Camp news:
Most of us tossed and turned the night. Sleep was poor.
Breakfast was poorer. Tempers short. Spirits are flagging. Bodies are sluggish-weak.
Breaking camp started and delayed as we constantly stopped to splash water over ash-covered faces. Everything is finely layered in ash. Coughing continues, eyes burn and tempers explosive but contained.
We are not happy. We are slow and grumbling.
The ash rains down on us, yet we see no fire. We are a worried, scared, tired and grumble-ly lot. Now, we are sure, we have been forgotten by the Rangers.
Packed up we move on - to home.
Visibility is so bad we caravan slowly down the 2 track. The town, 2 hours away may as well be a million miles.
Five hours of driving, bumper to bumper, crawling and not many miles, we come to a cabin. We stop and call out but get no answer. The ground around the cabin is burned, barren—ugly and scary. Timidly, we enter the cabin.
He is on the bed - dead, covered in ash. His skin appears to have been burned, but he is fully clothed. The cabin reeks of vomitus and other body fluids. The cabin is static — everything in place — no trace of fire.
Nausea sweeps over us. In a mutual panic, we get in our cars and leave; bumper to bumper; we continue the crawl for mile after mile of fear.
Another cabin – the same scene greets us.
Another, then another.
It is dark. There are no lights to greet us.
We think we are in the forest but trees are black and limbless. The ground is barren and black. The fire was close to us!
We press on and accomplish but a few miles.
It is night; true night and we stop to rest next to the road. Sleeping bags are rolled out and hastily scattered on the blackened ground. We have not eaten. We don’t think to.
We are frantic and weary. Stomachs are in knots. There is little talk and no laughter.
Actions are slow. Tempers are fast.
Sleep gathers like a cloud and overtakes us.
There are no dreams in this night of hunger, exhaustion and fear.
to be continued early
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Search Day 7
Camp news:
We all slept late this morning. There was no agreement to do so, it just happened.
It is darker, if that can be. Air is thick and we can taste the smoke. Feel the ash.
Jeanne still not happy but enjoyed her breakfast “in bed.” Straw drawers cooked up their favorite breakfast. It was hearty and well taken but not by all.
We are sluggish in our approach to the day. We seem to be malcontents. Most of us are coughing. Some seem to have strange rashes, which look more like burns. We all profess to weariness.
Lunches are packed but there is much dithering about the start. Everyone wants to stay in camp.
Our hike today will take us back to the spot where we were yesterday, as site mapping needs to be completed. The PI tells us we will do a full surface collect and that gets us out of the ‘stay in camp’ mode.
The hike is slow and plodding. We follow the path we made yesterday but our feet are heavy and daypacks are heavier.
We take breaks; talk is limited and not animated. Coughing is rampant. Rashes are redder. Moods are somber.
On site, we noodle and find! Artifacts are point plotted on the map; collected, numbered and bagged readied to be carried down the mountain, readied for the lab.
We have planned to take everything collected to camp for later study and identification.
Someone gets nasty about not wanting “to carry those damn rocks.”
We huddle and agree for each of us to carry just a little in our day pack-no more than anyone can do so comfortably. Comfort is the key word. We are tired and coughing.
Most of the artifacts will be left behind. It is a disappointment. We go over the collected material very carefully and decide upon each artifact as to its research potential. Only tools such as bifaces, retouched flakes, ground stone or true diagnostics will be taken back to camp.
The long trek back to camp home is exhausting. We have found what we came for; it is the theme of the light trail talk.
No shower! The branch has broken, the water is cold and everyone is just too tired to try to mend what ails the camp.
We try to keep up our wounded spirits. It is not working. Even dinner is a drag. Jeanne has cooked, but is not happy about it. She has remained with us though, which is welcome news.
We are careful with each other. Actually, we almost cling to one another as worry overcomes us.
The fire, rather the smoke, is taking its toll. We can see the ash. We can smell the smoke. We can taste its acrid nature, but we don’t know where it is, and we are in full bloom worry.
We talk of action but decide we don’t know what action to take other than leaving and going home.
Another try at the car radio brings the expected door slamming, but this time joined by explosive cursing.
