Sunday, October 30, 2005

Unqualified

East of Mesa AZ -- So I hear -- I live too far from the phone company, now that I have finally managaged to escape from suburbia. the price of this escape may be high. I get well water now instead of the colorado river. I am "Unqualified" for the DSL service. The down side is -- My web site will be down for a bit longer. There is no sign of the pearly cat's sister bamboozle -- I fear the worst.

Saturday, October 29, 2005

The Cat Owl.

Hoot owl, by shawn kielty © 2005 Shawn Kielty. All rights Reserved.
© 2005, Shawn Kielty. All rights reserved.

PearltheCat is mighty upset right now and a bit bemused at the apparent loss of her sister Bamboo -- and her subsequent grounding (No more late nights out for that girl) -- what is a cat if not free? According to this article the horned owl can and will kill domestic cats. It seems that the site is ambiguous about the benefit and value of the domestic cat to humans, but really clear about the value of the wild birds the domestic cats kill. Despite the appearance of a large amount of credibility -- i.e. "The Raptor Center", the quality of the writing seems to defy that. To wit:

"Economic Importance for Humans
Positive
The great horned owl controls harmful rat and mice populations throughout the United States. They kill domestic cats which in turn would have killed wild birds that humans value.
Negative
The great horned owl is capable of destroying game birds and animals. Poultry is also a favorite of the owls because they are easily captured. The occasional domestic cat can also fall victim to the great horned owl."

Get out the shotgun camera comrades. I am sorry -- I fail to see the economic importance of a great horned owl eating my cat -- or what exactly about that is positive. Can we try harder next time?

He (the cat eating owl) is right in the yard -- every night except tonight. Maybe the rock band next door is interfering with his ability to hunt cats . Maybe the cat he ate the other night is keeping him so full he can share with the vultures and doesn't have to hunt. Perhaps he has died from indigestion.

Pearl the Cat was reading over my shoulder and suggested I post her picture on this man's map. I think that she thought that might make me feel better. I think maybe she is bored because I won't let her go out and play tease the coyotes.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Out of touch for a bit

I will -- for the most part -- be off line till Friday -- due to the move. If I ever find my cats -- I will be happy. Email will be sparsely responded to, but for the most part not read and thrown away. See you later in the week.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Coyotes

© Shawn Kielty 2005. All rights reserved.



... my cats are getting nervous. They don't know that they are in danger -- they are just nervous because the normal stuff in their home is leaving. They don't know that they are about to displace a family of coyotes. They don't realize that thier outdoor world is going to include real predators -- like great horned owls, racoons and coyotes. But they are nervous. I fear for them. I know that when they lived in the junkyard in Hayward, CA that they were in danger. Their psycho mother -- the black attack cat bitch -- protected them.

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Re-entry

My shoes on the beach. © Shawn Kielty, 2005.  All rights reserved.

It is hard to summarize a trip like this, twelve days on a raft, the Colorado River, infinite detail. I have returned. Re-entry is a bit confusing and the various parts of my body hurt. It was good. I saw a condor. Everything is dirty and there is sand in every place possible. There are some 700 images and laundry to do ... There will be more later.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Trip Day


© Shawn Kielty, 2005, all rights reserved.

Remember, "Super GlueTM is good for cracked skin."

Enter the wilderness. Some things, you gotta do alone. Be healthy, keep your wits, be smart, carry a flashlight and use your sense of smell. Protect yourself at all costs. Pay attention, because the pre-game show is over. As I pack the final items, I worry because this is the first guided tour I have ever taken of the wilderness, I might bring the wrong drinks, or the wrong kind of soap. It's a mediated experience of the wilderness, not my first. But my first like this. I usually go into the wilderness alone or with a disciple. It's easier that way. If I screw up, I suffer the consequences (my poor disciple). I hope I'll know what to look at, when to take a picture. I have the perfect luggage and a purple shirt -- so I think I'll be ok.
As my father always said in every case when things were uncomfortable, "It's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick." Hopefully, the river gods will be benevolent. Maybe, later I'll have a good story to tell.

I'll see you on the other side.

Monday, September 5, 2005

My Favorite Mile



Photo Chris Raye, © 2005, all rights reserved.

Oh man -- yesterday I made my first ascent of Camelback, via Echo Canyon, 1200 ft verticle over 1.2 miles. A young woman passed me on the way up. She smelled sweet like sweat while I was dying behind her, feeling old. Yep, I hiked that mile. I only had to break a few times. She reminded me of what I once lived for. What I once was.

My favorite mile now isn't that one. It's less seductive. Camelback is filled with gorgeous people. Beautiful people. It has fences and handrails, and GucciTM sunglasses, and expansive views -- and is a very serious mile. There is glamour in it. I hear it is the toughest of the seven Phoenix peaks.

The first mile and back of the hike to the wind cave on pass mountain has no glamour; this is my mile or two. What I want is this - a moderate to strenous hike -- on a good trail . I want to go there everyday, before breakfast. Later in my life I can run it.

This hike gets tougher as you go -- 1.6 miles to the wind cave on pass mountain. It is about 10 minutes from my house, and about an hour round trip.

Monday, July 25, 2005


Danielle and Skip at the start of the Virgin River Narrows in Zion Canyon.
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Friday, July 22, 2005


Upper Emerald Pool
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Falls at Lower Emerald Pool
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Danielle Along the Trail to the Emerald Pools
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Upper Emerald Pool
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Lower Emerald Pool in Zion Canyon
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Middle Emerald Pool
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Exposed Roots at Emerald Pools
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Danielle at Upper Emerald Pool in Zion Canyon
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Upper Emerald Pool
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Thursday, July 21, 2005


Getting Down
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Travertine Falls. It's warm actually.
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.

Back in slowly.
Copyright 2005, Shawn Kielty, all rights reserved.