE AREA BETWEEN THE ROAD AND THE STREAM AND YOU’LL NOTICE A LEVEL AREA PARALELLING THE STREAM--IT WAS ALONG THIS LEVEL THAT I BEGAN DISCOVERING RUINS OF CABINS, SUPPORTS FOR THE FLUME & PLANKS.

To get to HELL’S HOLE BASIN, continue up the road until it takes a sharp turn ending in a gravel pit. The trail takes off from there and climbs up to Hell’s Hole Lake that has native cutthroat trout waiting for you.

Here we meet famous pioneer artist and photographer, GEORGE BEARD and his wife LOVENIA. You dedicated High Uinta lovers might recognize her name, as George gave it to the first 13,000+ mountain you come to on the Highline Trail as you go east past the Deadhorse Lake area and come to the Lake Fork Drainage. See it below.

There is more information about GEORGE BEARD in my book, but best add here that he is famous for naming, and having named, important Uinta lakes: First, in 1906 a government surveyor asked him which was the largest lake in the Uintas? He pointed to one on the map, and said, “This is the grandaddy of them all!” That name stuck as GRANDADDY LAKE and consequently THE GRANDADDY BASIN with it’s 26 fishable lakes. Way east in the Uinta River Drainage, near Trail Rider Pass is found BEARD LAKE, where I caught an eastern brook trout that would have been a Utah State record if I could have got it out to civilization to be weighed and measured. Then following the trail from said pass towards Lake Atwood, you come to above timberline GEORGE BEARD LAKE where on my 27 day expedition I had the fastest fishing, at the head of an alpine basin I have named GEORGE BEARD BASIN. More details and maps showing all these locations in my BOOK.

GEORGE BEARD’S connection to HELL’S HOLE BASIN is mostly because in a visit he made here he wrote:

“HERE I SAW THE LARGEST GRIZZLY I HAVE EVER SEEN!”

REMEMBER, YOU MIGHT FIND INTERESTING THE BOOK ABOUT MY HALF CENTURY

“IMPOSSIBLE DREAM” IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MAYANS, with information at: https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

DAILY THE STAIRS &

THEN EVERY FRIDAY UP TO THE FOOT OF TIMPANOGOS HIKING UP GROVE CANYON, EACH WEEK A LITTLE FURTHER UP THE CANYON & HIGHER ABOVE UTAH VALLEY

MY GOAL THIS WEEK TO GET UP TO THE THIRD LONG SWITCHBACK WHERE THE TRAIL OVERLOOKS THE VALLEY & TURNS UP THE CANYON HIGH ABOVE THE CREEK.

FINALLY MADE IT & SAT DOWN FOR MY PICNIC LUNCH and NEEDED REST.

ALL PRETTY “MICKEY MOUSE” BUT CONSIDERING A YEAR AGO I COULDN’T EVEN WALK–WITH NO MUSCLES IN MY LEGS THAT HAD ME LOOKING LIKE A HOLOCAST VICTIM & NO BALANCE — I FEEL MORE THAN GRATEFUL FOR BEING BLESSED BY THE LORD WITH FOR ME “MIRACULOUS” PROGRESS & VERY REAL HOPE FOR SOME KIND OF “EXTREME LIGHT WEIGHT BACKPACKING” IN THE HIGH UINTAS!

GOING DOWN, WITH STEEP DROP-OFFS ALONG THE WAY, HAD ME HIKING VERY CAREFULLY USING MY TREKKING POLES & IT WAS EASY TO IMAGINE HOW OLD GUYS LIKE ME–WITH POOR BALANCE– ON SOME HIGH UINTA TRAILS TO PASSES, COULD LOSE BALANCE & FALL OUT OF SIGHT TO NEVER BE FOUND! DOWN LOWER I CAREFULLY LOOKED FOR THE ROCK WITH A FOSSIL FROM MY LAST HIKE. I FOUND IT AND at home WASHED & VARNISHED IT–SEEN BELOW.

NOW I’LL TELL YOU OF A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE & MY TERRIBLE GOOF!

SOON AFTER FINDING MY ROCK I WAS RESTING A BIT WHEN A TALL GOOD LOOKING HIKER, WITH HIS BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, CAME DOWN THE TRAIL–STOPPED & SPOKE:

“YOU’RE CORDELL ANDERSEN!”

I was pleased to learn he was one of my “HIGH UINTA FRIENDS” who I had never met, but he followed me on my website, and had even driven to 444 Elm St. in American Fork, to give me $20 and get the link on his computer my HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS book, but nobody was home. I told him to just send a $20 bill in the mail along with his email, and I’d immediately email him the link and told him he could share with a few others as MY INTEREST is to get it spread around to help ALL HAVE GREATER AND SAFER ADVENTURES IN THE UINTAS. We talked some about my struggles, etc. and he did give me their names–but I goofed by not jotting them down on my smartphone and taking their picture–as an OLD GUY my memory is slipping. I think I remember the names, but to not completely embarrass myself, best wait until I hear from him, and then I’ll introduce him to everybody.

WOW! I remembered right! I received his letter and $25 in the mail today with a nice letter and request for a thumb drive with the book. My High Uinta Friend is: JEFF JOHANSEN, and his daughter is KARA. In my note I even got the SEN right, easy for me because I’m also an SEN Andersen. We are both either Danish, or Norwegian, in my case a little of each. I even had an ancestor who was KING of Norway for a short while in the 1200’s until he was poisoned!

