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QotD: Necessary Wilderness
Apr. 17th, 2017 03:04 pmThousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.
- John Muir
- John Muir
Tags:
Three Basic Survival Rules
Dec. 31st, 2015 05:18 pm1. Anyone can survive for three hours without maintaining the core body temperature.
2. Anyone can survive for three days without water.
3. Anyone can survive for three weeks without food.
SOURCE
http://peaksurvival.com
Of course these are debatable but the gist of it is true. What this perspective does is help you prioritize your actions. The first thing you must do is maintain core body temperature. Next, find water. Then concern yourself with food. Get obsessed with something else when you have no backup, and you may not survive.
Above There Is The Mountain
And at its foot, the summer refuge---
sanctuary in town and yards under spreading
boughs of evergreens
Beneath the mountain’s wild, they find
their forage: shrubs, wild plants and the feast
of dropped fruit spread about the ground
Those with antlers come alone
Those without bring offspring---fawns
following last year’s babes nearly grown
Late summer afternoons, they descend
like evening shadows slipping down the slopes
and fanning out within the town
By night they feed; by moon they play
How swift they are, even the smallest ones
with stripes and spots
Under moonlight, they suckle then break
for cover---like wind itself---practicing escape
Neither are claws imaginary;
real and raw are the marks
which groove some yearlings’ flanks
Quiet coming, quieter still in going,
all gather again at first light, a full herd
of phantoms ready to depart
before the sun soars above the trees
At town’s edge, the solitary bucks
begin to bound---sharp hooves pounding
respect into pliant earth
Near forest, they pause, heads high,
nostrils flaring to test the morning breeze
Hidden high beneath the mountain’s brushy
crown: a flash of eye shine gold green,
the presence sensed but rarely seen
-Peter Hensel
Shrinking Glaciers
Aug. 5th, 2015 11:47 amA recent hike up onto the side of Mt Hood showed me how tiny our resident glaciers have gotten. It won't be long, at this rate, before we have none.
They're melting faster than we've ever seen:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/glaciers-melting-fastest-rate_55bf7090e4b06363d5a2a494
They're melting faster than we've ever seen:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/glaciers-melting-fastest-rate_55bf7090e4b06363d5a2a494
Wolves Reproducing around Oregon
Jul. 30th, 2013 12:53 pmThis is great news in my book. I was out at the Imnaha river in spring and there is one of the first packs reported to have pups. I saw no sign of them. Now it sounds like most of the known Oregon packs have pups this year, even the newly discovered pack. Wild carnivores on the rise! We now have 53 wolves in Oregon. The ranchers hate it of course, but hopefully we can reach some equilibrium between livestock and canines that everyone can tolerate. I wonder if there might be some way to keep wild canines at bay that is as elegant as moving lights to keep away lions. Of course it's hard to protect your bovines when they're wandering far and wide...like those cows all along the Yampa. Need a wolf network up there too, keep the ranchers in line.
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/index.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_program_updates.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/index.asp
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/Wolves/wolf_program_updates.asp
Little White Salmon
Feb. 8th, 2012 08:37 am(video removed)
The helicopter footage is gorgeous, especially the ways the trees glimmer when the camera zooms back out, and the views of Mount Hood. This is the legendary favorite local class V run. I haven't been there yet. The word is that there is quite a bit of new wood washed into the Green Truss, and in bad places, so perhaps this is where my boating crowd will shift to. I hope so. It looks like fun to me.
It has quite a reputation. Spirit falls breaks backs, and several caves eat boats from time to time. More than one person has died there. Whitewater boating is new enough in the PNW that wherever somebody has died, people get extra scared. Back east somebody has died just about everywhere already, so there's no point in it.
