A Brief History of Western Society

The following is a dumbed down culture sketch I composed for an Anthropology and Language class:

The Beginning

The Universe was born from an infinitely hot, infinitely dense singularity which exploded some 14 billion years ago. From this explosion, known as the Big Bang, all matter comes. Within three minutes of this event, the fundamental elements were born. A billion years later, the first stars and galaxies formed. Our sun was born five billion years ago and the earth, five hundred million years after that (“Origins”). Nearly four billion years ago, life first appeared on planet earth. In a process called evolution life progresses from simple, single celled organisms to more complex organisms over large periods of time. A half a billion years ago the first fish swam in the oceans around the same time plants first colonized land. Fifty million years later and animal life could be found on land. The earliest mammals roamed the earth alongside dinosaurs as early as two hundred million years ago. Hominids, the humanlike primates that are our direct ancestors, split from our nearest relatives around five million years ago. Finally, within the last five hundred thousand years, modern man came into being in the heart of Africa and over the last forty thousand years, has colonized the world (Gould 25).

History

Western society can trace its origins back to the development of hydraulic agriculture in the major river valleys of the Middle East some five thousand years ago. The success of irrigation practices led to a doubling in the world population in the two thousand years that followed (Mazouyer and Roudart 25). Additionally, more efficient agricultural practices meant fewer individuals could supply food for a greater number of people. This increased efficiency allowed for the invention and practice of many occupations other than agriculture (Peters-Golden 22)). A direct consequence of this was the socio-cultural evolution of man through increased complexities of language, culture, and political and economic systems. The advent of irrigation could be considered a mass crossing of the “First Rubicon.” Once this event occurred, the world could not go back.

From Mesopotamia, the practice, as well as the culture and language spread west. This is best evidenced by the existence of a common ancestor to nearly all Indo-European languages. In 1926 archaeologist V. Gordon Child provided evidence for this common language by compiling a list of common words shared between vastly different Indo-European languages (such as Celtic and Sanskrit). In all, he found sixty six nouns in common including fifteen involving the practice of agriculture, indicating that this mother language came from an agricultural society (Brody 145). Colin Renfrew, in an earlier work had speculated that this would be the case and commented on the spread of agriculture by saying:

The new economy of farming allowed the population in each area to rise, over just a few centuries from perhaps 0.1 person per square kilometere to something like 5 or 10… this would gradually result in the peopleing of the whole of Europe by a farming population, the descendants of the first European farmers…in that case we would expect the language of those first farmers…to be carried across the whole of Europe (150).

It is however, worth noting that irrigation was not a unique discovery of the ancient Mesopotamia but was also practiced in China, India, Southeast Asia, and in the Americas where it similarly spread. So why then was it Europe that came to dominate the world politically, economically, and culturally? The advent of the animal drawn plow and the practice of fallowing (Mazouyer and Roudart 25).

These further increases in agricultural efficiency led to even larger increases in population. In just a century during the Middle Ages the European population tripled (Mazouyer and Roudart 25). These population explosions led to additional socio-cultural evolution and increased political complexity. With large populations and surpluses of food, large and complex political systems were required to manage resources and economies.

Eventually, technological and agricultural developments in Europe combined to create populations that could not be sustained on the resources of the region. This resource deficiency led to colonialism which established Western culture as the dominant culture in the world and created a social schism between Westerners and the rest of the world. Other cultures that stood in the way of the Western machine, whether they be hunter gatherers, pastoralists, small scale agriculturalists, or even major civilizations were forced to either conform or to be destroyed.

Today, further technological increases in agriculture, industrialization, and medicine have led to even more dramatic increases in population. Over the last century alone the world population has more than quadrupled from around 1.5 billion to nearly 7 billion (United States). While colonialism has technically come to an end, globalization is now the dominating force of the world. Globalization allows for goods, food, ideas, and culture to be shared around the world as if people living across oceans were neighbors. This results in a global economy and the homogenization of culture. People are given incentives to put their culture, language, and individual identity aside and to learn English and either grow crops that are of value in some first world country or labor to manufacture products of global worth.

