:: June 13, 2006 ::

Trippin in the Southwest Part 3

These next 2 emails, just so you know, Mike is
writing. It's been a long trip and its alot to sum
up, so he is going to take over for parts 3 and 4 - I
will summarize the end of the trip w/ the 5th part...
it may take a while to read as well, there's a lot to
go over...

MEXICO

So we pick up our insurance and get to the border -
park the car, go inside, and deal with visa details -
and from here, basically, is where our use of the
english language goes out the friggin window! From now
until the day before we return back to the US we only
find 1 or 2 people in all of Mexico that we run across
that speak any resemblance to English. Now I took 4
years of Spanish in high school - made AP spanish in
fact - Ben took French - but between the 2 of us we
had no idea what the hell was happening from the
start. The visa agent asks us, "how long you here
for?" we say "2 weeks" he says "ok 6 months" we say
"OK". Then its 50 cents, then $21, then $51 - whatever
it is, we pay it and get the hell out of there. Border
towns are scary, we ask at a gas station "tienes
mapas??" and get "no adfkladlfjdfkjldasfkjl" something
i cannot process - so basically there are no good maps
of Mexico. We have an old US atlas that has Mexico but
alot is missing, so we just go on that - and blind
faith. Even the main highways, there are no signs, so
you just feel it out. "That way is east - go that way"
then all of a sudden, or 30 minutes later "Look,
Mexico highway 2 - we're going the right way !!!" and
on we go....

So rolling hills and desert just like AZ we head
southeast towards Chihuahua city, the capital, w/
intentions on hitting up a national park along the
way. We drive and drive and drive, 1 inch on our map
scale for Mexico is like 75 miles, whereas all the
states we've been in 1 inch = 30 or 40 miles at most.
Long days of driving, then all of a sudden I ask -
"Que es este agua Benjamin???" Ben replies, "No se'
senor". What is the water that i see hitting our
windshield and hood, washing off all that Utah /
Arizona backroad dirt we had successfully piled up
inches thick on all sides of the car creating a nice
two-tone shade??? Que Milagro!!! este es la lluvia!!!
the rain - i think that is the word - that water that
falls out of the sky that i've heard so much about but
havent seen since we both moved from Denver to
Breckenridge. Since Dec. 2005 we hadn't spent a day w/
rain yet - all of a sudden the Subaru was engulfed in
rain for a whole 5-10 minutes as we sped east into the
dark clouds and lightning.

yes. Lightning! Mike's favorite kind of weather! not
really - the scar on my left arm starts twitching like
it senses the kinetic energy. There are storms on all
sides of us but so far off it presents no significant
danger. So we see the crazy catholic statue off the
side of the road and up a hill (Mexico is dotted with
these things all over) and head up for a photo. At the
top we take in the looming weather in the distance,
set up the tripod, and get some shots of storms clouds
rubbing up against each other and giving off that
all-powerful force. Purple and bright, sometimes
orange. Scary stuff.

We finally find a spot before dark to pull of and camp
- just as the clouds let up enough to show up a
magnificent orage glow of sunset straight out of the
florescent part of the crayola crayon set. Morning
comes, we head south to Cumbres de Majalca National
Park - we still dont know what that means, for some
reason we never got it translated. Probably because it
wasnt much of a national park - it was as if they set
it up to be one, set up a pay booth at the beginning,
set up signs and picnic spots, then noone came
probably because noone in Mexico cares about that crap
or has better things to deal w/ - like the garbage.

Let me just go on a rant to say that i've been in 3rd
world countries and never seen so much garbage
everywhere in my life than i've seen in Mexico.
Period. End of rant.

So we pull up to find a pay booth, we get out our
cash, and find a broken window and noone there. We
drive past. Up and into this canyon and out the other
side of the park where theres a crazy village w/ some
weird rocks. Then, we drive back and thru, stop to
picnic w/ not a soul in sight. And drive out. We drive
to ciudad Chihahuaha and find it it to be a sprawling
mess that we cant make much out of. We find a pretty
church, stroll around the block to what Ben thought
was another church, but find out it is a huge prison -
and get the mess out of there. But not w/out some
cheap Tecate.

