Yonder Journal

Photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

From: William Gardner
Date: Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Subject: Archaeologizing
To: daniel wakefield pasley <[email protected]>

Hello Daniel

I hope all is well. Things are moving along nicely in regards to the Paradox project as we have gotten pretty firm dates from our South African colleagues as well as money - so baring any personal injury we are pretty much 100% a go.

As it stands right now we are all looking to arrive in Denver on Friday November 1, rest there (maybe) at my uncle's and/or grandparent's house for the day (mainly to let our foreigners battle through jet lag). Strike out for paradox early Saturday - begin work in honest on Sunday Nov. 3rd and work until the next Sunday (the 10th) at which point we head back to Denver and catch a flight to our respective destinations on Monday the 11th (the goal is to get 7 days of work in). Main research goals are to 1) survey / test a topography contingent survey methodology that is aimed at better understanding how people and archaeologist move across a landscape with extreme topography 2) map in a small village site that Xander (our South African colleague) may want to excavate in the coming years 3) excavate a small test unit in order to collect material that can be c-14 dated from a site my dad found.

Tentatively speaking, the crew will consist of my father (an archaeologist at a small community college in Wyoming), Andrew Blandshard who is a kiwi archaeologist for the New Zealand Department of Conservation, Andrew Antonites who is a South African archaeologist and professor at the University of Pretoria, my wife, my Mongolian colleague Jargalan Burentogtokh, you (and whom ever you wish to bring), and me.

With that being said, if this works out for you, how will you be traveling to the project area? If you wish to fly into Denver and meet up with us there we can make arrangements to have space for you in our caravan out to Paradox. Also how many people will be accompanying you? We don't care but we do want to make sure we have enough food for you all. Oh yeah, food in the field camp is on us - well as long as you don't have any crazy expensive diet restrictions (if that's the case your on our won - sorry).

Also we do hope to mountain bike a bit while we are there. Most of us are out of shape, but it's definitely worth bringing a bike if you can.

Super pumped to have you guys come along on this.

Take it easy,
Will

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

Weather in the Grand Canyon¹ varies according to elevation. The forested rim is high enough to receive winter snowfall, while along the Colorado River path of the inner gorge temperatures are similar to those found in Tucson and other low elevation Arizona desert locations. Conditions in the Grand Canyon region are generally dry with substantial precipitation occurring twice annually. These follow seasonal pattern shifts in winter (when Pacific storms usually deliver widespread, moderate rain and high-elevation snow to the region from the west) and in late summer (due to North American Monsoons), which deliver waves of moisture from the southeast, causing dramatic localized thunderstorms fueled by high daytime temperatures. Average annual precipitation on the South Rim is less than 16 inches (35 cm), with an average of 60 inches (132 cm) of snow.

1. The Grand Canyon is one of Seven Natural Wonders of the World; 1) Grand Canyon 2) Great Barrier Reef 3) Harbor of Rio de Janeiro 4) Mount Everest 5) Aurora 6) Paricutin Volcano 7) Victoria Falls. [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

Sara Plummer Lemmon (b. 1836, d. 1923) was an amateur librarian, nurse and self-trained botanist. After marrying her husband (also a botanist), Civil War veteran John Lemmon, she sold her library in Santa Barbara, CA and traveled to Arizona to honeymoon with John. While documenting and painting plants in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Sara and John (with the help of local E. O. Stratton) scaled the tallest peak in the range, at which point they promptly named it after Sara by giving it the name she took from John, ergo the mountain, which mountain lies just outside the town of Tucson, Arizona, was and is called Mount Lemmon.¹ Before returning home to California, Sara managed to discover and catalog for the first time a variety of species native to the mountain and surrounding areas.

Now a paved road leads up one side of the mountain to the Mount Lemmon SkyCenter², a 4x4 track leads up the other, and running from top-to-bottom-bottom-to-top is a network of world class singletrack; Aspen Draw, Green Mountain, Bug Springs and Molino Basin—which singletrack when strung together and ridden in succession is called The Lemmon Drop.

