Last Canyon Next To The Mountains

(Editor's Note: This article is reprised from a previous GonzoPR post and celebrates my new coffee table picture book titled "Aye, Chiwawa: Wilderness Photography" published in January, 2025.)

The Chiwawa River (above and below) flows into the Wenatchee River below our property in Shugart Flats near Plain in the North Cascades of Washington. So it was only fitting that friend and frequent climbing companion Steve Still and I explore the headwaters of the Chiwawa in the Glacier Peak Wilderness during the week of August 11-18.

The river, which takes its name from the Native American (probably Wenatchi, but possibly Salish) expression for "last canyon next to the mountains," has a low valley -- 2,000-3,000 feet -- and is surrounded by 6,000- to 9,000-foot peaks in the Glacier Peak Wilderness.

Because it resides in a low valley scoured by Ice Age glaciers, the Chiwawa River is a delightfully meandering stream that provides a white sandy beach at the base of our property where our kids would frolic in the hot summer sun where the Chiwawa joins the Wenatchee River on its way to the Columbia River in Wenatchee.

Back before we had kids, Rebecca was the Rock Creek Prevention Guard, patrolling campgrounds in the Chiwawa Valley, while I was the wilderness ranger for the Chiwawa and Napeequa drainages.

As the eyes and ears of the U.S. Forest Service up the Chiwawa River, we were based at the Rock Creek Guard Station about halfway up the valley on the way to the road's terminus at the old Trinity mine.

Glacier Peak (below), known to the natives as Dakobed, or White Goddess, is the most remote and inaccessible volcano in the Cascade Range. The broad massif looms large over other significant peaks in a vast wilderness that covers over a half-million acres.

With deep valleys carved by glaciers, forbidding cliffs and ominous ramparts of ice, the Glacier Peak Wilderness is only a place for those who are willing to brave its precipitous trails and high routes.

After quietly pouring out lava for most of its long existence, Glacier Peak burst into violent activity about 12,000 years ago, expelling immense quantities of ash and smoke.

Prevailing winds carried the ash hundreds of miles to the east as far away as Montana and Alberta, Canada. In the post-glacial period in the U.S., only Mt. Mazama (Crater Lake) covered a larger territory.

And so it was on Thursday, August 11, Steve and I departed for Owl Farm to prepare for our wilderness sojourn.

Year Of Karma

Is it fate, kismet or just an interesting coincidence that GonzoPR's annual year-in-review marks the 500th blog post since initiating this forum in 2008? According to astrologers, numerologists and those in touch with the ethereal plane, 2024 translates into a year of karma because of its association with the number 8. Karma, of course, can be both good and bad, and we've certainly had plenty of both over the past 12 months.

January's post featured some of my best photography for 2023, including shots of the second blue moon in August, a rare event known as a lunar perigee, or supermoon, taken with my Canon EOS 60D utilizing a 70-200 millimeter zoom lens to catch the full moon at its closest point to the Earth. Another favorite was my shot of UO PRSSA on its first professional development tour in Seattle (below) since before the pandemic.

As winter morphed into spring, we witnessed the waning months of the Pac-12 Conference, a collection of west coast institutions of higher learning that had been conference members since 1916. Blame Big TV and a feeble NCAA for its demise. We also suffered the loss of a beloved colleague at the UO School of Journalism and Communication, Ralph "Pete" Peterson, one of many part time instructors in "the bullpen."

In April, the Aldo Leopold Society gathered at the Owl Conservatory for a reunion of former wilderness rangers and trail dogs. In May, we celebrated the publication of my second memoir, Wilderness Strangers: Adventures in Shangri-la with a reading and discussion at Tsunami Books in Eugene attended by more than 50 friends and former colleagues and students from my days as a public relations practitioner and educator.

Also in May, those of us near the 45th parallel had the good fortune to observe the northern lights due to unusual solar storms. In late May, I joined UO PRSSA for another professional development tour in Seattle, where we had the opportunity to visit Starbucks Headquarter, the Seattle Kraken hockey team, Edelman Public Relations, The Fearey Group and Raffetto Herman Strategic Public Relations

As spring waned, we said good-bye to my college chum, fellow newspaper reporter and public relations practitioner, Jeff Foreman. "Mr. Duke," as I called him, weathered Parkison's supranucear palsy with great patience and good humor. He was a fighter. We continued to meet to consummate our annual bet on Duck football, usually at Bier Stein. Jeff’s mind and wit remained as sharp as ever. He was a friend indeed.

Prior to the summer solstice, we concluded our labyrinthine

journey through the complex and torturous process of securing the contents of our brother's storage locker in Portland's Pearl District following his passing in May, 2023 after a brief illness. Later in the summer, lightning strikes ignited forest fires uncomfortably close to the Owl Conservatory. State and federal firefighters quelled the blaze quickly.

As autumn began, I attended professional gatherings in my role on the PRSA Oregon board of directors: the PRSA CommCon held annually in Portland, and the PRSA Leadership Assembly in Anaheim, California during the PRSA International Conference. It was refreshing to reconnect with longtime colleagues (above) from near and far, along with students from the UO Chaper of the Public Relations Student Society of America (below).

