Letters From Comb

O'Connor, MacGuire, Steele; Black, Shenanigans, Utah Rattlesnakes Part I

1. More on Glowing in the Dark. 2. A Mine is a Terrible Thing to Waste (away in). 3. The Pot Plane.

El Viejo Dave pushes on, starting with a new personal intro and some housecleaning & updating on previous episodes. As long promised, here is the followup to the Glowing in the Dark story from Season One. You'll want to hear what Dave finds on his shiney new Geiger counter in Fry Canyon and the Black Hole. Aluminum hats are optional. Also, get an update on Freezefest. And remember...it's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Ba'ililee & The Aneth Brawl of 1907 2. Hanksville 3: The Avikan Utes --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Ute Creation Story; Ute Ethnobotony; Coyote; Ute "War" of 1915; The Black Hole Crux Crawl --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Blanding Nightlife; The Rise and Fall of the Black Hole Quickie; Wickiup 101; Fry Canyon and Charley Frye; Survival, Really. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. More Firsts : Revelations from the Parking Lot. 2. Mutiny on Lake Powell: Part II 3. My Parkinson's Update 4. Navajo Ethnobotony Finale --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Mutiny on Lake Powell, Part I 2. Intro to the Ute Mountain Tribe 3. Navajo Ethnobotony- Cactus --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Navajo Ethnobotony: Gambel Oak, Mountain Mahogany, Datura 2. The Two Utes: Mormon Joe 3. The Utes 4. Ouzo-ing Over the Edge --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Dust 2. Navajo Ethnobotony: Utah Serviceberry, Cliffrose, Ponderosa Pine 3. Hogan 101 4. Pet Peeve: Chipping, Chopping, Glueing 5. The Story of Bill Tibbetts 6. The Two Utes --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Ethnobotony: Indian Paintbrush, Tall Mountain Larkspur, Single Stem Evening Primrose. 2. Pet Peeves: 10 Essentials and Cotton 3. Compass 54 4. The Spanish and the Navajos. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Navajo Ethnobotony: Utah Juniper, Mormon Tea, Pinon Pine. 2. Barboncito 3. The Merlin bird Identifier App by Cornell Lab of Ornithology 4. Pet Peeve Binge: First Ascents --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Traditional Navajo Healing. 2. Navajo Ethnobotany: Big Sage. 3. Manuelito. 4. The Picture Bird Identifier App. 5. The Navajo Creation Story --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Kyle. 2. Heidi 3. The Cloud-a-Day App 4. Kit --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Fun in Farmington. The Untimely Demise of Port Stockton. 2. A Tom Wheeler note. 3. Rock ID Review for Smartphone Geologists 4. The Secret Meaning of Cairns, Bolts, and Doggy Poopbags. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Outlaw Joe Walker and the Whitmores 2. Tom McCarty 3. The 4-Corners Manhunt of 1997 4. SEEK, the creature and plant identifier phone app. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Ominous placenames. 2. What to do in the 4-C when your climbing or canyoneering or paddling vacation is FUBAR, Part 2. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Ghost Resort: Blue Mountain Ski Area 2. Skiing the Abajos 3. Avalanches 4. What to Do in the 4-C When Your Vacation Plans Go FUBAR --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Segments include discussions on monsoon rains, the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, and the Moab Fault, and some incredibly lame jokes. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Freezefest Update 2. The Great Unconformity of Powell 3. Col. John Macomb in the 4-C 4. Get a Guide 5. A Tiny and Incomplete History of Guide Cerification in the U.S. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Everything you need to know to get started on this examination of human resilience with podcaster Dave, author of several books on outdoor recreation and disaster response, and with his geographic muse, Comb Ridge of the Bears Ears. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Death Camas and Stinging Nettle. 2. The Wingate sandstone. 3. The Kayenta sandstone. 4. Life and Times of Joseph Christmas Ives and the Colorado steamboat. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

A dizzying cornucopia of 4-Corners backcountry trivia: 1. Igneous structures like Shiprock and the laccolith mountains of the Plateau. 2. Toxic plants:poison ivy and datura. 3. Stupid laws of the Southwest. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. The one-minute Quick & Dirty explanation of Navajo Sandstone. 2. Polygamy: WTF, Part II. 3. The Hideout: Navajo Mountain 4. The Demise of Mormon gunslinger Lot Smith. 5. Zeke and the Bridges: a brief look at Bridges National Monument and its first superintendent, 'Zeke' Johnson. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

