Distance = 19.5 Miles; People Met = 0
Our last day in Utah is cause for tying up a few things, particularly since we did not meet anyone in this isolated part of the state.
I wore the same New Balance shoes for 1200 miles, retiring them in Green River. The soles reflected the long mileage, but amazing to me was how the stitching held up, despite some extreme trail and weather conditions. I just felt those shoes deserved some kind of official obituary.
This may look bad but ......... after 1200 miles, there's little deterioration
There is a lot of irrigation going on in the desert, as is to be expected. Keith, the BLM guy we ran into the past two days, informed us that the Cottonwood Bend Ranch we went by with sprinklers going full blast was owned by a billionaire woman. She fancied herself an individual who wanted her own ranch. Individualism is not a stranger to this part of the country.
Abundant Irrigation at the Cottonwood Bend Ranch
Images of rugged cowboys aside, this must be the region of the country least capable of individualism. That is to say, if the meaning of words matter, there are few activities more dependent on social institutions than large scale mining and ranching. Granted, miners and ranchers don’t have to come face-to-face with the anonymous social network they ultimately depend on, but they depend on them nonetheless. Public lands, large tracts of private property that can only be protected with government backing, distribution infrastructure and markets dependent on government and corporations, the list goes on. You can’t irrigate to the extent that you see in the desert without either government protection or a group of people downstream knocking on your door with pitchforks in hand. Almost everyone in my small town of Norfolk depend far less on government than a large scale rancher, despite their rugged lifestyle; then again, we depend a lot on each other in my small town.
If we could only come to terms with how much of a fallacy individualism is we might come to terms with the best way of depending on each other to address issues such as Housing, Health and Hunger. That’s a thought on my mind as we approached the Colorado border, and will continue to be.
On a lighter note, we saw our first prairie dog today. He didn’t think much of us, though.
Yeah, same to you pal!
From the first planning days Nevada and Utah were the benchmarks for physical success. If we could make it through the higher mileage and grueling conditions of these two states we should be golden. Well, we made it! Time to focus more on the humanitarian mission than the hiking.
Hallelujah!
As an avid walker, just want to know from the experts, here, which New Balance Shoes these are? Are they your favorites?
Greetings Barbara,
These are all-terrain shoes. The model number for these was 473, but that seems to constantly change. There are models meant for cushioning and models meant for stability. For long-distance walking I prefer stability, partly because I pronate, partly for the longevity. So in summary I’d recommend New Balance shoes designed for stability. Hope that helps.
Kirk