Political System

Modern Western society is composed of a number of individual states which are interdependent of each other. These states vary minorly in individual characteristics such as financial systems, religions, and customs, but the forces of globalization require relative homogeneity.

While each individual state may have its own system of government. The Western world has a rough system in place that establishes control over the constituent states. Actual organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, exist which attempt to set rules and provide consequences for the violation of those rules. These organizations however, lack the power to truly enforce these rules as most states show more allegiance to their own interests than they do these global organizations. In lieu of a more formal global government, the majority of the political power on the global level is in the hands of the corporations and states which control vital resources. As the primary source of energy for the Western world, oil is a valuable resource that can be wielded by the countries that possess it to exert international power. Similarly, the production of food is being consolidated into the hands of a few powerful corporations. Multi-national companies like Monsanto are able to wield more and more power as they control increasing amounts of the market share of many of the world’s major food staples.

Economic System

The global economy of the Western world is a large, complex organism that operates beyond the control of individuals. Specialization has become a fixture in the global market as more and more people and countries specialize in producing one particular crop or product that will maximize their profits.

With agriculture being the main source of food in the world and agricultural practices becoming increasingly efficient, less and less people are directly responsible for producing their own food. This allows individuals to contribute to society in other areas such as the manufacturing of goods or in the service industry. For their labors they are compensated in the unit of currency used by their respective state, the value of which is rooted in the faith of the people rather than in material worth.

In Western society, generalized recipricocity is rarely practiced except perhaps among individuals on a small scale. While redistribution of wealth has historically been attempted in the Western world, it has been unsuccessful and is rarely practiced any longer. Rather it is the market principle of capitalism which dominates Western economies.

Social System

The majority of Western sub-cultures are patrileneal with the last name of the father being passed on to the son and the wife taking the last name of the husband. In historic European society, eldest sons were often the sole inheritors of their father’s possessions; this practice however, is no longer widespread.

The Western world has a roughly open-class social system where the main tool for achieving social mobility is money, though other factors are certainly present. While anyone of any race or sex can achieve social mobility given enough money, the opportunities to earn money are far from equal. It may be true that women and minorities aren’t as socially limited as they have been in the past, they are still very much limited by these historical prejudices. However, the greatest opposition in achieving money, and therefore social mobility, is lack of money. As an example, an individual born in a third world country has a nearly non-existent chance at earning the kind of money that would allow for social mobility, regardless of work ethic. On the other hand, someone born to a wealthy family in a first world country has an excellent chance of maintaining their wealth. In this regard, the wealth you are born into is the largest factor in achieving social mobility. The same is true of states; it is much easier for those with money and power to maintain it, such as most traditional Western states, than it is for third world countries to attain it. For many in this Western world the deck is stacked against them.

Religion

Westerners hold an anthropocentric worldview. This worldview finds its roots in the creation myth that is the basis for a family of traditional religions (called Abrahamic) that were widely popular in Europe for around fifteen hundred years. In this myth, an all knowing, all powerful god creates man and tells him, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth” (Holy Bible, Genesis 1.28)

Though the Western worldview finds its roots in this story, these religions have been gradually losing their influence since the Enlightenment due to the increasing influence of science. Though these religions are still practiced by a large portion of people, science has replaced these systems of belief as the ultimate explanation of reality.

One of the most significant elements of the religion of science is the belief in progress. Progress is the idea that more technology, more efficient agriculture, and better medicine all lead to a better world. This idea that socio-cultural evolution always yields positive results has been a widely held belief for thousands of years. Whereas historically Westerners believed their fate lay in the hands of a deity who created man in his image, they now believe that the laws of science alone govern their fate and through progress man can gain control.

Brody, Hugh. The Other Side of Eden: Hunters, Farmers, and the Shaping of the World. New York: North Point Press, 2001.