Thanks, Jeff, for the order. I’ll get it in the mail today, and hope to meet you tomorrow (Friday)–as I understand it won’t be raining–on the Grove Creek trail between 2:00 and 4:00. Best not send the thumb drive, but take it with me tomorrow in hopes we meet–so I can get that needed photo of–YES, the “GOOD LOOKING” hiker & his “beautiful daughter.”

NOW TO CONTINUE OUR MINI-TOUR OF THE HIGH UINTAS

First just a simple mention of the SNOW DEPTHS in crucial places (posted weekly here–later by the day) :

BALD MOUNTAIN PASS…..3/26 = 37.3″ of snow

WOLF CREEK PASS……3/26 = 43.5″

HEWINTA on the North Slope……3/26 = 26″

THE TOUR will first take us to “THE WILDERNESS AREA” – Utah’s greatest Wilderness.…so far we have reviewed lakes accessible from the Norths Slope’s Christmas Meadows Trailhead–which logically we should have held off on until after the Grandaddy of Uinta’s Trails we have been reviewing taking you to lakes accessible along the Highline Trail . We have seen the Wilder/Wyman/Packard area, Naturalist Basin, Carolyn, Bedround & Allen Lakes, Cyclone Pass and Sea Lion & Thompson Lakes, & The FOUR LAKES BASIN, taking us to Pigeon Milk Springs. From the Springs we head east climbing first ROCKY SEA PASS (11,200 ft.)……

…… that early in the season has a large snow bank on the eastern side–so be careful. See details & topographical maps on pages 168-173 of the HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS book.

In this first segment of the HIGHLINE TRAIL we will review the upper reaches of the Rock Creek Drainage. The lower reaches will be mentioned when we swing around to the South Slope. From here below the pass to the east, we head north to swing around the large basin, and 1.7 miles from the Pass come to a junction where the actual Highline Trail goes down directly in a mile to cross Rock Creek where there’s a trail 12 miles long coming up along the creek from the Trailhead, but following the actual Highline Trail you climb out to meet the trail–that we will now follow swinging around the upper reaches of the Drainage.

We first come to the Huntley Ponds, seen above, that have brook trout, and just a little further Brinkley Lake with Mt. Ostler way to the north on the north side of the spine of the Uintas.

Another mile north we come to another junction, with one trail heading down across the basin passing by Black, Ouray, Jack & Jill Lakes and continues on to join the trail that circles the upper reaches. We will rather take the left fork to visit Rosalie, Uintah, and Margie Lakes, then swing up above timberline passing by Glady’s Lake, and then drop down to Lightning, and Helen Lakes. Before dropping down to Lightning is where I left the trail and climbed off-trail up to the Ostler Saddle to get a picture of Amethyst Lake already seen. Below, we are looking at the Ostler Saddle over Lightning Lake.

From between Lightning and Helen Lakes we follow the trail down some and bypass a basin to the east–that you can climb up into it and from there climb the saddle to see on the North Slope Priord Lake.

MANY YEARS AGO I MADE A CRUDE PANORAMA–combining three photos- of the Priord/Norice Lakes basin, I’ll insert below to give you an idea about how spectacular the scenery is.

FROM THAT little side-trip, WE FOLLOW THE TRAIL JUST PAST THE NEXT POINT OF THE MOUNTAIN and after crossing THE FIRST STREAM COMING DOWN FROM THE BASIN, you can climb northeast on the south side of that mountain point which is basically Triangle Mt., and in about 1 mile of easy climbing come to what some of us have called:

ONE OF THE TWO MOST BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAIN SCENES IN UTAH, TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN and RECONNAISSANCE LAKE.

FROM RECONNAISSANCE LAKE YOU CAN WANDER DOWN THROUGH THE BASIN VISITING BENCH LAKE (on the way up), BOOT, DOUG & JODIE LAKES, and then find the trail where one comes from Jack & Jill Lake, and soon the other, the actual HIGLINE TRAIL that has cut across the basin, and on it follow it around the point of the next mountain to LEDGE LAKE, where also is found the junction of a trail coming up 16 miles from the Rock Creek Trailhead. From there follow the Highline Trail about 1 mile north to DEADHORSE PASS, but I recommend along that one mile cut across a short stretch of arctic tundra to visit CONTINENT LAKE, you see me fishing in below.

From here it is just a short hike to DEADHORSE PASS.

Below is seen DEADHORSE LAKE with it’s turquoise colored waters from glacial turbidity common on the North slope in high altitude lakes, along with another view of the Lake as our concluding photo of this post, plus one more….

GET THE ONLINE BOOK & PREPARE FOR MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE & SAFE ADVENTURES.

And remember, the 570 page book,

A 50 YEAR “IMPOSSIBLE DREAM” AMONG MY PEOPLE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MAYA,

…….that is now finished “completely” with one more page added with a portrait of each of my TWO FAMILIES.

TO SEE A DESCRIPTION OF THE ONLINE BOOK & BE ABLE TO GET IT ON YOUR COMPUTER, go to: https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

REMEMBER: Each Wednesday on my Facebook Page–by evening I will have a new post in Spanish with a historical review each week of photographs of that 50 year experience–eventually with THOUSANDS OF PHOTOS, many never seen before — and of course every Saturday a post & report like this one of my

CHALLENGE & the HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS!

