Owner of Andersen Hitches vandalizes in Arches NP

[McDave]

Stumbled onto this discussion late, and read through a lot of the responses. In my own internet search, I have been unable to find what, if any, punishment Andersen received for this. Anyone know? My apologies if anyone has already posted this and I missed it.

Andersen's “apology” doesn't ring true to me. Sounds like the typical “I’m sorry I got caught.” It wouldn't surprise me if Andersen were a sociopath, of which we have many in our society. A person who has a personality disorder doesn't suddenly see the light; developing a social conscience where one is absent would require a long, uncertain process, which few sociopaths would willingly undertake. Most sociopaths view others as being more stupid than they really are, which may make them easier to catch in the beginning. Sociopaths are capable of learning that many people aren't as stupid as they originally thought, which, rather than making them better citizens, just makes them harder to catch in the future.

I paid my own honestly earned money for my Andersen leveler, so I’ll continue to use it as long as it lasts. I won't recommend them anymore, and I doubt that I’ll buy any other Andersen products.

[Nightmare67]

Sadly, I bought the Andersen leveler/tire jack box set PRIOR to hearing about this.
Happily, I jut wrote a 1 Star negative review on Amazon explaining it was not the product but the company owner.

[OTRA15]

Interesting article on efforts to mask the "ANDERSEN" graffiti on p. 3 here:

https://www.nps.gov/arch/planyourvis...ws2018_web.pdf

No updates on the BLM action against Mr. Andersen, that I can find.

Per this article:

http://www.moabtimes.com/view/full_s...ts_rightcolumn

the Salt Lake City US Attorney's office would handle any prosecution, with news to appear on their PR page, perhaps, if any such criminal prosecution is commenced:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ut/pr

From the article linked above:

" 'The U.S. Attorney’s office will likely be filing charges in the case,' Rydalch said."

[ALUMINUMINUM]

QUOTE...
"Then sent his 2 teenage boys down to switch plates on their trucks. "

"Somebody explain to me what this statement actually means please. For on thing are we to assume the 5 people in the picture came in 2 different trucks for the hike? Yeah, I would be leary of somebody carrying extra plates and switching them in a public parking lot if that is actually the case. Is the implied reason assumed to be to foil the person that was interacting with and who was taking pictures? Or perhaps to fool the BLM if she actually called someone? None of this actually makes a great deal of sense to me yet"


I think the license plate switch isn't understood by anyone, so it's not being clearly explained. The way it's written, it can be interpreted that the family travels with a set of decoy plates. It's unjust for us to simply speculate the breadth of his crimes. In our great country, he is innocent 'til…


Speaking of sociopaths, Perhaps RYAN ANDERSEN will explain it all to us with accurate detail, authoring a book, like OJ SIMPSON did…

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by Boxite

(Lets please stay on topic so this thread does not drift into insignificance.)

Lolz

[Martee]

Originally Posted by ALUMINUMINUM

QUOTE...
"Then sent his 2 teenage boys down to switch plates on their trucks. "

"Somebody explain to me what this statement actually means please. For on thing are we to assume the 5 people in the picture came in 2 different trucks for the hike? Yeah, I would be leary of somebody carrying extra plates and switching them in a public parking lot if that is actually the case. Is the implied reason assumed to be to foil the person that was interacting with and who was taking pictures? Or perhaps to fool the BLM if she actually called someone? None of this actually makes a great deal of sense to me yet"


I think the license plate switch isn't understood by anyone, so it's not being clearly explained. The way it's written, it can be interpreted that the family travels with a set of decoy plates. It's unjust for us to simply speculate the breadth of his crimes. In our great country, he is innocent 'til…


Speaking of sociopaths, Perhaps RYAN ANDERSEN will explain it all to us with accurate detail, authoring a book, like OJ SIMPSON did…

I think that's a creative and interesting comment about Andersen perhaps someday writing a book. But I am sure his Public Relations firm would just say its a bad idea....and are hoping the BLM impose a quick fine, so this incident is forgotten ASAP.

In just three weeks, I start on a 4 month long trip with my AS....visiting 2 state parks and 3 National Parks. While in the National Parks, my kids say they will be keeping attentive to any potential type of graffiti involving the Andersen name.

[OTRA15]

Originally Posted by Martee

. . .
While in the National Parks, my kids say they will be keeping attentive to any potential type of graffiti involving the Andersen name.

Good idea to keep this awareness prominent here IMO, both for another "ANDERSEN" carving, and also for the couple's initials with the heart and year.



If every Airstream traveler stays alert for graffiti in general, we could all hopefully reduce these poisonous blemishes on our land.


***** Has Ryan Andersen left his infantile "marks" elsewhere on our land? *****


"If you see something, say something!"

Thanks for the suggestion.

Peter

[OTRA15]

PS -- "Here comes Johnny!"

