We Fell Into a Burning Bowl of Fire

With all due apologies to Johnny Cash, we decided to make a wilderness hike into the Bowl of Fire. After too many hikes around Lake Mead where we've seen piles of garbage along the shoreline, it was time to go where there are no trails and the only footprints were our own.

The Bowl of Fire is a small valley of red sandstone mountains in the Muddy Mountain Wilderness Area near Lake Mead. 

There are no direct trails into the Bowl. You just set an eye line route and navigate cross country through the desert.

The great thing about back country hiking in the desert is that the lines of sight are so numerous it is almost impossible to get lost. Wander off course exploring in any direction and getting back on course is relatively easy. 

The Bowl of Fire keeps getting closer and closer.

Although the way across looks flat, we ended up crossing a few dozen washes along the way. This was one of the largest. Someone had managed to drive a jeep up this one. It was the only sign of other people we would see.

We finally came to a wash that took us into the Bowl.

Once inside the valley, we found many more washes to cross.

Once we reached the center of the valley, we picked out the largest wash leading into the red mountains and set off into it to see how far we could get into the Bowl. 

We've seen a lot of limestone deposits in sandstone formations before, but this spiderweb of lime was the most interesting yet.

We finally reached the end and found some interesting shades of green growing in the sandy spots in the cracks.

Making our way back out was as interesting as coming in. We crossed our own tracks a few times, but followed a different path out for the most part.

It was a pretty easy eight mile hike so we took the rest of the day to get the knuckleheads out for a swim in Lake Mead. We'll have to come back in the spring when it's warm enough for us to join them.

We did another "off the beaten track" very impressive slot canyon hike with some friends who were also boondocking near Lake Mead. Being a lazy blogger, I'll outsource the description of that hike. You can check out that hike at their blog Life's Little Adventures

A Bubble Begging for a Pin

With the market not sure what bad news would send it soaring today, here comes the Philly Fed to save the day by tumbling from October's 19.8 to a paltry 6.5, slamming through expectations of 15.0. This is the biggest miss since February and assures that ahead of today's POMO there is enough ammunition for a stock ramp to end the three days of declines. Since the economy is once again sliding on every possible banana peel, we can calmly go back to the "market" ramp.

The Fed has become masterful at blowing insane investment bubbles. Like all bubbles, they eventually burst (LTCM in the late 90's, 2000 Dot Com crash, 2006 Housing Market Crash, 2008 Leverage Crash). This time will be no different. For now, the Fed has managed to bypass the laws of rational finance. Who knows how far they can take it this time, but eventually you ignore fundamentals at your own peril. The Fed is already losing control of the bond market. I suspect we'll muddle through the holidays in a sideways to slightly up bias followed by a possible stock market reset happening sometime in conjunction with the next debt ceiling debate early in 2014. This could erase many months of gains in a few days. Is it really worth buying (or holding) at all time highs and trying to capture the last 3%-5% of upside in conditions like these? We'll soon know.

Our Own Boondocking Paradise (aka What Every Girl Wants for her Birthday)

We spent most of the Summer in Northern Idaho. This spot is close to the Canadian border and a day or less away from some of the prettiest areas of Western Montana, Eastern Washington, Northeast Oregon, British Columbia, Alberta, and, of course, Idaho. It also has the advantage of being in an agricultural area with a climate that allows for grape and stone fruit growing, has the largest hops farm in North America, boasts local providers of grass-fed beef and lamb, is host to plentiful wild game and trout fishing, and is surrounded by tens of millions of acres of mountainous public lands.

This fine boondocking site is on the last benchland above the Kootenay River Valley. It overlooks thousands of acres of farmland down to the river and has the Selkirk Mountains as a western backdrop. Other mountains nearby include the Purcell Range, the Cabinets, the Bitterroots, and the start of the Canadian Rockies.

Anyone who has camped through Northern Idaho and Western Montana knows it's difficult to find relatively flat land with good sun exposure for boondocking that isn't right next to a busy road, a railroad, or power lines. Most of the land up there is steep. Where there is a pass or a valley, the usual drill is to run a major road, a railroad, or power lines directly through it.

So we were pretty psyched when we found this spot with great early morning sun, brilliant sunsets, and, most importantly, no road noise, no train noise, and no power lines running through the scene.  As an added benefit, we have 15 GPM of pristine well water that filters through 300 feet of sand, stone and cracks in the pink granite. Since the location, climate, and neighbors are as good as it gets, we decided we had to buy it. Better yet, we closed on Susan's birthday making for a nice present.