ACUERDENSE QUE CADA MIERCOLES PARA LA NOCHE PONDRE EN MI PAGINA DE FACEBOOK UN NUEVO REPORTAJE HISTORICO DE MIS 50 ANOS ENTRE LOS MAYAS–AL FIN CON MILES DE FOTOS NUNCA VISTAS ANTES….DE CADA UNO DE UDS.!

IN THE MEANTIME HELP IN UKRAINE @: RED CROSS AID TO UKRAINE

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My email address is: cordellandersen@hotmail.com

I describe in detail in my Maya Book an ATROCITY in Guatemala because of important people believing an ABSURDITY, pages 442-456, and in a sense followed Clint Eastwood’s advise from his movie,

THE OUTLAW JOSIE WALES, on page 555, part of what he said was: “Remember, when it looks bad like you’re not going to make it, then you have to get mean! I mean plumb mad dog mean! Because if you lose your head and give up, then you neither live nor win. You have to be a guerrilla fighter and take the fight to the enemy!” You’ll have to read my book to see how I became very honest and frank in telling the history–which some important people are supposed to study carefully……the full 569 pages–with lots of beautiful photos…… go to: https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

Now we have to mention the Atrocity going on in:

UKRAINE

….. in Provo, Utah (1952) there was fear of a Chinese invasion of the west coast & I remember vividly us guys from the neighborhood planning on heading into the mountains with our deer rifles and becoming guerrilla fighters–and we loaded up on extra ammo–cheap Army Surplus 30-06 cartridges– to be ready. Years later our dream happened in the movie RED DAWN!

TODAY THAT IS HAPPENING IN THE COURAGEOUS FIGHT BY THE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE…..THOUSANDS, INCLUDING GRANDMA, GETTING THEIR AK-47 & WILLING TO FIGHT and DIE RATHER THAN GIVE IN!

IN 1967 THAT WAS IN PART MY MOTIVATION TO GET OUT ON THE FRONT LINES IN GUATEMALA TO OPPOSE THE CUBAN/COMMUNIST EFFORT TO TURN THE COUNTRY INTO ANOTHER CUBA–YES, I ARMED MYSELF TOO, and OVER THE YEARS GOT BETTER WEAPONS, after having a DREAM, “seeing me fight off and win against the guerrillas with a Baby Browning .25 which kept jamming with me struggling each time to unjam, then to fight on to win–then the Army arrived to collect the bodies and an officer hearing about how I eliminated the attackers advised me to get rid of the Baby Browning and get larger caliber weapons of the “BEST BRANDS,” which I did including with David’s help, a sub-machine gun!”

BUT OUR MAIN EFFORT WAS TO WORK TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF POVERTY & IGNORANCE THAT HAD OPENED THE DOOR TO THE “GUERRILLA WAR!”

THE “ATROCITY” in Uktraine, now with me a bit older–has at least MOVED ME TO DONATE TO THE RED CROSS TO HELP WHICH I RECOMMEND ALL OF YOU DOING TOO! AND ALSO–for me–WORK HARDER TO GET IN SHAPE–for the High Uintas, and keep alive long enough to finish my reports with thousands of pictures from Guatemala, and/or to be a guerrilla fighter sneaking down the face of Mt. Timpanogos to make devastating hits on the enemy–I can at least be a good snipper!

SO I PERSIST DAILY WITH MY STAIRS AT THE AMPHITHEATER/JOGGING BEHIND MY WALKER, & ONCE A WEEK UP TO THE FOOT OF MT. TIMPANOGOS & GROVE CANYON you see in this shot a couple of miles from my Cabin-A.

AND, AS YOU SEE BELOW I’M ALSO WORKING ON KEEPING FROM GAINING BACK THE 30+ LBS. I’VE LOST DURING MY BACK-ORDEAL–GETTING MAD AT MYSELF FOR BUYING COOKIES & OTHERS SUCH STUFF and ALONGSIDE OF MY CABIN–BURYING IT IN MY GARDENING PLOT ALONG WITH ANYTHING THAT WILL DECOMPOSE–to produce for me my Guatemalan “Miracle weed-MACUY”—

AND, YOU CAN SEE I’M TAKING MY GOALS SERIOUSLY–NOW, BY ADDING A LITTLE WEIGHT–NOT ON MY BACK THAT WOULD HURT ME, RATHER WITH WAIST PACKS loaded with my picnic lunch, water, emergency stuff I always take–even on these simple hikes–THE WEIGHT YESTERDAY COMING TO 8 LBS.–most of it my professional NIKON CAMERA AND ITS GREAT (but heavy) 18mm. to 400mm. ZOOM LENS, but has me thinking for the High Uintas I might have to sadly sacrifice that and just go with my smart phone–at least to begin with, but as I get stronger I’m sure I’ll soon be lugging my Nikon again to get great photos of VISIONS OF NATURE to share with all of my friends.

ACTUALLY FOR BACKPACKING IN THE UINTAS I WILL HAVE MY 4.5 lb. SURVIVAL BACKPACK (shown on my tiny backpack last summer–scroll way down to see it), PLUS THESE COUPLE OF WAIST PACKS, PLUS A NEW LUMBAR/WAISTE PACK I’LL SHOW YOU LATER–THAT WILL MAKE POSSIBLE GOING FOR SEVERAL DAYS IN THE HIGH COUNTRY IN MY 87th YEAR.

