Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (April 5, 2000)
Feature The CI ac I< amas P rint ______ 7 WEdNEsdAy, ApRil 5, 2000 This Land is Your Land...Death Valley Style Ml By: Duane, Jason, Megan, Marie, Sarah, Alpha Matt,-Heath, ivuincnne This land isyourland, Thislandismyland !■ From California, To the New York Island. Bill Guthrie, Jennifer Porter and John Snively (from left to right) were the instructors/van drivers on the trip, as well as very useful resources for the biology, geology and history of the valley. From the Salt brush playa, To the snowcapped mountains. Sun high: Borax. Tothe Aitist’spalette. From the Redwood Forest Tothe GulfStream waters From the Dusty washboard This land was made foryou and me. Thiscampwasmadeforyouandme. As I was walking, Our fearless leader, Tha ribbon ofhighway, Isawaboveme, Sleeps in the trailer, That endless skyway . I saw below me, That golden valley 1 his land was made for you and me This van is your van, this van is my van, To the borrowed showers. Amongthe salad. And aging burgers. But we’re so happy, Because we’re with him This camp was made foryou and me. Jen’s van is haunted At least it’s working From Pauling Center, She loves the sand dunes. to the Harney Basin. Greg and her beetles, From Winnemucca Herdad is manly, to Texascampground But sleeps on padding. Hispad’ssobigitcan sleep three. This Van was made foryou and me. We’re in Death Valley We’resleeping on tables, Our tents are totaled, Because it’s windy. Our shorts are sandy. Our hair is tangled, This camp was made foryou and me. Listening to a presentation at the charcoal kilns. Yes, that is snow on the ground. BiH’svan'sahazard, Ithas some issues, Buthasaspeaker, To wake the sleepers. He’s a great talker. Cooking breakfast in the the trailer during a very windy morning. The same trailer Snively almost slept in after his tent was destroyed in the wind. And a bird watcher. This bird was bom to live free. One van's arrival in Death Valley, above. Sleeping on picnic tables during the monstrous winds, below. The wind distorting the tents, right. Sarah, Amber, Jason and Helen hold up a canyon wall in Titus Canyon, above. Bill's van tire didn't survive the bumpy road to Titus Canyon, above left Snively talks about Mosaic Canyon, left Photos by Matt Brown, Jason Strawn, Megan Oldenstadt and Jennifer Porter Death Valley Is Hotter Than Hell Death Valley By Bob Porter By Jason Strawn The Devil wanted a place on earth. Sort of a summer home: A place to spend his vacation Whenever he wanted to roam. So he picked out Death Valley. A place so wretched and so rough. Here the climate was to his liking And the miners were hardened and tough. He dried up the streams in the canyons And ordered no rain to fall: He dried up the lakes in the valleys, Then baked and scorched it all. Then over his barren desert He transplanted shrubs from Hell. The cactus, the thistle and the prickly pear— The climate suited them well. Now, the home was much to his liking. But animal life, he had none: So he created crawling creatures That all mankind would shun. First he made the rattlesnake. With its forked poisonous tongue: He taught it to strike and to rattle And how to swallow its young. The he made Scorpions and Lizards And the ugly old Horned Toad. He placed spiders of every description Under rocks by the side of the road. Then he ordered the sun to shine hotter. Hotter and hotter still. Until even the cactus wilted And the old Horned Toad looked ill. Then he gazed on his earthly kingdom. As any bad creator would: He chuckled and snickered a lot, And admitted to himself that it was good. 'Twas summer now and Satan lay By a prickly pear to rest. The sweat rolled off his wearthy brow. So he took off his coat and vest "By Golly, "he finally panted "I did my job too well. - J ... I'm going back where I came from Death Valley is hotter than Hell!" There’s a dry barren land All covered with sand Where the sun will bleach out Your bone And death lies in wait To determine your fate As ancient and watchful as stone A glimpse of this sight at day or at night and your stomach will shrivel with fear but I’ve been to this place and it’s filled with such grace and wonder, it makes your eyes tear. Because out of the gloom Springs a small yellow bloom A preview of something to be As a dead looking brush Springs something so lush Death Valley is home for me.
