Cross-country cyclists find new threat in White Pine County

Friday, Aug 12, 2005

A group of bicyclists traveling from Philadelphia to San Francisco to raise money and awareness for cancer research had an adventure after leaving Ely and before arriving in Eureka.

When available the riders have been posting messages on a travel journal on the website www.pennride.org.

The big Nevada highlight came on the ride from Ely to Eureka. Halfway up our last climb of the day, Tim was... parents, stop reading here... [Joe now writing] chased for about 4 or 5 minutes uphill by a mountain lion. I was at the top of the hill, and Tim arrived, panting like crazy, and looking kind of wild. It turned out that he had seen a lion cross about 100 metres (this isn't Tim writing, I swear) in front of him, and then, when he passed it, it gave chase and ran after him up the hill for around a mile. I knew he was serious when he met me at the top saying, "Joe, do you have cell service? We have a legitamite [sic] emergency." We flagged down two cars to warn the others still en route of the danger. Luckily everyone made it into town safely, and we have a lovely stay in the county fair grounds. [Joe done writing]Parents, you can start reading again.

Broken lines, broken strings,
Broken threads,broken springs,
Broken idols, broken heads,
People sleeping in broken beds.
Ain't no use jiving
Ain't no use joking
Everything is broken.

My website is broken,
My email is broken,
My heart is broken,
Everything is broken.

My friends over at the-onramp.net have fallen and can't get up. And therefore gbae.org is nowhere to be found, and when last seen, was running naked, with no page headers, navigation buttons, footers etc. And I can't log into the web based email they provide us, which of course is the tool I need to correspond with our audience and artists alike. So this whole enterprise is under attack.

So in the meantime I've created the poster above and was seeking some feedback, so Morsa, as my only steady audience and commentor, you need to say something. Oh, I forgot, Morsa has moved out, taken a little trip, and then moved in. She has dropped off into silence.

Everything is broken.

Central Great Basin Curvilinear Style Rock Art



















I made a trip down to Ely recently and along the way drove out to have a look at the petroglyphs near the Hickison Summit. The site is well marked and has nice little picnic and camping area (but no water). There was no information or explanation of the rock art available. Comments left by visitors in the log book indicate the informational brochure box has been empty a long, long time.

These raised forms seem to be some of the primitive art works, but how is that accomplished? Does the act of carving compress and harden the rock, so that over time as the surrounding sandstone erodes, the figures become a raised relief?
























The Hickison Summit lies between the Monitor Valley and the Big Smokey Valley at about the center of Nevada.

This little spot reminds me of home.