I’M GRADUALLY INCREASING THE DISTANCE TOO–YESTERDAY HIKING ABOUT A MILE UP THE CANYON--FOR A TOTAL OF 2 MILES round trip! I’LL ADMIT IT TIRED ME OUT, BUT IN A MONTH I’VE AT LEAST TRIPLED MY DISTANCE, & HELPING TO MAKE THE CONSTANT BACK PAIN ENJOYABLE WAS THE CONSTANT EYE OUT FOR MORE “VISIONS OF NATURE” YOU’LL SEE BELOW WITH A NEW FLOWER BLOSSOMING. IT’S NOT MUCH, BUT I’M MAKING PROGRESS as is THE SPRING!

ANOTHER LITTLE TRICK, TO MAKE WHAT FOR ME IS PAINFUL PROGRESS, IS UNSELFISHLY WORKING ON HELPING TO KEEP OUR BEAUTIFUL OUTDOORS LITTER-FREE BY PICKING UP THE GARGAGE ALONG THE TRAIL, or along the STAIRWAYS!

“LEAVE NO TRACE!”

WOW! IS WHAT COMES TO MIND WITH THIS CONGLOMERATE BEAUTY–each of those different colored rocks was once a part of a layer created by the rivers washing different materials into the sea forming sedimentary layers, eventually uplifting them above the ocean, then turning each layer into stone, followed by another cataclysmic earth process breaking it all up into pieces and then the water in the bottom of creeks and rivers gradually wearing off their sharp edges turning them into rounded stones that then, in another earth creation process jumbled them together in yet another layer that turned it all into stone that was then broken up by more catastrophic earth movements followed by gigantic uplifts moving it all thousands of feet higher creating……for example the High Uinta Mountains, then with erosion processes–like glaciers, and rivers carving out canyons, and valleys, etc., etc. WOW!

My fascination with rocks & minerals began in 1954 as a freshman at BYU when for a year I was a Geology major—along with Ted Packard and Charlie Peterson–my original two High Uinta buddies–I ending that year with a graduate class in GEOMORPHOLOGY, I being the lone freshman along with 15 graduate students–and Dr. Rigby graded using the curve– and how grateful I was to get a C!

Later my first commercial project as a freelance photographer in the 1960’s was photographing all the rocks and minerals for Geology Professor, Dr. W. Kenneth Hamblin, who used them as the basis for his first book, now in its 9th edition–which photographs made him famous, and rich. Two of his books are available at Amazon and seen below:

Go to AMAZON for interesting details, like, “The Ninth Edition continues to offer a stunning and sophisticated art program that is virtually unmatched by any other geology text.” His textbooks for many years, originally and maybe still with my photographs, have been used by universities all over the globe.

Dr. Hamblin passed on in 2009 at the age of 81.

I might add, when he would bring me a new collection to be photographed, we would talk and once I asked him if he fished or hunted. His reply,

“Hobbies are only for people who don’t love their profession!”

MY SECOND–and last– SIGNIFICANT PROJECT AS A “FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER” was my 3rd exploratory trip to Guatemala in 1966, but first to the Izapa archaeological site in Southern Mexico with Garth Norman getting for him with night-photography the picture(s) he used to make himself famous–of the TREE OF LIFE STONE (see the MAYA MOUNTAINS BOOK). A few months later, with my entire Family, we made our 4th exploratory trip lasting 75 days, then gave away my 4″x5″ professional cameras, and prepared our move made the next year…..me becoming for the next 35 years what I have sometimes called, “A TROPICAL TRAMP,” other labeling me as a “RODEO CLOWN” and others a “MODERN AMMON!”

NOW TO THE HIGH UINTAS & MORE AREAS ACCESSIBLE FROM THE HIGHLINE TRAIL

OUR LAST AREA VISITED WAS ALLEN LAKE. From there you can go northwest to hit the trail or just bushwhack your way 1/2 mile north to get to the FOUR LAKES BASIN, first coming to Daynes Lake you see below but taken from half-way up to Cyclone Pass, with a lightning storm over distant Bald Mountain.

This hike to Bedground and Allen Lakes, then to the Four Lakes Basin and over Cyclone Pass, is all a side trip from the Highline Trail we will get back to in our next post, but first well climb Cyclone Pass (11,150 ft.) to pay a visit to two quite isolated lakes. First, from the pass we see Sea Lion Lake off to the southeast.

BELOW WE ZOOM IN ON SEA LION LAKE.

Remote THOMPSON LAKE, seen below, is our main objective, also entailing “boulder hopping” but I felt it worth the risk as there were some reports it could have “monarch” brook trout, which didn’t work out that way in 2003, but MIGHT TODAY!

From CYCLONE PASS we descend into the FOUR LAKES BASIN. We’ve seen already Daynes Lake, and below we see DEAN LAKE.

JEAN LAKE we see below is very near the trail from which this picture was taken. On the far right we see CYLONE PASS. On the far left we can see a sliver of DEAN LAKE, pictured above.

On the south side of Jean Lake we find the trail, and follow it around the point of the mountain and in 1.5 miles we come to the HIGHLINE TRAIL, and follow it northeast for 1/4 mile and come to Pigeon Milk Springs that produces ice cold, pure water, but with a glacial whitish hue–called, “glacial milk.” Our next post will take us up and over the mountain to the east. Information on this area, including topographical maps, is found on pages 164-168 of my HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS book.

For the latest & to download the final version of my book,

A 50 YEAR “IMPOSSIBLE DREAM” AMONG MY PEOPLE IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MAYA,

go to: https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

I’ll see you again in a couple of days when we’ll follow the HIGHLINE TRAIL to the Rock Creek Drainage, and then on Wednesday–y luego en miercoles ver el primer reportaje de mis 50 ANOS ENTRE LOS MAYAS, que mayormente seran fotos–muchas fotos.