Gould, Stephen Jay, ed. The Book of Life: An Illustrated History of the Evolution of Life on Earth. Hong Kong: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.

Holy Bible: A New American Standard Translation. La Habra: Lockman Foundation. 1995.

Mazoyer, Marcel, and Laurence Roudart. A History of World Agriculture: From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis. London: Earthscan, 2006.

Origins: History of the Universe. Jul. 2004. NOVA, Public Broadcasting Service. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/origins/universe.html>

Peters Golden, Holly. Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology. New York: McGraw Hill, 2006.

Renfrew, Colin. Archaeology and Language. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.

United States. Census Bureau. Historical Estimates of World Population. 16 Oct. 2008. <http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/worldhis.html>

The Cosmological Constant

For those who don't know, the cosmological constant was originally proposed by Albert Einstein to account for the expansion of the universe (which he believed to be static). He later called would call it the "biggest blunder" of his career. Ironically, in the 1990's the cosmological constant went through somewhat of a renaissance as cosmologists struggled to describe the accelerating rate of an expanding universe and turned to the cosmological constant. What Einstein once considered to be his biggest blunder has now been experimentally verified and exists in accordance with modern cosmological theory. What are the implications of a universe expanding at an accelerating rate? They are many and far reaching. Before I delve into the interesting possibilities this entails, I shall offer a brief explanation of the relevant cosmological science necessary to understand these ideas. Consider a projectile is trying to escape the earth’s gravitational pull. It starts with an initial velocity after being launched from a super strong catapult and has a rocket strapped to it that gives it a constant acceleration. The acceleration given to this projectile by the rocket isn’t as strong as that of the earth’s gravity so the projectile is going to need to rely on its initial velocity to escape the earth’s gravitational pull. There is a specific distance from the earth that the acceleration of the projectile (which is constant) will eventually overtake that of gravity (which lessens as we get further from the center of the earth), lets call this distance Distance X. On the earth’s surface lets say the rocket gives the projectile an acceleration of 5m/s^2 and the acceleration due to earths gravity is -9.8m/s^2, this gives the object a net acceleration of -4.8m/s^2 at the surface of the earth. But as we move further and further from earth the effect of gravity becomes less and less until eventually, the acceleration that the projectile experiences due to the rocket equals the acceleration of gravity at that distance. At this distance, Distance X, the net acceleration is zero, because the acceleration of the projectile is +5m/s^2 and the acceleration due to gravity is -5m/s^2.

For every second that the projectile approaches Distance X the projectile gets slower and slower, although the rate which the object slows at is decreasing as the acceleration due to gravity becomes less and less. Therefore in order for the projectile to reach Distance X it needs to have an initial velocity greater then or equal to the escape velocity required to leave a mass with an acceleration due to gravity of -4.8m/s^2. The velocity of the object at Distance X can be infinitesimally small; it just needs to be greater than 0 in order for the object to move outward forever. If the initial velocity is less then this escape velocity (which is a real, calculable number) then the object will plummet back to earth. But if indeed the initial velocity of the object is great enough for it to reach Distance X, the net acceleration of the object (which has its own constant acceleration) will begin to increase until the effect of gravity is negligible and the only acceleration acting on the object will be the objects own, constant acceleration.

In this example we can consider the projectile to be all of the matter in the universe and the rocket strapped to the projectile to be the cosmological constant. If the cosmological constant is not great enough to overcome the gravitational pull opposing the expansion of the universe, all of the matter will collapse back in on itself in what is known as the Big Crunch. But the universe is not collapsing in on itself, nor is it expanding at a decelerating or constant rate, rather, space itself is expanding at an accelerating rate, and with it, all of the matter in the universe. (A great way to illustrate this is to mark three points on a deflated balloon and measure their distance apart, then blow the balloon up and measure their distance again. The expansion of space is similar to that of the balloon, three objects can lie along a straight line and all three will experience an increase in distance between them! Think about if this would be possible if the universe wasn't expanding...try the same exercise on a piece of paper.)