Tecate, Sol, Modelo, Bohemia, all good beer, cheap
mexican beer. But good beer. But dont try to buy the
big 22oz bottles, because little 13 year old girls
running businesses cant communicate w/ you enough to
let you know why you cannot buy it. We just owned up
to the fact that we could only buy cans. Later we find
that its the whole deposit bottle thing and she can
tell we dont live in her town, are just passing thru,
and will not return the bottles, therefore we will
have to pay more for deposit on the bottle and lose
out on the money. I guess you're expected to buy cans
and just pitch the empty can on the side of the road
like the rest of the garbage. Only kidding, we dispose
of everything properly. Anyways, we find a campspot
after some great mexican food and sleep at about 7000
ft. above sea level 30 min outside of the town of
Creel, which will be our departure point for the main
reason we came to Mexico.

My goal of this trip was to see the parts of Utah I
missed before on roadtrip 2004 and hit up the area
south of the Grand Canyon in AZ because before I had
only seen the north rim. Ben added Mexico to this trip
due to his passion for being a vagabond in 3rd world
countries - a mysterious passion but not all too alien
to the both of us. I wised up to this addition to the
trip when we researched pictures of a small speck on
our incomplete atlas map called Barranca del Cobre or
"Copper Canyon". Not too many Mexicans make websites,
the ones that are out there on Copper were made by
American tourists and most weren't updated. But the
photos we could find blew us away. A canyon 4 times
the size of the Grand Canyon in scale and depth, in
the middle of nowhere in Mexico.

Creel is the hub. We roll up - see a sign outside a
tour place that says Lonely Planet recommended their
tour office and pop inside to find the only english
speaking person we'll find in Mexico our entire trip.
Yolanda.

Yolanda is quite the character. We roll into her shop
to find out she and her husband run it and she's
originally from Oklahoma, but pretty much a gypsy
since then. She's got books, maps and info on the
canyon and alot of advice on where to go but is very
strange about everything. We ask about hikes. She
recommends either the 6 day extremely strenuous hike
or the 3 day easy hike (the only 2 she's been on in
the canyon we presume). You have to take these hikes
w/ a native indian guide (not a Sioux, not a Navajo)
but a Tarahumara indian native to the canyon. He wont
speak any english but he will guide you she says. We
rule out the 6 day on the fact that we're feeling lazy
and I don't have good hiking shoes anymore and plus we
just dont have the time. The 3 day is to some hot
springs - and my vision of me, Ben, and some naked
native indian sitting in a hot spring in the searing
heat was not what i had in mind. So we got some info
and left - or tried....

All of a sudden this old lady walks in, Ronnie. The
walls of the shop are lined w/ little knickknacks and
wooden carvings and such, which Yolonda seems to be
selling for her. Ronnie starts ranting to Yolanda,
then asks about rent $$ - then starts to get
beligerent when Yolanda tries to blow her off. The
conversation escalates until Yolanda is saying
"alright Ronnie, do I need to call the cops again?"
They keep going back and forth and back and forth, Ben
and i sitting there throwing glances over and wanting
to get out before a catfight begins when finally
Yolanda gets her to leave against her will, and slams
the door. With a tear in her eye she watches her out
the window and tells us how she's the crazy lady of
the town and yada yada yada, all of a sudden Ronnie is
outside the window and Yolanda is freaking about not
locking the back door. She then tells me to get down
as Ben is peering out the window laughing and walks up
behind me and grabs my t-shirt and pulls me to the
ground - completely serious that she didnt want crazy
lady to see anyone was still in the shop. Ben complies
and joins Yolanda and I in cowering underneath a
bookshelf. So, we are now being holed up in this
lady's shop until crazy Ronnie gets a ride into town
w/ some Mexican dude. We get our info and get out of
there.

