i’m back in austin this weekend for a shoot, and once again i’m wondering why i don’t live here. right now: i’m at my favorite burger, beer, and darts joint, crown and anchor, watching my texas longhorns in the big 12 tournament semifinals, and it occurs to me – if i plan this out, i could be back here for good in a year.
dallas is crushing my spirit. it’s time for a change. austin, you’re on alert…
and so it begins…
last weekend in new york was fantastic… and i still have the lump on my head to prove it.
a trip to new york city characterizes my current life: running at a fevered pitch, going all the time. people that know me well, know that i need an unusually high dose of alone time. space and time to slow down, be quiet, breathe deep, and reflect.
however, i get the distinct impression that “alone time” is nearly impossible in new york. i remember the story of a famous photographer in the sixties and seventies that became such a recluse, that he would only shoot people on the street below from his multi-story manhattan window. i think he later became famous for this very reason. but rarely leaving his apartment darkroom, he eventually went insane. this makes sense to me.
from the moment i landed at laguardia, it was go go go.
i caught a taxi, and had him take me straight to my hotel uptown. the cab driver was a very nice egyptian.
“salam malakim,” we exchanged.
we talked briefly about egypt and lebanon. he was very busy though, and kept switching over to a conversation with a faceless man on the other end of his bluetooth. it seemed to be super-glued to his ear.
an hour later, and only 3/4 of the way to my hotel on 53rd and 7th, he got into a shouting match with another taxi driver. he ended the shouting with a sarcastic and defeated sounding, “salam malakim, brother, salam malakim!”
i asked him if he knew the man. he said “no.”
once at the hotel, i dropped my bags quickly in my room, and raced out of the lobby. i’ve never felt so much raw energy. and the noise… my goodness, the sounds and smells all around. it was a case of sensory overload from the first moment. my hotel was at 7th avenue, just above times square. this fact was lost somewhere in the shuffle when i booked my hotel days before.
i began walking north. i could see masses of trees up ahead, so i knew i was headed in the right direction.
central park is the first place my eye found to be intriguing enough to take out my camera. but i was quickly wisked away by the sirens of the city. there was too much to see and do. can’t stay still for too long…
i’ve never been one to enjoy being a tourist. my idea of sight seeing is to slap on my chacos and hit the streets. no map, no plan. just see what i can see. it’s very freeing. i’ve done this in many cities across the country, and it hasn’t failed me yet.
i am not opposed, however, to seeing all of the wonderful tourist destinations that people come from across the globe to see and take their picture in front of. they are popular places for a reason. i just prefer the method of “stumbling” upon these attractions, as though i’m merriwether lewis seeing the rockies for the first time. it’s much more exciting that way.
problem is, in a place like new york, there literally is never enough time to see everything. so i decided not to beat myself up over it. my friend elaine was coming in on a bus from philly, and at the moment, that’s what had my attention.
elaine lived in the city a few years after college, and she knows it well. and, as i’m sure any new yorker would tell you, it had a piece of her. needless to say, it probably was just a good excuse that i was there.
we met at penn station, and headed straight for the village. her friends andy and kara were waiting for us at joe’s pub. andy’s girlfriend, sabrina, does the lighting for all of their musical acts, so she got us all in for free. she’s quite good at what she does. so good, in fact, that even dustin hoffman has expressed his awe of her work…
the first act was very interesting. an iraqi lute player, rahim alhaj, had the audience captivated. the room was so quiet, the clicking of my shutter became annoying to those around me. beautiful.
elaine and kara had a laugh in between acts.
alhaj was profound and saddening, so it was a strange segue into the next band, the new standards – a jazz trio that covers pop tunes. hey ya by outkast was the grand finale, and that aptly describes their act as a whole. they were actually quite good, and very entertaining. i have never heard better vibraphone solos in my life.
one of the things that i like about elaine is that when you’re with her, dancing through the streets of manhattan seems pretty normal.