One of our neighbors called the property "the Serengeti of Northern Idaho" because it is teeming with elk and deer. We've also seen mountain lion, bear and wolf tracks. We see a lot of game birds (grouse, pheasant, water fowl) including the local gang of prehistoric looking wild turkeys.

The land rolls over open bench tops and down into gullys that provide shelter for wildlife. It has a perfect mix of wide open vistas and cool forest groves. The forested areas are primarily Douglas Fir, Larch (aka Tamarack), and Ponderosa Pine. For diversity, there are groves of Cedar, White Pine, Aspen, and the occasional Junipers.

The larch is an interesting "pine" tree. It's actually a deciduous tree with pine needles that turn yellow and are shed each Fall.

The land was logged about 40 years ago and there are old logging skid trails throughout the property. Between these and the numerous game trails, we have miles of hiking, mountain biking, or even maybe cross country skiing....someday.

The reason we are spared from a railroad as a neighbor this close to the valley floor is that this spur of the Kootenay Valley Railroad was abandoned and removed in the early 1970's. The entire western boundary of the property, and our road into our boondocking site, is the old railroad bed. We'll need to improve about a half mile of this road into our boondocking site. If anyone wants to pay for the road improvements, naming rights to the road are still available. :-)

A small creek also empties into the valley at our property. This pretty little wetland was ravaged by cattle overgrazing. We plan to restore it and make it even better for wildlife. We're looking to coax the moose into coming back.

An historic old grain elevator is also on the property. It was built high above the tracks and was used by local farmers to load their grain onto the trains.

 

Our new boondocking spot had some access issues. We've roughed in a nice easy driveway incline and started a pad. After some rock is added next year, this will be ready for any size rig to park and maneuver in comfort.

Idaho is fun, but now it's time to move south again. As much as we love it up there, we're not ready to give up traveling fulltime just yet! 

It's Official: The US Goes Full-on George Costanza

The Seinfeld fans out there will remember the episode where George Costanza decided to just give up. Rather than watch his weight or care about his appearance, he decided to wear sweat pants all the time and skip other necessary hygienic activities. Well the US has just decided to stop shaving, bathing, and has purchased the largest pair of sweatpants the world has ever seen.

While we're all celebrating the end of the government shutdown, there is one bit of information that I haven't seen reported anywhere in the news. A provision (named the Default Prevention Act of 2013) is buried within the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2014 that gives the President the ability to unilaterally waive the debt ceiling limit.  Although Congress can override the President's move to lift the debt ceiling entirely, it would take a 2/3 majority in both Houses of Congress to block the action.  That just would not be possible for all practical purposes. Whether you are a Republican or Democrat (or, like me, have little use for either), this provision has chilling implications.

When I first saw the news that a deal had been reached, I spent time scouring the Internet to see if I could find out the new debt ceiling limit - i.e. how much more deficit spending could occur between now and February 7, the next drop-dead date.  I could not find any numbers.  Now I know why.

It looks to me, based on reading the Bill, that the Senate slipped the provision into the legislation at a late stage in the game, when they realized that the Republicans had caved in and the world was begging the government to avoid default.  I would bet a lot of money that most if not 90% of the Congressmen who voted "yes" on the Bill didn't even know that the provision was in there. 

In addition to this, there is no specified limitation on the amount of debt that can be issued between now and February 7th, when supposedly Congress reconvenes to vote on extending the debt ceiling limit.  But now it appears as if February 7th is a meaningless date. So now we have legislatively officially entered the realm of unlimited debt, unlimited QE, and interest rate and dollar instability.

In essence, while most people feel a sense of relief over the passage of the Bill enabling to government to pile on even more debt, the cold reality is that the legislation is a ticking time bomb for the U.S. dollar and it sets up the next stage of systemic collapse (or reset, choose your poison).

The truth is, the U.S. political and economic system is now akin to a runaway freight train in which the brakes have failed and it's headed toward a gorge where the bridge has collapsed. At this point, It would take a 30%-40% contraction in GDP to restore the annual budget to balance. Five years ago it would have taken a 20% GDP contraction. At the end of 1999, it would have required a 10% GDP contraction. As time goes on, we are accelerating more rapidly from a point where we could have fixed this problem with a minimum of pain. Our leaders have simply decided that it is better to just give up on fixing the problem and are hoping the charade lasts until they're retired and gone.