So basically we decide to skip the hikes and just
venture out on our own, because there are roads, paved
and unpaved into the hearts of the 4 canyons. So a
full day of driving yielded us a drive from 7500 feet
all the way on dirt roads to 1000 ft and brought us to
the bottom of Batopilas canyon and into the heart of
an awe inspiring area where we had basically driven a
6000 ft. decent into the bottom (think having a road
that will drive you to the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
only more dramatic) and then through to these towns of
a few hundred people. Ben and I end up in the town of
Batopilas w/ an hour to kill before dark and
sweltering heat and nothing to drink but our water
which has been heated from the sun of the long day's
drive. We want some beer, and some food. We dont care
where. We pull through, much of the amazement to
everyone in town that's probably never seen a subaru
before, only trucks...finally decide on a place that
says "se vende comida" and stop in. Knock on the door
and a little girl in her pajamas stares back at us.
Then Ben steps on the balcony and says, "Si' comida?
donde es madre o padre?" Finally mom, in her pajamas
as well, comes in and tells us to sit at her kitchen
table. Her dark kitchen is a strange experience to be
in but comforting nonetheless. We plead that we just
wanted food and beer and she opens the refrigerator to
reveal two 12-packs of Tecate and rips us 2 off of the
plastic rings. Sweet bliss! 4 seconds later we ask
"Senora?? Uno mas ?" Si, of course, we can drink as
much as we please, it's a restaurant! we call it
"grandma's house" because that's what it felt like. We
didn't know what we'd be eating, but we were happy,
and even more when we received one of the best mexican
dishes i've eaten to this day, polished off w/ a few
more Tecates, paid her $10 US a piece and went on to
camp by the river in the bottom of this 7500 ft.
canyon. Our first choice was thwarted by the stench of
a dead cow rotting in the bushes and a trucker and his
family trying to bathe in the river. We moved on and
once again were woken up by braying donkeys.

Out of Batopilas Canyon and onto Sinforosa Canyon
where after a long drive we roll up to...nothing, a
small village, w/ a ranch. We're confused until a man
walks over, we ask him where this canyon (the size of
the grand canyon) is and he points to the gate, says
its 15 pesos (just under $1.50) per person to get in -
no problems there and we drive thru the gate and thru
this man's backyard and onto a huge friggin gash in
the earth. Beautiful lookout, lots of little lookout
towers and Mexican families pic-nic-ing. I spot a
bridge down below, a hiking bridge, we drive down a
huge embankment w/ many switchbacks to get to it to
find a pretty tranquil spot w/ a sweet suspension
bridge (how much do you trust Mexican reinforced
steel??). Well we did - but getting the car back up
and out of the canyon, quite the ordeal in 1st gear,
Ben handbraking and revving up to 5-6000rpm and
releasing the brake to inch forward several several
times- but we made it. Back towards Creel but not
before seeing a sign for hot springs - or we assume.
So 6 miles on backroads turns out to be an hours worth
of driving, and right before we're about to give up,
around the bend in the mountain appears a village. A
man appears at the gate where we have to park our car
and tells us its another $2 or so per person for the
hot springs - we decide to check it out and find 4
full size swimming polls of different levels of
elevation and temperature all in this picturesque
valley. A nice dip to end a long day. Then camping
amongst the donkeys, cows and whatever else what
outside of our tent that night munching on loud crisp
pine-coney type things.

On to Creel and then south the other way, down to
Divisadero, to the main tourist trainstop. See, when
most tourists come to Copper Canyon they fly in to Los
Mochis and get the train through this area to see a
view or 2 of the canyon, take some photos and move on,
back to Los Mochis or on to Chihahuaha. So we arrive
at what is typically known as "Copper Canyon" but is
actually the convergence of 3 of the main
canyons(Oteros, Urique, and Cobre) and the view was
quite simply amazing. There is a train stop there, a
very nice hotel, lots of people trying to get you to
buy their tourist crap and ladies screaming at us to
buy their mexican pita instead of the other lady's. We
get a pita from the only lady who didnt scream and
walk into the lodge. No one is there, but its
gorgeous. It has a bar that has huge windows that look
out into the canyon with hummingbird feeders all
around the windows. A few $2 beers later we decide to
go out to the car and pack up our stuff. Yolanda back
in Creel said the best part to ride the train was from
Divisadero (where we presently are and drove to) down
to Temoris. So we take her (crazy) advice and make
this plan. But Ben and i being so frugal while
travelling decide not to pay for a place to stay (we
havent yet up until this point) and we're going to
take daypacks w/ our stuff to sleep (mats, bags, etc.)
and some water (and tequila) and just show up in town
and probably hang out and sleep outside of town by the
river.