IN THE MEANTIME HELP IN UKRAINE @: RED CROSS AID TO UKRAINE

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My last post was a bit premature welcoming SPRING with the first wildflowers. Snow this week can have us focusing on what the cold won’t hurt–THE BEAUTIFUL ROCKS of our exercise area–the foothills of the Wasatch–the one below, nestled in new snow, is my FIRST VISION OF NATURE treasure and reward found this week….

….followed by a few others collected on my recent walks in the hills and along the creek–as I learn to hike again. In my freshman year at BYU in 1954 I was a geology major, planning on finding riches in the West Utah Desert and becoming rich. Geology fascinates me as it should all of us and the HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS is a geologic treasure as I show you in my BOOK. I am grateful to see and appreciate BEAUTY in the VISIONS OF NATURE–including these magnificent rocks.

WOW! says it all.

I’ll insert below a picture of my recent collection–THE BEST from the last month or so…..

Below Iwill insert a page from my BOOK, a magnificent collection of rocks from the HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS.

EVENTUALLY I’LL FIGURE OUT HOW TO PUT THEM TOGETHER TO CREATE A MAGNIFICENT VISION OF NATURE, such as I did creating with SCRUB OAK from the foothills an incredible frame you see below embracing a wonderful view of TRIANGLE MOUNTAIN & RECONNAISSANCE LAKE, off-trail in the Rock Creek drainage of the Uinta’s South Slope, a rival to RED CASTLE as “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR SCENE IN UTAH.“

He’s a “RODEO CLOWN” said an Animal Husbandry professor from BYU, visiting my Las Victorias Dairy in Guatemala.

The complete story is told in what simply we can call THE MAYA STORY . GO TO THE FOUNDATION WEBSITE TO GET THE link to download it free: https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/ . The visiting professor first asked, “Where are your alfalfa fields?” I replied, “Rather than use alfalfa, and silage, the staples of the U.S. dairy industry, we have our cows on high quality pastures of an African grass with 23% protein–similar to alfalfa, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!” I continued, “We took over a bankrupt dairy, eventually purifying our milking herd using artificial insemination to produce pure Jersey cows, and increased daily production per cow from 3.5 liters to 16.5 liters, the best in the country.”

Since we didn’t have alfalfa or use silage he began calling me a “RODEO CLOWN.” I loved it as……..

I LAUGHED ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK!

Two of our cows and a heifer defeated in a Livestock Show the Central American Grand Champion of the Jersey breed. We see them above shown to us by my three kids: Julie with the new Champion “MAJA,” David with 2nd place, “MILADY,” and Richard “Dito” with 3rd place, “WALESKA”

ALL THE DETAILS OF HOW I BECAME A “RODEO CLOWN” WITH THE CHAMPION JERSEY COWS OF ALL OF CENTRAL AMERICA, & FOR MANY YEARS SUPPORTED MY FAMILY as well as 39 fulltime employees and their families–-all the while that making possible me dedicating all we had to have projects that it was said,

“SAVED THOUSANDS & AIDED MANY TEN’S OF THOUSANDS OF MAYANS GET AN EDUCATION……as well as stimulate the organization of a WORLD-WIDE HUMANITARIAN SERVICE!”

Click on this link to READ & SEE THE DETAILS OF THE MAYA STORY https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

NOW ON TO MORE GLIMPSES OF THE HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS, seeing wonderful areas accessed from the HIGHLINE TRAIL: This week, two lakes with Arctic Grayling: CAROLYN & ALLEN LAKES

From our previous point along the Highline Trail, 4 miles from the trailhead at the junction with the Naturalist Basin trail, hike two more miles (and 1/2 mile before the junction with the Four Lakes Basin Trail) , look for a trail taking off through a meadow to the south and hike 200 yards to Carolyn Lake that has brook trout and hungry Arctic Grayling like you see below. Usually they are caught using artificial flies as they have small mouths, info on Page 164, with the topographical map on page 168.

From Carolyn Lake, backtrack to the Highline Trail and follow it 1/2 mile to a major junction where a trail takes off to the southeast. The trail leads to the Four Lakes Basin and from there continues all the way to the Grandaddy Basin. But, 1/2 mile down said trail, there is another junction with a little used trail–a shortcut– heading south that in about a mile hits the main trail to the Grandaddy Basin, and at that point is found small BEDGROUND LAKE, you see below, reputed to have very large brook trout and Grayling.

From Bedground pretty well due east towards the mountain and in about 3/4 mile you come to ALLEN LAKE where it has been said the “Utah State Grayling record will be caught.”

Let me say a word about Allen Lake before going on to the theme of “the record Grayling.” When I first visited Allen Lake I found the Forest Service sign that told the story of the lake and its name, but it wasn’t legible, so I scraped it producing what you see below:

The next time I visited the posts had rotted and the sign was on the ground, so I propped it up. Later some friends purposely went in there with tools and bolts to do a proper job putting up the sign in honor of Floyd R. Allen, Forest Ranger who was killed by lightning here in 1938.

The “unofficial Utah State record Arctic Grayling” was caught by my buddy Ted Packard in 1962, seen below, when we were taking a group of 22 Explorer Scouts on a two week backpack. We had all climbed King’s Peak and then come down over Trail Ryder Pass to Lake Attwood and were spin fishing using red & white Daredevil lures and all of a sudden began catching huge Artic Grayling–which we had never caught on lures before.