Featured: Matt Hall in the middle of Bug Springs in the midst of one of the coldest winters on record.

1. It's name in the language of the native Tohono O'odham is Babad Doʼag. [↩]
2. Operated by the University of Arizona's science program, the observatory offers various learning opportunities and workshops to the public in addition to its higher education and research functions. [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

While in the Pursuit of provisions and Local Swimming Hole Intelligence/Knowledge deep in the Mythical State of Jefferson, we (Greg Johnson, David Marchi, Moi Medina and Daniel Wakefield Pasley) visited the Callahan Emporium,¹ where we met Fran, the establishment's owner/operator. After a few drinks and some lite chit-chat we started asking her about local Swimming Holes, a somewhat touchy subject in a water-rich rural area famous for it's recent anti-federalist separatism tendencies, Gold Rush past (and present), and illegal/hidden/dangerous marijuana operations. The locals are suspicious to the point of xenophobia. However Fran, who was as nice and welcoming as homemade pie, openly confirmed that Kangaroo Lake (our immediate next stop) was in fact an excellent Swimming Hole, "that's where you hop back to heaven." She introduced us to her her dog who she keeps in an office in the back, showed us a large gold nugget that was legally and locally prospected out of one of the area's many amazing rivers² and we discussed a genuine Miner's Canary Cage she kept hanging on the paw of a stuffed bear mounted to the wall behind the counter of her bar.

"I know all sorts of swimming holes around here, places with waterfalls that fall into clear blue holes, but all the best ones are on private land—and no they're not growing weed, they're just regular ranchers. I'm sworn to secrecy. Nobody wants the word to get out because before you'd know it there'd be 80,000 people trespassing on their land. And nobody wants 80,000 strangers in their hole."

Yonder Beta: Callahan Emporium / 12511 California 3, Callahan, CA 96014 / 530-467-3395

1. A Bar & quasi-Grocery occupying a building originally built in 1858 to house, incidentally/apparently, the first Wells Fargo in the area. [↩]
2. larger arteries like the Sacramento and Siskiyou Rivers as well as any number of smaller tributaries: Rail Creek, Rock Fence Creek, Kangaroo Creek, et cetera. [↩]

Around a campfire at Kangaroo Lake with Mt. Shasta’s white peak dominating the horizon miles to the east¹, David Marchi, owner-operator of Crow's Feet Commons in Bend, OR, and a native of Mt. Shasta, CA, explains a few details on the religions based upon legend regarding the mountain.² What follows is a direct transcript of his elucidation. Photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

The Lemurians are descendants from the lost land of Lemuria. There was Pangaea,³ and after it broke up part of it went missing— according to those around here that’s the lost continent of Lemuria. The Lemurians are people that have descended from Japan who live inside Mt. Shasta. They use their ability to produce powerful, inaudible harmonics to dig tunnels through the mountain. From time to time the Lemurians come out of the mountain when a lenticular cloud forms around the peak.⁴ They come out and do whatever they do, maybe grab a couple of Animal-Style burgers at the Redding In N Out?

Including the Lemurians, there are 9 unique religions based on the mountain.

There're also the Yoctavians who produce powerful harmonics, but with bells and instruments unlike the Lemurians who only use the power of their minds. The Lemurians are small and have a bubble on their forehead, created by the cosmic power of their brains. The Yoctavians are another people that live on the mountain; they're seven feet tall and wear long white flowing robes. They're the bellmakers, they have the harmonics but in a different way.

That's the hoofy-foofy stuff really, but there's also a Christian cult or religion kind of like Mormonism, in terms of development. There was a guy named John W. Ballard from Illinois. He was on the mountain around 9000 feet, dehydrated, it was like 1910, and he found a spring and met someone who said he was St. Germain. So St. Germain gave him golden scrolls—similar to Joseph Smith of Mormonism—that contained info on the coming of Christ. He went back to Illinois and started the St. Germain I AM foundation. People come back every August and pilgrimage to the site. They have a seven million dollar ampitheater they use for one weekend a year. Nobody in the religion wears black or brown or red; it's all simple, light colors. You see people all over town in August wearing nothing but white. They have something like 50,000 members.