So we pack our stuff up, while the town children watch
and giggle and ooh and aah in amazement when we do
simple things like open our cooler to get food out or
turn a light on in the car, etc. They particularly
liked the indiana jones whip Ben bought in Juarez.
I'm thinking - this car is getting stolen or broken in
to for sure. Those little kids are gonna tell their
big brothers all the cool stuff they saw in our car...
The train takes off and we're headed south. There is
apparently no food or drink allowed on the train but
there's a burrito guy roaming the isles selling his
homemade food along w/ tomales. Ben busts out his
bottle of Agave tequila and we swig the thing clean -
all the while the train is loaded w/ armed guards w/
AK-47s just so noone hijacks the train, i guess. I
think their real job was to harrass any cute single
women they found instead of protect the train. Finally
after many a stop we end up in Temoris where almost
everyone gets off, so we do as well. When we get off
we say to ourselves "where the hell are we??" and
watch everyone reboard onto pickups or buses and
drives off, leaving the 2 of us, 2 gringos, in this
bumf*ck little trainstop town in the middle of
nowhere.....

... let the madness set in.

We have a good laugh about it to ourselves, figuring
we're up for a long night. I secretly curse Yolanda
and her advice under my breath and we venture off thru
town, 2 little dirt streets and walk into chickens,
dogs, trash, and some natives. Then we see a little
shop, ask about food, and the guy says "cerveza??"
and points. We turn around and painted on this white
building is our favorite word - Tecate. We run up like
school children on the last day of school - some woman
sees us and walks up, opens a fridge bin and reveals
100s of Tecate beers - at $1 a piece!! we'll take 5 we
say - and how long are you open?? another 2 hours???
great! we'll be back! and we stroll off to the river
w/ our beer and smiles. WE sit at the river, take off
our packs, crack open some beer and enjoy the scenery,
away from town, but only about 200 yards away. Now
what do we do??? drink here until night comes, find a
spot away from the rocks and throw down our mats?? not
unlike any other night on this trip... we drink and
talk and keep making jaunts back into the village to
get more beer and then that weird wet clear liquid
from the sky comes back and finds us for the second
time in 6 months.... and now its raining, lightly,
heavier, then cats and dogs! uh, what do we do. well?
have a laugh, and then grab the tarp Ben so cleverly
brought and try to string it up(the rain is blowing
mostly horizontally rather than downwards) - this part
we have on video because our tarp job was oh so
humorous, but it managed to keep us somewhat dry and
keep us in the mood to finish the beer. The rain
eventually passed over as always and we headed into
town for more beer. By this time we're starving and
we stop back in the shop. Comida?? Si!?! We sit down
for another meal that we have no idea what we're
getting because the shopkeeper woman and her son have
taken to us and decided to cook us a meal. The
highlight of this meal was the little red pepper balls
you add to your tortilla wrap. The lady says only use
one, so Ben throws 7 on there, just for a laugh.
They're not hot unless you directly bit one and the
contents will explode into a fireball in your mouth. I
walk out to the river to take photos of the sunset
over the canyon walls - sunsets are always best after
a good rain, they only get really colorful if theres a
lot of moisture in the air. Now the lady and her son
(Rosa and Mario) and this crazy guy (Tito) who pointed
us to the beer are all around chatting with us. The
son is our age and thinks we're pretty funny - then
pulls his car around and shows off his suburban w/ his
modified extra bass sound system and blasts crazy
mexican music so loud you could have heard it back in
the states. So i eat, drunkenly, another great home
cooked meal while absurdly loud Mexican music blasts 3
feet from my ears. Meanwhile the crazy guy sitting at
the table next to us, Tito, has taken to us and we're
trying to talk to him about what's up w/ this town.
When we got in, i failed to mention, we heard gunshots
going off, somewhere in town, like there was a firing
range. Tito asked if we wanted to shoot guns - i told
him, what do we shoot?? All of this got jumbled in the
Eng / Span. translation and i kept making them laugh
by telling them that i'd like to shoot a cat (i'm a
dog lover). So i would say, "Me gusta perros, pero no
me gusta gatos" (i like dogs, but not cats) and then
told him i wanted to shoot a cat (not really). That
would get a good laugh. Then i would make a motion
like a machine gun and make the gunfire noise. ak- ak
- ak. Gato!