What does this mean? Well, for starters it means that the Universe is expanding and will continue to do so indefinitely. This means not only that galaxies will continue to move further away from each other, but that space itself is expanding. While matter may not move faster than the speed of light, as governed by the laws of relativity, space is not governed by such laws and as this expansion is occurring at an increasing rate, eventually space will expand faster than the speed of light!

This is not the only implication of a universe expanding at an increasing rate however, there are other interesting consequences! The cosmological constant (omega) has already overcome gravity over large distances, as evidenced by the redshift of galaxies. If this were not the case these galaxies would not be accelerating away from us but would be experiencing an acceleration due to gravity (think again of the projectile example, if omega (the rocket) was not large enough the galaxies (planets) would fall back towards each other (earth)). BUT the cosmological constant IS large enough and the galaxies ARE moving away at an accelerating rate. Since this rate of expansion is increasing asymptotically, so will the effects of this expansive force. Eventually the force of gravity will be overcome by this force, first gravitational force between galaxies will be overwhelmed (already done), then the galaxies themselves will start to break apart, and then planets will break off of solar systems, etc. This will happen on continuously smaller scales until eventually, the gravitational forces that hold planets such as the earth together will be overwhelmed!

Once omega has dispatched gravity, the weakest of the four fundamental forces, it will move on to the other forces. Eventually, electromagnetic forces will be overwhelmed and even further down the road, the strong and weak nuclear forces will be overwhelmed, breaking down the matter of the universe even further. Omega will keep increasing in strength until eventually, matter reaches its fundamental units and cannot be broken down any further. What will happen past this point? One can only guess...perhaps when omega breaks whatever bonds there are that make an electron an electron an infinite number of big bangs will occur, starting an infinite number of new universes on completely different spatial scales!

What particularly interests me about this problem is the consequences this has for black holes. Black holes are collapsed stars whose masses were so great that once their internal reactors stopped producing energy (and providing an outward force, in opposition to gravity) they collapsed to a density so great that the gravitational pull reached a magnitude where nothing, not even light, could escape. But if omega is going to increase in strength until it eventually overwhelms the force of gravity, what will this mean for black holes? Black holes have remained an interesting problem for physicists, some of whom have dedicated their entire careers to the study of the subject. Certainly a mathematical model with an increasing spatial scale would prove an interesting problem for a theoretical black holes physicist. At any rate, it is interesting to ponder what one would see if you were sitting on the edge of the event horizon of a black hole at the very moment that its gravitational pull was overwhelmed by the expansion of space!

Worthwhile Knowledge

Now that I've posted my bit about our current economic dilemma, I want to reflect on the importance of the issue more broadly. Specifically: is it worth thinking about all this stuff?

I've often wondered if it is indeed worth it as I watch my friend become fixated on issues of politics and economics. His efforts typically reveal truly scary revelations that are initially hard to digest but upon even minimal investigation, are even harder to refute. To hear him talk of such things he often sounds like a mad man and most people would think of him as such, but as someone who knows him well I can see that he is just being honest and not guarding himself in his discussions with me. Most of us wear our masks and say what is expected of us so as to not ruffle any feathers but my friend is always open and honest with me. I value this in him, even though I admit that I too sometimes think he might be going a little too far. And in the pursuit of knowledge such as this, there is such a thing as too far. Once people find the truth, it is often so remarkable and unbelievable, that they start to find other things that aren't really there. In this quest for truth it is important to take everything you hear with a grain of salt so as to not get lost down the rabbit hole.

This endeavor requires constant vigilance in cutting through government propaganda on one end and conspiracy propaganda on another. When I see my friend get overly excited or read something overly outrageous, I wonder to myself, "What utility does this information even have? Is it valuable to know this stuff?" The answer to this question is very important because it is easy to become so consumed by an endeavor that we lose sight of its objective. So is there a point to all of this? I think the answer is yes.

