The Wandering Harper

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The Wandering Harper Hiking, backpacking, and exploring this beautiful world of ours. Snapping a few photos and videos along the way and enjoying the creative process.

Follow along on the adventure here!

I never thought I would regret not bringing my wakeboard to southern Colorado.
09/05/2023

I never thought I would regret not bringing my wakeboard to southern Colorado.

If you need to reach me I’m gonna be right here.
08/05/2023

If you need to reach me I’m gonna be right here.

Standing in a federally protected national monument, four states, and the Navajo Nation all at once. Now…..to commit a ...
07/05/2023

Standing in a federally protected national monument, four states, and the Navajo Nation all at once. Now…..to commit a crime and watch the jurisdictional clusterf*ck unfold.

My kind of morning
02/05/2023

My kind of morning

Some people call me the space cowboy…
01/05/2023

Some people call me the space cowboy…

Somebody over there must be living right.
16/10/2022

Somebody over there must be living right.

A few shots from the hike/climb up Cookes Peak yesterday. The afternoon storms rolled in as I made my descent making for...
25/09/2022

A few shots from the hike/climb up Cookes Peak yesterday. The afternoon storms rolled in as I made my descent making for a cool, albeit wet end to the day. The gadget in my pocket said it was approx a 10 mile round trip up and down the equivalent of 175 flights of stairs. Be sure to bring plenary of water 🥴

Having a nice morning hike watching the storm clouds roll by in the distance.
20/09/2022

Having a nice morning hike watching the storm clouds roll by in the distance.

The rain clouds rolled in at sunset yesterday evening making for quite a show!
19/09/2022

The rain clouds rolled in at sunset yesterday evening making for quite a show!

One of those kinds of mornings
15/09/2022

One of those kinds of mornings

Stars shining bright above youNight breezes seem to whisper "I love you” Birds singing in the sycamore treesDream a litt...
18/07/2022

Stars shining bright above you
Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you” Birds singing in the sycamore trees
Dream a little dream of me

-Doris Day

They were twinkling pretty good out in Big Ridge last night.


Rocking my Derby hat and screaming “Messier” at the tv!
07/05/2022

Rocking my Derby hat and screaming “Messier” at the tv!

The last couple of months I lived in Silver City I started an earthen art work on Boston Hill. I ran out of time before...
06/05/2022

The last couple of months I lived in Silver City I started an earthen art work on Boston Hill. I ran out of time before I had to leave town, so the work is unfinished. I named the project “Maurine’s Garden” after my dear mother, my inspiration for the project. She is an exquisite gardener and has been turning plain patches of ground into things of living beauty for longer than I have been alive.

All the different color stone used in this project was found on Boston Hill, sometimes miles from where I was building. I spent countless hours filling backpacks with stone and hauling it through the winding trails around Boston Hill.

The space is meant to be a quiet, calming place where you can sit or saunter in quiet reflection and introspection. If you live in Silver City or if you are just visiting, go for a hike on Boston Hill and see if you can find it!

If you are not feeling like playing hide and seek, just tap these coordinates into your phone or gps and it will take you straight to it! 32.765761, -108.286691

These were taken at White Sands National Park, a massive collection of gypsum dunes in the southern part of New Mexico. ...
03/05/2022

These were taken at White Sands National Park, a massive collection of gypsum dunes in the southern part of New Mexico. It is a beautiful, alien landscape of snowy white dunes guarded by jagged peaks looming in the distance.

I made my bed near an oil well west of Halfway, NM last night. The rhythmic thunks and squeaks of the well churning alo...
03/05/2022

I made my bed near an oil well west of Halfway, NM last night. The rhythmic thunks and squeaks of the well churning along lulled me to sleep in no time. 😴

A few of my favorite shots from the bike race in Silver City, NM. These guys and gals are incredible! At times they w...
01/05/2022

A few of my favorite shots from the bike race in Silver City, NM. These guys and gals are incredible! At times they would reach speeds in excess of 60mph. Watching any professional athlete perform up close, in person is always amazing to me. Some of these folks seem truly supernatural in their abilities. It was a pleasure to watch and to shoot.

30/04/2022

Having quite a time at the Tour de Gila!

