May 2014: Havasu Falls Trip Guide (PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

INTRODUCTION: After our 2 week trip to Nevada and Arizona in May, 2014, I've been playing major catch-up for Waag and Co. and personal matters. That dust is beginning to settle. I was so enamored of our 5 day backpack to Havasu Falls, that I will be writing up a little guide to visiting this amazing place. That guide will live right here on this blog site. We plan on going back in May 2015 - let the fun begin!

SLO BACKPACKERS MEETUP GROUP: Kudos to Dave and Gregg for organizing this backpack for our meetup group. On most trips that I go on, I am the primary organizer, so I know how much fun planning trips can be! It was an incredible luxury to go on a trip that somebody else planned - all I had to do was show up! Thanks to my buddy Mark Mac for being such a great person for sharing such an adventure, and to my wife Sue for letting me back out of another trip that I was organizing (Overland Expo, Flagstaff, Arizona) at the same time!

ORIENTATION OF THE HIKE IN AND THE CANYON: (Need to confirm all mileage listed here and elevation changes listed here - so far, this info should be considered TENTATIVE). 
The trailhead is located at a large asphalt parking lot known as "Hualapai Hilltop" (Hualapai is pronounced as WALLA-PIE). The hike from the Hilltop to the town of Supai is supposedly 8 miles (need to confirm). The hike stars out on a well-developed switchback trail that quickly descends 1,200 feet into a side canyon to the main Havasu Canyon called Havasupai Canyon. From Supai, it is another 2 miles to the campground.

WHERE TO STAY: (1) THE HAVASU CAMPGROUND (2) HAVASU LODGE: The vast majority of tourists stay at the campground, located between Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls. Apparently, there is also a hotel where tourists can stay; none of our group stayed there, and I'm not sure that I even saw it or know where it is located (or how much it costs). 

MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TO HAVASU FALLS CAMPGROUND: There are numerous options for a tourist to get

GENERAL LOGISTICAL FACTS: Basic facts for the uninitiated.
- No campfires allowed in the Supai campground (note that we found signs of unauthorized campfires everywhere; there is tons of downed wood that could be used to make a fire, and apparently many have done so (against the rules).
- No camping anywhere except in the campground.
- Packing out all your trash is NOT mandatory. Mark and I packed up all the trash left in our camp, plus collected a bunch more, and was able to give it to the ranger at the corral just above the upper end of the campground. We did NOT have to pack out our trash, though I suspect that they tell people that in hopes that most or all of the tourists will pack out their trash. Note to the Supai: I think having trash collection for the tourists is a good idea, as I believe that most of the illegal campfires were to burn trash. Many backpackers are used to burning trash, and don't like packing it out if they don't have to. If you collect trash, people will not burn it with illegal campfires, IMHO.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS (WEATHER): Dave put out this weather forecast on our meetup website before the trip:
Weather Forecast on May 12 for:
Thursday, May 15, 2014: 83 / 48
Friday, May 16, 2014:  89 / 53
Saturday, May 17, 2014:  91 / 53
Sunday, May 18, 2014: 86 / 52 
The high temps forecast appeared to have been accurate, but I'm not sure about those lows. What i do know is that I did not need my 3 pound, REI 20 degree, synthetic sleeping bag. On most (if not all) nights, it was too hot when to do anything but lie on top of my sleeping bag and on top of my bivy sack - it was just too hot. I never touched my fleece jacket or my shell windbreaker on the entire 5 days of the trip. I would have been fine with one of those summer sleeping bag / bag liners - a 1lb or less sleeping bag shell/liner. I still would have brought the bivy sack in case there were biting bugs, which there we not. It may have gotten down into the 50's at night, but it would have hit that mark at 2 or 3 am. That is the time when I switched from wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and socks and slept on top of my sleeping bag and bivy sack, to actually getting inside the sleeping bag for a few hours. Since I wasn't getting bit by bugs all night, I eventually gave up on ever zipping my bivy sack closed, because it was just too hot. Note that for the first 2/3 of the night, it was too hot to zip the bivy sack closed, no matter how little I was wearing.