While I may not personally solve any of these issues, there is certainly value in having this knowledge. To me, the ultimate question in life is, "How can I best live my life?" If I could completely answer that question, what else would I need? Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is nothing. Knowledge is not an end in and of itself. But knowledge can help us in our understanding of our universe and it is this understanding which shapes and defines who we are and how we answer the question, "How can I best live my life?" So while knowledge may not have any intrinsic value on its own, its worth is without limit.

In that same regard, an understanding of these issues of economics and politics can help provide shape to this society we live in and equip us to better make decisions about how we can best live our lives within it. While this is certainly not the whole shebang, it is an important part of the puzzle that we can no longer ignore.

On the Economy

A friend of mine spends a lot of time surfing the internet in an effort to attain a greater understanding of this world. He and I share a lot of ideas, including a similar world view. Lately he has spent a great deal of time learning about this financial crisis that we seem to be slipping further and further into. He's learned a great deal about our political and economic systems and found some people who seem to have a good bearing on what's going on. By "some people" I don't mean Wolf Blitzer, Tom Friedman, Bill O'Reilly, George Bush, or Barrack Obama (to arbitrarily pick some popular names), but people who have what seems to be a true understanding of what's going on. What I've learned from him is quite frightening. The more I find out about this situation, the more frightening it is.

Sadly, this situation is far worse than it seems. The people who have gotten us into this mess are the same ones that own/run the Fed, they are the same ones who run the corporations that control the media, and they are the same ones that run the corporations that run the country. There's a revolving door between the treasury department, the fed, and these big banks so these corporations get to have their cake and eat it too. Taxpayers get the short end of the stick: when these big banks profit, we don't see a cent, when they gamble recklessly and fail, we fill their pockets with our money anyway and tell them it's okay! This industry either needs much more regulation or none at all. If we regulate, then this problem doesn't happen because these corporations aren't allowed to take these gambles. But do you trust the government to regulate? After all, it is the corporations that are running the government... If you want evidence of this look at who Henry Paulson and Alan Greenspan worked for before they worked for the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve, respectively. If government regulation won't work, then why not let the invisible hand of the market self-regulate? That way, with no one waiting to catch these corporations when they fall, they will be far less likely to make these wild gambles. Sure from time to time companies will bust, and that would mean hard times for the US right now, but if we continue on with our current practice of non-regulation and then bailout, the entire system has the potential to bust!

In short, unless the United States radically changes the way it does business, and soon, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. Hopefully we can figure it out before the bubble bursts, if not it might be a long time until we figure out where the bottom of this mess is.

Here's a great website about these issues:
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/

The blog

Well, I've settled on a new format and I think the site looks good. Hopefully I'll be writing here regularly from now on, and not just on wonderfully trivial things such as fire drills. More to come.

Question

If you could live an ideal life, however you may define it, but upon your death the world would turn off like a TV set, would you choose the ideal life?

Why or why not? This isn't as simple as it seems...

I think this is an important question to answer for yourself in trying to determine how you'd like to lead your life.

Whiteoak Canyon and Nicholson Hollow

I ended up finding a nice little circuit hike in the Old Rag area that would put us in position to climb Old Rag as part of the circuit. Weather ended up preventing us from bagging the rag though as it was not only pouring, but our 30lbs packs were soaked with water, adding a nice bit of weight!

Brian and Cip got down to College Park at around 6 o'clock and we ran a few errands and grabbed dinner, managing to finally leave at nearly 9. We made it down to the Whiteoak Canyon parking area from the easter boundary of the park at about 11pm on Friday night. We threw on our headlamps and started looking for a campsite along the trail immediately. Most of Whiteoak Canyon is off limits for camping so we had to find something in the first half mile which was, as you can imagine, fine with us at the time. We managed to find a nice little spot on a ledge about 10 meters up and off the trail that didn't require too much clearing. We made camp, had a bit of whiskey and got to sleep by 1am.

