{"id":576,"date":"2015-07-23T11:36:48","date_gmt":"2015-07-23T18:36:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/?p=576"},"modified":"2015-07-23T15:15:34","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T22:15:34","slug":"hiking-kings-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/hiking-kings-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Good On Ya,’ Mate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"King's<\/a>
No room for error out here<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What was it like to tackle the\u00a0 trail descending into, through and back out of King\u2019s Canyon in the Australian outback? I\u2019m going to get to that. First, though, I want to talk about this idea of being a traveler versus being a tourist.<\/p>\n

Bear with me. I\u2019m going somewhere with this.<\/p>\n

I think the concept we carry with us when we define ourselves as travelers rather than tourists is of importance only to the people who are actually in transit\u2026 because transit is the heart of the experience. We\u2019re not home, and pretending like we are is a big mistake. Certainly to the people who actually bed down for the night, every night, in the places where we are temporarily visiting, tourism versus travel is a distinction without a difference. They certainly do not take the time to rank and collate us based on our self-definitions. To them, it is we who are the temporary blips\u00a0on their horizon, not the other way around. We can fool ourselves into thinking we \u201cknow\u2019 a place, but this is never the case. I use the Utilities Rule. You\u2019re not a grown up until you get your first utilities bill, and you don\u2019t get to claim you know a place until the same thing happens.<\/p>\n

One of the pleasures I took from almost fifteen years of calling local newsrooms around the country my home base was that I was actually living in places most people would either only visit or, much more likely, never visit at all. Certainly there is not a booming tourist trade in Sioux Falls, South Dakota or Pueblo, Colorado, no matter how hard the local convention and visitors bureaus try to make it so.<\/p>\n

That only made those places all the more appealing to me. I was absolutely enamored with the fact I could tell you where to find the best steaks in Pierre, where there was an ATM in Brookings that would dispense cash in $5 increments and that the Dells was the best place to have a picnic with your girlfriend. I liked knowing that the best Mexican food in Pueblo was (and is) in a converted gas station, that Powers Boulevard in Colorado Springs was in danger of becoming the next Academy Boulevard and that Pike\u2019s Perk was a much more central figure on my radar than Pike\u2019s Peak. I liked knowing that the real Memphis has nothing to do with Graceland and that, gun to my head, I would rather go to Neely\u2019s on the Interstate than the Rendezvous for all my barbecue related needs any day of the week and twice on Sundays.<\/p>\n

So now that my life as a filmmaker is based much more on traveling and picking up whatever genuine observations I can in a limited amount of time, the impossibility of my mission troubles me. I have to set aside, as much as I can, the knowledge that I can only come so close to really knowing a place or its people. As far as the storytelling goes, I have to do the best I can and hope it\u2019s better than most.<\/p>\n

Like I said, bear with me, I\u2019m going somewhere with this.<\/p>\n

During our time in Australia, it was hard to shake the feeling that the Aussies were pulling one over on us. \u201cJust say \u2018G\u2019day\u2019 and \u2018mate\u2019 as much as you can,\u201d I could imagine them saying to themselves when we were out of earshot. \u201cThey\u2019ll think that\u2019s how we really talk.\u201d The stereotype of the cheery Australian, throwing another shrimp on the barbie and wishing you a pleasant \u201cG\u2019day, mate,\u201d and a hearty \u201ccheers,\u201d as you left was so prevalent that I wondered if this was a play acted out on our behalf.<\/p>\n

In short\u2026 where does truth lie in the midst of travel?<\/p>\n

I take these journeys from a rather unique vantage point\u2026 that of the visually impaired filmmaker. An oxymoron if ever there was one, and when it comes to barriers, I sometimes feel like I get it coming and going. Being a filmmaker is often the impossible bar when it comes to knowing, really knowing someone. For as much as we in the filmmaking community, especially the documentary subgenre, want to say that our work is all about finding truth, that very loftiness really gets in the way. Isn\u2019t that such a high and mighty thing to say? Seeking truth. Personally, I try to avoid it. If the truth is out there (thanks Fox Mulder, and welcome back to prime time, by the way), it\u2019s not at the top of my hit parade. Anyone who has been in the business for any amount of time will tell you that the truth is not out there. It\u2019s a moving target. My advice, such as it is? Just try to tell the best story you can and hope it speaks to people. That\u2019s my way of breaking down the barriers. My agenda is not to find truth. Just to tell a story. This has helped more often than I can count.<\/p>\n