Tails from the Back Seat: Huckleberry Hounds

Dateline:  September 2013

Locale:  Far North Idaho

Activity:  Huckleberrying (a verb in these parts)

                   Huckleberry, the state fruit of Idaho 

So, off we went for what we thought was a normal romp in the woods but John and Susan had other plans.  They said that we couldn't, in good conscience, call ourselves North Idahoan dogs unless we experienced the Zen of picking huckleberries.  Not sure what that meant, but we were game!  As we climbed the trail to over 3,800 feet in elevation, we found the purple paradise: shrubs about 4 feet in height laden with small purplish berries that gave off a heavenly aroma and squirted juice when we jostled them with our noses...yummmmm!

Now you see them...soon you won't!

Since the season was just getting started, we didn't realize that these plants would be found in literally every alpine area in the Idaho Panhandle, along with deluges of migrant pickers/campers who infiltrate the area during this time of year; boondocking spots were at a premium.  We also got used to seeing huckleberry-filled coolers bungee-corded to every flat surface of the pickers' well-worn cars barely drivable under their own weight on the local backwoods roads. 

The Huckleberries of Wrath

Huckleberry picking can be lucrative, so it's not without competition.  Berry pickers are paid as much as $40 per 5-gallon container so it's not unusual that some can be viciously territorial about their picking spots, as if they were the only people around to have discovered it and now it's theirs and theirs only and of course it's where the finest perfect berries grow so there's no way they are going to share their precious secret place with amateurs, especially dogs!  And then there are the greedy pickers who use specially-designed rakes to "rake in" their fortunes... really quite unfair to us non-dexterous creatures, and to John and Susan too, who seemed to spend hours picking with nominal results (we think they ate as much as they picked!).  And of course there are the bears.  Huckleberries are a necessity for the region's black bears and grizzlies so they can be expected anywhere the berries are ripe.  They have flexible "prehensile lips" that can pick individual huckleberries without ingesting leaves faster than a person can harvest them; too bad they aren't trainable like us! 

Our first pick:
 certainly not going to supplement our income!

http://www.huckleberrypickers.com/

We think he likes the beer label too!

Huckleberries look like blueberries
but are more dense in texture and more tart in flavor.  Eating them makes your face flush and tongue tingle with the tons of antioxidants that explode in your mouth; their medicinal properties are numerous. In World War II, some pilots claimed eating huckleberry jam improved their night vision and today they are used to treat and prevent various health issues such as diabetes and urinary tract infections. Good thing for John since his favorite use for huckleberries is Huckleberry Beer!



Prime picking season is August, but the season extends as late as October. Perhaps we will venture out again, it's not easy work, but the rewards are tasty!

"Sweet" Dreams......

A River Runs Through It

In wandering around the country sometimes you just stumble upon a place that has that special "something" going for it. Usually it won't be a place that is written up in any travel or ratings guide. The River Clan Saloon is that kind of place.

Located in central Idaho near the town of Kooskia, this little riverside pub sits on one of the prettiest stretches of the Clearwater River you can find. The spot isn't just perfect for steelhead fishing, it's also perfect for the slip 'n slide set-up that takes you right into a sweet spot on the river. We didn't partake of it ourselves, but it does provide better entertainment while sipping a beer or a glass of wine than just about any other establishment we've visited in our travels.

Like most places with soul, the pub is owned and run by the family that lives on the property. When you arrive, you're greeted by Larry, the family standard poodle, who knows how to relax and have a good time. We became fast friends.

The pub was started and is run by son Anderson, a recent business school graduate. His business model/motto for the saloon declares:

"We've been to where you are going, and this is better" 

We are inclined to agree. This was one of the best stops on our three month travels through Idaho.

Like most family run establishments, the River Clan Saloon is a total family affair. Mom cooks the hamburgers to order (excellent, especially when enjoyed creekside) and dad rolled up with a group of his friends on their Harleys and was happy to provide all kinds of valuable information about the area for people like us who are looking for land in Idaho.

The family also has accommodations for the the fishermen who descend on this valley each year for the steelhead run. Their section of the river is the definition of perfect trout waters.

If you happen to be going through the heart of Idaho, take a ride along beautiful Highway 13 and look for the River Clan Saloon. They are between Grangeville and Kooskia down by the waterside (3341 Highway 13). It's the perfect place to linger for an afternoon (or two or three).

The Real Healthcare Scam

It's time for a healthcare rant.

As two of those sad souls who don't have health insurance through through a government program, union affiliation, an employer, or one of the increasingly rare rare corporations that still offer healthcare coverage to retired employees, you would think that we would be delighted about the promises of Obamacare.

Unfortunately, Obamacare will not solve ours or this nation's healthcare problems and will just serve to perpetuate the pricing issues that are at the root of the problem.