after joe’s pub, we weaved past crowds of nyu party kids and hipsters, through the village toward other parts of town where andy thought we might have a good time. we talked about alan ginsberg and the beat poets. we talked about dylan, and where the cover for the freewheelin’ bob dylan, my favorite album, was shot. we never did figure it out.
i have to admit… with this crowd i felt as though we could have been in a turkish prison and still have the time of our lives.
it’s never too late for the dessert truck! notice elaine’s clasped hands, as though she’s praying to the dessert god(s) to make up her mind for her. in elaine’s defense, it was a difficult decision.
eventually we had to stop for a slice. poor elaine had to wait a whole 2 minutes longer than the rest of us… it required documentation.
go read somethings? i’m still trying to figure out if it was meant to be ironic, or…
the train ride home that night was quiet and reflective. inspiring.
saturday morning, i woke early, got coffee, and strolled around the city a bit more. it was overcast, almost monochromatic that day. i hopped on the e and ventured back down to the village. elaine met me on a corner and we walked a little more. we talked about how morning is the only time of day that new yorkers aren’t out and about. it felt like a ghost town.
we came across cafe angelique on bleecker, and decided to get breakfast.
she was in a bit of a hurry and needed to get home to philly. we took the e up to 34th at penn station, said our goodbyes in the subway, and parted.
again alone, i stared out the windows of the dingy subway car, and listened to the sharp clack of the train on its tracks. it never got old watching the car in front of me through the doorway window as it seemed to move independently of the car i was in. the people in the car ahead, moved in a strange first-person arcade game manner. never staying steady enough for me to examine the people on the other side of the glass.
i took a walk into brooklyn. my cousin, rachel, lives there. it’s also where i thought i might get an interesting view of manhattan. and i did. i imagined the shot i wanted before actually seeing it, and it looked much the same in my mind as it did in person. too bad hurricane hannah had different plans for the sky than i would choose. she would come just hours later with fury. but for now, i was hungry form all the walking.
numerous people told me about a place called grimaldi’s. “the best pizza in brooklyn,” everyone said. so i thought i’d grab a slice. it’s just under the brooklyn bridge, and that’s precisely where i was. what i didn’t know is that grimaldi’s doesn’t sell by the slice.
i was already intrigued and i felt committed. so i enjoyed every second of the whole pizza that i ate… all by my lonesome. the pie was amazing, it was reasonably priced, and the service was fantastic.
i caught the r to union street. rachel was going to meet me at a pub for a drink. after going the wrong way the first time, and going all the way back to manhattan, i eventually reached my stop. this time when i emerged form the underworld, hannah’s fury was in full force. not really sure where i was going, i darted from awning to awning, asking friendly brooklynites where i might find fifth street pub. everyone looked more confused than i was. i had the name wrong.
one young man i asked had a warmth about him. we connected immediately. he had a mild west african accent, a personable grin, and a deep sorrow in his eyes. i asked if he wanted to have a beer with my cousin and me. he said his name was serigne (pronounced serene).
we ran up union to fifth in the rain, where we met rachel at union hall pub.
it was great to see my cousin. i don’t see her nearly enough. so we caught up a little, talked to serigne about his life, growing up in senegal, and his preferences in women. it was a good combo to have a beer with rachel and serigne… they are both caring, deep-thinking individuals. i wish our time hadn’t been so short. that would remain a theme throughout this trip. got to keep going!
i caught a train back uptown to get my bags. hannah was relentless, still.
one of my best friends, and former roomie in wyoming when we both worked for the newspaper, anna, lives on long island with her husband emile. she’s still rocking the newspaper world with her brilliant reporting.
anna and emile braved the storm, and drove in to the city saturday night. i met back up with andy and sabrina in the village, and we waited for the other couple.
it was so nice to see my friends after such a long time. anna was the same as always – high, goofy energy, pure joy, huge heart. just the way i remembered her…
andy knew of a hummus cafe, and we all agreed.