Home! The talk turns of home and we become animated.
Spirits rise. Energy is renewed. We develop a plan.
We will break camp in the morning after breakfast, after the chores and packing is done. We will head for home. We will be leaving a few days early but, so what! We found what we came for.
Paleo Indian was at high altitude; we found them. The sites are fully documented for later recording and future research.
We clink our glasses of wine and salute the next day.
So, off to bed we go, dirty and tired, but with hope and remembrances of home.
to be continued (early)
We all slept late this morning. There was no agreement to do so, it just happened.
It is darker, if that can be. Air is thick and we can taste the smoke. Feel the ash.
Jeanne still not happy but enjoyed her breakfast “in bed.” Straw drawers cooked up their favorite breakfast. It was hearty and well taken but not by all.
We are sluggish in our approach to the day. We seem to be malcontents. Most of us are coughing. Some seem to have strange rashes, which look more like burns. We all profess to weariness.
Lunches are packed but there is much dithering about the start. Everyone wants to stay in camp.
Our hike today will take us back to the spot where we were yesterday, as site mapping needs to be completed. The PI tells us we will do a full surface collect and that gets us out of the ‘stay in camp’ mode.
The hike is slow and plodding. We follow the path we made yesterday but our feet are heavy and daypacks are heavier.
We take breaks; talk is limited and not animated. Coughing is rampant. Rashes are redder. Moods are somber.
On site, we noodle and find! Artifacts are point plotted on the map; collected, numbered and bagged readied to be carried down the mountain, readied for the lab.
We have planned to take everything collected to camp for later study and identification.
Someone gets nasty about not wanting “to carry those damn rocks.”
We huddle and agree for each of us to carry just a little in our day pack-no more than anyone can do so comfortably. Comfort is the key word. We are tired and coughing.
Most of the artifacts will be left behind. It is a disappointment. We go over the collected material very carefully and decide upon each artifact as to its research potential. Only tools such as bifaces, retouched flakes, ground stone or true diagnostics will be taken back to camp.
The long trek back to camp home is exhausting. We have found what we came for; it is the theme of the light trail talk.
No shower! The branch has broken, the water is cold and everyone is just too tired to try to mend what ails the camp.
We try to keep up our wounded spirits. It is not working. Even dinner is a drag. Jeanne has cooked, but is not happy about it. She has remained with us though, which is welcome news.
We are careful with each other. Actually, we almost cling to one another as worry overcomes us.
The fire, rather the smoke, is taking its toll. We can see the ash. We can smell the smoke. We can taste its acrid nature, but we don’t know where it is, and we are in full bloom worry.
We talk of action but decide we don’t know what action to take other than leaving and going home.
Another try at the car radio brings the expected door slamming, but this time joined by explosive cursing.
Home! The talk turns of home and we become animated.
Spirits rise. Energy is renewed. We develop a plan.
We will break camp in the morning after breakfast, after the chores and packing is done. We will head for home. We will be leaving a few days early but, so what! We found what we came for.
Paleo Indian was at high altitude; we found them. The sites are fully documented for later recording and future research.
We clink our glasses of wine and salute the next day.
So, off to bed we go, dirty and tired, but with hope and remembrances of home.
to be continued (early)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
The Search Day 6
Camp news:
Some of us don’t feel well today, just a general malaise. Coughing is getting worse for some, that is tiring.
Breakfast is quietly taken, not much appetite. There are a hearty few, as always.
The skies are darker than yesterday. Our tents and trailers are covered in the fine dust and ash.
Jeanne is complaining about not being able to keep the kitchen free of ash. She is a stickler for cleanliness and for that we are grateful. No one wants to be over-come with camp ‘runs’!
Today we go to 11,000 feet. Our highest trek yet.
Heads down we trudge our way to the top. Rocks roll underfoot and we stumble along. A few promising rock shelters are investigated. Nothing is noted.
The plotted survey map shows us to an open rocky area, a basin, that looks very promising.
Visibility is awful. We cannot see the next mountain. To the south, we see a dark blanket covering the forests, but no fires - strange.