But they were large with big mouths. My largest was 18-1/2 inches long, seen on the right, then Ted caught the largest that measured 19 inches long that would have, and still would be a Utah State record–if we could have got it to civilization and had it properly weighed and measured. The present State record is 17-1/4 inches long caught at Big Dog Lake — South Slope Uintas in 1998. Mine would “also be a record” Grayling. Steve Clark, one of our Explorers is seen in the background also with his Grayling.

GET THE DIGITAL BOOK & BEGIN MAKING YOUR PLANS FOR GREAT ADVENTURE

FINDING SIGNS OF SPRING WITH THE 1st FLOWERS

NOW FOR ANOTHER GLIMPSE OF THE HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS with the 2nd area along the HIGHLINE TRAIL…..after last week hiking the side-trail down to WINDER, WYMAN & PACKARD LAKES. From Packard Lake you can go off-trail up towards Mt. Agassiz to get to the trail to the next area…..or do the long way following the trail back to the Highline Trail, then head east for 1.5 miles.

THE NATURALIST BASIN

The section on the WILDERNESS AREA begins in my book on page 154 and goes to page 409. The part on the Highline Trail in this section will describe the trail just to Deadhorse Pass and Lake, page 173. The description of the lakes in the Naturalist Basin is on pages 163-164. The topographical map, with trails and distances in the Basin is on page 167. The TRAIL TO THE NATURALIST BASIN is found 4 miles from the Trailhead. 1.1 miles along the trail that takes you north, is the FIRST IMPRESSIVE SIGHT: THE WATERFALL COMING OUT OF THE MORAT LAKES.

THE TRAIL TAKES YOU BETWEEN THE MORAT LAKES. Morat 2 is on the east and is a shallow lake. To the west is MORAT 1, THE BEAUTIFUL LAKE WE SEE ABOVE. From there you can continue to climb up along the wonderful waterfall we see below that comes out of BLUE LAKE.

GUARDED BY MT. AGASSIZ WE SEE BLUE LAKE, STILL WITH SOME ICE ON JULY 4th. FROM HERE YOU CAN MAKE A SWING UP EVEN HIGHER AND AROUND AND DOWN AND VISIT–and fish in other lakes in the Basin: LECONTE, SHALER, JORDAN & EVERMAN following the suggested route on the topographical map, then back to the Highline Trail. The loop to explore the Naturalist Basin is approximately 7 miles. ALL THE INFORMATION & TOPOGRAPHICAL MAPS YOU’LL NEED FOR YOUR ADVENTURE ARE FOUND IN MY BOOK:

Next week we’ll visit the next wonderful areas accessible along the HIGHLINE TRAIL: CAROLYN LAKE & Arctic Grayling, then ALLEN LAKE–named for a Forest Ranger who gave his life there–and I’ll give you the details. About Allen Lake it was said “the record grayling would be caught there.”—I’ll show you THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN & WHERE IT DID!

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MY LIFE AMONG THE MAYA BOOK — along with 50+ years of adventure, as well as a lot of exciting history, it importantly demonstrates cases of VOLTAIRE’S statement about “absurdities” and “atrocities!”

A ONE PAGE STORY Click to download to help one understand the BOOK. It’s from the heart warming and insightful TV series:

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The back surgeon, “SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE….OR YOU’LL END UP IN A WHEELCHAIR!”

“The surgery could take 6 hours, followed by days in the Intensive Care Unit, and more in the hospital. I’ve never done it with an 86 year old person, and there could be complications. If you don’t do it, you’ll have to stop all your exaggerated COMEBACK efforts—stairs behind Fitness Center, higher stairs at the Amphitheater, long hikes with your walker, hikes up Grove Canyon — which for the first time in my life with a patient, has me wanting to hit you with a doubled up fist!” ––—showing me his HUGE DOUBLED UP FIST!

“But Doctor, without all my exercise program and goal of backpacking this summer, in just a couple of days I begin feeling awful!”

He then asked, “DO YOU WANT TO BE PARALYZED OR DEAD?”

I replied, “For me, best continue with my goal, and exercises and feel good….risking being DEAD!” He gave me a couple of days to let him know.

So I immediately called my HIGH UINTA FRIEND, a spine specialist who took his wife on their honeymoon backpacking to Red Castle, and last year using my HIGH UINTA BOOK as guide they did the 856 mile auto-loop tour of the Uinta Mountains, and HE RAVED ON, AND ON ABOUT THAT WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE! He gave me immediately an appointment, took X-rays, and we looked at my spine history giving me 3 copies of X-rays: Jan. 28, 2021=no misalignment so my falls weren’t guilty;

Oct. 2021=the X-ray above showing the dangerous misalignment that happened gradually during my exaggerated hikes during the summer hovering over my walker for 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 miles and up to 13.2 miles, a half-marathon distance-–those hikes hovering over my walker for up to 6-7 hours apparently hurt my spine;

And the X-ray the day of my clinic visit—with spine misalignment looking the same, so my recent exercise program hasn’t hurt me so I could continue with MY GOAL….MY CHALLENGE!

So we concluded that it was best to not do the surgery, but carefully keep up with my COMEBACK PROGRAM, gradually increasing the repetitions and get X-rays every 3 months to make sure all continues SAFELY. I WAS SO HAPPY I ACTUALLY SHOUTED! THEN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 3 DAYS WENT & DID MY STAIRS & SOON WAS FEELING A LITTLE BETTER!

