Always Stay with the Bear Spray

Big Jim Pleyte and I were finishing off a great day of hiking, trekking on a trail near Specimen Ridge , a favorite area of ours in the Lamar Valley of Yellowstone. My suspect body was holding up to the challenges of elevation and a lot of up. What can happen in the wild turned a leisurely hike into an adventure. Midway in the hike, Jim wanted to do a little exploring. I would rest at the dead tree. Jim would continue to a point beknownst to him. After a while, I wandered a bit. I was never more than one hundred yards from the anointed tree but because of terrain and high wind we never saw nor heard one another when he returned. After not finding me at the tree, Jim then worked his way to the road. I stayed put for 1 and ½ hours as boy scout trained and bellowed “Pleyte”!!! ineffectively into the wind. I then spotted a bear like animal on a distant slope. Without bear bell or bear spray a nervous tension gripped my stomach. It was time to leave. I was paralleling our original route up when 50 yards to my left lumbered a grizzly with its distinct hump and confident air of an animal on the top of the food chain. My Pleyte pleas now included arm waving with the idea of looking bigger than my 155 lb reality.
I proceeded out thinking worst case scenarios. Jim was still looking for me in the fading light and approaching snow storm. What would I tell his wife, Flo? Who would pay for the helicopter search for Jim? I waved and yelled in case Jim was glassing the terrain for me.
I soon found out that a search had already been initiated for me, ME!, the seasoned hiker assumed lost, like a wandering old soul with Alzheimer’s. 200 yards from the road, Zula, a black and white collie mix, was the first to find me. A quick excited sniff and back to her handler. “Are you David Maertz?” She asked “Yes, I am. How is Mr. Pleyte? “ “ He is back on the road .” After a greeting and a manly hug, we told our stories. It turned out I wasn’t staying at said tree as instructed. Blame aside, all ended well with the moral of the story- Stay with the guy with the bear spray.

photo of bear by Jim Pleyte

We will helicopter in!

We will helicopter in!
It was a 6 hour drive to Dreger's cabin, snuggled between the pines and designed to capture view of the panoramic mountains rising from the shores of of Horn Lake. The drive was uneventful except for a forest fire we passed so close to be fogged in by smoke and feel the prickly heat. The action included a helicopter droning to the fire directly above us, delivering a huge water bag bomb. Gerry sped on as I documented the event by rapid clicking pictures like a drive by shootist.
Glenn and Di were used to outdoor drama. Glenn was seasoned to the outdoors, hunting and fishing for sport and a living when he was not teaching the sciences to reluctant and recalcitrant students in the juvenile correctional system. Glenn's life had been full of outdoor adventure, having close encounters with moose, bear and mountain lion which bordered on life threatening. His experience did not have the film crew back up of now popular, in the wild, reality TV shows.
Di also taught the sciences. Her genteel boarding school English background expressed itself in the beautiful botany of her gardens, her talent with water color art. Her love of the outdoors, and her ability to pitch in when a moose needs butchering makes Glen and Di a perfect fit.
Glenn had sketched a plan for our visit to include a resplendent hike in the adjacent Niuts in the Chocoltin area of British Columbia. We knew whatever Glenn planned would be special, but when he wrote, "we will helicopter in and hike out," time was needed to digest the implications. The indigestible part seemed to center around we will helicopter in. This idea stuck in Gerry's flat lander caw.
We slept well at the Dreger cabin that night, supported by the gentle sound of soft pine needles outside our window.
The next morning we arrived at the helicopter service, no security checks there. Mike, our pilot and owner, had a burly , competent look about him. In conversation we found out Mike had been the precision water bomber who flew over us the day before. WE small talked with Mike and his wife, Deborah, before take off. Deborah picked up something in Gerry's body language, which prompted her to ask, "Are you nervous?" Gerry's weak yes was two octaves higher than normal. Deborah assured Gerry that Mike was a top notch pilot. The preflight instructions were as follows. Upon leaving the aircraft, drop to one knee and stay low. The prop can drop to 5 feet. Hang on to all loose objects to keep them from being sucked into the fuselage. He added" That would be bad."
The flight was exhilarating. We rose above the tree line and were dropped in an area with breath-taking barren beauty. The plants have a bonsai quality, trained by mother nature to keep a low profile.
With experience and a GPS, Glenn picked the easiest route back. The seven hour hike was tiring, but worth the effort in views and experience. The only casualties were Glenn's great toenails that objected to the banging received during the steep part of the decent.
Safely back at the Dreger hideaway, the difficulty and strain of the day became pleasant exhaustion, washed away by a quick rinse in Lake Horn, cold Canadian beer and good company.