Great meal, increasing drunkeness, and increasingly
drunken Tito all ended up in absurdity and we were all
wasted having a laugh at the fact that we call couldnt
understand each other. We just wanted to pay the lady
for the meal but she kept saying not to worry about it
until tomorrow. Then Tito offered for us to sleep at
his place. Ben sets up our beds on a concrete floor,
not noticing until morning that there are prison bars
on the windows. But Ben drags me to Tito's and we
couldnt care less, we need sleep, badly, its been fun,
but we need sleep. So we sleep.... for two hours -
tops...

At precisely 4am by my watch - i'm woken up by the
sound of dogs barking all over the village. Barking
loudly and crazily, all at the sound of each other,
causing such a disturbance that i can't sleep. Then
when all the dogs finally shut up - a final dog comes
out near our place and starts up - now he is just
barking, by himself, out into the night. The barking
is so loud that its echoing off the canyon walls in
the distance and returning and he thinks there is
another dog out there - so this dog barks and barks
and barks for a straight hour, right outside our place
until i just cant take it. Now i've turned my desire
to shoot cats onto this lone dog and in my hungover
sleep can only think about a muzzle and throwing this
dog in the river so that i can get some sleep.
Finally, Tito wakes up, stumbles around his place -
at this point i just want him to shoot the dog, but he
doesnt. Instead - he's up for the morning - and
decides to blast mexican pop songs as loud as his
stereo (the only thing he owns in his place) will go.
So now, the loudest mexican pop music i've ever heard
is penetrating through every wall and all i can say is
"you've got to be _____ing kidding me". Then Tito
stumbles in, flips on the light and has 2 Tecates in
his hand and says something about "bailando" which
means "dancing" and i'm like Wha!? NO! Ben!!! get your
ass up and dance so this crazy fool will leave us
alone!!! Get up now! Dance so he will turn off this
music! So Ben gets up and drinks and dances with Tito
and Juan (his other drinking buddy). Little old ladies
cover their ears as they walk past on the street, but
nothing seems out of the ordinary for them. Mario
doesn't want to be outdone, so he pulls out his
suburban and rocks the entire house. Had to be well
over 100 decibles. The bass is so loud, i thought it
would shatter the windows. Tito wants to drive us
around in his truck to see the old town, but Ben
manages to avoid being driven off a steep cliff by
going back into our room and trying to sleep. With
more beer in his hand, Tito tries to wake us up again,
but he finally gives up and drives off to work or
whatever it is that he does. I nearly make a shoe
trade with a Caballero who had made flip flops out of
old tires and some rope, but decides to keep mine
instead. Ben says he would have made the trade except
they didn't fit his feet. What brand of sandal is
that? Nike, Chaco, Birkenstock... nah, Goodyear.

We decide to go for a hike to the mountain pass to get
over our hangovers and kill time before the train
comes. So we go for it, hit the pass, and hike up into
.... Temoris Viejo or old Temoris - which is
apparently the big lively town Yolanda talked about
and turned out to be quite nice. She failed to mention
the town over the mtn. pass...and the other town - but
we found it, in enough time to get back by train, find
our car in one piece, and find out way out of the
canyon area and back towards the highway.

The next morning we headed for one last national park,
Basaseachi. We hoped to find a Cascada here, a
beautiful waterfall we saw in pictures....but
apparently there's no water until after august when
all the storms come through for monsoon season which
is high season for this place. It was a beautiful
canyon but no waterfall. So - west, through many a
mountain and on towards the coast.

San Carlos, Mexico - touristy, but peaceful. We found
some great scenery, some gnarly rock formations
towering over the coastal waters, and a tranquil
beach. We set up our stuff and then Ben goes for
beer. He comes back and tells me he's found a better
beach - i tell him thats great news, because i walked
along the beach and was stunned to find some dead fish
skeletons and a huge beached seal that had been
decaying in the heat. Yum.