Blah see! Gimme all the apples a nobody gets hurt, see!
30/04/2022

Blah see! Gimme all the apples a nobody gets hurt, see!

I think I’m gonna like my new camera 🥹
28/04/2022

I think I’m gonna like my new camera 🥹

The last day of my trip through the wilds of New Mexico was bittersweet. I reveled in every moment spent there, but the...
17/04/2022

The last day of my trip through the wilds of New Mexico was bittersweet. I reveled in every moment spent there, but the trip had taken a physical toll. In need of a hot shower and a pizza, I wrapped up my little expedition and headed back to civilization.

- Day 3I woke up in the icy heights of Lilley Park to the sounds of wild turkeys greeting the day. Striking out tow...
16/04/2022

- Day 3

I woke up in the icy heights of Lilley Park to the sounds of wild turkeys greeting the day. Striking out towards the middle fork of the Gila River, I made my way down through the pine forests swaying high above the river canyon. Descending into the chasm I entered a wonderland of water and stone. Natural caves dotted the canyon walls. In places, the Gila had made her way down to bedrock. I made camp that night in one of dozens of caves along the route. I broke out my LED lights and played with lighting the cave for night photography, getting in an hour of star gazing before sleep washed over me. The cave where I made my bed had a pleasant surprise for me. When I laid in my tent the cave seemed to be amplifying and projecting the the river’s sultry song. Eat your heart out Sharper Image sound machine.

Day 2After a dealing with a bout of dehydration the evening before I awoke in an icy Hells Hole, but with my eyes on the...
15/04/2022

Day 2

After a dealing with a bout of dehydration the evening before I awoke in an icy Hells Hole, but with my eyes on the mountains above. After making my way a few miles upriver from my campsite I came upon a US Forest Service Cabin. It was locked up tight but I managed a pretty solid nap in the shade of the colossal conifer beside the building. No doubt planted when the cabin was constructed so many years ago. From there I ascended over 1,500 feet above my campsite that morning. Over 2,100 feet above my starting point. Once out of the river canyon and overtop the first ridge the trail dipped into forests of prodigious pines animated by the breeze. Turkeys scampered about here and their and chortling gobbles rang out from the trees above as I entered Lilley Park and decided to make camp for the night. In the wee hours before dawn I found myself standing outside my tent, watching one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way drifting above the horizon ahead of the sun.

Thar be monsters about….
15/04/2022

Thar be monsters about….

Just wandering around in my happy place.
13/04/2022

Just wandering around in my happy place.

On my first day out, winding my way up the west fork of the Gila River, I found a sandy spot to rest and to have a bite ...
12/04/2022

On my first day out, winding my way up the west fork of the Gila River, I found a sandy spot to rest and to have a bite to eat before pressing on to Hells Hole later that afternoon. Eating lunch there, I felt as though I was in the presence of an ancient monument to a long forgotten god whose likeness had been eroded just beyond recognition. These monuments to the gods of old, the gods of water, wind, sun, and fire, keep an ever watchful eye upon all those who slither, skulk, or sneak along the banks of the river below. It was the river that gave them their grandeur, after all, so they guard it as the treasure they know it to be.

🍴

10/04/2022

The last mile can sometimes feel like the longest. Have a Snickers® and finish strong!

I managed to make it out alive and mostly well. A few scrapes, bruises, and a possible broken foot, but otherwise all i...
10/04/2022

I managed to make it out alive and mostly well. A few scrapes, bruises, and a possible broken foot, but otherwise all is well.

The Numbers:

I managed to trek 60 miles through the backcountry in exactly 4 days and four hours. In doing so I ascended a total of 6,801 feet and descended a total of 6,795 feet. Both of my ACL’s are completely torn at the moment, so I much prefer climbing up rather than down. I consumed just over 13,000 calories since leaving on the trip. My pack weight at the beginning was 41 pounds including food and 2.5L of water and ended up at 33 pounds. My weight at the beginning was 208 (Eight of which I put on for the trip) and I ended up at 197.

Commercial Break:
Have you been struggling to lose a few extra pounds? Are those fad diets just not working as they claim? Try the brand-new, amazing “Drag Yo Ass Across the Wilderness” Diet! Take it from me, I lost 11 pounds in just four days!