Now add in the visually impaired part.<\/p>\n

See? I told you I was going somewhere with this. Hang on, we\u2019re almost there.<\/p>\n

I carry a barrier with me every day, whether I like it or not. It\u2019s the fifty four inch long cane I use to navigate most of my world. It might as well be a brick wall rather than a slender graphite stick. I joke about it as much as I can, saying that I\u2019m \u201cdoing the Moses thing\u201d when I walk through a crowd, as the wave of oncoming human traffic parts like the Red Sea in a Cecil B. Demille flick. This is at the same time amusing, necessary\u2026 and a very lonely way to live. The cane is a barrier between me and the normal human contact that is the normal bustle of simple mobility in a large crowd.<\/p>\n

The great unspoken truth of walking with a cane is that, for the brief moment people pay attention to you, there is a wave of pity that is so thick that it almost knocks a person flat. I\u2019ve found that the best way to deal with this is to remember that most people are so preoccupied with their own lives that at least the flash of pity is in fact only a flash. It doesn\u2019t last very long. They tend to forget about you as soon as they pass. I\u2019m glad for that, because if I felt for more than a moment that I was living in a world of extended sympathy and well meaning, but unnecessary caregiving, I\u2019d have a hard time leaving the house in the morning.<\/p>\n

You learn to incorporate it and wall it off as yet another barrier. As I write this, I\u2019m a few minutes away from heading to a Marina on the north side of San Francisco to practice for a sailing competition I\u2019m in this September. On my boat will be one other visually impaired person and two sighted crew members. On the way to the pier from where I sit in Noe Valley right now, there will be a predictable routine. There will be someone, or more likely several someone\u2019s who will ask me if I need help crossing the street. At my transfer for the light rail to the Embarcadero, where I will meet my trimmer (the sailor who runs the mainsail), there will be at least one person who, as I board the MUNI, will ask me if I want his or her seat\u2026 this although my legs work perfectly well. I\u2019ll do the Moses thing and head to the docks.<\/p>\n

And then I\u2019ll step on the boat\u2026 and all is, if not forgiven, at least temporarily forgotten. The minute I step on the boat, I\u2019m the helmsman. Not the blind helmsman. Just\u2026 the helmsman. There is no question among the crew – sighted and impaired – that I am capable of doing my job\u2026 getting the boat where it needs to go. Likewise, I have the same lack of doubt about my trimmer. He knows the sails as well as anyone I know. Our sighted crew, running the jib or calling the obstacles I\u2019m responsible for steering around or through, have their jobs, and I have mine\u2026 and it all works.<\/p>\n

If only that trust – that elevated bar of accurate perceptions and high expectations worked off the boat as well.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re almost there, thank you for waiting. Your call is very important.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been training for more than a year for something like King\u2019s Canyon. My hiking partner here in San Francisco brings that level of expectation and trust to the game. I am pretty sure that Loren has only a passing familiarity with the word no, and our hikes have taken a \u201cno barriers\u201d approach, but not on purpose. It just always worked out that way. Tackle Montero? Why not? The coastal trail to Hill 82 in the Headlands? Of course. The back side ravines near Twin Peaks? Done and done.<\/p>\n

It all led up to the hike in King\u2019s Canyon. Different hiking partner but the same goals, and the same expectations.<\/p>\n

Hiking in King\u2019s Canyon does not leave room for error, or turning back. In the words of the immortal Bartleby, he of scrivener fame, if you would prefer not, best to decide this beforehand and enjoy the pool at the King\u2019s Canyon Resort twelve miles up the road\u2026 it\u2019s quite relaxing. Nobody will blame you, either. However, if you’re up for a challenge… well then, read on, my fellow traveler.<\/p>\n