THE “GRANDADDY OF ALL HIGH UINTA TRAILS” —

THE HIGHLINE TRAIL

AFTER HEADING EAST ON THE HIGHLINE TRAIL — the first lake you pass by–the trail passes by above the lake–is Scudder Lake, seen below, but it does not have fish–at least it didn’t have in 2014 when this wide-angle picture was taken.

The closest lake from the Trailhead, with a population of trout, is WILDER LAKE – From the Highline Trailhead you hike 2.5 miles and come to a sign pointing south to Wilder, Wyman and Packard Lakes. Information on these lakes and the hike is found on pages 162-163 of my book.

The next lake down this trail, a 1/4 to 1/2 mile, is WYMAN LAKE

One quarter of a mile down the trail from Wyman Lake you come to the largest lake of the three that has a nice population of eastern brook trout that tend to be larger than in the other lakes. It is Mt. Agassiz that we are seeing in the background.

While at Packard Lake, don’t fail to follow the outlet stream just 50 yards or so to view the Canyon of the Duchesne River I’ll insert a couple of pictures of.

We are here looking northeast. We’ll now swing around and look towards the south where downstream is found Defa’s Dude Ranch, and the road up Hades Canyon to the Grandview Trailhead–THE GATWAY TO THE GRANDADDIES.

OUR NEXT POST WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE HIGHLINE TRAIL TO THE NEXT TRAIL THAT WILL TAKE OFF TO THE NORTH TO VISIT THE NATURALIST BASIN.

WILD FLOWERS TO TRIGGER SPRING

From her on, once a week or so, I’ll begin inserting a WILD FLOWER of the over 317 varieties I have documented in my explorations — from the Foothills to KINGS PEAK.

This week, one of the first to blossom in the high country:

SPRING BEAUTY, Claytonia lanceolata

NOW JUST A WORD OR TWO ABOUT THE TWO BOOKS THAT TELL THE STORY OF MY LIFE–for which I’m most grateful, FIRST what some are calling

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE HIGH UINTA MOUNTAINS:

Click on this link to READ & SEE THE DETAILS OF THE MAYA STORY https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

Click to read:  A SHORT one page STORY  to help all, understand my intentions in writing my  HISTORY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MAYA

THE BOOK, was recently updated with an enhanced

 50 YEAR GROWTH SNAPSHOT OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LDS IN ALTA VERAPAZ p. 344. 

However,   now reading slowly to enjoy it, I found myself making small, but crucial corrections and tiny but powerful additions, so there is now a new “FINISHED VERSION SET IN STONE!”   SO ERASE ANYTHING PREVIOUS AND DOWNLOAD THE ONE NOW AVAILABLE Click on this link to READ & SEE THE DETAILS OF THE MAYA STORY https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE TO GET A QUICK IDEA ABOUT WHAT TO EXPECT IN THE BOOK —with a whole bunch of movies I used to help understand–ABOUT MY MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF THE MAYA. There were some great times, but also sometimes scary moments, with narrow escapes from the Guerrillas, with shootouts on my plantation between the Army and the bad guys— my delivery van used afterwards to carry dead and wounded to Coban, and then interestingly once a narrow escape from the opposite side of the political spectrum–a Right-wing Death Squad that murdered 9 of the directors–including their entire families, of a cooperative I helped with in Comalapa among the Cakchiquel Indians! They considered cooperatives “communistic!” Then there was my fight with Gangbangers in Guatemala City, written about in COMBAT HANDGUNS magazine, etc., etc. for 50 years!

The MAYA book is downloadable FREE.

Click on this link to READ & SEE THE DETAILS OF THE MAYA STORY https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

IT’S IMPORTANT TO SET GOALS…EVEN IF IN THE END YOU ONLY ACHIEVE 50-75% OF THEM. WITHOUT A GOAL TO WORK TOWARDS, LIKE “GETTING TO THE GRANDADDIES,” I LIKELY WOULDN’T BE MOTIVATED TO WORK OUT EVERY DAY TO GET STRONGER, AND LIKELY NOT EVEN BOTHER DRIVING TO THE TRAILHEAD. WITH MY GOAL SET, FOLLOWED BY WORKING TO ACHIEVE IT, I WILL BE STRONGER & FOR SURE GET HALF-WAY…..OR MAYBE ALL THE WAY & GET NEW PHOTOS OF THE INSPIRING CUTTHROAT TROUT SPAWNING IN THE CREEKS THAT FEED GRANDADDY LAKE & MUCH MORE TO INSPIRE ME TO SET A NEW GOAL!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK WHEN I’LL SHOW YOU GLIMPSES OF:

THE NATURALIST BASIN.

THE INSPIRING SIGHT AS YOU ENTER NATURALIST BASIN:

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I’M SHARING MY EXPERIENCE AS IT COULD BE OF HELP TO SOME OF YOU THAT LIKELY WILL HAVE CHALLENGES ALONG YOUR PATH — QUITE A FEW HAVE ASKED ME TO SHARE MY EXPERIENCE…..BASICALLY OF…… “NEVER GIVING IN, NOR GIVING UP ……….EASILY!”

This winter my exercise devise has been the stairs below the American Fork Fitness Center, gradually doing more and more laps–up & down, until getting up to doing 32 laps with the goal of doing 40 a day by backpacking season.