We got a late start the next morning. I was the first up at 8am and got the bear bag and made breakfast before waking up Brian, Cip, and Sophie. A few people had passed us on the trail in the morning but by the time we hit the trail by 9am there still hadn't been as much traffic as I'd feared. The hike was beautiful! We marched right along this gorgeous little creek for the first stretch and were mesmerized by its beauty until SMACK! we ran right into the Lower Falls (left) which were much bigger and more spectacular than I had even hoped.

From there, the trail started to gain elevation at a pretty good clip. Switchbacks took us up from the bottom of the falls up a few hundred feet. Sophie started to have some trouble and I could tell it was a bit more than she had bargained for. But she kept on moving and didn't complain much. Truthfully I was pretty thankful for the breaks. This was the first time I've had the pack on for the year so I was more than happy to take my time!

The lower falls was the last of three waterfalls in a stretch along the Whiteoak Canyon Trail., followed by three others a bit up the trail. None of us remember seeing a "first" waterfall but I can't imagine that we missed it considering the trail was right on the water. As spectacular as the lower falls were they just keep on getting better in the next cluster of falls further up. And as you can imagine, where there are waterfalls there is elevation to gain. The trail kept going up up up and the miles weren't coming easily.

We took a break at the first of the waterfalls in the next stretch and had a lot of fun just fooling around on the rock bed that the stream had carved a path from. We were able to stand on top of a waterfall of about 30 ft in height. It was quite a view! I think this place would be an unbelievable place to swim when its warmer (not down the falls!). There are a few natural slides and pools that look like they were made from lounging.

After passing a few spectacular falls I had assumed that we had seen the upper falls and was looking for the horse trail when we kind of stumbled onto the upper falls (above right). Man what a site!! It really just blew my mind. There was even a cliff overlooking the falls as if God decided they deserved a viewing platform!

We spent a few minutes snapping pictures and just taking in the falls before we continued on. The horse trail that would take us to Old Rag Fire Road met us at the Upper Falls. We spent an easy mile on that and another on the Fire Road before turning up to get to Nicholson Hollow. The trail descended for a good two miles through a stretch of dead forest. It was kind of eerie and felt empty. No birds sang and it was nearly devoid of color.

Once we made it down into Nicholson Hollow things improved. Most of the hike was along a beautiful little stream. Cip and I kept stopping and admiring holes that surely held some brookies. We were supposed to look for a campsite in the first mile or so but ended up hiking the better part of the five mile trail before finding a spot on an island in the middle of the creek that worked out. We set up camp and then Cip and I hopped in the water to clean off. It was pretty cold but it was amazing. I've never felt more refreshed!

We spent most of the afternoon recovering from out first trip of the season and were able to enjoy being right on the creek. Sophie took a nap while Brian, Cip, and I played some Rummy. I dominated and then Cip got lucky and set me back a few and took the W. (This theme became common for the evening). We were pretty hungry so we had dinner at about 6. Brian, Sophie, and I shared a few Mountain House meals while Cip chowed down on some Spam and baked beans. After dinner we taught Sophie how to play rummy and then played another round. I jumped out to a huge lead after the first two round and then hit a run of bad cards and bombed to last place. Somehow Sophie actually ended up winning which was a pleasant surprise. After dinner we dug a fire pit and set up some stones around it and tried to make a small (albeit illegal) fire but were forced into our tents by some rain.

It ended up raining on and off pretty hard most of the night and the next day we decided that on a wet trail with a heavy pack we would save Old Rag for another day. We ended up just hiking out to the Old Rag parking lot and taking 4 miles of fire roads back to the car. It actually was a pretty beautiful hike and was a welcome change of pace from the switchbacks we surely would have encountered on Old Rag. We made it back to the car around 11 and headed to a diner for our traditional post-backcountry chow down!!