Editor’s Note: At this point David and the rest of the Yonder Swimming Hole Expeditionary Force lapses into silence due in equal parts to the profound (and confusing) revelations about the mountain, its people, and the overwhelming waves of consciousness resulting from the potent mix of exhaustion, alcohol, and psilocybin.

Editor's Note II: Of the nine religions mentioned, YJ can confirm the existence of a number: the Lemurian Connection, the I AM/St. Germain Foundation, The Summit Lighthouse, Church Universal and Triumphant, Kryon and the Hearts Center—in addition to the number of Native American belief systems from the area. If you have any further information on legends or beliefs based on Mt. Shasta, please contact us.

1. A Swimming Hole guide to Kangaroo Lake is forthcoming [↩]
2. Before providing this in depth account, please note that David has just finished a 235+ mile bicycle ride (A forthcoming Brovet, to be precise) and consumed a baker's dozen of cold beers accompanied by handful of wild mushrooms. [↩]
3. Before the seven continents we know today had their own identities, the landmass of Earth was all stuck together. [↩]
4. Many pictures of Mt. Shasta show a big lenticular cloud over the mountain. Usually they're created by super high winds, it's a vortexual cloud, and they look like big hats or a tall stack of pancakes. [↩]

Words by Kyle von Hoetzendorff. Photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

If you do a giant gainer off a 40’ cliff into a bubbling blue pool the size of a hot tub surrounded by jagged rocks and come up smiling then you deserve some acknowledgement. We may not be best friends or even know each other if we met on the street—we may hate each other. Still, I feel the need to acknowledge the doing of something that, when done wrong, has such obviously dire consequences. I too have a death drive albeit one that may be forever stuck in second gear.

Choosing the right form of acknowledgement is paramount. The potential types of praise are wide ranging, existing on a continuum with the demure and potentially antagonistic head nod on one end to the wild exuberance of a spastic high five on the other. Factors of intimacy, feat, and surroundings must be accounted for; miscalculation can derail the energy of the event with the potential to send those involved into a spiral of shame. Fortunately there is a gesture that stands on solid middle ground, the fist bump.¹

Pugilistic in essence, the fist bump honestly conveys goodwill while giving each actor the ability to maintain a cool emotional distance. It is a safe play. Once used strictly by boxers to test each others strength and will, this versatile and easily-learned gesture has since been co-opted by mass culture; sports stars of all stripes can be seen spudding, celebrities, grand parents, social workers, dog walkers, truck drivers, rodeo clowns, and airline pilots can all be seen giving props, even President Obama can be seen regularly giving respect to notable dignitaries.

Fist bumps have acquired universal status, sign language slang of the first order, utilized alone and in gestures such as dap.²

If you haven’t yet try it out, knock your own knuckles together, feel the connection. Experiment with your friends and family to find out when a fist bump is appropriate for you, and then branch out to neighbors and colleagues. The risks are low and there will come a time where the fist bump is assimilated into your communication resources, alongside those other venerable hand signs: the wave, handshake, high-five, thumbs up, middle finger, devil horns, and peace sign.

As for the gainer guy, after our fist bump we sipped on beers while he explained that he normally does his gainers with a chest mounted GoPro. I commented that I bet the footage was pretty amazing, and his buddy who was wearing bone-dry cutoff jeans reflected that the footage was indeed a, “mother fucker to see." I wasn’t able to find the chest mount footage, but I am pretty sure the guy on the left in this video is the same guy that I shared a fist bump with, and I have to say this is a mother fucker watch.