Doing 40 laps would be equal to the elevation gain from the Grandview Trailhead up to Hades Pass that we call “THE GATEWAY TO THE GRANDADDIES.” I’ll insert below a wonderful photograph of Grandaddy Lake, the largest in the High Uinta Mountains. There are 26 alpine lakes in the Grandaddy Basin.

BUT I HAVE REALIZED THAT TO PREPARE ME FOR HIGH UINTA TRAILS–LIKE SOME STRETCHES OF THE HADES PASS TRAIL YOU SEE BELOW, THEY HAVE STEPS THAT ARE MUCH HIGHER THAN THE ONES I’VE BEEN DOING SEEN ABOVE, SO I DO THOSE STAIRS TO WARM UP, AND THEN GO EACH DAY TO WHERE THE STEPS ARE AT LEAST 50% HIGHER….YOU’LL SEE AFTER “the rocky trail.” …

SO, I’M BACK TO THE AMERICAN FORK AMPHITHEATER JUST WEST OF THE LDS TEMPLE, WHICH PREVIOUS TO ALL THE PRESENT PROBLEMS I USED TO HELP KEEP ME IN SHAPE DURING THE OFF SEASON. THE STEPS HAVE HAND RAILS WHICH I NEED AS MY BALANCE ALSO VANISHED ALONG WITH MY ABILITY TO WALK.

AS I EXPLAINED IN THE PREVIOUS POST, THE ABOVE EXERCISES ARE DONE 5 DAYS A WEEK. FOR THE 6th DAY I GO EAST TO THE FOOT OF MT. TIMPANOGOS, AND USE THE GROVE CANYON TRAIL. AS SEEN BELOW–for last week–USING TREKKING POLES I HEADED UP THE TRAIL FOR ABOUT 30 MINUTES TO WHERE THE TRAIL LEAVES THE ROAD & WILL ADD ON ABOUT 100 YARDS/WEEK.

EVERYTHING I’M DESCRIBING LIKELY SEEMS SORT OF “MICKEY MOUSE” FOR MOST OF YOU, BUT CONSIDERING THAT A YEAR AGO I COULDN’T EVEN WALK, & STILL HAVE THE DANGEROUS MISALIGNMENT OF MY SPINE WITH CONSTANT PAIN–but I think is gradually being reduced as I exercise more, I FEEL EXTREMELY BLESSED TO BE ABLE TO DO WHAT I’M DOING–and I CAN ADD THAT IT FEELS WONDERFUL TO HAVE AGAIN DEVELOPING MUSCLES THAT ACTUALLY FEEL THE SORENESS & STIFFNESS THAT COMES AFTER A HEAVY WORKOUT!

NEXT I WILL GRADUATE TO THE HIGHER STEP UPS–SEEN BELOW AT THE Amphitheater, but with NO HAND RAILS, so will use my trekking poles, and hope to get strong enough with good balance to not need the poles–and then be ready for the HIGH UINTAS!

NOW…….AGAIN WE GO INTO THE HIGH UINTA WILDERNESS from the CHRISTMAS MEADOWS/STILLWATER TRAILHEAD ON THE NORTH SLOPE.

LAST WEEK WE WENT UP STILLWATER FORK OF THE BEAR RIVER and SAW KERMSUH, RYDER & McPHEETERS LAKES. BACK DOWN THE TRAIL, BEFORE THE KERMSUH TRAIL, or 2.4 miles up from the Trailhead, WE COME TO A SIGN POINTING TO THE EAST WITH A TRAIL THAT CLIMBS UP ALONG OSTLER FORK OF THE BEAR RIVER, OUT OF THE CANYON LEADING US TO THE AMETHYST BASIN. My book gives all the distances, and information, including topographical maps of the beautiful area with Ostler Peak on our right. Along the way you can go off-trail to visit Salamander Lake, then continue up into the high country with large Amethyst Lake at the end of the trail, but along way are also off-trail Ostler Lake, as well as Toomset Lake. I’ll insert photos of Ostler Lake with my daughter Mahana fishing and Ostler Peak in the background, and then Amethyst Lake with it’s turquoise colored waters.

From the north end of Ostler Lake, if you go off-trail down along the edge of the mountain you come to TOOMSET LAKE, seen below. It is small, but full of colorful brook trout.

At the head of the Amethyst Basin is found quite large and beautiful–with its turquoise colored waters–AMETHYST LAKE.

Below we are still in the Rock Creek Drainage on the South Slope of the Uintas, looking north over Brinkley Lake at the southern side of Ostler Peak.

All of the information on what wonderful areas are accessible from the Christmas Meadows/Stillwater Trailhead, including topographical maps with distances inserted, and updated information on the fishing in each lake, and much more, is found in my book seen printed below–but available online. Once you have it on your computer you can put it on a thumb-drive and have your favorite printer make for you a copy as seen below. Scrolling down you will find information on the printer I use. Or you can print yourself the pages you will need for your backpack, and take the print-out with you to guide you in your adventure.

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MY SECOND BOOK THAT DETAILS MY 68 YEAR LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE MAYA — WITH OVER 1,000 COLOR PHOTOS

THE HISTORY HIGHLIGHTS A DILEMMA THAT ALL SEEKERS OF TRUTH SHOULD BE INTERESTED IN….CLARIFYIED with VOLTAIRE’S COMMENT……scroll down to the beginning of the last post to see what he said….

Click on this link to READ & SEE THE DETAILS OF THE MAYA STORY https://www.guatemalanfoundation.org/

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