The moraine and old glacial edge are identifiable on the map, as is a small lake. For most of us, this is our first look at a moraine and its attendant lake.
If the Sundance Paleo Indian model is correct we should find many artifacts of early man. We are excited.
On archaeological survey, we walk about 5-10 meters apart in a horizontal line and call out to each other when something is noticed.
Today the calls start right away. “Lithic!” “Chip stone!” “Proj point!” “Ground stone.” My, Oh My! We have hit the jackpot. Now to try to figure out what we have. Mapping and setting the site boundaries takes precedent. There is much scampering about and much light chatter. We settle down to the work at hand.
We know the moraine lake water is cold but we check it any way! At lakeside lunch, we talk about the moon and its landscape probably looking like this.
Moon? There has been no moon! We have been too tired and have gone to bed so early each night, we have not noticed nor have we looked up to the heavens.
We are camped in a light pollution free area; the heavens should twinkle for us. How strange we have not looked.
We decide we will stay awake later and check this out tonight.
There is a general feeling of unease amongst us. Chatter is not up to our usual. We know we are tired, that this altitude has slowed us down.
It has been a grueling 10 hour, 10 mile, 11,000 foot altitude, day for us. We are tired, happy with our finds and we are dirty!
Showers are needed. The branch holds, but again our solar water is barely tepid. Some grumble and gritch. We ask to have some water heated over the propane burners. Jeanne snaps at the request.
Jeanne is not happy at all. Ash is everywhere. She doesn’t feel well. She is coughing. In addition, this is our poorest meal to date.
We try to make Jeanne happy to no avail. She is talking of quitting. “Leaving right now,” she says. Lordy! That means we will have to cook! We talk her into staying at least for the night. We tell her, “We will do breakfast.” She agrees to sleep in. Straws are drawn as to who will be on duty. No one is happy.
Visibility in camp is worse than when we left. At 11,000 feet, we had not noticed the change as we were in a protected basin. And we were busy looking down at the ground, as trained archaeologists do! The dark blanket covering the forest to the south we had seen seemed far away.
We do stay up later to see the stars and the moon. There are none.
Where the bright white moon should be is an orange-ish, blurry blob. There are no stars. We are concerned.
There is much talk about the fire. Is it closing in on us? Maybe the Rangers have been trying to get to us and have been unable to do so. The PI did say visibility was bad for her but those Rangers are trained to go where none of us dare. Where are they? Have they forgotten we are here?
We are glad we are camped lakeside, as we know we can get into the water if the fire comes into camp.
We discuss leaving but then realize night visibility is too poor for us to go.
We wonder about the outside news.
Someone tries their car radio — static.
Anger explodes.
The car door slams!
to be continued
Some of us don’t feel well today, just a general malaise. Coughing is getting worse for some, that is tiring.
Breakfast is quietly taken, not much appetite. There are a hearty few, as always.
The skies are darker than yesterday. Our tents and trailers are covered in the fine dust and ash.
Jeanne is complaining about not being able to keep the kitchen free of ash. She is a stickler for cleanliness and for that we are grateful. No one wants to be over-come with camp ‘runs’!
Today we go to 11,000 feet. Our highest trek yet.
Heads down we trudge our way to the top. Rocks roll underfoot and we stumble along. A few promising rock shelters are investigated. Nothing is noted.
The plotted survey map shows us to an open rocky area, a basin, that looks very promising.
Visibility is awful. We cannot see the next mountain. To the south, we see a dark blanket covering the forests, but no fires - strange.
The moraine and old glacial edge are identifiable on the map, as is a small lake. For most of us, this is our first look at a moraine and its attendant lake.
If the Sundance Paleo Indian model is correct we should find many artifacts of early man. We are excited.
On archaeological survey, we walk about 5-10 meters apart in a horizontal line and call out to each other when something is noticed.
Today the calls start right away. “Lithic!” “Chip stone!” “Proj point!” “Ground stone.” My, Oh My! We have hit the jackpot. Now to try to figure out what we have. Mapping and setting the site boundaries takes precedent. There is much scampering about and much light chatter. We settle down to the work at hand.
We know the moraine lake water is cold but we check it any way! At lakeside lunch, we talk about the moon and its landscape probably looking like this.