For example, from Bloomberg News:
Shetty is not a public health official motivated by charity. He’s a heart surgeon turned businessman who has started a chain of 21 medical centers around India. By trimming costs with such measures as buying cheaper scrubs and spurning air-conditioning, he has cut the price of artery-clearing coronary bypass surgery to 95,000 rupees ($1,583), half of what it was 20 years ago, and wants to get the price down to $800 within a decade. The same procedure costs $106,385 at Ohio’s Cleveland Clinic, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
“It shows that costs can be substantially contained,” said Srinath Reddy, president of the Geneva-based World Heart Federation, of Shetty’s approach. “It’s possible to deliver very high quality cardiac care at a relatively low cost.”

No, it shows that our existing model in the United States is a scam that is promulgated by the so-called "health care" companies, doctors, "insurance" companies, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and others all of whom conspire together to lobby for monopolistic pricing protections from our political leaders so they can steal everything that isn't nailed down and half of what is.

And it's not just heart surgery.  If you took the price of having a baby in 1963 and inflated it by the CPI you could walk into any hospital, have that child, and spend under $1,000 -- including three nights in the hospital.  Today you're lucky to get 12 hours and the price is 10x as high as it should be.

From the same Bloomberg News article:
“The current price of everything that you see in health care is predominantly opportunistic pricing and the outcome of inefficiency,” Shetty, 60, said in an interview in his office in Bangalore, where he started his chain of hospitals, with the opening of his flagship center, Narayana Hrudayalaya Health City, in 2001.

"Opportunistic pricing" is just a nice way of saying legalized extortion. That can only exist one way....when firms, individuals and everyone involved in doing it has to go to the government and get laws passed to protect them from competition, otherwise someone will come in just like Shetty and completely destroy their existing healthcare model by undercutting the price by 90% or more.

There is no crisis of health care and its cost in the United States or anywhere else.  There is a manufactured system of theft that is maintained only through legalized extortion by everyone involved in it, and absent their special protections that they have lobbied for, all of it and everyone involved in it would be able to be prosecuted under existing laws -- specifically, the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts.

We have spent much of the last two years searching for healthcare alternatives that are reasonably and transparently priced, do not involve insurance, and enable us as individuals to take personal responsibility for our healthcare choices.

The dental profession tends to be among the best for open and competitive pricing. Perhaps the best example is in the laser eye surgery field where a lack of insurance coverage led to both improvements in service and lower prices as firms had to compete for patients. In lab testing (PrivateMD Labs) and even medical scanning (MRIs, etc.Wecaremedicalmall), it is becoming possible to search for providers on the Internet that offer these services at 1/10th of the prices usually charged through insurance companies (and often cheaper than if you went through your insurance company and paid your share of the coinsurance for the procedures). Another example is the Oklahoma Surgical Center, a group of doctors who do not take insurance and charge dramatically lower prices for common surgical procedures. However, these free market examples are few and far between, the existing laws and anti-trust protections making it difficult for the individual to find affordable healthcare options like these.

The simple fact of the matter is that roughly one quarter of all economic activity in this nation is tied to this monopolistic pricing scam, directly and/or indirectly. One quarter of every dollar earned (or more usually borrowed) and spent, and of that, ninety percent or more, is simply stolen through these pricing machinations. This scam is larger than any other, and yet there is not one political party or organization that has taken this up as their headline issue.

The reason is simple:
They are all in on it and profiting from it, even the so-called Libertarians whose political beliefs in general I tend to lean towards.

We can start with the political claim that Medicare is "necessary" for older people to get reasonable medical services when the proof is right here that you can have your heart fixed for under $2,000 and in fact you could fly to India and back plus have the procedure done for less than $5,000.

Any person, institution, corporation or lawmaker who supports, advocates for or otherwise keeps in place the "special protections" that are the only reason healthcare pricing exists at more than 70 times the market level (including travel costs) and claims that this model is sustainable in this country on a long term basis is simply lying to us. The worst part is that so many of us want to desperately believe the lie and won't demand the real solutions.

And before anyone out there starts claiming that we pay more in this country because our healthcare services are so far superior to the rest of the world, do your research first. That may have been true 30 or 40 years ago, but not now.
And for those of you who believe that our rule of law and malpractice laws makes our healthcare system more consumer friendly than the rest of the world and therefore presumable worth more money. Just ask yourself, "If something goes wrong with my surgery, is it worth paying 70 times more for that surgery in the US just so my family can have an easier time suing someone?"

And finally, those of you out there who believe you are immune from this issue because your government, union, employer or former employer provided health plan will take care of you....well you are fooling yourself, have your head in the sand, etc. The healthcare pricing structure in this country is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Obamacare, and nothing proposed thus far by the Republicans, will solve our problem.