In November, karma took a stark turn as Americans inexplicably elected a convicted felon as president, spawning the return of a popular series known as Rude Notes From The Field, an unfiltered review of the fear and loathing coming from this savage journey into the heart of the American Dream, where GonzoPR's far flung team of crackerjack reporters will skewer the Pointless Man and his demonic minions. Stay tuned.

Back By Popular Demand

Due to the impending return of Herr Gropenfuhrer and his evil minions as they denigrate and defile democracy and the U.S. Constitution, GonzoPR has resurrected one of its more popular series, Rude Notes From The Field. That's right, folks. As editorial director located in Eugene, Oregon, I have summoned our crack team of reporters based in North America, Europe and Asia to provide incisive satire and brutal pasquinade in reporting on what is shaping up to be a strange and terrible saga.

Providing frequent dispatches on the sorry state of democracy in this country will be Helmut Vallindaklopf, covering North and South America from his basement apartment in Georgetown, his twin sister Ramona Vallindaklopf, reporting on Europe and Africa from her base in Genoa, Italy, and Wolfgang Majoris, who will be tracking events in Greater Asia and Australia from his office in Bangkok, Thailand. Stay tuned for a savage journey into that elusive illusion known as the American Dream.

Buy The Ticket, Take The Ride

Admittedly, Tuesday, November 5 was a tough day for many, including me. Mine started with trepidation, like waiting for the expected announcement of the results of a biopsy. When the polls closed in the West, I flashed back to 2016 and felt that same, undeniable sense of dread. I remembered, however, in that instance, the outcome was a coldcock, an ambush.

 

This time, I truly believed the seemingly endless and relentless onslaught of fear and loathing prompted by a would-be tyrant with a cult following might finally abate. Sadly, it will not. Instead, the American electorate has chosen someone who holds the most fundamental values and traditions of our democracy, our Constitution, even our military, in contempt. 

 

Silly me. I was operating on the false assumption that Americans possess above average intelligence. Woefully wrong on that count. Instead of electing the first woman as president, voters have chosen the first convicted felon as president. If a critical mass isn't bothered by his transgressions, those who were hoodwinked will witness a sad transformation. 

 

Many voters possess no reasoning skills to differentiate reality from fantasy, confused by information segmentation and sheer welter of media disinformation. As a result, many subscribe to a false narrative. The minorities and those on the economic fringe who fell prey to the pitch will come to regret their bad choices. Most don’t know it yet. Joke's on them.

These same voters have either unwittingly, or worse, knowingly struck a Faustian bargain with demonic forces. The deal is tragic because they have given up something more valuable than what they receive. Imagine a “thank you” letter sent to selected voters: “Thank you for your contribution and your vote. This letter will also serve as your deportation notice….”

 

Turning off the television knowing that Kamala would not prevail, my stomach took over, issuing that familiar telltale sign, a harbinger of what was to come. In my lifetime, I have well learned that my stomach is the bellwether for a bout of severe stress. The stomach cramping intensified, exacerbating intense back pain from spinal fusion surgery a few years ago.

 

With very little sleep that night, the misery of an upset stomach persisted into Wednesday. Meanwhile, the sun rose in the east as always, and the day began. A hot tub was in order. Then I started thinking: What would the late Hunter S. Thompson say about this depraved and decadent descent into the netherworld? He left plenty of clues addressing this sorry state of affairs.

"No sympathy for the devil. Keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride...and if it gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well...maybe chalk it up to forced consciousness expansion." And then there's this gem: "In a closed society where everybody is guilty, the only crime is getting caught. In a world of thieves, the only sin is stupidity."

 

The next four years will be a savage journey into the heart of the American Dream, a harsh, often destructive exploration of the darker side of the American ideal, highlighting the contradictions and excesses that can arise from pursuing wealth, success and freedom at any cost. I sense there’s more fear and loathing on the immediate horizon.

 

But I’ll be damned if I’m going to allow the election results to despoil my golden years. I will concentrate on what’s really important to me: my family and friends, and especially my granddaughters. Yesterday, I picked up both girls from school, and the two bickered the whole way over this and that. Then my Zen enveloped me like a cloud.

I was filled with a warm, comforting feeling in my soul, and I found inner peace and tranquility in the uproariously chaotic moment. “These are my people,” I pondered, “They shall be my focus. They shall be my reward going forward.” I will severely limit or ignore the pointless chatter and embrace what makes me happiest by concentrating on the people I love.

I will continue to spend as much time in nature as possible, pursue my art and service projects and follow the University of Oregon Ducks as they join the Big 10 Conference. I will remain stoic and continue to fight the good fight for our civil liberties, speaking out whenever necessary. In other words, I will forego my final year of eligibility and turn professional.

