Fruita, Colorado

 Dominating the skyline!

A mountain-biking "destination," the image on the other side is similar, but shows a guy on a mountain bike. The gear surrounding both images is indicative of the opportunities available in the area.

Dinosaur National Monument

 

Note bidet to left of wash basins. We may be poor, but no-one can say we're not civilized.

Chicken In the Corn - Vernal, Utah

This was a rough time for Kristen and I. See journal for details.

Sego Alien

 

They were there ahead of me and as I emerged I commented, "A pit toilet! All the amenities!" Colter, at the time dressed in shorts & t-shirt, rejoined with equal facetiousness, "Yeah! You need to take a shit? This is the place!"

He asked if I'd been there before and when learned I was new, began telling of the history...of the Fremonts and another group (I've unfortunately forgotten the name) who pre-dated them by 2,000 years. He also mentioned the government, our government, had recently acknowledged the existence, although no direct contact, of aliens...and not just immigrants.

As I returned from my tour I was astonished to see he'd donned a magnificent body-suit and was pulling on the mask and gloves. Fully encased, he turned and began firing the ray-gun! Suddenly I knew I'd "returned." After four and half months among the hoi-polloi, I was now with two, Darren was his accomplice and videographer, who knew how to have fun!

They took me to the ghost town and showed me the cemetery where there were even a couple of contemporary graves. While there, a young couple, she in loose-fitting bright green harem-pants and a lovely yellow blouse that came to just above her navel, stopped to ask about the location of the petroglyphs. I took them to the spot and as I was preparing to depart a rather loud, '70s model Chevrolet Blazer stopped; it was being driven by a young woman who wanted directions.

Her smile was brilliant and with the sun glinting off her perfect teeth and nose-ring, she allowed as how they'd been off-roading for over 100 miles and wondered if this was the way and how far was it to a town? Riding shotgun was a (lucky) man with a beard who appeared to appreciate my (apparently obvious) appreciation of the moment.   

Although I'd admitted my general avoidance of people to Colter & Darren, I was pleasantly surprised by these three "sets." The wilds of Utah seem to attract a more interesting kind.

Salt Valley Camp

In Arches National Park, not far from the Delicate Arch trailhead.

Nearing Moab

 

It must've been about this time in 1968 or '69 that I took this same photo. I was traveling with an Instamatic 120, just right for a CampTrails pack with a Freighter frame. The pack weighed in at around 60 pds, including my journal and enuf rice for  a week to 10 days at a time. (I weighed in at around 135.) 

There seems to be more traffic.

Justin Johnson

As one of the commenters put it: A legend is born.

Interview (written)

excerpt...

I think we all have magical powers, but controlling that power requires learning how to work with it. It all comes down to how closely you observe the universe, and how much value you assign to the energy that organizes the universe. I firmly believe that humans are capable of much more than what is scientifically or medically proven at this point in time. Much of my music and life is guided, not by my own personal choices of reasoning, but by close observation of the organized “flow” of our surroundings. The meaningful synchronicities in life always seem to point us in the right artistic and career directions. Many of the songs on my last album, “If Walls Could Talk,” came from the act of fleshing out a musical “glimpse” that came from something like the image of a full moon rising over the snow, or a lone bird surveying the fog-shrouded hill as the sun was rising. If I put enough of my heart into observing and valuing those moments, they usually give me deep insight and inspiration in return.