Moon? There has been no moon! We have been too tired and have gone to bed so early each night, we have not noticed nor have we looked up to the heavens.
We are camped in a light pollution free area; the heavens should twinkle for us. How strange we have not looked.
We decide we will stay awake later and check this out tonight.
There is a general feeling of unease amongst us. Chatter is not up to our usual. We know we are tired, that this altitude has slowed us down.
It has been a grueling 10 hour, 10 mile, 11,000 foot altitude, day for us. We are tired, happy with our finds and we are dirty!
Showers are needed. The branch holds, but again our solar water is barely tepid. Some grumble and gritch. We ask to have some water heated over the propane burners. Jeanne snaps at the request.
Jeanne is not happy at all. Ash is everywhere. She doesn’t feel well. She is coughing. In addition, this is our poorest meal to date.
We try to make Jeanne happy to no avail. She is talking of quitting. “Leaving right now,” she says. Lordy! That means we will have to cook! We talk her into staying at least for the night. We tell her, “We will do breakfast.” She agrees to sleep in. Straws are drawn as to who will be on duty. No one is happy.
Visibility in camp is worse than when we left. At 11,000 feet, we had not noticed the change as we were in a protected basin. And we were busy looking down at the ground, as trained archaeologists do! The dark blanket covering the forest to the south we had seen seemed far away.
We do stay up later to see the stars and the moon. There are none.
Where the bright white moon should be is an orange-ish, blurry blob. There are no stars. We are concerned.
There is much talk about the fire. Is it closing in on us? Maybe the Rangers have been trying to get to us and have been unable to do so. The PI did say visibility was bad for her but those Rangers are trained to go where none of us dare. Where are they? Have they forgotten we are here?
We are glad we are camped lakeside, as we know we can get into the water if the fire comes into camp.
We discuss leaving but then realize night visibility is too poor for us to go.
We wonder about the outside news.
Someone tries their car radio — static.
Anger explodes.
The car door slams!
to be continued
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Search Day 5
Camp news:
Dark and early wake up calls again.
There should be a dawn light but it is dark.
The air is thick and smells acrid.
Bones and muscles have for all stopped their screams and moans. We are acclimated to the long, high treks and early morning hours.
Hunger needs to be satiated.
At breakfast, the PI announces she will go to town today. Her assistant will lead us on the survey. She is a bouncy little gal who sets a pace faster than we are used to. We will slow her down!
The daily camp chores are done by the stand-down person. We take turns at camp duties none of which is over-whelming.
After breakfast,the stand-down places lunch and goodies out on the long table for individuals to put together for the day; dishes washed; toilet paper restocked; surface trash, of which there is little is picked up and bagged. Then aid the cook in dinner preparations.
We start our trek, slow and a steady up we toil.
At this altitude of 10,000 feet, the gnarled trees begin to look skimpier. They look as tired as we feel. The ground seems drier. Grass, what little there is, crunch under our boots.
We do not need much shade, as the sun has not been full on our backs. It is muted even more today.
We haven’t found any signs of early man by lunch time and that is taken in the little shade thrown by scraggly, beetle eaten trees. Branches are brown and thin. It is worrisome.
We see more animals too. They seem to be frantic, are grouping and running down the mountain. They make us nervous as we think they know something we do not know about. It is too quiet.
Where are the birds? The fire! How close? Should we be getting out of the area? Surely, the Forest Rangers would tell us to get out if we are in any danger. We calm a bit.
No finds all day much to the disgust of the assistant who was so hopeful. That is ok. We still had a good but tiring day.
Camp home looks good.
Our PI is there waiting. She could not get down the 2 track to the main road, as visibility was so bad further away from camp.
We are not pleased with her report and tell her about the animals. She saw many also. We are worried.
We talk about leaving, but then again decide Rangers would have notified us to get out if we were in harm’s way. She tells us she tried the car radio, still no reception.
We all pitch in to help with the dinner dishes and general clean up.
Showers are next. The branch has held, but the water is cold; the filtered sun has not warmed the water.
We decide not to have a campfire as everything looks, feels, and smells too dry. A swirling spark could get us into trouble.
