Back in 1969, there were bumper stickers all over this region that urged the elimination of all the seafood just east of here, in Nevada. The bumper stickers said, "Kill the Pupfish!", and people had had enough of this one inch swimming mongrel. But enough about that, let's talk about me.

Six years ago, I set camp at Furnace Creek under a creosote and headed for the cooking pots. I cooked green beans and mashed avocados and made cheese and bread sandwiches and fried spinach. I sauteed gulf shrimps in spice sauce and watched the sun set across the dunes.

I had a workable knowledge of a travel stove, some spare white gas, and a cooler of tightly wrapped foods. Nobody told me you couldn't carry your kitchen with you.

Back then - that was 1998, I didn't think much about the details that made life so wonderful.

I knew what I liked - every man - no matter how tempted and enthralled by the modern world - every man has the same basic things that make him happy. Food, women, sport. A good wine and some cheese. Her curves. His early morning sprint along the beach. There is nothing more to life than a good conversation and a balmy night, and the flourishing of our modern world will at best only help us to live and ponder and desire these age old things even more. That is, if we don't kill the pupfish.

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Desert Southwest

Mud Road to Coyote Buttes
Science fiction, flight of the raven, and dangerous roads.

Reefs of Pollen on the Carrizo Plain
Walking Southern California's protected grasslands.

Mesa to Canyon along the Colorado Plateau
First time rambling in the Southwest.

Saltwater Fish of Death Valley
A look at the big controversy about the small fish.

Wandering the Eastern Mojave
Notes on the Mojave National Preserve in Southern California.

Organpipe Cactus and the Goatsuckers of the Troposphere
Near Southwest Arizona's Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, a strange sighting in the sky stirs the subject of the atmosphere.

Gray River in the Sun
Driving and paddling the Los Angeles River, with a look at the heart of the city.

Death and Salvation on the New River
The Salton Sea, the New River, an environmental catastrophe, and the people who live there.

Panamint Valley Roach Motel
Everybody has stayed at a really bad motel. Want to hear about my experience?

Atomic Agriculture on the Rio Grande
Contemplate chili peppers and the white sands of southern New Mexico.

Bombay Beach and the Salton Sea
Kayaking, and trying to make sense of, the Salton Sea.

Trona and the Unusual Lake Searles
Traveling desert roads, meeting desert locals.

Barren Borrego
Southern California Desert

Four Seasons of the Mojave
Along Geology Tour and Lost Horse Mining Trail and up to Keyes View...

Captions from the Los Angeles Coast
Images and captions from the LA coast.

Skateboarding Las Vegas
Observations from traveling Las Vegas by skateboard.

Notes on the Channel Islands
Windblown zoology off the coast of Los Angeles

High Desert
Stories from California's High Desert Areas