So beer and onto the new beach - yes! paradise found!
White sands, free camping on the beach, clean water,
and town not far away for fresh supply of cerveza.
We've got everything we need. So much so that we
decided to stay for not 1, not 2, but 3 nights and 4
days before leaving. While here our daily life
consisted of going into town twice a day to replenish
beer and ice supplies (best thing about Mexico, free
ice w/ beer purchase), consume way too much, get way
too much sun, cook out at the car, play our music,
play some cards, throw the frisbee, chat w/ our
mexican neighbors Dachy and Roche(most of the words we
didn't know we used the dust caked rear window as a
blackboard to write on) and cause havoc only our own
health. And so it was, day after day we loved our
spot and would go back any day. When the time came to
leave we did not want to but continued north past
Hermosillo, and on to Rocky Point a.k.a. Puerto
Penasco a.k.a. gringo tourist hell- we were not
amused. We basically stopped in town, decided there
were too many americans and too many people that spoke
english for a change - so we slipped outside of town
and hung out w/ the locals and watched some mexican
kids play soccer just outside a travelling circus. A
nights sleep and out thru the border in the morning -
only to get glanced at and have the border patrolman
say - you guys are good, go ahead. Way too easy. Our
running joke was that whenever we got stopped at a
military checkpoint, we were asked what was in the
car, but never what was in the carry case on top of
the car. Instead of camping gear, we imagined a little
mexican hiding up there. Sure enough, we could have
smuggled one of them in.

So, no need for the mexican car insurance, no flat
tires on the numerous dirt roads, no montezuma's
revenge from the water, and no unfriendly people. For
all the trouble we're going through to keep mexicans
out of our country, I reckon more americans should see
what we saw. We'd go back anytime, and I hope there
isn't a giant wall blocking our way...

Next up: Havasupai Reservation...

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.: Ben Hansen :: 3:23 PM [+] 0 comments