Lower Canyon Creek, which we ran twice last weekend, is a short creek run just outside Battleground Washington that I would call class IV, at least at the levels I've seen it (470-600cfs). I can imagine that at high water it would become class V. For years nobody (or almost nobody) ran it because there was a gigantic woodpile obstructing the run. But that woodpile washed out something like two years ago. Here it is:
( Notes on little white.... )
The helicopter footage is gorgeous, especially the ways the trees glimmer when the camera zooms back out, and the views of Mount Hood. This is the legendary favorite local class V run. I haven't been there yet. The word is that there is quite a bit of new wood washed into the Green Truss, and in bad places, so perhaps this is where my boating crowd will shift to. I hope so. It looks like fun to me.
It has quite a reputation. Spirit falls breaks backs, and several caves eat boats from time to time. More than one person has died there. Whitewater boating is new enough in the PNW that wherever somebody has died, people get extra scared. Back east somebody has died just about everywhere already, so there's no point in it.
Lower Canyon Creek, which we ran twice last weekend, is a short creek run just outside Battleground Washington that I would call class IV, at least at the levels I've seen it (470-600cfs). I can imagine that at high water it would become class V. For years nobody (or almost nobody) ran it because there was a gigantic woodpile obstructing the run. But that woodpile washed out something like two years ago. Here it is:
( Notes on little white.... )
Here comes quarter #5
Jan. 4th, 2009 08:36 pmIt's snowing tonight, another strange coating of white stuff in this coastal city. Tomorrow another session of school begins: 10 weeks of classes, 1 week of practical exams and papers due, another week of lecture exams. I am wound tight as a....ball of rubber bands? Not sure what is as tight as me right before one of these races begins. But begin it I must. Providing that I passed all my classes from last quarter, I am 1/3 of the way through this program, not counting board exams. I don't know yet if I passed everything. And if I didn't pass, the remediation exams are this coming Friday. Crazy way to do things. But here goes....here goes.
( I read a book today )
( I read a book today )
Tags:
- books,
- mountains,
- nd2,
- peru,
- portland,
- recreation,
- rock climbing,
- school,
- snow,
- stress
May 2009 Treat You RIGHT
Jan. 1st, 2009 11:48 amAt long last we can turn the page on another year. Funny how we mark time, and make certain days into big turning points. Every day is a new beginning. Every moment is an opportunity to begin to do what you really love, to begin the work of being your truest you, to begin the process of peeling away the layers of conditioning and denial that separate us from who we really are. The new year starts today, and every day. But today is the day for resolutions, so I am going to check on my old ones, and write out some new ones. Most days I look only at what I need to do to get through the next day or maybe week. It is rare that I look years into the future and focus on longterm goals. I think this is the value of these marks in time; that they remind us of how much time is passing. Another year has gone by. I hope to have another year to follow, and another, and another. I hope you also have many years, and that they are all good. Thanks for sharing your voyage with me.
( new resolutions and old ones )
( new resolutions and old ones )
Tags:
In 1992 I traveled to Chile for the winter, to explore the kayaking down there. The others in my group were guides too. We drove to Miami and flew on Ladeco airline to Santiago, then took a bus to a campground up on the Maipo River. We camped there for a week, then bussed back down into Santiago to rent a vehicle. After we had our truck, we started paddling. The image above is the Rio Maipo at a normal/reasonable water level. It had probably eight times that flow when we were there. The bridges were in danger of getting torn down.
( more )
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Second Snow, First Skiing
Dec. 20th, 2008 06:20 pmWell I never thought I would live to report it, but today we had our second significant snowfall of the winter. This afternoon I was able to go cross country skiing in the streets of Portland. I covered our entire neighborhood. There was about 3" on the ground when I went, not quite enough to cover curbs but otherwise enough to ski freely in the street, sidewalks or grassy areas. There were quite a few other people out on XC skis, and in the park there were at least 100 people sliding down the hill on everything from plastic discs to cardboard boxes. I sat on a bench and watched for a while, laughing at the wrecks. Most people ignored me and the boys who wrecked the most spectacularly seemed embarrassed that I was laughing at them. I thought they did it to make a show.
( more )
( more )
