We stopped by Coal Mine Canyon #opcOnThisDay in 2017.
#opcOnThisDay in 2018, we finally made it to the Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails National Conservation Area, which *has got* to be the longest name in public lands conservation, right? #nevada #burningman #roadtrip
My buddy Brian is in American Samoa, and closing in on finishing his own quest to visit all 400+ National Park units. He’s now at 427/429, with just Amache NHS & New England NHT left. As long as Blackwell School NHS doesn’t become official before then, he’ll finish in Oct—a HUGE accomplishment!
I officially adopted a new quest #opcOnThisDay in 2018: scenic driving all 22 major paved passes over the Sierra Nevada mountain range! Here’s a shot from that day as we completed Ebbetts Pass. We haven’t made much progress on this one recently, but I suspect that will change in the next year or two.
https://rscottjones.com/quests/sierra-mountain-passes-quest/
Candleview (Bandalier National Monument, July 3 2016)
Early Twitter: the golden age of social-to-IRL community
Early Twitter was amazing for social community building—the absolute golden era of social media, imo.
I was reminded of that when I ran across some photos from a coworking space’s anniversary event that happened 14 years ago today.
Here’s a photo of about half of our #cwmn group—aka, Co-Working Monday Nights—which was just a dozen of us who had self-organized on twitter to show up at a particular coffeeshop after dinner every Monday to get some work done while also getting in some social time.
It was one of many social groups that formed here in Phoenix via twitter in those early years—back when it was primarily used for social purposes, not content distribution, newsmaking, doomscrolling, or mindless entertainment.
These “tweetups” were free and open to the public, and you generally introduced yourself by your twitter handle, not your actual name (unless your handle was, say, “rscottjones”).1 The only real thing that connected us together was primarily that we, well, used twitter and lived in metro Phoenix and were willing to meet other people who did too. You just ran across a tweet about something and decided, yeah, sure I’ll go to that.
There was #smunch, a monthly Saturday morning brunch that often took over smaller restaurants. And a series of Phoenix Friday Nights get togethers scattered across the Valley, including #dtfn (Downtown Friday Night), #evfn (East Valley Friday Night), #wvfn (West Valley Friday Night), and #nvfn (North Valley Friday Night). I co-hosted that last one, #nvfn, with someone I met at a monthly #smcphx gathering (yep, another tweetup). #FirstFriday gathered twitter users each month for Phoenix’s art walk. And #NightOwls, a #cwmn-like event held at the coworking space this photo was taken at. I also participated in #commpose, which was organized by copywriters but seemed to focus on writing in general. There were also plenty of one-time or irregular events, such as the charity event #Twestival, plus other minor get-togethers that were advertised nearly exclusively via twitter.
I met soooo many people during those events, many of whom have remained dear friends—people I truly love. It was a big personal stretch for me to just show up to random events where I knew no one, but there was such a welcoming vibe at each of them that any initial angst disappeared almost immediately.
I miss those times.
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It’s funny how those usernames have stuck. I was texting with @design_gal and @clowerpower this morning, and am grabbing bbq breakfast tacos with @wayneswhirled tomorrow morning.ngr) ↩︎
I ran across an “easter egg” in a DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer for Arizona eight years ago today. Apparently, every DeLorme state atlas has one of these special joke symbols, except for Maine, a tradition that started in 1986. A hero from the UK named Robin has a photo collection of the ones she’s found, but needs help with the last four.
Hey, it’s a #WaterfallWednesday photo from #opcOnThisDay in 2017, a thin strand viewed from the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado. #twofer
Ten years ago today, I was hiking in the Phoenix Mountains Preserve when a haboob blew thru.
Today’s #TentViewTuesday comes from Saturday morning at Bonito Campground in the Coconino #NationalForest in #Arizona. #camping
The two most likely vehicle problems are flat tires and dead batteries. Both of these are usually easily fixable.
Have a spare tire, a way to fix a tire, and a portable tire inflator. And carry a battery jumper (and normal jumper cables too) for your battery. At minimum, they’ll save you a ton of frustration when something eventually goes wrong.
Sharing Sequoia
From a post nine years ago today:
Later today, I’m making a return visit to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. Sequoia is a special park for me—it was my first visit there back in 1998 that sparked my excitement about visiting the big name western national parks.
I returned the following summer with Kim, eager to show her the amazing place I had experienced. That trip, captured in the photo below, really launched what would become my lifelong national parks quest and my passion for road trips. I’d return again—several times—each visit bringing someone else who really needed to experience it, too. This trip follows that same tradition, as I’m introducing six of my closest backpacking friends to one of the places I treasure the most in this world.
photo caption: Scott at General Sherman Tree, Sequoia National Park (Aug 1999)
Blue Mesa, Petrified Forest #NationalPark, #opcOnThisDay in 2016.
I met this cool ass dude #opcOnThisDay in 2017 in Utah.
Jumping way back to 2006 for this #MountainMonday shot from Rocky Mountain National Park. ☀︎ #Colorado #NationalParks
National Forest sunset
Hand-carved with love at our USFS campground
The appropriate way to watch a sunset over the San Francisco Peaks is from a tailgate with some fancy ice cream.
Loved this fun dark shark-shaped cloud last night, set against a fading sunset background.
…then stopped by an old house on a rock…