[click on orange arrow in quote to go to Post #228]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

PS -- the image! . . .

[Martee]

Originally Posted by OTRA15

PS -- "Here comes Johnny!"

[click on orange arrow in quote to go to Post #228]

Well in honor of Johnny Horton, here are a few very old National Park travel posters, circa 1940's and 1950's. Enjoy.

[westcoastas]

A couple days ago, a cowboy friend of mine lent me a book he thought I'd like - Ride the Laughing Wind, by Blaine and Brenton Yorgason, 1984. The story takes place in the general vicinity of our thread topic. This passage stood out in the book's prologue:

Now look upward at the rimrock and consider that the ruins of ancient man abound here. Pictographs and petrolglyphs are painted on or etched into the desert varnish of the massive sandstone ledges. And the ruins of those peoples' stone dwellings crouch low on the mesa tops or nestle in caves beneath the sheer rimrock. Watch carefully or you will miss these things, for they are rendered in earth-toned hues of soft reds, ambers rich browns, and bleached tans that are the natural condition fo this land of wind and sun. They have weathered well, these old creations, and have retreated only into a more harmonious union with the face of the land from which they sprang. They, like it, speak of permanence, of eternity.

I think the idea of a trailer parts maker's handiwork etched in permanence alongside the evidence of a long-ago people/civilization rubs a lot of us the wrong way. I realize there is a bit of collective irony in all of this - all of us are consumers of the travel trailer industry - but that's perhaps why we don't wish to be associated with someone who has taken it upon himself to represent our time on earth. Will today's ancient pottery be replaced in a century or so by plastic levelers? Sarcasm aside, I figure a month or two's worth of protest can go towards not making that happen.

May the Laughing Winds do their work on Mr. Andersen's.

[SteveSueMac]

Love the posters and the book excerpt.

I've been thinking about our very ancient ancestors who drew or carved their thoughts in these stones and marvel at it for what it is and for the connection we can have with them today because of it. I think about what Andersen has done in an age where mass communication is as simple as a phone and marvel, for different reasons, at what he chose to do and for the selfishness that placed his juvenile stunt of higher importance than our ancestors - disconnecting us and future generations from them.

[OTRA15]

Well said by all.

Thanks

[slowmover]

Thread needs new title. About being beset with the vapors.

[McDave]

I too enjoyed the period posters of National Parks. What struck me about all of them except for the Yellowstone poster is the sense of spaciousness, or lack of feeling crowded. In an interesting precursor of our times, the poster of Old Faithful is crowded with cars, although I’m sure that wasn't typical of the time. Wonder why the artist chose to draw it that way?

[OTRA15]

Because the poster says "Stay at Old Faithful Inn" and the cars are parked at the inn?

[McDave]

Well, true, and I guess you could make a poster saying “Visit New York” and show the subways at rush hour, if you wanted to.

[thiel]

Originally Posted by Countryboy59

Sorry, political dissent does not justify destruction of property.

I think you would have found the Boston Tea Party decidedly unfestive.

[switz]

Salt water flavored tea was not best seller....

[pmclemore]

Some folks say that modern inscriptions are just the same type of thing as the ones left by the ancients. However, what makes the old ones rare and valuable is that they are just hints of a civilization long gone.

In our case, we have left vast evidence of our presence all over the place. No rarity of our marks at all.

Pat

[Photobum]

Several years ago when I began seriously traveling I stayed at a campground in Bluff. Long story short I met three Mormons that were fascinated with rock art and had been exploring for over thirty years. I shared with them a petroglyph on the river of a mammoth and a bison. They knew about it, and introduced to me to a professor that had dated it, as over 11,000 years old. The mammoth was anatomically correct, and implied that the artist had in fact seen the mammoth.

That experience has set me off in the past five years to photograph rock art. In Bluff you can see where cowboys shot the rocks and left their own graffiti. Mr Anderson seems to be continuing in that vein.
I by no means condone the cowboys or Mr. Anderson, but there is a history...

BTW, archeology in the United States really got it's start with the Weatherill's at Mesa Verde. Those that are interested will discover that Utah is amazing for it's art. Oddly the Mormons typically pay little attention to it as it does not fit into their religious story. But scientists are discovering more and more art and dating it to be older than previous thought. They are also beginning to recognize trade routes that criss-crossed the entire country, and that populations were far greater than previously thought.

Three pieces that I have seen are amazing. A Navajo yei in Bluff that looks like it was carved with a laser, a Ute redman in Salt Lake City, and in Nine Mile canyon a ship with a mast, and in the ship a man on horseback. Actually in reflection it is all amazing. Man has walked this land for much longer than we know, we are just a moment in time.

Travel. Wander. Stay fascinated. Read about what you are seeing. Ponder. Live well.

(There are images on my web site.)