1. Sandstone Structures for 4-Corners Dummies 2. Polygamy WTF 3. Creation Story: Who Invented the Navajo Taco? 4. The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin Johnson 5. Porn and Pills in Paradise --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Back injuries. Looking forward to the New Year. The Life and Times of Thompson Springs. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The musings of an old polyglot. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The San Juan River; Cranky Cowboys of San Juan County; Dexter and the Wonderdogs. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Deceit, tragedy, fear, and triumph with some of the Colorado River & Colorado Plateau explorers and pioneers. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Topics: Coming to Terms (Old West terminology); The Moab Isolation Facility; The Outlaw James Otis Bliss. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Cass Hite, the Outlaw Trail, and the 3rd and final part off The Military of Southeast Utah. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Pinhook Battle and the Battle at Soldier Crossing. A brief look at the Utah National Guard, and Blanding's highly decorated 118th Engineer Company (Sapper) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Black Holes, mammoth logjams, fires in the slots, vigilante locals, wayward cows...and where to eat in Blanding --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

WARNING: CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE. The first episode of a 3-part series about the military in San Juan County. The fun includes wayward ballistic missiles, crashed B52 bombers, a possible hydrogen bomb gone missing, and the accidental invasion of Mexico. The final segment relates a story of unusual heroism by a Blanding soldier in Iraq. The 2nd and 3rd of these military episodes will be published in October & November. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The tragic demise of a dog in the frigid potholes of a deep Utah slot canyon, with a strange twist. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The "end" of Posey. The Mexican Revolution sends Mormon colonists packing back to Utah, nearly doubling the population of Blanding and setting off a class war. Sheriff Oliver meets his maker and his death raises questions about Everett Ruess. What is the validity of history and stories?

Howdy folks! Join Dave as he tells you about the strangely spaghetti-western history of Bears Ears territory and how it still influences the area today. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The first segment explains Southeast Utah's international Dark Sky Parks, why there are so many in Bears Ears territory, and some tips on skywatching & taking a good starscape photo. Then, grab a cup of coffee, because the second segment, as promised, is a followup on cryptobiotic soil crusts! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

The Bears Ears area has plenty of the weird going on. Monoliths, UFOs, aliens, skinwalkers, secret military bases, and more. And after you've been probed by aliens, you're going to need a drink, so we tell you where to find a one in San Juan County. You're going to need some witty banter if you hit a Utah bar, so we finish with some Utah Prohibition stories you can share with your drinking buddies. Cheers! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Comb Ridge and the Bears Ears share aspects of their beauty and solitude with the wadis of Arabia. But a massive "entertainment city" is now replacing the desert wilderness of the Tuwaaiq Escarpment in Saudi Arabia. Destroying a wilderness forever takes away our opportunity to use it as a venue for personal challenge and spiritual revival. Already in progress, what the AlQiddiya project is doing will leave you frustrated and speechless. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Grab some popcorn and listen to a film history of the canyonlands, with stories from films like The Eiger Sanction and 127 Hours. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

A discussion on how to meet your maker in the Parks of SE Utah, and some of the local lore on hauntings and things that go bump in the night. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Some typical Utah wildlife encounters and a primer on getting along in the Comb Ridge area desert. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

A summary of hazardous animals and plants in the Comb & Bears Ears area. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

We take a look at life in the backcountry fast lane, as an adrenaline-chasing 4-Corners couple takes turns surviving devastating falls while rappelling. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Dave discusses the history of Uranium mining in the Bears Ears area, and narrows in on questions about the safety of hikers in two of the area's most popular canyons. Then, everything you wanted(?) to know about monoclines. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Flashfloods are a frequent hazard for backcountry travelers around Comb Ridge and Cedar Mesa. These floods can roll boulders, tear out trees, destroy roads, carry your car off and bury it in sand, demolish bridges, and carry a deadly cargo of debris. And they can be merciless in the slots. Everything you wanted to know about the Monsoon Monster and a few things you didn't. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Dave discusses 4-Corners symbolism in the form of Kokopelli and the "Conga-line" panel. And Chindi, the malevolent spirit of the dead. Episodes will now be published weekly. Next episode: June 14. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Arrowheads 101 and a look at a dark day in 4-Corners history. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Ever wonder how potholes happen and what monsters lurk in them? --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Rattlesnakes, artifacts, and Highway 95. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app