1. Also known as fist pound, bro fist, spudding, fo’knucks Bust, pound dogg, props, or respect. Fist Bump, Wikipedia [↩]
2. "Dap is a form of handshake that has recently become popular in western cultures” Dap Greeting,Wikipedia. A video on the subject, The Dap Project, is a video documentary ca. 2006 from High School of Commerce, Springfield, MA. [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

The A-Frame shelter (or double lean-to) is particularly useful given it's ease of construction and low material requirements: two shorter branches¹ and one longer branch form the frame of your shelter, while the walls are simple stick-and-leaf constructions—the more leaves, the more insulation. In addition, the shelter is well-suited to the human shape: narrow near the feet and wider at the head, double lean-tos make efficient use of space, making it easier to find a suitable location to place the shelter. The small volume of the shelter also makes insulation more efficient.

1. Finding one branch with a y-notch is preferable, as it avoids the need for cord and lashing—just drop the second branch into the notch. [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

The Sacramento, California's largest river,¹ finds its origins in Northern California between the Coastal and Klamath mountain ranges to the west, and the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges to the east. More importantly and more specifically the Sacramento springs into existence from a wet hole in a City Park at the base of a stratovolcano in the town of Mt. Shasta.

There is a playground, a footpath, four picnic areas, a gazebo and a handful of reservable public buildings in Mt. Shasta City Park.² Footbridges and steps have been built around the headwaters/spring/wet hole to accommodate the hundreds of locals as well as travelers—the City Park is just off Interstate 5—who daily frequent the park to drink, visit, splash and fill various jars/bottles/cups/mugs/buckets as close to the source as possible.

What water doesn't get consumed on the spot eventually travels 400 miles to the Suisan Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay.

1. 30,000 cfs annually [↩]
2. "The land, which ultimately became the Mt. Shasta City Park, was once part of the hunting grounds of the Wintun, Maidu, and Okwanuchu Indian tribes and was first crossed by explorers around 1841." Mt. Shasta Parks [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

8. Release

After the Processing Crew is done collecting data, taking measurements and attaching a Radio Collar, the animal is carried (by stretcher) to the edge of the processing area and released. There is a proper way to release an animal, otherwise both the animal and members of the processing crew can become injured.

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Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

7. Radio Collaring

The Radio Collars are lined-up on the ground next to the vehicles. Those in the Processing Crew in charge of recording data are instructed to select the collars in order from left to right. In this particular study two different Radio Collars are being distributed throughout the study/range. Each type of Radio Collar requires specific hardware and tools. Properly fitting the Radio Collars (not too lose, not too tight) is critical.

"You have to fit each radio collar so that as the animals put weight on the collar wont become too tight, but the collar can't be too loose either, so it’s a bit of an art. If the collar is too loose they can get a hoof caught in it, or it (the collar) might bounce around and irritate the animal and in some cases a loose collar can even cause hair loss. These collars are programmed to automatically come off in three years. I’ve wondered how strange that and the whole collar thing is for the deer. They finally get used to packing around this foreign object and then one day the darn thing just up and falls off - that’s gotta be a relief." - Jeff Short, Wildlife Population Biologist.

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

6. FECAL SAMPLE

Collect a fecal sample. Make sure the bag is sealed tight.

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

5. BLOOD SAMPLING

Blood is drawn from each animal. Under the supervision of someone in the Processing Crew with experience those who have not drawn blood before are encouraged to do so. With that said, after two or three unsuccessful attempts the task is then turned over to someone with more practice.

"Blood allows us to sample for disease. We also use it to cross reference pregnancy rates against hormone levels." - Jeff Short, Wildlife Population Biologist.

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

4. MORPHOMETRICS

Within each Processing Crew group there is at least one member who knows how to take and record morphometric measurements; morphometrics refers to the quantitative analysis of form: a concept that encompasses size and shape. Morphometric analyses are useful in analyzing the impact of mutations on shape, developmental changes in form, covariances between ecological factors and shape, as well for estimating quantitative-genetic parameters of shape. Morphometrics can be used to quantify a trait of evolutionary significance, and by detecting changes in the shape, deduce something of their ontogeny¹, function or evolutionary relationships.²

"We take some body measurements; chest girth, length of metatarsal, overall body length, the weight of the animal, etc. Some of this analysis is related to the animal's health, but a lot of this work helps us when comparing one area (range) to another." - Jeff Short, Wildlife Population Biologist.