of course the hummus was great. what blew me away though, was the grape leaves. they were topped with a green curry cream sauce that was insanely tasty. we all left satisfied. now it was time for a drink.
we casually walked and talked. anna gave me a book, with wonderful inscriptions and drawings inside. i was so busy looking at the book, head down, that i walked directly into a streetlight. luckily, i used my thick skull to soften the blow. it was incredibly painful, and embarrassing. but we all laughed it off and kept on.
we found a bar eventually… it seemed suitable. anna told me about emile’s and her recent trip to spain and morocco. she loves morocco. she spent some time there during college, and i can tell, like elaine and new york, morocco has a piece of anna.
i think anna and i are a lot alike in that way; we both are easily attached emotionally to places. i’m not sure i could even name all of the places that have a piece of me. perhaps a better way of looking at this is that we carry these places with us. forever. i think they represent something that we like about ourselves, or maybe something that we want ourselves to be. it’s the same with the people we carry in our hearts. for me, anna is one of those people.
it was hard to leave, but i had to get upstate to tarrytown, so i left the bar, and my four friends. time was my cruel master.
i took the metro north, winding along the eastern bank of the hudson river. it was about 1 o’clock in the morning though, so the train seemed to only be piercing a never ending darkness.
i arrived at my new hotel in tarrytown sometime after 2 a.m. i was staying in tarrytown because i had a shoot the next day, but i was already looking forward to monday. luke and i would get to tour the city even more.
luke and i finished the shoot on sunday, got up early monday morning and took a taxi into manhattan. we had no plan, but knew of a few key spots we wanted to see, so we dropped our bags at a hotel and headed out again.
luke tried to look like a true new yorker, hence the rude gesture. in reality, i didn’t meet one person that was not completely hospitable and downright kind to me the entire time. new yorkers get a bad wrap for being impatient and discourteous. couldn’t be further from the truth, in my opinion.
luke and i had a great time being tourists. staten island ferry, empire state building, ground zero, statue of liberty… i can see why all are tourist hot-spots.
we made our way into the east village yet again, to see luke’s friend marina. she’s a sweet macedonian girl that luke met when he lived in san francisco. we lobbied for her to visit texas, but we’ll see if that happens.
after a quick drink with marina, we traveled back uptown to see another friend of luke’s, lindsey. lindsey and luke go way back. she took off work early, so we all headed back to her neck of the woods, brooklyn.
the train was packed. lindsey and luke got on, i was left behind. it didn’t help that they were laughing at me as well, through the subway glass.
we had quite a time with lindsey. we played pool, had a few beers, and luke and lindsey reminisced and told inside jokes that i didn’t understand.
but we had a flight to catch. so we called a cab, and rush back to laguardia… from whence we came.
my last look at the city from the taxi. it made me sad to leave. i’ve never thought of new york city as a place that i’d enjoy and connect with as much as i did. maybe it’s because at this point in my life, i can relate to it; fighting for truth and identity furiously, pressing on with reckless abandon. i think it’s a phase for me. but it works for new york city. and i respect, and in some ways admire it. but i think more than that, it just comes down to the fact that i’m fascinated by it.
i think i’ll be visiting again soon…
author’s note:
it’s really weird how much i just felt like neil patrick harris at the end of an episode of “doogie howser, m.d.” with that last paragraph. oh well… let’s make a long-time dream come true…
(marginally bad synthisized piano playing in the background)
March 21, 1993… I’ve spent the last nineteen years learning how to be Doogie Howser, M.D. Now it’s time to learn how to be just (dramatic pause) Doogie. (cut to neil, with smile and look of accomplishment) (roll credits)
i was supposed to be in spain, and then on to lebanon. but i wasn’t. and i have to admit, i was a little upset about it.
i have always loved colorado though. what texas-born guy doesn’t. twice a year, every year, as almost some kind of required activity, all texans exodus to their playground state to the north. more often than not, we are an unwelcome sight by locals. but when you’re a kid, you never pick up on that.