We are tired, worried and go to bed early.
to be continued
Dark and early wake up calls again.
There should be a dawn light but it is dark.
The air is thick and smells acrid.
Bones and muscles have for all stopped their screams and moans. We are acclimated to the long, high treks and early morning hours.
Hunger needs to be satiated.
At breakfast, the PI announces she will go to town today. Her assistant will lead us on the survey. She is a bouncy little gal who sets a pace faster than we are used to. We will slow her down!
The daily camp chores are done by the stand-down person. We take turns at camp duties none of which is over-whelming.
After breakfast,the stand-down places lunch and goodies out on the long table for individuals to put together for the day; dishes washed; toilet paper restocked; surface trash, of which there is little is picked up and bagged. Then aid the cook in dinner preparations.
We start our trek, slow and a steady up we toil.
At this altitude of 10,000 feet, the gnarled trees begin to look skimpier. They look as tired as we feel. The ground seems drier. Grass, what little there is, crunch under our boots.
We do not need much shade, as the sun has not been full on our backs. It is muted even more today.
We haven’t found any signs of early man by lunch time and that is taken in the little shade thrown by scraggly, beetle eaten trees. Branches are brown and thin. It is worrisome.
We see more animals too. They seem to be frantic, are grouping and running down the mountain. They make us nervous as we think they know something we do not know about. It is too quiet.
Where are the birds? The fire! How close? Should we be getting out of the area? Surely, the Forest Rangers would tell us to get out if we are in any danger. We calm a bit.
No finds all day much to the disgust of the assistant who was so hopeful. That is ok. We still had a good but tiring day.
Camp home looks good.
Our PI is there waiting. She could not get down the 2 track to the main road, as visibility was so bad further away from camp.
We are not pleased with her report and tell her about the animals. She saw many also. We are worried.
We talk about leaving, but then again decide Rangers would have notified us to get out if we were in harm’s way. She tells us she tried the car radio, still no reception.
We all pitch in to help with the dinner dishes and general clean up.
Showers are next. The branch has held, but the water is cold; the filtered sun has not warmed the water.
We decide not to have a campfire as everything looks, feels, and smells too dry. A swirling spark could get us into trouble.
We are tired, worried and go to bed early.
to be continued
Sunday, November 14, 2010
The Search Day 4
Camp News:
My God! It is dark. It is hard to get out of bed. The alarms shriek.
The air is thick and smelly. Some of us are coughing. The fires must be nearby but we cannot see them.
Today we will be higher on our search, about a thousand feet above where the projectile point was located yesterday. Smokers have decided to quit, as the air is thick! The sun is warm but muted again. It seems filtered.
Our daypacks seem lighter. The trek easier with less brush and rock to deal with. There are no trails. We have turned south which takes us up to a high flat basin area. Mountains surround the tiny basin. We have no view to speak of other than the next high mountain and the low open basin.
We noticed some animals today. Usually they manage to stay out of sight but today they run openly before us. The lake where we ate lunch has a funny dusting of ash on it. We saw a few small animals in the water. The fires must be bigger and closer than we imagined.
The PI mentions a need to go to town 2 hours away and she will check on the fires. We have not had contact with anyone outside our camp since we arrived 5 days ago. None of us thought to bring a radio. Several of us have tried our car radios but there is nothing but static so we are truly out of touch with the world.
It is wonderful to leave the world behind for this short time. No one cares about anything other than our work and our simple camp life.
So far, the personalities of all seem to mesh quite well. The PI has chosen her crew well. There is a mutual respect with acknowledgement of differences in experience and desires. We are working well together. The gentle teasing has begun which is a good sign of camaraderie; of becoming a family.
As we leave our lunch area K. notices a light scatter of lithics. We noodle about the area and find a Clovis projectile point base, stone debitage and an outré passé flake.
Clovis is the only stone technologist in North America to do this type of knapping with resultant outré passe flake. We have found the earliest Paleoindian — they were here right where we had lunch! We are excited. We are exhilarated.
Mapping takes up the rest of afternoon and it is really getting dark; we will arrive in camp in the dark — not good.