You scale Heart Attack Hill and from that point on you\u2019re committed. You discover that the rough hewn stone steps offer minimal purchase at best and forward is the only solution. You crest the rim and the full force of a 38 degree Celsius morning hits you flat in the face that the only cold air is either the midpoint spur trail that leads to the Garden of Eden at water\u2019s edge at the bottom of the canyon or the air conditioning in the car at the end of the loop about six miles away from your current position four miles in.<\/p>\n

Oh, and you\u2019re doing it with the two pole technique that worked so well in the Bay Area but now is murder on your knees. In a world of fogs and blurs, colors and shadows, you can see the path in front of you,, but the twists and turns\u2026 not to mention the drop-offs to the side\u2026 are a guessing game at best. That is, though, what the poles are for. They\u2019re your second pair of eyes\u2026 or perhaps your first. The switchbacks you were ready for based on your Grand Canyon trek are only a rare gift, appearing in King\u2019s Canyon in a meaningful way only twice during the whole hike. This is a trust your knees and plan your footing well, step after step after step slog, and it lasts for thousands of steps. Tens of thousands, actually. You\u2019re thanking God or whatever deity might be handy at the moment that you and your cinematographer decided at the last moment to go ahead and buy the bear bells – not because there are actually bears anywhere near you at the moment (it\u2019s the snakes and spiders that will kill you) but because the sound of those bells\u2026 their rise and fall above and below your sightline (so to speak) help you figure out the angle of ascent or descent. The communication between you and your hiking partner\/cinematographer (\u201csharp turn to the right in ten meters,\u201d \u201cdropoff on your left with no grade,\u201d and so forth\u2026) is necessary, and will probably save your life, and that this is not an exaggeration in any way.<\/p>\n

But you\u2019re doing it under your own power, and with the navigation skills you\u2019ve spent a year mastering. Or perhaps you\u2019re only a journeyman at this point, but it\u2019s working. Holy\u00a0moley\u00a0it’s working.<\/p>\n

And then, time after time, you pass hikers – some going the same direction as you, others crossing your trail. And there\u2019s that point where they\u2019re gauging the situation, trying to figure it out, and it hits them. One of the two of you can\u2019t see. And therees that feeling of cognitive dissonance. But as hard as you’re looking for it, as much as you’re expecting it… where’s the pity?<\/p>\n

It’s not there. There’s… dare I imagine… respect? Admiration? Kinship? My goodness, I do believe it’s a hat trick.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0there\u2019s one guy. Clearly an Aussie And it\u2019s not exactly what he says, but the tone of his voice as he says it. What he says is this:\u2019\u00a0 Good on ya, mate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like I said, it\u2019s the way he said it. I had certainly heard it enough times over the past several weeks to know this phrase is part of the stock in trade for local colloquialisms\u2026 or I think it is. I mentioned my suspicions earlier.<\/p>\n

This time? Not a trace of pity in his voice. You know respect when you hear it.<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m going to carry that \u201cGood on ya, mate\u201d with me for the foreseeable future. The next time someone insists I take their seat on the bus, the next time someone grabs my arm without my asking, the next time someone says \u201cthat\u2019s amazing\u201d when all I\u2019ve done is get out of a cab and make it to the door\u2026 or find the door without assistance. These are all people who mean well, but are setting the bar too low. I\u2019ll take that \u201cGood on ya, mate,\u201d as a sign that when you work hard enough for something you believe in, respect and equality is part and parcel of the gig.<\/p>\n

I might have been a traveler or I might have been a tourist, but I\u2019ll say this.I can tell you where to get the best steak in South Dakota. I can tell you where to get your alternator fixed without getting ripped off in Pueblo. And now I can tell you where to feel at home in the middle of the Australian outback.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s King\u2019s Canyon. That\u2019s my story, and I\u2019m sticking to it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What was it like to tackle the\u00a0 trail descending into, through and back out of King\u2019s Canyon in the Australian outback? I\u2019m going to get to that. First, though, I want to talk about this idea of being a traveler versus being a tourist. Bear with me. I\u2019m going somewhere with this. I think the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Good On Ya,' Mate #travel #Australia #KingsCanyon","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,15],"tags":[3,53,9],"class_list":["post-576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-palette-project","category-travel","tag-australia","tag-kings-canyon","tag-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5Rim5-9i","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=576"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":583,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/576\/revisions\/583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trailheadproductions.com\/palette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}