-bdb

Rivers of Concrete

I often look at my car window as I pass a thicket of forest, or cross over a bridge and look down, hoping to find a creek. I wonder what it must have been like three hundred, four hundred, or maybe a thousand years ago. Were the ancestors of these trees giants? Was the creek filled with trout? Or did salmon once make their yearly runs here? Most of the time the bridge just crosses another concrete river. Even if I do find water it holds no trout. The trees are thirty or forty years old, they grew after the last farms sold their land to the developers. And they won’t last long either. Land is too valuable here; they could squeeze in another development filled with houses picked from a catalogue.

Shenandoah

This weekend I'll be headed down to Shenandoah with Brian, Cip, and Sophie. Brian and Cip are my two buddies from home who are headed out west with me. Sophieis the girlfriend. I'm hoping the trip can serve two purposes: 1) to test out our gear and see what kind of shape we are in and 2) to give Sophie a little glimpse of what my summer will be like. The latter is particularly important because she's had virtually no exposure to any of this sort of stuff (when purchasing hiking shoes she said "I wonder what I'll match these with," and was completely serious, lol).
Anyway, we're planning on climbing Old Rag and then getting into the backcountry a bit. It should be a fun weekend if the weather holds and will be a good chance to get my hands dirty again. Pictures and posts will follow the trip.

The Odyssey

My first post! Hopefully many more to come...

The following is a trip I'll be embarking on this summer. It started out as a dream last September and with two of my buddies graduating from school it grew some legs and kind of took off.

June 3^rd: Set out early morning

June 4^th: Continue drive, arrive at Denver.

June 5^th: Early start, drive 1 hour to Gray’s Peak to climb our first 14er, then drive 2 hours to Rocky Mountain NP and hike to our reserved Glacier Gorge camp spot

June 6^th: Hike during the day to our reserved Sourdough camp spot

June 7^th: Hike out to the car and drive 4 hours to Canon City and spend the night

June 8^th: White water rafting and then 5 hour drive out to Mount Sneffels

June 9^th: Climb Sneffels early morning then drive 3 hours to Mesa Verde and check that out for a couple hours, then drive 2 hours to Canyonlands NP and get a campground or motel for night

June 10^th: Hike Canyonlands Needles area and camp at reserved Chessler Park spot 2

June 11^th: Hike out of Canyonlands and drive an hour to Arches NP, do Devil’s Garden and Delicate Arch hikes and camp at reserved campground

June 12^th: Leave Arches and go check out Lake Powell (subject to change) about 3 hours away and spend night

June 13^th: Leave Powell and drive 5.5 hours to Grand Canyon and get ready for an alpine start for tomorrow’s hike

June 14^th: Leaving at about 4:30 we hike down South Kaibab trail to our reserved Bright Angel Camp

June 15^th: Leaving early we hike back out of the canyon and drive 4.5 hours to Zion NP

June 16^th: Hike the Narrows

June 17^th: Canyoneer the Subway route (16^th and 17^th plans could be swapped depending on when we get permit), then drive 3 hours to Las Vegas and get a room

June 18^th: Spend the day in Vegas, Kev flies out this day

June 19^th: Leave for Whitney Portal and camp there (4.5 hour drive)

June 20^th: Climb Whitney all day with alpine start

June 21^st: Drive 5 hours from Whitney Portal to Sequoia NP and camp there

June 22^nd: Spend the day and night in Sequoia NP

June 23^rd: Drive 4 hours to Pacific and then 2 hours north to Monterey Bay stopping at a beach or 2 on the way

June 24^th: Early morning skydive, then drive 4.5 hours to Yosemite NP, check out Yosemite Falls a little that night

June 25^th: Start our hike at Sunrise Trailhead (reserved) and reach our next camp near Cloud’s Rest

June 26^th: Climb Cloud’s Rest and descend other side, camp between Muir and Half Dome trails