Solar showers will be cold. UGH!
After a wonderful Italian dinner, more chatter around campfire about early man.
Is there an Old world, Solutrean, tie-in as some speculate? Did early man cross the Atlantic Ocean? Or, did early man walk across the Bering Straits as the glaciers receded and opened up a land bridge from the north?
Bedtime is really early as we are super tired.
The long 10 hour, higher altitude trek has us exhausted.
Dreams are a mix of paleo questions and psychedelic firings of our oxygen starved brains.
to be continued
My God! It is dark. It is hard to get out of bed. The alarms shriek.
The air is thick and smelly. Some of us are coughing. The fires must be nearby but we cannot see them.
Today we will be higher on our search, about a thousand feet above where the projectile point was located yesterday. Smokers have decided to quit, as the air is thick! The sun is warm but muted again. It seems filtered.
Our daypacks seem lighter. The trek easier with less brush and rock to deal with. There are no trails. We have turned south which takes us up to a high flat basin area. Mountains surround the tiny basin. We have no view to speak of other than the next high mountain and the low open basin.
We noticed some animals today. Usually they manage to stay out of sight but today they run openly before us. The lake where we ate lunch has a funny dusting of ash on it. We saw a few small animals in the water. The fires must be bigger and closer than we imagined.
The PI mentions a need to go to town 2 hours away and she will check on the fires. We have not had contact with anyone outside our camp since we arrived 5 days ago. None of us thought to bring a radio. Several of us have tried our car radios but there is nothing but static so we are truly out of touch with the world.
It is wonderful to leave the world behind for this short time. No one cares about anything other than our work and our simple camp life.
So far, the personalities of all seem to mesh quite well. The PI has chosen her crew well. There is a mutual respect with acknowledgement of differences in experience and desires. We are working well together. The gentle teasing has begun which is a good sign of camaraderie; of becoming a family.
As we leave our lunch area K. notices a light scatter of lithics. We noodle about the area and find a Clovis projectile point base, stone debitage and an outré passé flake.
Clovis is the only stone technologist in North America to do this type of knapping with resultant outré passe flake. We have found the earliest Paleoindian — they were here right where we had lunch! We are excited. We are exhilarated.
Mapping takes up the rest of afternoon and it is really getting dark; we will arrive in camp in the dark — not good.
Solar showers will be cold. UGH!
After a wonderful Italian dinner, more chatter around campfire about early man.
Is there an Old world, Solutrean, tie-in as some speculate? Did early man cross the Atlantic Ocean? Or, did early man walk across the Bering Straits as the glaciers receded and opened up a land bridge from the north?
Bedtime is really early as we are super tired.
The long 10 hour, higher altitude trek has us exhausted.
Dreams are a mix of paleo questions and psychedelic firings of our oxygen starved brains.
to be continued
Sunday, November 7, 2010
The Search Day 3
Camp news:
Alarms go off at 5 am. Early start of our day is necessary but, wow! A few more minutes of sleep would be great especially since it is dark.
We stumble and grumble to breakfast. Jeanne knows we need extra fat to sustain us at altitude and for the long treks. Breakfast is good and provides us with what we need, want or crave.
This day is longer in time and length of trek. We are getting stronger; we huff and puff less even though we are higher in altitude. Our daypacks are heavy. Our muscles moan. Some bones talk to us.
We climb and stumble our way up. One skinned shin is in need of attention. Be wary of the rocks, some look stable only to roll underfoot and throw one off balance. New lessons are learned along the hard way.
As usual, we comb open areas and crisp babbling stream-sides for any sign of early man.
The sun looks strange again today. The day is darker. There is a little breeze. Fires must be huge and close by.
Lunch break is again time for chatter about our work.
We found a paleo-point (arrowhead) just before lunch; mapping and paperwork are done and the high fives to M. for finding it. Good eye, M! So know we know they were here!
The archaeology model “Sundance” is good. Whoever wrote it knew what they were doing! We have the proof and we know more is to come.
Back at camp, showered we eat and talk about the find.
Excitement reigns.
What will our next day bring?