so we left 100 degree heat in dallas, and headed for the mountains. six guys from texas.
there’s not much to look at on the drive from dallas to amarillo. it’s 5 or 6 hours of plains, trains, and other automobiles. lots and lots of 18 wheelers.
but somewhere in new mexico, you begin to see the foothills of the rockies. rising up from the desert floor like an impenetrable fortress. you begin to lose track of the time once you see your first mountain on this drive. thoughts start to race around my brain, and i begin to get giddy like a child on christmas morning. “what is this trip into the wild going to bring??”
we didn’t get to the cabin outside of boulder, co, until late. we were all excited, but road weary… and after a few beers and some surprisingly good mexican food, we hit the sack.
i woke early sunday morning to a beautiful mountain day. just outside of the open-air room where i slept, the constant buzzing by of hummingbirds lured me out of bed. i spent a good portion of the morning sipping coffee and photographing these amazing creatures… my kind of quiet time!
that afternoon we took a quick hike to “inspiration point”. i kept feeling like i should be in a ’57 chevy making out with a girl in a poodle-skirt, each time i heard that name. but it actually was quite a nice view.
ruby was the group mascot, entertainment of sorts, and scapegoat. she’s a sweet six-month-old border collie. but, partially because she’s young, and partially because she’s untrained and spoiled, she was a little bit of a pill to have on a wilderness backpacking trip. she sure is cute though.
the reservoir near the cabin provided a nice day hike. getting acclimated is absolutely essential when preparing for an extended high country hike. so drinking insane amounts of water, exercising at mid-high altitudes, and time in higher altitudes, are all necessary to getting a body acclimated.
monday morning came, and it was time to get going. just outside of nederland, co, is the hessie trailhead. this is where we were to set off. it’s also where we should come out after five days and nearly fifty miles in pristine wilderness. the weather was amazing, and the forecast appeared as if it might hold. we were optimistic.
the first great view came a few hours into the hike. ben admired creation as we took a breather.
about five or six miles in, and many thousands of feet of gained elevation, we came to a high alpine meadow. it was late in the afternoon – the worst time in the mountains to be above tree line. summer storms are almost daily at these high elevations, and tend to involve lightning and violent winds. so we pushed hard as the wind picked up. we crested the divide before the worst of the storm, and we made camp just as dusk arrived.
we comforted ourselves that night with the knowledge that tomorrow would be easy. just a few miles of hard elevation gain, but then we’d be done by lunch. our planned campsite was to be at high elevation, near fourth of july mine. we would have the afternoon to take a side-hike to a nearby glacier if we wanted. it sounded intriguing.
tuesday started with a creek crossing, and a fantastic view at diamond lake. but we were anxious to get to our next camp.
we made it to fourth of july mine just after noon. we found a spectacular spot, and made camp. bart, patrick, and i decided to take the two mile (round-trip) hike up to arapaho glacier. distance wise, the hike was no problem, but the amount of elevation-gained within the one mile up to the glacier was killer. but it was well worth it… if only for the images i had the chance to capture. i quite enjoyed myself.
bart and patrick weren’t done though. they both decided to climb a 13,000 foot peak to end the afternoon. i would not be joining them…
that night, we all slept quite well. the stars were fantastic. tomorrow was going to be our toughest day of the trip.
dorothy lake, a welcomed sight. it made me think a while of my good friend dorothy from el paso. she passed away when we were in college in austin. this place seemed like a place dor would like. a monument to a beautiful girl.
day three was definitely tough, but the views made it completely bearable. the first mile was 2,000 vertical feet up, but the rest was more gradual, and quite a bit of downhill.
we made it down from the high country, but somewhere we made a wrong turn. thus turning a 7 mile day into a 10 miler. we were all exhausted when we reached camp that evening. bart found a great spot in a clearing. and as the sun fell, it became apparent that this was the prime spot for seeing wildlife. first we noticed a moose across the creek from us. then came a bull and cow elk through the trees. all were welcomed visitors… until night fell.
