If you want to get a real sense for the sweat and work that built America, visit Butte. Approaching the town from the southeast, I gazed upon the massive hole cut into the mountains that once brought tremendous wealth and vibrancy to this town. Known as the Boulder Batholith, these rocks 
have spewed out their rich infusions of valuable minerals over many decades. People once came here trying to find their fortunes digging the earth. The semi-decaying, lavishly built mansions in the old uptown attest to it.
And myself, well I was just searching for a good slab of pig to put between some bread. "Eh, sonny, you got a piece of pork stuck in yer goatee." Do not pass through Butte without hitting a pork shop sandwich at Pork Chop Johns.
The buildings in the uptown are very beautiful, with their time-darkened brick exteriors and lavishly decorated entryways. They hearken back to an era of wild western opportunity. A time when the boyz worked hard and paid for their drankin' with fistfuls of gold and a holster full of lead. That's probably not even close to the reality of the mining times, it's just my wack mental conjuration.
Unfortunately, the times have a' changed. The streets are mostly deserted with sad-looking retail shops somehow hanging-on amid a vanished economic base. I used to
wonder why a good buddy of mine left the beauty, wide open spaces, and fine pork products of Butte, Montana, for a crazy, crowded life in California. Now it is imminently clear. If only somehow they could revitalize the Butte old-town, it would be quite an infectous tourist destination. The feel of history here is like a comforable cloak.
Besides just offering good rocks to mine, the Batholith has been formed and eroded into an incredible section of weird rock shapes about twenty miles south of Butte known as the Humbug Spires. The Spires are a collection of about 100 stark-white fins that project themselves upwards at impossible angles and to unbelievable heights. They are located on BLM land that has been designated as a "primitive area," and is thus closed to motorized travel. The trailhead is quite accessible, parking is easy and the hiking is superb. The Humbugs are also a favorite backcountry destination for climbers who can practice their craft on an endless number of routes free from the distractions of the developed world.
I jacked up the tent in a cool little meadow on the edge of the defined BLM land and used my camp as a home base to make two different day hikes into the wild area. The challenge of the Spires is more tempting than a Ding-Dong to a fat kid. It feels
so good inside your shadow, it's a place I want to be, you know I need to climb you like a tree. With a small bit of off-trail foraging, I found and mounted a slew of the different spires which gave me mad views of the distant Montana landscape and snow-capped mountain ranges. It is true what they say about this state: the sky is just somehow bigger. Its could-poked expanse has always elicited a divine sense of awe in this wide-eyed traveler.
On my last night, next to a brimming river, I watched the sun set and darkness emerge. The silver and gold "cat eyes" of Castor and Pollux gazed at my own purring contentment and hopefully shined their approval. I am a restless hunter of truth and a scavenger of the soul. There's always something new to see and something surprising to glean. Lose touch with the natural world and you may be forever searching in vain for that piece of enlightenment that seems so tangible but is just out of grasp.
Before signing off from Butte, I would like to turn your attention to the philosophical conversation that has begun on these pages. I have always desired that The Rig Foundation invoke some public feedback, thought and debate. However, most of you are content to read the journals and move on. A couple of weeks ago, Scott Williamson wrote me a letter outlining his personal philosophical dilemma about the conflicting relationship between free-market systems and environmental health. His letter can be found on the Reader Feedback page. I attempted to reply by writing an essay called The Things We Must Do To Salvage the Earth's Environment. On that same page, I have also posted his reply to the essay. Please read it.
Scott's concerns with permanent environmental alteration and damage are shared by many. What especially struck me is the statement he made that we "find comfort in the fact that nature is beyond our human control/worries/cares." Personally I think nothing could be more true. That's how it's always been. The land is there, we live and work on it, and we are happy knowing that nature does its thing. We, as mortal beings, accept this bounty as a God-given certainty. Unfortunately, it seems, the comfort we take in the resiliency and unalterable nature of the environment is a fallacy. It might be akin to hiding behind an black wall of paper, thinking that its lack of lucidity will protect us from a charging bull. As for the "greenhouse theory" that Scott mentioned in his letter and its potential effects that are detailed in the book he's reading, there is no doubt that the earth's average temperatures are rising. However, no one has any proof that it is due to man's actions. It could be simply part of a natural cycle. Perhaps it is a combination of the two occurrences. I dispute the "greenhouse theory" for lack of proof. Nothing I have ever read has, with any persuasiveness, substantiated this theory. I hope I am right. Can anyone contribute to Scott and my conversation? Send an e-mail to commentary@openspace1.org.
have spewed out their rich infusions of valuable minerals over many decades. People once came here trying to find their fortunes digging the earth. The semi-decaying, lavishly built mansions in the old uptown attest to it.And myself, well I was just searching for a good slab of pig to put between some bread. "Eh, sonny, you got a piece of pork stuck in yer goatee." Do not pass through Butte without hitting a pork shop sandwich at Pork Chop Johns.
