DISPATCHES FROM THE ROAD

Scott Baxter in one of his handmade kayaks on the Great Salt Lake
Days 12 and 13, Tuesday/Wednesday: Salt Lake City Clay visits Salt Lake City to talk with Scott Baxter a passionate advocate and student of the Great Salt Lake.…
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Clay, Frank, Dennis
Days 10 and 11, Sunday/Monday: U.S. 89 to Utah 20; Utah 20 to I-15; I-15 to Salt Lake City. A sad farewell as Frank, our scout and chief raconteur for the last 10 days, heads home to Escalante, Utah, and Clay and Dennis continue north to visit the Great Salt Lake.…
Randy Reed. (Photo by Clay Jenkinson)
Clay and colleagues spend a glorious day on Lake Powell, a popular recreation destination with over 2,000 miles of shoreline, which hosts over 3 million visitors annually.
The Little Missouri River from an overlook in North Unit of Theodore National Park, North Dakota. ((Photo by Clay Jenkinson)
I co-led a hike in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park recently. There were about a dozen of us. Our goal was a very old cottonwood tree in an obscure corner of the park down by the Little Missouri River. The tree is said to date to 1641.
I’ve read about Lee’s Ferry all my life. Among other things, it is the portal for float trips in the Grand Canyon. Countless stories feature Lee’s Ferry or originate there. I watched several groups tuck their gear into rafts as they embarked on the great adventure. I was filled with envy and a kind of apprehension.
map showing Ransom County, N.D.
Geographers say North Dakota has only one waterfall. It’s a waterfall without a name, over in Ransom County, near the Minnesota border. For twenty years I have wanted to go see it.
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Donald Dawahongnewa explains the meaning of rock art at Hopi Cultural Center.
Snow was on the ground when we awoke on the second Hopi mesa. We feared a snowstorm, possibly a blizzard. We slipped and lurched to a remote coffee house that Dennis and Frank had scoped out the previous evening and then drove back to the Hopi Cultural Center, where we met Donald Dawahongnewa.
Book cover: The Language of Cottonwoods
Typically we don’t get genuine punishing thunderstorms until after Memorial Day. I sat in a camp chair on the porch and studied the sky.
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Day Six, Wednesday: Canyon de Chelly; U.S. 191 to Burnside; Arizona 264 to Second Mesa.  Cattle traveling the Chinle Wash in Canyon de Chelly, part of the Navajo Nation.…
This is six in a series of dispatches from Clay Jenkinson chronicling his recent journey with two compatriots following the Colorado River and neighboring region.
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