86 search results for "last float down "

Uncategorized

THE HITE FERRY in GLEN CANYON w/ Edna Fridley & Charles Kreischer (1959-1962) ZX#21

by  •  • 13 Comments

CHARLES KREISCHER & EDNA FRIDLEY loved the West, and especially the Colorado Plateau. Both explored the canyons of southeast Utah in the days when very few people even knew they existed. At the time, most Americans’ knowledge of the Colorado Plateau came from John Ford movies, and they rarely mentioned film locations in the credits. But Charlie and Edna knew, and they took hundreds of amazing Kodachrome transparencies to remember their experience

In a previous issue The Zephyr published images by Kreischer and Fridley of the road to Hite Ferry— old Utah Highway 95 — which remained a dirt and gravel road from Blanding to Hanksville, until the rising waters of Lake Powell flooded the ferry. Subsequently, three bridges were built, at a cost of millions of dollars, to connect the east side of the reservoir to the west.

In this issue we focus entirely on the Hite Ferry itself and the surrounding area. And at the end of this post, look for some new information and of new images yet to come…JS

Read more →

Uncategorized

GRIEF MEETS ORWELL & the “CUCKOO’S NEST” by Jim Stiles (My Recent Encounter with the Mental Health Industry) ZX#20

by  •  • 68 Comments

I’ve never written anything like this before — not in the 33 plus years I’ve been publishing The Zephyr. Not ever. It’s personal and it’s painful; it’s about mistakes I have made, and regrets I will carry to my grave. It’s about loss and and unexpected events in our lives, and how we deal with them. We all seek our own paths — some find comfort with family and friends. Others turn to their church. Some try to ride it out on their own….still others seek “professional help.”

In the context of this story, it’s also a cautionary tale –– a warning to all of you about the mental health system in this country and how badly it can be abused, intentionally or unintentionally, by the people who oversee and manage that system. I believe that mental health services, when professionally administered by people with true consciences and a genuine concern for their patients, can be of great comfort to those dealing with grief and despair–the pain that can create serious emotional problems. But it can also be abused. It can cause even more damage to the very individuals the mental health “professionals” claim they are trying to help.

Everything you are about to read is true…

Read more →

Uncategorized

UT Hwy 95: The Road To Glen Canyon & Hite Ferry w/ Edna Fridley & Charles Kreischer: 1959-62 (ZX#16)

by  •  • 21 Comments

In this selection of Kodachrome transparencies by Edna Fridley and Charlie Kreischer, I assembled the images as if one were traveling from Hanksville to the Hite Ferry, and then eastward through White Canyon, and past the Bears Ears on the way to Blanding. The entire journey was about 135 miles. These photos were taken by both photographers and at different times, between 1959 and 1962. I’ve done my best to assemble them in order, based solely on my recollection of the landscape after driving Utah 95 hundreds of times over the past 51 years…JS

Read more →

Uncategorized

MY PELVIS AND ITS PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE ……Bill Davis (ZX#14)

by  •  • 19 Comments

Major life changes are sometimes a matter of miles: You decide (or it is decided for you by your high school grade point average) to attend a college far away from your home; you accept a job on the other side of the country, or you fall in love and follow her or him to elsewhere.

Occasionally, however, your life can be forever altered by inches. Take a few minutes now to voyage with me back to Sept. 12, 1975—to Colorado this time, rather than Moab.

It was a day of disaster, choreographed like a ballet; and I’m convinced I was at least partially responsible for the pattern of the dancing. We’ll discuss all that after the scene is set…

Read more →

Uncategorized

REMEMBERING PHILIP HYDE: Revered Photographer & an Honorable Man—by Jim Stiles (ZX#11)

by  •  • 9 Comments

Two epiphanies would come from that moment. On the back jacket, I read both biographies and realized that Abbey had written the 1956 novel “Brave Cowboy,” upon which the 1962 film, “Lonely are the Brave” was based. I had seen that movie on television, a decade earlier, and it had a profound effect on me and on my future. To this day, it’s one of my favorites. The bios also included photos of both men. I studied them closely and decided to learn more about Mr. Hyde as well.

Eleven years later, when I started The Zephyr, I knew exactly where I had stored Phil’s calling card, so I signed up Phil Hyde as a complimentary Lifetime subscriber. A few months later, to my surprise, I received a card from Phil. He still remembered our encounter from 1978 and wrote to thank me for the complimentary subscription and to wish me well in my endeavors. Over the years, he became a Zephyr supporter and contributed a few letters to the Feedback page.

Read more →

Blue Moon Extra, March 2022

Toots McDougald’s Moab Century…by Jim Stiles (Zephyr Extra #1)

by  •  • 23 Comments

Her name was “Toots McDougald.” If you tried to call her by any other name, you did so at your own peril. Officially she was born “Helen Marilee Walker” on September 15, 1915 and her parents wanted to call her Marilee, but it was hopeless. By the 1940s, even the Moab phone company listed “Marilee McDougald” as TOOTS in its annual updated phonebook. Of course, in those days, when the population of Moab was about 600 and during a time when there was still a personal touch to life among humans, the local phone company folks knew Toots, knew that nobody would know who the hell “Marilee McDougald” was, and willingly listed her in their little phone directory for the Toots she really was. Decades later it was one of the great blessings of my life to say that Toots McDougald was once my neighbor and my friend. And had I been 30 years younger, maybe a lot more—I’ll explain in a minute.

Read more →