Just recieved this e-mail.....

Thanks, Glenn. And, thanks for more desert musings. If you can get hold of a copy of Ed Abbey's book, "Desert Solitaire," read it.
 
Edward Abbey? Isn't he the misunderstood eviromentalist, the one co-opted by Earth First but in actuality a defender of the second amendment?


munk
 
Aurora ( ghost town ) is up there too, along with a bunch of other stuff to see. If you ever make it munk ( or Bill Paxton or... ) stop in and we'll try to make a trip.>>>

Can do. Don't know when, but can. There is something not all that far from you called the Bristle Cone Pine forest. I've never seen it. I really don't want to put up with all the regs, I understand there is a research station and you are not allowed to stay after dark, but how else will I ever see it if not?

The 'protectors' of many of our treasures are the problem, as well as solution. How could you possibly know the Bristle cone forest without staying after dark and seeing for yourself?!! Fools. They probably run you out at sunset....

Hey, I remembered another thing about Nevada: all the Ranchers hate California's guts for outlawing the cougar hunt. Gee, wonder where all those extra cougars wander off to...couldn't be the border ranches in Nevada, could it?

munk
 
He is. He died a few years ago.

Good writer and good guy.

The movie, "Lonely are the Brave," which starred Kirk Douglas and probably best expressed Abbey's philosophy became a cult film -- based on his novel, "The Brave Cowboy."

Abbey and I got drunk together years ago at a bar in Arizona called, "Cactus Pete's" -- we thought we had solved all the problems of the world but I guess we didn't.
 
I remember him. I have a book of clips from his works which knocked me for a loop. Here was someone not unlike me. I couldn't believe he was a success.

And then his ideas were warped and perverted.

AC's forest mood brought back memories. There are things you do differently in the woods, and yet are the same as the desert.

Here's the best; climbing a mountain from the desert floor which goes through several eco systems, a forest on top and rimrock beyond that.

I love the desert but ended up in the mountains and plains. I sure would hate to choose just one.

munk
 
Munk - did some looking. Wheeler Peak in the Great Basin National Park lets you go up 5 ecosystems.

http://www.great.basin.national-park.com/sights.htm#brist

Then this Bristlecone Pine forest website gives information on the White Mountain grove, which is apparently the one an hour below Bishop you were talking about. There's also a govt. web page I found but didn't check out.

http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/home.html

Check out the Martyr article ( click button on homepage ). It names names on the incident at Wheeler Peak that are skimmed over on the Great Basin link. Read this and you'll never feel the same about a Forest Ranger again.
 
Some things need our protection!

Does Anwar? Good article. I recall the aerial photo's of the (i don'tknow the word) animals and symbols made by ancient Indians by placing stones in designs hundreds of feet long and across, only to have bikers and dune buggies arrive in our lifetime and tear em down.

Clinton made the Mo River Breaks a National Monument. The Breaks are a deep old river/water channel area of errosion. The mud is clay. EVery year the outline changes. You can't hurt them much- in Summer if you're not careful you'll get stuck by rain and have to spend a week down there and in Winter you can't get in. Natural protection.

After reading your links I see I don't have to go to Ca to see the Bristlecone. Nevada, I hear you calling.

5 ecosystems sounds like the hike from Palm desert to the top of San Jacinto, or the valley floor to San Gorgonio in So Cal. Yesterday an interesting thing happened. My five year old beat me up a hill. I am out of shape, but some of it was the stretching of long unused rubber bands in my legs that must take place before efficient movement.

In other words, I'm getting old.

munk
 
A PS to the above links: Donald R. Currey, the University of North Carolina doctoral student who cut Prometheus down in 1964, later got his doctorate in 1969 from the University of Kansas and at last word had been a professor at the University of Utah for many years.

One wonders why he left Chapel Hill (UNC) for University of Kansas. I like to speculate that it's one more proof that Karma/karma is going to get you eventually.

..............................................

This thought just came to me. Of the other trees in the area, one still standing was named Buddha. Who knows - maybe taking three days off to drive there, spend a day ( some of it meditation ), and drive back might help the ulcer. Or maybe fly to Elko/Ely and rent a car. Bring back some pictures and put them up on the forum. Especially Buddha the Bristlecone.