The buildings in the uptown are very beautiful, with their time-darkened brick exteriors and lavishly decorated entryways. They hearken back to an era of wild western opportunity. A time when the boyz worked hard and paid for their drankin' with fistfuls of gold and a holster full of lead. That's probably not even close to the reality of the mining times, it's just my wack mental conjuration.
Unfortunately, the times have a' changed. The streets are mostly deserted with sad-looking retail shops somehow hanging-on amid a vanished economic base. I used to
wonder why a good buddy of mine left the beauty, wide open spaces, and fine pork products of Butte, Montana, for a crazy, crowded life in California. Now it is imminently clear. If only somehow they could revitalize the Butte old-town, it would be quite an infectous tourist destination. The feel of history here is like a comforable cloak.Besides just offering good rocks to mine, the Batholith has been formed and eroded into an incredible section of weird rock shapes about twenty miles south of Butte known as the Humbug Spires. The Spires are a collection of about 100 stark-white fins that project themselves upwards at impossible angles and to unbelievable heights. They are located on BLM land that has been designated as a "primitive area," and is thus closed to motorized travel. The trailhead is quite accessible, parking is easy and the hiking is superb. The Humbugs are also a favorite backcountry destination for climbers who can practice their craft on an endless number of routes free from the distractions of the developed world.
I jacked up the tent in a cool little meadow on the edge of the defined BLM land and used my camp as a home base to make two different day hikes into the wild area. The challenge of the Spires is more tempting than a Ding-Dong to a fat kid. It feels
so good inside your shadow, it's a place I want to be, you know I need to climb you like a tree. With a small bit of off-trail foraging, I found and mounted a slew of the different spires which gave me mad views of the distant Montana landscape and snow-capped mountain ranges. It is true what they say about this state: the sky is just somehow bigger. Its could-poked expanse has always elicited a divine sense of awe in this wide-eyed traveler.On my last night, next to a brimming river, I watched the sun set and darkness emerge. The silver and gold "cat eyes" of Castor and Pollux gazed at my own purring contentment and hopefully shined their approval. I am a restless hunter of truth and a scavenger of the soul. There's always something new to see and something surprising to glean. Lose touch with the natural world and you may be forever searching in vain for that piece of enlightenment that seems so tangible but is just out of grasp.
Before signing off from Butte, I would like to turn your attention to the philosophical conversation that has begun on these pages. I have always desired that The Rig Foundation invoke some public feedback, thought and debate. However, most of you are content to read the journals and move on. A couple of weeks ago, Scott Williamson wrote me a letter outlining his personal philosophical dilemma about the conflicting relationship between free-market systems and environmental health. His letter can be found on the Reader Feedback page. I attempted to reply by writing an essay called The Things We Must Do To Salvage the Earth's Environment. On that same page, I have also posted his reply to the essay. Please read it.
Scott's concerns with permanent environmental alteration and damage are shared by many. What especially struck me is the statement he made that we "find comfort in the fact that nature is beyond our human control/worries/cares." Personally I think nothing could be more true. That's how it's always been. The land is there, we live and work on it, and we are happy knowing that nature does its thing. We, as mortal beings, accept this bounty as a God-given certainty. Unfortunately, it seems, the comfort we take in the resiliency and unalterable nature of the environment is a fallacy. It might be akin to hiding behind an black wall of paper, thinking that its lack of lucidity will protect us from a charging bull. As for the "greenhouse theory" that Scott mentioned in his letter and its potential effects that are detailed in the book he's reading, there is no doubt that the earth's average temperatures are rising. However, no one has any proof that it is due to man's actions. It could be simply part of a natural cycle. Perhaps it is a combination of the two occurrences. I dispute the "greenhouse theory" for lack of proof. Nothing I have ever read has, with any persuasiveness, substantiated this theory. I hope I am right. Can anyone contribute to Scott and my conversation? Send an e-mail to commentary@openspace1.org.
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