File:Meadow & cabin near Big Lake, AZ.jpg

We went camping and hiking in the White Mountains in northern Arizona in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Big Lake and Mount Baldy. Eric went trout fishing on the Little Colorado River and the West Fork of the Black River. We saw great beauty.

"Most, the overwhelming majority, seem condemned to the role of spectators, servitors, dependent consumers. One exception remains to the iron rule of oligarchy. At least in America one relic of our ancient and rightful liberty has survived. And that is - a walk into the woods; a journey on foot into the uninhabited interior; a voyage down the river of no return. Hunters, fishermen, hikers, climbers, white-water boatmen, red-rock explorers know what I mean. In America at least this category of experience remains open and available to all, democratic. It is my fear that if we allow the freedom of the hills and the last of the wilderness to be taken from us, then the very idea of freedom may die with it." Edward Abbey, from Down the River (with Henry)