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ading.wherever.I.choose....Henceforth.I.ask.not.good-fortune-I.myself.am.good.fortune;.Henceforth.I.whimper.no.more,.pos
tpone.no.more,.need.nothing,..........Strong.and.content,.I.travel.the.open.road....The.earth-that.is.sufficient;.I.do.n
ot.want.the.constellations.any.nearer;.I.know.they.are.very.well.where.they.are;.I.know.they.suffice.for.those.who.belon
g.to.them.......Still.here.I.carry.my.old.delicious.burdens;.I.carry.them,.men.and.women-I.carry.them.with.me.wherever.I
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road.I.enter.upon.and.look.around!.I.believe.you.are.not.all.that.is.here;....I.believe.that.much.unseen.is.also.here...
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eas'd,.the.illiterate.person,.are.not.denied;.The.birth,.the.hasting.after.the.physician,.the.beggar's.tramp,.the.drunka
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You.ferries!.you.planks.and.posts.of.wharves!.you.timber-lined.sides!.you.distant.ships!....You.rows.of.houses!.you.wind
ow-pierc'd.façades!.you.roofs!.You.porches.and.entrances!.you.copings.and.iron.guards!.You.windows.whose.transparent.she
lls.might.expose.so.much!.You.doors.and.ascending.steps!.you.arches!.You.gray.stones.of.interminable.pavements!.you.trod
den.crossings!....From.all.that.has.been.near.you,.I.believe.you.have.imparted.to.yourselves,.and.now.would.impart.the.s
ame.secretly.to.me;From.the.living.and.the.dead.I.think.you.have.peopled.your.impassive.surfaces,.and.the.spirits.thereo
f.would.be.evident.and.amicable.with.me.....The.earth.expanding.right.hand.and.left.hand,.The.picture.alive,.every.part.
in.its.best.light,.The.music.falling.in.where.it.is.wanted,.and.stopping.where.it.is.not.wanted,....The.cheerful.voice.o
f.the.public.road-the.gay.fresh.sentiment.of.the.road....O.highway.I.travel!.O.public.road!.do.you.say.to.me,.Do.not.lea
ve.me?.Do.you.say,.Venture.not?.If.you.leave.me,.you.are.lostDo.you.say,.I.am.already.prepared-I.am.well-beaten.and.unde
nied-adhere.to.me?.O.public.road!.I.say.back,.I.am.not.afraid.to.leave.you-yet.I.love.you;....You.express.me.better.than
.I.can.express.myself;.You.shall.be.more.to.me.than.my.poem....I.think.heroic.deeds.were.all.conceiv'd.in.the.open.air,.
and.all.great.poems.also;.I.think.I.could.stop.here.myself,.and.do.miracles;.My.judgments,.thoughts,.I.henceforth.try.by
.the.open.air,.the.road;)....I.think.whatever.I.shall.meet.on.the.road.I.shall.like,.and.whoever.beholds.me.shall.like.m
e;.I.think.whoever.I.see.must.be.happy.....From.this.hour,.freedom!.From.this.hour.I.ordain.myself.loos'd.of.limits.and.
imaginary.lines,.Going.where.I.list,.my.own.master,.total.and.absolute,....Listening.to.others,.and.considering.well.wha
t.they.say,.Pausing,.searching,.receiving,.contemplating,.Gently,.but.with.undeniable.will,.divesting.myself.of.the.hold
s.that.would.hold.me....I.inhale.great.draughts.of.space;.The.east.and.the.west.are.mine,.and.the.north.and.the.south.ar
e.mine.......I.am.larger,.better.than.I.thought;.I.did.not.know.I.held.so.much.goodness....All.seems.beautiful.to.me;.I.
can.repeat.over.to.men.and.women,.You.have.done.such.good.to.me,.I.would.do.the.same.to.you....I.will.recruit.for.myself
.and.you.as.I.go;....I.will.scatter.myself.among.men.and.women.as.I.go;.I.will.toss.the.new.gladness.and.roughness.among
.them;.Whoever.denies.me,.it.shall.not.trouble.me;.Whoever.accepts.me,.he.or.she.shall.be.blessed,.and.shall.bless.me...
..Now.if.a.thousand.perfect.men.were.to.appear,.it.would.not.amaze.me;....Now.if.a.thousand.beautiful.forms.of.women.app
ear'd,.it.would.not.astonish.me....Now.I.see.the.secret.of.the.making.of.the.best.persons,.It.is.to.grow.in.the.open.air
,.and.to.eat.and.sleep.with.the.earth....Here.a.great.personal.deed.has.room;.A.great.deed.seizes.upon.the.hearts.of.the
.whole.race.of.men,....Its.effusion.of.strength.and.will.overwhelms.law,.and.mocks.all.authority.and.all.argument.agains
t.it....Here.is.the.test.of.wisdom;.Wisdom.is.not.finally.tested.in.schools;.Wisdom.cannot.be.pass'd.from.one.having.it,
.to.another.not.having.it;.Wisdom.is.of.the.Soul,.is.not.susceptible.of.proof,.is.its.own.proof,....Applies.to.all.stage
s.and.objects.and.qualities,.and.is.content,.Is.the.certainty.of.the.reality.and.immortality.of.things,.and.the.excellen
ce.of.things;.Something.there.is.in.the.float.of.the.sight.of.things.that.provokes.it.out.of.the.Soul...Now.I.reëxamine.
philosophies.and.religions,They.may.prove.well.in.lecture-rooms,.yet.not.prove.at.all.under.the.spacious.clouds,.and.alo
ng.the.landscape.and.flowing.currents.......Here.is.realization;.Here.is.a.man.tallied-he.realizes.here.what.he.has.in.h
im;.The.past,.the.future,.majesty,.love-if.they.are.vacant.of.you,.you.are.vacant.of.them....Only.the.kernel.of.every.ob
ject.nourishes;.Where.is.he.who.tears.off.the.husks.for.you.and.me?....Where.is.he.that.undoes.stratagems.and.envelopes.
for.you.and.me?...Here.is.adhesiveness-it.is.not.previously.fashion'd-it.is.apropos;.Do.you.know.what.it.is,.as.you.pass
,.to.be.loved.by.strangers?.Do.you.know.the.talk.of.those.turning.eye-balls?....Here.is.the.efflux.of.the.Soul;....The.e
fflux.of.the.Soul.comes.from.within,.through.embower'd.gates,.ever.provoking.questions:.These.yearnings,.why.are.they?.T
hese.thoughts.in.the.darkness,.why.are.they?.Why.are.there.men.and.women.that.while.they.are.nigh.me,.the.sun-light.expa
nds.my.blood?.Why,.when.they.leave.me,.do.my.pennants.of.joy.sink.flat.and.lank?.Why.are.there.trees.I.never.walk.under,
.but.large.and.melodious.thoughts.descend.upon.me?....I.think.they.hang.there.winter.and.summer.on.those.trees,.and.alwa
ys.drop.fruit.as.I.pass;).What.is.it.I.interchange.so.suddenly.with.strangers?.What.with.some.driver,.as.I.ride.on.the.s
eat.by.his.side?.What.with.some.fisherman,.drawing.his.seine.by.the.shore,.as.I.walk.by,.and.pause?.What.gives.me.to.be.
free.to.a.woman's.or.man's.good-will?.What.gives.them.to.be.free.to.mine?.......The.efflux.of.the.Soul.is.happiness-here
.is.happiness;.I.think.it.pervades.the.open.air,.waiting.at.all.times;.Now.it.flows.unto.us-we.are.rightly.charged....He
re.rises.the.fluid.and.attaching.character;.The.fluid.and.attaching.character.is.the.freshness.and.sweetness.of.man.and.
woman;....The.herbs.of.the.morning.sprout.no.fresher.and.sweeter.every.day.out.of.the.roots.of.themselves,.than.it.sprou
ts.fresh.and.sweet.continually.out.of.itself.)...Toward.the.fluid.and.attaching.character.exudes.the.sweat.of.the.love.o

