Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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8 AUGUST 26 - SEPTEMBER 1, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM W hat are you af raid of ? Shark at t ack s? The IR S? W hatever is under Donald Trump's hair? The sources of fear are as varied as Hillar y Clinton's explanat ions for her use of a private e-mail ser ver. I had t he oppor t unit y to ponder fear on a recent t rip out west . I don't like height s. The Sout hwest is f ull of height s. The topography in New Mexico is based upon t he scener y in t he Road Runner/ Wiley Coyote car toons. Curious rock for- mat ions def y ing grav it y, dizzingly deep canyons and bizarrely large mount ains abound. Fear, like pain, is a usef ul sensat ion. It can keep you f rom doing t hings t hat you shouldn't do or stop you f rom doing somet hing you are already doing. We spent several night s in Moab, Ut ah, which I highly rec- ommend. Moab is t he equivalent of Chapel Hill in t he deser t . The chicken burger I ordered came w it h a peace sign burned into t he top of t he bun. Odd people col- lect in Moab. Long hair, piercings and t at toos are t he order of t he day. The tow n sit s comfor t ably at t he edge of nowhere near Arches Nat ional Park, Canyon Lands Nat ional Park and t he ever-popular Dead Horse Canyon. Like Donald Trump, Moab has it all. For reasons unk now n, I suggested t hat we t ake an of f-road jeep t rip into t he mount ains surrounding Moab. My fearless w ife leaped upon my dumb idea and away we went . Our tour g uide was Jim, a former Marine, all around good g uy and adrenalin junk ie. Jim ow ned t he jeep rent al business, so I was hopef ul he would be caref ul not to drive one of his expensive vehi- cles of f a clif f while I was a passenger. The t rip began w it h a climb up a sheer rock format ion called a f in. The f in seemed to be about 3-feet w ide going st raight up. Perhaps I exaggerate, but t hat 's how it looked to me. Jim informed us t his was called t he "Chicken Fin" as some of t his pat rons would t ake one look and get out . Want ing to appear manly, and repressing my inner poult r y, I remained in t he jeep as we went up a grade I was sure would cause us to f lip over back wards. A f in is a narrow rock format ion t hat look s like a ver y large book st anding on end. Deat h and dest ruct ion lurk on eit her side of t he f in due to a drop-of f of zillions of feet onto t he deser t below. Jim pointed out we were going up a slick rock format ion, which only added to my sensat ion of impending doom. W hat could be bet ter t han riding up a narrow slick rock w it h only air on eit her side of t he vehicle? Turned out t he t rip was quite dandy despite my dislike of height s. Fear st ruck out . I enter t ained anot her v isit f rom Mr. Fear at Arches Nat ional Park . Arches has a one-mile walk t hrough a canyon laughingly called Park Avenue. It was only 101 degrees when we set out to walk t hrough t he Valley of Deat h. A s you k now, it 's a dr y heat out west, which somehow is sup- posed to make heat easier to t ake. May I point out t hat an acet ylene torch is a dr y heat? The sheer can- yon walls are astounding , tower- ing far into t he clear blue of t he western sk y. There is a pick-up point at t he far end of t he walk where wear y hikers can wait for a ride to come pick t hem up. This meant af ter walk ing t hrough Park Avenue, I got to enjoy walk ing back again to t he st ar t ing point to pick up t he car to pick my w ife up. I only met one person walk ing back t hrough Park Avenue, t hereby prov ing most people are too smar t to do such a dumb t hing under a blazing sun. The t rail is marked at irreg ular inter vals by small piles of stone. It is easy to misplace t he pat h, which I did on t he way back . Visions of personally ser v ing as v ult ure sushi danced t hrough my fever- dreaming head when I realized I was slight ly lost and my water was running low. Can't really say I was af raid because t he heat seemed to have muddled t he fear sect ion of my brain at t hat point . I felt like Clark Griswold in Nat ional Lampoon's Vacation when he got lost in t he deser t . For t unately, af ter a bit of back-t rack ing I found t he t rail again, ot her w ise I would not have w rit ten t his column. A f ter ret riev ing my w ife, she pointed out to me t hat we were t he oldest people she saw walk ing in t he valley. I do not k now whet her to be depressed or proud of t hat realit y. It was one of t hose conundrums of life t hat has no real answer. Instead of mak ing a decision, I had a gelato back in Moab. Not hing cools of f t he des- er t like lime gelato. The Nature of Fear by PITT DICKEY PIT DICKEY. Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. On a trip through the desert, Dickey met Mr. Fear at Arches National Park, which has a one-mile walk though canyon laughingly called Park Avenu. While others retreat, we are moving forward. Some publication's numbers are falling behind. Your free community paper is moving forward. Readership of free community papers is now higher than paid daily papers, and continues to grow. Rather than being replaced by "instant" media, your local free community paper has become an important part of our neighborhood. Another sign we're working for you. Free Papers Working For You