As is usual, in half fun and full earnest. Hey, it's cheaper than a trip to Dharamsala (spelling?).

Also you might want to spray the primers of the ammo for your antique 38 real good with WD40 a couple times and let it sit and soak in before I drop by the Cantina next time.:D :D :D
 
Originally posted by Rusty
Check out the Martyr article ( click button on homepage ). It names names on the incident at Wheeler Peak that are skimmed over on the Great Basin link. Read this and you'll never feel the same about a Forest Ranger again.

Not all of us are that way.:(
 
Mea culpa maxma ( or something like that )!:eek:

Just that Forest Rangers up until the Clinton Crowd got in office were about the last folks left you thought of as automatically being good guys.
Even during the Clinton era you ( well I did ) gave them a pass cause the envirofreaks in Washington DC were calling the tune.

Add to that the idea the parks belonged to the people and were there to be used attitude in the mid 60's before evidence came along that some ecosystems were so fragile they could take a century or more to recover. I'll gladly grant you that things and our knowledge of them were much different 38 years ago.

In Nevada you can still see the settlers wagon tracks I'm told.

So I'm not accusing any current Forest Rangers. I'm pretty sure most all of them ( 95+ % ) are good guys. I just regret I don't believe in them or trust them unreservedly like I did in school.

But I still disagree and believe that limited, defined and enforced paths should be allowed for vehicles in places currently cut off and inaccessible to those not able to take 10 mile hikes out and then 10 miles back to see certain special sites. Of course when I was young and fit enough all my activities revolved around the other wonders of the world wearing mini-skirts. Today I'm fat, fifty, and an ex-smoker.

I just wish they'd reasses the no vehicles rules so much territory is blocked off to. I'd even settle for letting us folks go in a vanload driven by park or forest service employees, using natural gas power for less polution.

If that's not enough of an apology, let me know, Raghorn.
 
I've known a goodly number of Park Rangers. Most dedicated and excellent, some good, a few bad. Overall I rate them highly. They are stuck like most while in service to the country. It's not always what you want to do but what you have to do.
 
Natural Resource Management in the West is a political football. I'm very fortunate to work with (and for) some of the goodguys who happen to know that our paychecks are ultimately signed by the taxpayers, and that recreation and conservation are NOT exclusive of one another.

Unfortunately, people on both sides of the issues are frequently less than ethical in their attempts to impose their management philosophies on public lands, and provide us with too many examples of how (and why) NOT to do things. We have to seek balance and common sense solutions to very difficult problems that usually touch people's values, and therefore provoke emotional responses.

Sounds like a topic we could toss around over some of those aforementioned Moose Drools. :D

If you feel you owe me an apology, consider it accepted, however I took no offense to your statement. :)
 
Originally posted by Rusty
But I still disagree and believe that limited, defined and enforced paths should be allowed for vehicles in places currently cut off and inaccessible to those not able to take 10 mile hikes out and then 10 miles back to see certain special sites. Of course when I was young and fit enough all my activities revolved around the other wonders of the world wearing mini-skirts. Today I'm fat, fifty, and an ex-smoker.

I just wish they'd reasses the no vehicles rules so much territory is blocked off to. I'd even settle for letting us folks go in a vanload driven by park or forest service employees, using natural gas power for less polution.

Are you familiar with the Blue Ribbon Coalition? If not, take a look at what these folks are all about. They are working hard to keep public access open while advocating a "tread lightly" approach.

http://sharetrails.org/

Wow, this thread is really starting to cover some territory!
 
I've lived in three Rocky Mountain States and in all of them respect for forest Rangers is falling.

The Forest Ranger used to be someone I'd seek out. I wanted his attention. Good guy, role model for a kid. Things were different in the 60's. Our world was different.

Today the Ranger is the man who is going to ask to see your papers.

I can tell some rotten stories. I'm positive there are more crummy tourist stories than Ranger ones. There are still intelligent and decent folks in the profession. I no longer take that for granted, though. Today I would rather not speak to a Ranger. That says a lot, and I am sorry this world has gone the direction it has.

I don't know why this is, but when you meet a great Ranger, the whole forest feels better.



munk
 
Back
Top