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

It was an amazing trip. I’ll make no bones about it. I simply lack the words to adequately describe the stunningly fantastical world that mother nature has carved out of the land here. I walked sixty miles and it seems as though around every turn I found some audacious manifestation of the power of wind, water, and eons of time. I laid awake at night, staring into the cosmos, contemplating the geophysical forces it must have taken to carve out the 200-foot sheer rock cliffs alongside the Gila River. Trying over and over again to create a Timelapse movie in my mind that would collapse the 20 million years it took to carve out what I see today into a few short minutes; I would drift off to sleep watching the Gila River chew through eons of time and hundreds of feet of solid rock as I listened to it gurgling by, just outside my tent.

I spent my days wandering the West and Middle Forks of the Gila River and the mountains in between. As I walked I tried to imagine the land through the eyes of the native people who built the cliff dwellings further down river over 1000 years ago. How different this place must have looked without the thousand years of erosive forces that came to bear upon the land before my eyes laid upon it. While water and time bear responsibility for the scars on the land, man has taken his toll here as well. River otter and trout used to be plentiful here. The otter are now extinct, the trout are scarce, and the grey wolf was nearly lost but is making a comeback.

I do not often praise the federal government, but designating this magical place the world’s first protected wilderness area in 1924 was one of the smartest things they have ever done. Since 1924 the only way you can get in or out of the half-million acres of wilderness land is your own two feet or the four hooves of a horse. No cars, no trucks, no four-wheelers or side by sides, no hover rounds, no bicycles, nothing. Nothing mechanical of any sort allowed in. As you can imagine this keeps the vast majority of people out. “We have to what? Get out of our cars and walk? And there is no wifi? Or cell service? Oh no, f**k that!” I can just hear the tourist say and a huge smile just blooms across my dirty face. This place is safe for now. I just hope the Federal Government does not turn around a screw it up now by doing something abhorrent like building a road.

…..ok, that is my half-starved, slightly dehydrated, just back to civilization rant.

When my brain comes back online over the next couple of days I will try to post some pictures and videos. Keep an eye on YouTube in the next week or two as well.

Be well all you magnificent bastards!

Headed out tomorrow morning to take my body on a 60-mile test drive through the wilderness! You can follow my progress ...
04/04/2022

Headed out tomorrow morning to take my body on a 60-mile test drive through the wilderness! You can follow my progress live at: https://share.garmin.com/thewanderingharper

If I don’t get eaten by a hungry critter, I suppose I’ll have some pictures up in 7-10 days!

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Having quite a time at the Tour de Gila! #tourofthegila #tourdegila #silvercitynm #bikenewmexico #pedalfaster #flyby #slowmo

The last mile can sometimes feel like the longest. Have a Snickers® and finish strong! #lastmile #finishstrong #snickers #spoof #hikenewmexico #greatoutdoors #gooutsideandplay #wildernessnation #havesomefun #thecrystalmethofcandybars #candydontdothattopeople #hikinglikebettywhite

This mule deer seemed to be chasing my truck like a dog. He was just having himself a time! #hikenewmexico #chacocanyon #muledeer #tagyouareit #dogdeer #manbearpig #wildlifevideos #rocksandstuff #catchmeifyoucan

One of the large Kivas (circular ceremonial areas) in Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon #hikenewmexico #chacocanyon #kiva #ancientastronomy #hikingadventure #ancientengineering #chacoculture #firstnations #winterhike #coldinchaco #pueblobonito #desertlife

Cold in Chaco
Cold in Chaco

I woke up this morning in a twinkling, ice-covered tent in Chaco Canyon. I knew it was pretty chilly but when I crawled out of the tent and started my truck the thermometer read a frosty seven degrees...........of Kevin Bacon 🥶 🥓

Sand People
Sand People

A view from the hills above Mos Eisley on Tatooine. Keep an eye out for sand people! Well, there are two banthas down there, but I don't see any.....

Somebody's watching me
Somebody's watching me

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched? #crazybirds #scrubjay #featheredthieves #chiricahua #nationalmonument #gooutsideandplay #hikingadventures #hiking #backpacking #wilderness #thetrailsarecalling #getoutdoors #blueskies #sunshine #feral #dirtyhippie #sleepontheground #exploration

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