June 27^th: Climb Half Dome, descend to our car through Mist Trail, find a place to sleep

June 28th: Drive 4 hours to San Francisco, spend day/night there

June 29^th: Drive 4 hours up to Lassen Volcanic NP, spend day/night, perhaps do Bumpass Hell and Cinder Cone trails

June 30^th: Drive 2 hours to Mount Shasta, practice self arrest and crevasse rescue for a few hours and then climb to higher camp

July 1st: Summit Shasta, then drive 4 hours to Jedediah Smith State Park

July 2nd: Spend day in Redwoods, do Boy Scout Tree Trail and see Stout grove, camp in park, drive out of California next morning

July 3^rd: Arrive at Crater Lake after 4.5 hour drive and spend day/night

July 4^th: Drive 5 hours to Portland and spend the day/night

July 5^th: Do a mild dayhike, perhaps a Multnomah Falls loop, and then go camp next to Hood for our alpine start

July 6^th: Climb Hood and then drive 2 hours to Mount St. Helens to camp

July 7^th: Climb St. Helens, then drive to Mount Rainier National Park

July 8^th: Can use this day to rest and look at the huge mountain, or if we decide to make it a 3 day climb we can hike to Camp Muir, weather determines a lot

July 9^th: Climb Rainier

July 10^th Climb Rainier

July 11^th: Spray Park/Falls dayhike in MRNP, then drive 4.5 hours to Olympic NP

July 12^th: Start Hoh River Trail, through moss covered temperate rain forest

July 13^th: Continue Hoh River Trail

July 14^th: Finish Hoh River Trail, check out the beach area of the park, and camp there

July 15^th: Drive 6 hours to Vancouver, can have lunch in Seattle, and then dinner/spend the night in Vancouver

July 16^th: Early morning ferry over to Vancouver Island, then drive 1.5 hours to Strathcona Park and begin Castlecrag Horseshoe, camp somewhere in middle

July 17^th: Finish Castlecrag Horseshoe

July 18^th: Buffer day/Undecided day

July 19^th: Drive 2 hours to Hannegan Pass trailhead, begin our backpacking trip, camp at US cabin

July 20^th: Hike to Whatcom pass, camp there or at Tapto Lakes

July 21^st: Hike to Indian Creek camp

July 22^nd: Hike to Silesia camp

July 23^rd: Hike back out to car and drive 8 hours to Idaho

July 24^th:

July 25^th:

July 26^th: Hike out and then drive 5 hours to Glacier NP, camp at Two Medicine Campground

July 27^th: Hike the Pitamakan – Dawson Pass Loop all day, camp at Two Medicine CG again

July 28^th: Drive 1 hour up to Many Glacier part of the park, do the Grinnell Glacier out-and-back then camp at Many Glacier Campground

July 29^th: Hike the Hidden Lake Overlook loop, then drive 7 hours to Yellowstone, sleep and Madison or Grant campground

July 30^th: See Old Faithful, hike short Mystic Falls Loop, do Lone Star Geyser trail and then make our way to our reserved backcountry camp

July 31^st: Hike Shoshone Lake Trail around the lake and eventually camp at our reserved backcountry camp on North shore of the lake

August 1^st: Short hike out to road and then get a ride back to our car 5 miles away, then drive to Canyon area and do Clear Lake / Lily Pad Lake Loop, then hike Mt. Washburn trail, sleep at Pebble Creek campground

August 2^nd: Hike Pebble Creek Trail out to road and then get ride back to car about 7 miles away, drive to Slough Creek Trailhead and hike to our reserved backcountry camp

August 3^rd: Finish our Slough Creek Trail hike and then drive 3.5 hours to Grand Teton NP, try to camp at Jenny Lake Campground

August 4^th: Hike Paintbrush Canyon / Cascade Canyon Loop all day, camp at Jenny Lake Campground

August 5^th: Drive back

August 6^th: Drive back

August 7^th: Drive back, arrive home