Point Of Order

Drafted as an assembly delegate in my role on the 2024 PRSA Oregon Chapter board, I returned to the leadership assembly of the Public Relations Society of America at its annual meeting on Monday, October 14 at the Anaheim Marriott. The PRSA Leadership Assembly is a deliberative body with governance responsibilities for the organization, including the consideration and selection of PRSA officers and directors.

Assembly delegates also amend bylaws, approve the organization's dues structure and address other governance issues. Chapters, districts and sections all send representatives to the annual meeting. Having served as an assembly delegate about a dozen times over the years, I was surprised to learn that much had changed as the wheels of governance ground on in my absence since the "Boston Tea Party" in 2017.

Departing Eugene on Saturday, October 12, my first order of business was to figure out how I could track the Duck football team play the Ohio State Buckeyes in what had been billed as the college football game of the week. After cooling my heels at the terminal during my layover in Seattle, I boarding my flight to Anaheim. Kickoff was nigh, and much to my delight, the game was on television my flight What a break!

The first half was a competitive slugfest with numerous lead changes, and the Ducks would lead at halftime, 22-21. Unfortunately, my plane had landed at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, and I would need to deplane, find my way to the baggage claim and hail a cab for a ride to the Anaheim Marriott. Missing most of the third quarter, I opted to head to the hotel bar before checking in to the Anaheim Marriott.

Ordering a stiff drink, I utilized the game tracker application, an adequate, but exasperating, way to keep up on a game.

With the clock stopping on every single called time out, play review and injury time out, the game continued to see-saw down to the wire until the Ducks would ultimately prevail, 32-31, when the clock read 0:00.

On Sunday, October 13, it was time for me to continue my review of the issues that would be addressed at the 2024 PRSA Leadership Assembly, As is the case with many organizations and trade associations, trends in governance tend to ebb and flow over time. Since my last stint as an assembly delegate for either my chapter or district, PRSA has been tilting toward a more top-down, rather than egalitarian, leadership model.

After conducting a review of the nominating process in 2016, PRSA initiated a more hierarchical approach to the selection of officers and directors. The organization also planned to review of the process after five years. Historically, PRSA Oregon and its colleagues from chapters throughout North Pacific District had resisted attempts to limit broad participation by the electorate in the selection of PRSA officers.

So I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this year, two amendments returning to a more representative approach to the selection of PRSA officers and directors.

PRSA Oregon universally concurred that support of the two bylaw amendments is warranted.

Based on my admittedly subjective impressions of the tenor of discussions in virtual sessions with delegates prior to meeting in Anaheim, the assembly promised to be a return to those thrilling days of yesteryear when the meeting more closely resembled the frontier legislature scene in John Ford's The Man Who Fought Liberty Valance.

The first amendment would return the authority to select PRSA officers and directors to the Nominating Committee, providing greater diversity of viewpoints reflected by involvement of several PRSA sections and districts. The second amendment would provide for two sitting PRSA board members wot participate in the selection process. As expected the discussion was lively, but both amendments passed.

Other subjects covered at the assembly included reports from PRSA Chief Executive Linda Thomas Brooks, 2024 Chair Joseph Abreu, APR CPRC, and 2024 Treasurer Jessica Graham, APR, Fellow PRSA, followed by leadership elections for 2025 PRSA officers and directors and sereral enlightening panel discussion on subjects of interest, including artificial intelligence, mis/disinformation and education affairs.

For much of the rest of the conference, I focused on events centered on the PRSA College of Fellows, including a welcoming reception and induction ceremony honoring 11 new members for 2024. Established in 1989, the PRSA College of Fellows includes more than 750 professionals and educators nationally and internationally who have demonstrated a significant impaction the public relations and communications profession.

As the professional advisor for the University of Oregon Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America, I also attended the PRSSA Champions Breakfast with the UO executive team members in attendance. As a member of the first cohort of UO PRSSA members when the chapter was established in 1972, I was also celebrating 30 years as either the professional advisor or faculty advisor for the group.

Upping Your Game

"Elevate Your Communications Playbook" was the theme of the PRSA 2024 NW Communicators Conference held at Portland State University on September 19-20. The two-day conference featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions and roundtable discussions focusing on the latest case studies and trends in public relations research and evaluation, strategy and tactics, and storytelling in communicating with target audiences.

Topics ranged from the broad (strategic pianning, reputation management and research and evaluation) to the specific (marketing, employee relations, writing, and media relations). Keynote speakers addressed measuring trust in the world of artificial intelligence and empowering businesses and their employees to create a culture of well-being. Sponsors included The Oregonian Media Group, UO SOJC, TTHM.COM and PSU.

Aldo Leopold Society Redux

Any excuse for a party, right? But when one of the charter members of the Aldo Leopold Society ventures from Toronto, Ontario, Canada all the way to the Center of the Known Universe at the Owl Conservatory, then it becomes a clarion call not unlike a gathering of the pirate collective.

And so it was. As former U.S. Forest Service trail dogs, wilderness rangers and firefighters on the Lake Wenatchee and Leavenworth Rangers Districts on the Wenatchee National Forest, we look forward to a reunion of our tribe to cavort and spin tall tales from days of yore in the North Cascades.