RECOMMENDATION (CLOTHING/SLEEPING GEAR): For a forecast similar to the above, I would have brought my windbreaker shell (9 oz.), a sleeping bag liner (I don't own one, but this would be what u want), bivy sack (REI sack 14oz - use in case of biting bugs or rain), and my regular sleeping pad. I would have left my fleece and sleeping bag in the car, and would have saved about 3.5 pounds of pack weight.

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NATION: Housing as a Human Right

Tim Waag's Report on the National Law Center 
on Homelessness & Poverty Webinar

Upon Laurel’s suggestion, I “attended” this free webinar today 4/24/2014 on “Human Right to Housing Symposium”. The webinar lasted 1 hour and featured multiple speakers. You can read more at www.nlchp.org (National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty) where there are some great articles. 

The bottom line is that we have a long way to go in the United States before the concept of “Homelessness as a Human Right” actually gives us a tool for creating housing for the homeless. Below I will summarize the state of affairs regarding “housing as a human right”, as presented at this webinar. 

Note that I pulled out all the relevant “nuggets” of thought, independent of whether it directly addressed the main topic - Homelessness as a human rights issue. Note also that I have not verified any of the "facts" contained therein - please don't shoot the messenger!

Above (click to enlarge): Thistle at sunrise, north Johnson Canyon, Panamint Mountains, Death Valley National Park. Photo by Tim Waag ("posts are boring without photos!").

1. Criminalizing homelessness is a popular strategy among government entities for dispersing the homeless.

2. Studies have suggested that “ending homelessness” is a more cost effective strategy for a municipality than criminalizing it. Costs compounded by homelessness include health care, law enforcement, and mental health care.

JUST FOR FUN! Panamint City Backpack in Death Valley National Park

Whenever this blog gets too boring, its time to post some fun photos, so here goes: Our recent backpack in the Panamint Mountains. 5 Lovely photos - not the best, just some random fun shots.

Including the person who carved this into the rock along the waterfalls in 1997!

Brother Brian climbs down the waterfall trail - just a stroll in the big Panamint park! Yes, they call this part of the "trail"!

Fairy-land near Grapevine Spring! Yes, the water comes directly out of the rocks! Find this spot if you can!

1874 Stewart 20 Stamp Mill remains. Sadly, Death Valley National Park has no interest in keeping this beautiful art deco brick smokestack standing. After being in situ for more than 140 years, DVNP is happy whether it stands or falls. Sigh. Yes- your tax dollars at work...Now, if it the smokestack were instead a one-of-a-kind red-peckered-darter-pucker-licker-snail, that'd be a different story.

This is what the original Panamint / Surprise Canyon 20-stamper looked like circa 1875 - note the train of loaded mules heading up to the mill to dump their loads. Since it was man-made (duh!), DVNP doesn't mind the last standing remnant of it to fall over. I just do not understand why our park officials do not care at all. With the bricks still in situ and a helo drop of concrete, we could patch it up to stand for another 50 years. Does ANYBODY out there care? Of course not.

Tim Waag: That's me, your fashionable blog host! Set to hike "back to the beer"!

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SLO: Vote Down the SLO Sales Tax Increase!

Introduction: I just don't have as much time to write on topics as I'd like, so I'm going with quick summaries of my take on the issues of the day. When I hit 10 separate topics, I will close this blog page and start another one. Here goes!

Okay, I added a photo because this page is so boring! Below: Hail the Waag Bros. 12th Annual Goler Wash Crew - what a friendly bunch!

4/2/2014 LOCAL: 

Renewal of the City of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Sales Tax Increase. Vote No!

4/2/2014: Recently, city of SLO city council members Kathy Smith and Dan Carpenter were on the losing end of a 3-2 vote to continue the current half-percent sales tax increase - I agree with them. Measure Y began the increase way back in 2006 as a "temporary" measure in order to increase city capital expenditures. These taxes have a way of going from "temporary" to "permanent". California is already consistently ranked in the top 3 highest tax burden states in the nation, and increasing the sales tax adds to the total rate.