1. The development of a life form. [↩]
2. Morphometrics, Wikipedia [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

3. Ultrasonography

After the animal’s abdomen is shaved an ultrasound is performed.

"The ultrasound is used to measure fat depths, muscle mass and if the animal is pregnant; an ultrasound can tell us how many fetuses there are as well as measure each fetus’ eyeballs to determine when the fawns will be born—the same way an obstetrician measures the head of human baby to dertmine the due date. The twinning rate is 90+%, usually you see one of each sex.” – Jeff Short, Wyoming Population Biologist

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

2. TOOTH EXTRACTION

An incisor, a non essential tooth used for tearing and not chewing, is taken from each animal in order to properly age it. First, the animal is administered lidocaine to numb the jaw - it takes five minutes for the animal's jaw to numb completely. Each animal is also given a shot of Penicillin and a shot of Banomine during extraction. The extracted tooth is sent to a lab where they soak it in acid and cut it in half; once bisected, growth rings (not unlike a tree's growth rings) are visible. From these rings the animal's precise age can be determined - the process is called Cementum Annuli. Side note: This field procedure is fundamentally no different from the type of procedures preformed daily by modern-day first-world dentists, in say Austin, Texas for example.

"Different regions have different carbon isotopes. The isotopes end up in a animal's bones and teeth. Because of the differences in regional soils soon we will be able to map a deer's entire life - where's it's been and when it's been there - all from a single tooth sample." - Jeff Short, Wyoming Population Biologist

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

Netgunning is a popular form of Live Animal Capture (LAC) employed by Wildlife Population Biologists and Researchers who work with and/or study large ungulates like deer, caribou et al. which animals are unwieldy, highly mobile and otherwise extremely difficult to safely capture and release. LAC is the only way to Radio Collar large ungulates. Radio collars provide invaluable/crucial/useful/necessary data. And the process provides a precious opportunity to take measurements and gather samples.

Netgunning looks and feels a lot like a Cowboy Rodeo X Navy Seal Operation X Field Laboratory mash-up - from dozens of matching green pick-up trucks to helicopters, pilots, gunners, muggers, tooth pullings and sonogram machines. What follows is the first in a series of briefs outlining the checklist and procedure researchers use when examining a recently-captured Wyoming Mule Deer Sample.

1. CAPTURE DATA & TEMPERATURE CONSIDERATIONS

As soon as an animal is brought in from the ship to the staging area, capture data needs to be communicated by the Capture Crew to the Processing Crew - what happened during the capture, were there any unusual circumstances, GPS coordinates referencing where the animal was captured, notes regarding wether the animal had any possible problems or issues. Immediately afterward the animal's temperature is taken. Ideally the animal's temperature is close to 100 or 101, which is normal and good. However if the animals temperature approaches 103 the Processing Crew will begin to closely monitor the animal. If the animal is unable to regulate it's body temperature and it rises above 103, the processing crew will begin to shovel/place snow along the animal's abdomen as well as wet the animal down with water in effort to cool it.

"We don’t use tranquilizers because in real world situations the stress from the drug and reversing the drug is much worse than simply handling and subduing them without drugs. In particular, when an animal is anesthetized it can have a lot of difficultly regulating its body temp, and if it overheats you could very easily kill it." – Jeff Short, Wyoming Wildlife Population Biologist

Photographs by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

The girls that wear their Rodeo-Boyfriend's belt buckles, as well as the groupies or Pro-Hos that 'cruise' the Rodeo grounds looking for riders, are called Buckle Bunnies.

"They don't even know your face, but they can find you because they're good at it."

—Ben Londo, Professional Saddle Bronc Rider.

