I’ve heard this called the Aquarius Valley, but by any name the upper Arrigetch Creek is awe inspiring. That is Xanadu in the background.
“We woke this morning to a wet snow falling in our valley. We dozed until noon… [Our shelter] is just a tarp set up with ice axes and bivi sacks underneath. Craig dreamed that his 2 mo. old son turned into a Kentucky Col. honey package. Dave dreamed Tony was playing electric guitar with a drill team majorette and a drill time down by a lake in the Arrigetch on a sand bar. I dreamed a group of people [at Goat Butte, Malibu Creek State Park] were firing flares into the butte. Firecrackers too. Soon police uniformed in Patagonia Synchilla and riot helmets came down to stop them…” Journal August 20, 1986
We all remarked that the Arrigetch seemed to promote extremely long, vivid dreams. It was wet and cold outside and we lingered in our warm, dry bags.
“As we where making our precious breakfast oatmeal Tony, Sharon, Mark and Bret came by and we sat around laughing and sipping tea. The weather cleared and I had collected blueberries to go with the oatmeal. mmm. Without getting out of our bags we had lunch an hour later.”
As I recall we saw no other parties on this trip after the first day until a very tall, shaggy guide we dubbed “Gentle Ben” and his party of two hikers from Massachusetts walked by.
DAVE RECALLS PERIMETER MAN (aka “Gentle Ben”)
“With the sky staying light all night, we completed our climb of The Tusk sometime around midnight and descended into a majestic river valley to camp. I recall it was Eric, Tony, Craig, and I. This was during my days of minimalist camping, so I was only carrying a tarp, which we all climbed in under and fell asleep in our bivy sacs.
We woke up the next morning to a warm but misty morning. Somebody pulled out a pipe that we passed around and then got some coffee going. Tony was up first and wearing nothing more than his leopard skin underwear and a headband, walked down to the river and began his morning Tai Chi exercises on the rocks laid out across the braided creek. Now we had not seen a soul the entire trip so what happened next, especially in our otherwise altered state, caught us all flat footed.
Out of nowhere a dirty shaggy thin man, with about 3 teeth in his mouth, carrying a pack and a gun steps in front of our lean-to. He doesn’t say a word. Just stares at us. I’m sure someone tried to offer some kind of engaging conversation, but nothing. Just stares at us and occasionally looks down at Tony dancing around the rocks. What was this “Perimeter Man” – as Tony later described him – making of this bizarre scene. What was he going to do? Shoot us? This silent standoff lasted for what seemed like a long time and then he simply drifted of leaving us all to wonder if what he just saw was real. Apparently, it was since Tony explained these types of anti-social loners would set up outside the perimeter of small settlements, do subsistence hunting, and occasionally bring game into the village to barter for other food stuffs and necessities. I certainly didn’t know of any civilization within many miles of us so was flummoxed as to where “Gentle Ben” came from. But there he was, and now part of the story.” – DAVE JONES September 3, 2026
“Soon the 4 berets [the Alaskans] went back to base camp for more food… and hiked up to the base of the glacier at under [Xanadu] where the Christians are camped. Jim and Steve met us as we packed up our camp. Steve helped carry my 70-80 lb pack.
Dave, Craig and I hike up to set up our crude lean-to with the others under Xanadu and Caliban.
Now Jim and Steve have gone off to hike up a ridge. – Dave has gone to look for wood (scarce). No sound but the wind gently flapping the tent and bringing me the distant roar of the cascades… I hear voices – here come the Christians!”