We will do a 10-hour trek tomorrow and will be at about 9000 feet.
to be continued
Alarms go off at 5 am. Early start of our day is necessary but, wow! A few more minutes of sleep would be great especially since it is dark.
We stumble and grumble to breakfast. Jeanne knows we need extra fat to sustain us at altitude and for the long treks. Breakfast is good and provides us with what we need, want or crave.
This day is longer in time and length of trek. We are getting stronger; we huff and puff less even though we are higher in altitude. Our daypacks are heavy. Our muscles moan. Some bones talk to us.
We climb and stumble our way up. One skinned shin is in need of attention. Be wary of the rocks, some look stable only to roll underfoot and throw one off balance. New lessons are learned along the hard way.
As usual, we comb open areas and crisp babbling stream-sides for any sign of early man.
The sun looks strange again today. The day is darker. There is a little breeze. Fires must be huge and close by.
Lunch break is again time for chatter about our work.
We found a paleo-point (arrowhead) just before lunch; mapping and paperwork are done and the high fives to M. for finding it. Good eye, M! So know we know they were here!
The archaeology model “Sundance” is good. Whoever wrote it knew what they were doing! We have the proof and we know more is to come.
Back at camp, showered we eat and talk about the find.
Excitement reigns.
What will our next day bring?
We will do a 10-hour trek tomorrow and will be at about 9000 feet.
to be continued
Sunday, October 31, 2010
The Search Day 2
Camp news:
Wake up calls from the alarms shrill thru the camp. Breakfast is healthy and filling.
The air is dusty today. The sun seems lightly muted.
Our trek along a ridge takes us to 8000 feet. We huff and puff but continue our search. We scramble over rocky and cliff type terrain. There is not much bramble and brush to impede our progress. The trees are our umbrellas.
We stop our trek and survey each open area we come to. Rock shelters are peered into. Nothing! It is warm but comfortable up here.
Self-packed lunch eaten next to a small cool lake is a welcomed relief from the scramble of ups and downs we have been through.
The sun looks strange. We talk about it. Must be a forest fire nearby, we decide.
The day of searching continues. Heads down, eyes searching the ground but there is nothing.
We take a slightly different path home still nothing is found along the way.
Sitting around the campfire after a wonderful dinner, talk turns to why we are at altitude.
Why look here in this inhospitable environment for early man?
The PI tells us that early man was known as big game hunter and big game seemed be drawn to the thawing glacier’s edges. The glaciers drip nitrates, a natural fertilizer. As they melt the abundant growth of fine fern and moss resulted, the big game animal was attracted to the nutritious feed. Early man, it is presumed, followed the herd.
Ah! So early man was one clever individual we agree. He knew where to find food. We can find our kitchen!
The branch has held. Showered and early to bed, as we are tired; 7 miles and a long 8 hour day!
to be continued
Wake up calls from the alarms shrill thru the camp. Breakfast is healthy and filling.
The air is dusty today. The sun seems lightly muted.
Our trek along a ridge takes us to 8000 feet. We huff and puff but continue our search. We scramble over rocky and cliff type terrain. There is not much bramble and brush to impede our progress. The trees are our umbrellas.
We stop our trek and survey each open area we come to. Rock shelters are peered into. Nothing! It is warm but comfortable up here.
Self-packed lunch eaten next to a small cool lake is a welcomed relief from the scramble of ups and downs we have been through.
The sun looks strange. We talk about it. Must be a forest fire nearby, we decide.
The day of searching continues. Heads down, eyes searching the ground but there is nothing.
We take a slightly different path home still nothing is found along the way.
Sitting around the campfire after a wonderful dinner, talk turns to why we are at altitude.
Why look here in this inhospitable environment for early man?
The PI tells us that early man was known as big game hunter and big game seemed be drawn to the thawing glacier’s edges. The glaciers drip nitrates, a natural fertilizer. As they melt the abundant growth of fine fern and moss resulted, the big game animal was attracted to the nutritious feed. Early man, it is presumed, followed the herd.
Ah! So early man was one clever individual we agree. He knew where to find food. We can find our kitchen!
The branch has held. Showered and early to bed, as we are tired; 7 miles and a long 8 hour day!
to be continued
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