Bottom 2 photos were taken by Glenn.

Calakmul Xpujil

This are is one of my favorite parts of the Yucatan. We were there first last winter. It is filled with ruins which are little visited. There are new roads going to this area, but the tourists still have come very little.

I like the picture of the trees and dirt growing on the stairs of the Calakmul ruins because it shows how hidden the ruins are. Supposedly every mound one goes by in the Yucatan is most likely a ruin.The ruins in this area also have incredible detail.

We like to stay at Rio Bec Dreams when we are in this area. It is rustic, but very nice. It is owned by 2 Canadians, Rick and Diane. She is a great cook, another reason to stay there. (As like almost anywhere, there is not much good food in rural areas.) She is a bit touchy, however. We had changed our plans twice, but I always emailed her. Our first morning there, she brought us our bill and said “I have changed my plans and you have to leave.” Dave and I were quite startled. First we were rather angry, but decided we wanted to stay there and therefore a better tactic would be to talk with her a bit to change her mind. We did convince her to let us stay. By the end of the 3 days there, Rick was suggesting we build a cabana there of our own.

I think that is unlikely.

Uxmal ruins

We headed to Santa Elena to see the ruins at Uxmal. Santa Elena is a small town with few services. Vendors of the type in the photo are common. We had a pretty nice cabin in the town. The night sky was amazing.

Izamal, Yucatan birthday party

We returned to the Hacienda Chalante on the edge of Izamal, where we have been twice before. We were invited to the owner, Diane’s, 70th birthday party. She had lived there for many years with her American, ex-military husband. She was widowed about 10 year ago and remarried a local, Victor. She is one of the few ex-patriots we have met who seems to have created a happy life for herself and lives in the new culture. It is also interesting that she is older thanher mother in law. Her mother in law is the woman in Mayan dress with the grandkids or great grandkids. They seem to really quiet down around her. Diane is in the cowboy hat in the middle picture with me and our travelling companions, Glenn and Di.

Another reason for the party was Diane's glass bottle church was completed.

The food was interesting- 2 courses of pork, many salsas and corn tortillas. Notmuch for Dave to eat.

Izamal, Yucatan

Izamal Jan20
We are in Izamal, the yellow city. Yesterday Dave decided we should all take a tour of the convent and church here. The guide was a young man who said he could speak English. However, all we could hear was an odd mix of English, Spanish, and then Mayan interspersed with perfectly clear dates. 1592!! However what the date referred to we had no idea. This must have been common as he herded us around with hands clicking and clapping.

Macan Che has a really nice pool intended to look like a cenote, the underground lakes common in the Yucatan.We are staying at Macan Che, a few blocks from the center of Izamal.
The photo is our cabin.

Friday we are off to stay at a near by hacienda.

Rio Lagartos, San Felipe

Rio Lagartos, San Felipe, jan 16
We arrived back in Cancun Friday and picked up our rental car. It appeared to be about the first time Speed Rental Car had rented a car, as they had 3 people working on the transaction. We sped off in our Nissan to the Gulf, north of Valladolid to a small town 12 km from Rio Lagartos, San Felipe. Our hotel is right on the water and we have wonderful views.

There are lots of herons about. The heron photo is a yellow crowned night heron in the mangrove .

We found flamingos, lots of them.
This was after we had had many boat operators try to convince us to go out in their boats to find them. Tourism is way down and they seem very discouraged. However, getting up at 630AM for a 2 and ½ hour choppy boat ride does not appeal to me a bit.
Tomorrow (Sunday) we are off to Izamal, the yellow city, for 6 nights. We have been there a few times before.