most of us had gone to bed because with the darkness that night came a major chill in the air. our thermometers read high 30’s. bart was the last one up, tending the fire. around 11 p.m. he started for the tent, his headlamp scanning the black horizon. he heard a rustle in the creek twenty feet from our camp. just as his lamp pierced the darkness in the direction of the noise, a big bear head popped up out of the willows. “we got bears in camp,” he strangely whispered and yelled at the same time. the tone was such that we all knew this was no joke.
i heard him immediately, but froze with fear. in all the times i’ve slept beneath the stars in bear country (the majority of those nights were in grizzly country, no less), i’ve never had a bear visit my camp. it is exactly the stuff that our primal nightmares are made of.
so after flashing our lights at the bear(s) (bart claimed he saw two together) and banging pots and pans together, it seemed the ordeal was over. however, sleep would remain elusive for most of us the rest of the night. and rightfully so.
around two a.m., we heard wade, one of only two brave gentlemen that was not sleeping in a tent (funny how a 1/8 inch nylon inclosure makes one feel safe), inform us that the bears were back. it was in that same spine-tingling whisper-shout. i jumped up, somehow angry. this time it was patrick and i who had bear duty, in some sort of unspoken rule.
we yelled and banged the cook pot for a few minutes. this time very loud, and a bit longer than before. i never saw a bear, but i believed it had come and gone. the nature of black bears is such that they really are more scared of us than we of them. but their curiosity, and insatiable appetite, are what get them into trouble with humans.
i was pretty sure that their fear of us was in this case stronger than their curiosity or hunger, so, we all finally caught a little shut-eye.
the next day, i think we were all thankful. thankful that nothing else bear-related occurred the night before. but we were all sore… and today would be another back-breaking hike.
we had come down from the high elevations only a day before, and now we embarked on a journey back up. this time to our highest elevation yet. up and over a place called devil’s thumb. foreboding? it absolutely sounded that way. plus, we got started very late. i think we finally set off just after 11:00 a.m.
we once again broke out above tree line at the worst time of day. the ascent took us longer than expected… and it was hardcore. so when we came out to the high alpine meadows, the storms began. and this time we were in trouble. the wind was unrelenting, and our trail seemed to just disappear.
we could see where we needed to go, but there was a 1,000 ft shear cliff between us and our next camp. after scouring the landscape with six sets of eyes, we finally met back up with our trail. but it took us up another steep incline, to a shale covered hill over 12,000 feet up.
our trail then led straight into a huge snow bank. it looked impassable. but the storm was creeping up behind us. so we hiked yet higher, to see if we could follow the shale up and over this massive bank. bart again came through and found our northwest passage.
almost immediately, on the other side of the divide, our view shifted from dark and ominous, to bright and beautiful. seriously. this was one of the most beautiful valleys i have ever seen. we were greatly encouraged by this surmounted challenge and ensuing reward.
we camped at devil’s thumb lake that night. we enjoyed scenery and fishing, and a warm campfire. a deep fog rolled in that evening that kept the temperature moderate, but it brought rain.
it rained most of the night on into the morning. so it was by far the most unpleasant morning of the entire trip because we woke up wet and cold. not a bad motivator for the last day of a trip though. we still had a good 6 or 7 miles left, and we were all ready for a warm bar, with a burger and a beer.
when we made it back to the cars, we were exhausted. but the reality of this experience, and the raw nature of what we felt we accomplished was fresh on our hearts. we smelled worse than we looked. so when we made it into nederland, and set up camp at a table in the local bar & grill, a table of neatly dressed and freshly moussed tourists had to uproot and move across the room.
they had no idea. they didn’t know what we had just been through and what we had seen. they didn’t know how badly we deserved this warm seat, and the burger, and especially the beer.
andrew slaton | blog 