Jeff Lubeck

A Hidden Gem – Lookout Mountain Lookout

Lookout Mountain (9,954 ft.) in White Cloud range is a hidden gem. The summit offers commanding views of the highest peaks in the White Cloud Range. An added bonus is the 1930’s era Fire Lookout situated on the top of the peak.

Access to Lookout Mountain is via a 4.5 mile trail (9 round-trip) from the Rough Creek Trailhead. To reach the trailhead travel 9 miles east of Stanley, Idaho on Idaho State Highway 75 to Rough Creek Road (FS 626). Travel up Rough Creek Road for four miles to the trailhead. The Forest Service Road up Rough Creek is fairly steep and not paved. It is navigable for most vehicles.

The first three miles of the Rough Creek Skyline trail (FS 647) follow Rough Creek. Travel on this section of the trail is good as the Forest Service utilized a number of grants to build well constructed bridges (2014-2016) where there are water crossings and sections vulnerable to unstable terrain. The first three miles of the Rough Creek Skyline trail are relatively gentle.

At about three miles there is a junction with Garland and Casino Lakes trails and the Lookout Mountain Cutoff trail (617). Take the cutoff trail (left). From this point forward the trail can be quite steep. A few sections can prove to be demanding. After about 1/2 – 3/4 mile the Cut Off trail (617) will join back up the Rough Creek Skyline Trail (647). There will be a fair amount of up and down travel as you approach the summit. The last 1/4 mile of the trail involves covering 720 vertical feet of gain.

Once on top, a 360 degree view is the reward. To the south, the two highest peaks of the White Cloud Range – Caulkens and DO Lee – are immediately upon you. In the far distance is Castle Peak, the highest in the range. To the east, the Lost River Range, to the north Cabinet Peak and Red Mountain, and to the west the Sawtooth Range.

The Lookout has been subject to a number of attempts at restoration over the years. However is usually locked by the Forest Services and not accessible.

The trail straddles the White Cloud Wilderness region. Lookout Mountain acts as part of its border.

A Boost from Government or Other Institutions? I don’t need no stinking government or other institutions, I need dignity and freedom to create Betterment!!!

So you think jobs creation by government, closely held capital available for investment, the grace of benevolent institutions or a single person who states they will serve you well is what makes the world a great place? No so says Deidre Nansen McCloskey the conservative economist – a key person in the Milton Freeman Chicago School of Economics way of thinking – in her book Bourgeois Equality.

You can read the 650 pages of text and 137 pages of notes in the third installment by McCloskey in this line of thinking – like I did. However, the bottom-line is that McCloskey proffers that if people are afforded basic human dignity (which has been the norm since 1840-ish) their insatiable appetite to better things (i.e., Betterment) is what has led to a 30-100 times improvement in quality of life. It is the desire to improve (i.e., quicker, better, faster) that has allowed us to live a life with a remarkable standard of living (and also to take virtually everything that is part of our daily life for granted).

McCloskey is bold and brash. She is willing to critique (often harshly) the hypothesis posited by every well known economist and theorist. I would pat McCloskey on the back but her hand is already there. None-the-less Bourgeois Equality is great reading for a geek like me.

My only question for McCloskey? Then why haven’t the Cubs won the World Series since 1906?

All The Way – Or Very Close To It

All The Way

All the Way – Home Box Office’s version of the Tony Award winning stage play – is a rewarding watch.

Starring Bryan Cranston (AAN Trumbo, Argo) Written by Robert Schenkkan (from his play) and Directed by Jay Roach (Trumbo, Meet The Parents, Austin Powers) All The Way tells the story of the 36th President of the United States; Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) during his years as Chief Commander.

All The Way overcomes – for the most part – two major constraints. The ground that needs or could be covered in a Biopic and all of the characters and story lines are from an age that print media, radio, and television existed and presented to the public. All The Way succeeds by focusing on the battleground of politics and civil rights. All The Way succeeds because Cranston’s performance as LBJ is uncanny. Whereas Cranston’s 2015 Academy Award Nominated performance as Dalton Trumbo felt like a wonderful caricature of the real man, he feels to be the real LBJ in All The Way.

If All The Way falls short in any manner it is that it portrays some major historical characters essentially as prop pieces in areas where in real life they were a key or principle character. For example, Anthony Mackie as Reverend Martin Luther King is good in his role. However the screenplay, while not inaccurate, is not forthcoming about King’s leading role in civil rights or the relationship and interaction between the two men. This is a small complaint, as with any Biopic the center of the universe is the main character and the story is about them.

All The Way is highly worthy of your time.

A Hidden Gem – Lookout Mountain Lookout

A Boost from Government or Other Institutions? I don’t need no stinking government or other institutions, I need dignity and freedom to create Betterment!!!

All The Way – Or Very Close To It

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