Lake Mead- a TR

[lancegranite]

Climbing in Vegas is great, but the summer has a somewhat oppressive effect.

Day after day of 100+ temps leave a person grumpy. We have a world class sport climbing area, Mt. Charleston, a 11,915 foot limestone massif just outside of town, but this year I felt largely uninspired for drilled pocket pulling.

 

I bought a touring kayak instead.

 

Lake Mead sits 30 miles east of the strip and is the second most popular NRA in the country.

The water is warm, the fishing is outstanding and if you squint your eyes, it looks just like Baja.

 

My usual routine is to wake up at 0300, brew up and roll to the lake, about 45 minutes away.

Launching into the warm quiet darkness provides for a deprivation chamber effect, a welcome relief to say the least.

Usually the air temps at 0400 are 75+ and the water is about the same, so when your hand goes into the water there is only wetness, but no temprature difference.

Usually I have about a hour of total darkness with only Orion and a occasional cyotye as company.

 

This morning I had quite a shock when the sun came up.

A 17 foot tri-hull had run aground on one of myfavorite snorkeling/ fishing spots, a rocky point.

 

Powerboat detritus was every where.

The boat's owners had abandoned everything and a recient storm had spread the boats contents across 200 feet of beach.

Fucking pissed at first at yet another example of why I hate this place, I beach the kayak and inspect the wreck.

Flooded to the gunwhales the boat was filled with junk and sand.

The boat's 12 volt battery was left in the water so I retrived it, the gas tank floating in the water, intact, thank god ( so much for my fishing spot).

Putting it on shore I realize what was initially junk was upon second glance, a whole lot of really good lake booty .

 

The law of the desert is also the law of the deep, the owners could have rented a boat and salvaged the wreck for around $100.00.

Instead they chose to abandon a whole lot of stuff and risked a 20 gallon fuel spill in their own water supply.

Fuck em' I cleaned up the worst of the mess and took the best of the rest.

Upon reaching the car, a ranger pulled up and I told him about the wreck and potential fuel disaster.

Nonplussed, he said only "which one is it? there are several right now"

The sad tone in his voice suggested that this was just another weekend on the lake... God I hate this place.

 

The take:

3 fishing rod/reels

1 tacklebox (full)

1 tool kit (craftsman!)

1 first aid kit

12 sodas, mixed brands

1 life vest

1 pair Oakley sunglasses

1 multimeter

2 snorkel/mask combos

and finally, 1 plastic gnome, red hat/ bird on shoulder

[thelawgoddess]

booty is booty.

[lancegranite]

Anybody want to buy a gnome?

[spicoli11]

It is sad to see the whole of that river going down the pipe the way it is

[ChrisT]

I enjoyed the melancholy tone of your TR...expand it. You have a voice. Desert Solitaire II?

[Alpinfox]

Anybody want to buy a gnome?

 

Yes.

[olyclimber]

I would like a picture of the gnome before placing my bid.

[sobo]

 

"Don't forget your hat!"

[lancegranite]

"Thanks again, those ravens were not the friendliest lot ... care for some seeds?"

[bwrts]

oh lance, you will be home soon again. nice work on the cleanup and really the mess is not only in your area. people don't care about how their trash affects other people even in the chumstick.

[gravitylover]

(Note the center guy on the couch)

[Mos_Chillin]

Anybody want to buy a gnome?

 

Gnome thank You

[lancegranite]

Wow, I was pretty pissed.

It was a total bullshit move to abandon all that junk.

My pop said "well, that's just the law of the deep... are the tools any good?"

[olyclimber]

will be in the Vegas area this weekend. how much for the gnome?

[Mos_Chillin]

Speaking of decorative yard critters:

 

When I was living in Juneau, a teacher friend of mine lived on the highway from the Fritz Cove Alaska Ferry terminal to Juneau proper. He had a collection of pink flamingo's that he would reorder in different processions and positions on a regular basis in his front yard. It was quite the talk of the town, even made the paper. Some of the stuff he did with those flamingo's would make you laugh out loud as you drove by.

 

One evening he came over to our house, "The Witches Hat", and told us someone had stolen one of his flamingos! He had about 12 of them, so it wasn't that big of a deal, but he went on about principles, artistry and such (he was a teacher and is a good artist, after all). We all agreed it was a cruel twist to his artistic expression.

 

After a while we all forgot about the flamingo, although we all vowed to keep our eyes peeled for an out-of-place pink flamingo (is there one that isn't?).

 

A month or so later, we got a cryptic call from David, who simply said: "The flamingo's back!" (I think he even named them)

 

A while later he came over and told us the story: A retired couple had enjoyed his flamingo show so much, they decided to suprise him. They were just about to leave for a world tour, and decided to take the flamingo with them.

 

He pulled a pile of pictures out of his pocket, and we all looked at them. In each one was the flamingo: Rome, Paris, picture after picture. Sometimes the couple was in them, sometimes just one of them. Often, it was just the flamingo.

 

We laughed our asses off...