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Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

There is no beta or guide or information in regards to hiking and/or floating Baldface Creek, a tributary of the North Fork Smith River¹. Zach Collier, a River Outfitter with 20-plus years experience paddling and floating all of the many known and typical-but-still-remarkable rivers in the Mythical State of Jefferson (where residents, it's said, are likely packing both a pistol & a crystal), as well as many of the not so known and not-so-typical-but-still-remarkable rivers, has, in the last ten years, attempted Baldface on three separate occasions, two different ways, and was turned back each time because of snow. The creek is only floatable in the winter when it rains heavily and where in the higher elevations it snows heavily. The unmarked trail down and into the creek branches off an unimproved forest road twelve miles in, the last four of which lie past a permanently closed POC (Port Orford Cedar) gate.². In the winter and into the spring the road is covered in snowpack two or three feet deep, with drifts on the north slope and in the shade as deep as four or five feet

For reasons related to American River's naming of Baldface to the MER (Most Endangered Rivers) list, and for documentation in regards to the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area Expansion Efforts, we needed to reconnoiter the creek. For tactical reasons we decided to hike, not float, Baldface. A date in early March was was chosen, weather was watched, flow was monitored, and three days before our departure, the date was moved to mid March. Again, weather was watched and flow was monitored, and again the date was pushed back due to unfavorable weather conditions and limited contingencies regarding possible high-flow and gorging-out. Once again, weather was watched, flow was monitored and but this time inflatable pack-rafts were organized, which rafts would prove invaluable if not absolutely and utterly necessary.

1. Despite running its course in California, the river depends on tributaries throughout the Oregon Siskiyou Mountains. The river contains not a single dam along its entire length. Wikipedia [↩]
2. The US Forest Service maintains a large number of gates—some temporary and some permanent—in order to limit access and slow the spread of Port Orford Cedar root disease, which can kill trees of any size and age. More information. [↩]

Interview and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

"I work with large ungulates¹: large game species like antelope, mule deer, elk and moose. Basically, I go out into the field and collect information via various means, like radio collars or visual observation. I take that information back to the office for data analysis and statistical work, and then I put reports together. Those reports help us make decisions about what's best for the wildlife in terms of population management, and they help determine sustainble and repsonsiblie hunter harvests. The research also assists us with habitat protection and landscape scale issues²."—Jeff Short

1. Ungulates can more simply be described as hoofed mammals. [↩]
2. Landscape-scale conservation is a holistic approach to wilderness conservation that takes into account local economic and social considerations [↩]

Words and photograph by Daniel Wakefield Pasley.

At night next to the campfire, at various times during day apropos of nothing except maybe a change in the wind, or when stopped for a moment on an ancient packhorse path for water and to watch eagles watch rabbits, Thaddeus talks about Everett Ruess: a writer, artist and explorer last seen at the age of 20 leading a burro into Davis Gulch¹ in 1934. Ruess, whose body has never officially been discovered², and whose death has never been satisfactorily explained, has over the years become a Western myth and wildman legend. This in part because of his pre-Instagram handle, Nemo, which handle he carved into the walls of various caves in the middle of Utah’s otherworldly nowhere. In Latin "nemo" means no one or nobody. It’s believed by some that Everett was referencing Homer’s Odyssey³ when he chose it: fitting, as while Ruess was apparently seeking to lose himself and become nobody in a metaphoric sense, he literally disappeared in the Canyons of the Escalante—one of the least accessible and most un-mapped area in the contiguous United States (especially at the time).

1. See page 23 for access information (NPS PDF) [↩]
2. A body found in 2009 at first appeared to be Ruess', but later examination of dental records proved otherwise—Wikipedia [↩]
3. After the Trojan War, Odysseus sets off for home, crossing the land of the Cyclops (the one-eyed giants). One of them, Polyphemus, takes Odysseus and his crew captive. Odysseus begs Polyphemus to let him and his crew go. When Polyphemus asks his name, Odysseus replies, "Nemo". [↩]