f.young.and.old;.From.it.falls.distill'd.the.charm.that.mocks.beauty.and.attainments;.Toward.it.heaves.the.shuddering.lo
nging.ache.of.contact.....Allons!.whoever.you.are,.come.travel.with.me!....Traveling.with.me,.you.find.what.never.tires.
...The.earth.never.tires;.The.earth.is.rude,.silent,.incomprehensible.at.first-Nature.is.rude.and.incomprehensible.at.fi
rst;.Be.not.discouraged-keep.on-there.are.divine.things,.well.envelop'd;.I.swear.to.you.there.are.divine.things.more.bea
utiful.than.words.can.tell.......Allons!.we.must.not.stop.here!.However.sweet.these.laid-up.stores-however.convenient.th
is.dwelling,.we.cannot.remain.here;.However.shelter'd.this.port,.and.however.calm.these.waters,.we.must.not.anchor.here;
.However.welcome.the.hospitality.that.surrounds.us,.we.are.permitted.to.receive.it.but.a.little.while......Allons!.the.i
nducements.shall.be.greater;....We.will.sail.pathless.and.wild.seas;.We.will.go.where.winds.blow,.waves.dash,.and.the.Ya
nkee.clipper.speeds.by.under.full.sail....Allons!.with.power,.liberty,.the.earth,.the.elements!.Health,.defiance,.gayety
,.self-esteem,.curiosity;.Allons!.from.all.formules!....From.your.formules,.O.bat-eyed.and.materialistic.priests!...The.
stale.cadaver.blocks.up.the.passage-the.burial.waits.no.longer....Allons!.yet.take.warning!.He.traveling.with.me.needs.t
he.best.blood,.thews,.endurance;.None.may.come.to.the.trial,.till.he.or.she.bring.courage.and.health.......Come.not.here
.if.you.have.already.spent.the.best.of.yourself;.Only.those.may.come,.who.come.in.sweet.and.determin'd.bodies;.No.diseas
'd.person-no.rum-drinker.or.venereal.taint.is.permitted.here....I.and.mine.do.not.convince.by.arguments,.similes,.rhymes
;.We.convince.by.our.presence.........Listen!.I.will.be.honest.with.you;.I.do.not.offer.the.old.smooth.prizes,.but.offer
.rough.new.prizes;.These.are.the.days.that.must.happen.to.you:...You.shall.not.heap.up.what.is.call'd.riches,.You.shall.
scatter.with.lavish.hand.all.that.you.earn.or.achieve,....You.but.arrive.at.the.city.to.which.you.were.destin'd-you.hard
ly.settle.yourself.to.satisfaction,.before.you.are.call'd.by.an.irresistible.call.to.depart,.You.shall.be.treated.to.the