Though there are many good uses for what amounts to a $6,500,000 sales tax increase, these types of taxes hit the poor and low income (as a percentage of income) the hardest, and are therefore the most regressive (as opposed to progressive) of all taxes (you never hear any politicians say that - especially the left-leaning ones). So I oppose the increase on those grounds alone.

In addition, as I have often said, I'd be happy to pay more in taxes if the government spent our tax money as carefully as we spend our own money - but they don't. IMO, SLO overpays for many things, but particularly the six-figure-$$$-average-police-salary - yes, you heard that right: our police department officers get paid over $100,000 on average per officer. Those of us with our bachelor's and higher level degrees should be so lucky!

It has been noted that the City Council has not spent the bulk of the Measure Y money since 2006 on capital improvement projects like they said they would, and yet they are back at the public trough for more. This time, they are not even bothering to insist that it will be spent on capital projects. Councilperson Jan Marx called Smith and Carpenter "obstructionists" after their no votes.

So what have they spent our sales-tax-increase dollars on instead of capital improvements? Answer: additional staffing of 17 positions, including 2 of my most objectionable, the so-called "neighborhood services specialists" aka the "neighborhood wellness police" - basically, a force that goes through neighborhoods fining you if they can see your trash cans aren't hidden away behind a fence within 12 hours of being picked up by San Luis Garbage. I feel really good about how the salaries for those 2 are being spent! - NOT! 'Nuf said.

Note that even WITHOUT the measure Y increases, the city of SLO continued to increase gross revenue collection since measure Y was passed, including during the "great recession", so they don't have the luxury of complaining of declining revenues as the reason they must renew the "temporary" sales tax increase. 

John Fowler, one of the 10-member advisory committee who did not seek the sales tax increase/renewal, noted that spending on capital projects did not increase with the Measure Y funds because of the large growth in city staff salaries! In other words, sell Measure Y by promoting the need to fill potholes, then when you get the tax increase, spend it on themselves and their staff and pet projects instead!

If the City of SLO would get staff salaries under control, spend the Measure Y increase on capital expenses as advertised, then maybe I'd be on board with increasing the sales tax burden on the poor and homeless - maybe.

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SLO COUNTY: Micro-Housing Experts and Successes

Okay, this one is NOT in SLO, bit I gotta start somewhere:
http://charitieshousing.org/archer-street/

SLO: County Needs Affordable Housing - Part II

Yep - starting another blog page on affordable housing for San Luis Obispo (SLO) county. Think of this as more of a resource page.

No Where To Go: Transitional Food and Shelter.
Post Office Box 4471
Paso Robles, CA 93447
www.NoWhereToGo.com

I got a fund-raising letter from them with no phone number or email address - only the above web site. No further information on them yet. If somebody out there is aware of the efficacy of this organization, please let me know so that I can help support their mission.

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NATION: Fact or Fantasy - You Decide (Toyota)

On 3/25/2014, I was struck by 2 separate articles about the $1,200,000,000 (yes, that's $1.2 Billion) fine by the US Justice Department against Toyota, plus federal oversight for 3 years. Not that I am particularly incensed that the world's best maker of safe cars (statistically) has to pony up $1,200,000,000 for a nonexistent safety flaw in their cars. With our government, these unjust intrusions on private enterprise are increasingly common. This is a chance for those who claim media bias does not exist to defend their position.

One article is filled with facts (those are the things that journalists used to report), and another is filled with inaccurate  and misleading statements. Again, you decide which one!

The Tribune (our local San Luis Obispo paper) ran this article, attributed to an editorial in the Sacramento Bee ("Carmakers will pay high price for hiding flaws"), which you can read by clicking here. 

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article on the same day on the same topic. You can read this editorial ("The Justice Department's Unjust Toyota Fine") by clicking here. I'll let you be the judge. How can we get 2 such diametrically opposing views? Indeed.