Recent comments

I'm not a member of the NRA, nor do I own a handgun, nor do I support the current administration. I am, however, a Constitutionalist and believe the job of every American is to defend the Constitution, not just part of it.

Frank N.: malls, gun shows, and city parks are NOT federal land and are cases of private parties or local government regulating guns and are thus permissible under the Constitution. Remember, the Constitution is a limit to federal power and doesn't apply to Disneyland or the other flippant and ill-conceived examples listed.

Thes arguments continue to ignore the Second Amendment's guarantee of the People to bear (or carry) arms on federal land. Your arguments continue to ignore the Founders' intentions. If you believe that the federal government should be able to prohibit law abiding people from owning and carrying guns, then you should work to have the Constitution amended.

Ignoring the Constitution is what the current administration is doing by trying to bypass Congress to negotiate a treaty with Iraq. Ignoring the Constitution is how Japanese-Americans ended up in prison camps on American soil. Ignoring the Constitution leads to a loss of rights.

Members of the "kick the bucket club" would like to see some of the beauity and wilderness you seek to protect from all but those able to hike 10-20 miles with full pack.
Ive driven these roads many years and resent that suddenely its time for change. Solitiude and peace are what is saught by visitors to these areas,that means access!!!!!!!!!!!!
You seem to want to put it in a "box". For what?

Very exciting. In addition to the "problem" of wolves naturally recolonizing an ecosystem of which they were- and should be- a vital component as a top carnivore, there will be great opportunity. After spending several months in Yellowstone several winters ago studying/ exploring the human-wolf relationship, both ecologically and economically, I see this as wonderful news- and so too should those people in the area looking for an ecotourism opportunity and environmental education opportunity. It will be interesting to see if the NPS has got what it takes to do it's job and provide protection for the RMNP ecosystem as a whole, the community of wolves moving back to another portion of their homeland and providing the educational/ wilderness experience for those of us who prefer to venture into the wildlands....

That sounds paranoid.

"People who insist that they need to carry a loaded gun everywhere astonish me."

I don't think anyone has said that here. What is being argued is that citizens have a Constitutional right to carry a loaded gun on federal land and that the federal goverment shall not infringe on the people's right to have and carry weapons. If you don't like that, amend the Constitution, but don't ignore it. Ignoring the Constitution is how we've ended up invading another country; ignoring the Constitution is how the government has been able to indiscriminately gather private data about citizens' library records, phone records, and email records.

As for the unlikely event of something terrible happening, that argument ignores that the Second Amendment and Founders wanted to protect individual rights to carry weapons regardless if there were greater threats than crime to their safety.

Finally, bad things do happen in national parks. About ten years ago, a female ranger (who was not law enforcement) was beheaded at Yosemite. Many parks have problems with crime:
http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/1/14/162412.shtml . Over the last decade, there have been thousands of violent crimes in national parks including murder, assault, and rape: http://www.the-eggman.com/writings/crime_in_nat_parks.html .

Yes the risk is low, but this isn't about risk; it's about the Constitution.

Drug runners and criminals in border parks are a serious threat to safety. If I were to hike Saguaro's backcountry, I'd want a weapon to protect myself and my family. And that's my Constitutional right as a law-abiding citizen.

As a long-time professional in the "media biz" I can say that press accounts of backcountry violence are about exceptional, unusual, extraordinary events. In other words, they're weird, that's why they're news. Literally, the likelihood of these kinds of mishaps happening to any one of us is in the one-in-many-millions chance.

Yes, violence does happen. But I'm just not too worried about loosing with those odds. You're far more likely to meet your fate at the hands of hypothermia, a fall, or a traffic accident on the way to a trailhead--thousands of times more likely--than from anything any sort of weapon would help you with.

I'll accept that some number of situations exist where a deadly weapon would be the only viable solution. But then again, thinking about someone who's so afraid of the dangers that they feel they have to carry a powerful weapon, what are the odds that they'll be tempted to use that weapon in situations where, given some thoughtful consideration, a less drastic alternative would have been adequate?
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We reintroduced the wolves so it is our responsibility to manage them in balance with other points of view.

I see lots of NIMBY here. That stands for "Not In My Back Yard."

Having said the above, I too am concerned about air pollution near our National Parks. Too often traveling out West have I rounded a curve and there faced a huge coal-fired power plant. Coal-fired plants don't have to be dirty. I've seen a number of them where the stack gas is as clear as that of a gas-fired plant. The utility just has to want to do it. There has to be an economic incentive -- either mandated by the regulators or by the public at large -- to ensure that the coal-fired effluent will be relatively clean.

Now about the suggestion concerning solar power -- gimme a break. Solar - even on a good day - produces very small amounts of DC power (like your AA batteries). Let me see you use DC to run a factory, a hospital, a hotel, or your home. Get real. Solar has some applications; that's true, but providing large quantities of AC power is not one of them.

Well then, what about wind power? All those wind farms you see in Kansas are there due to tax credits and fast write off depreciation. If wind power had to stand on its own economically it would be a flop.

Folks, I hate to be the one to tell you, but today the best and lowest cost way to produce electric power is either a steam boiler/turbine/generator or a gas turbine/generator (jet engine), or a combination of a steam turbine and gas turbine. Note that the steam boiler can be heated with gas, oil, coal, wood waste, garbage, or nuclear.

The argument that people might die on Half Dome so it shouldn't be so accessible is as illogical as saying that people might die in a car crash while driving Tioga Road so it shouldn't be open. Of course someone could die on Half Dome. Or on the highways. Or at Glacier Point. There is reasonable risk for great reward in Yosemite. The careless fool who climbs over the guard-rail, splashes in the water, and washes to his death over the falls shouldn't be a reason that the rest of us to miss the spectacles that this park offers, including the Half Dome ascent. Check the stats; most of the Half Dome deaths have occurred when the cables are down for the season and the Park Service recommends NOT making the climbg.

Yes, I used two hiking poles (that I purchased in Glacier National Park almost ten years ago). Both the Bright Angel and the South Kaibab trails show signs of recent trail mainentance, so they were not as rocky or eroded as I remembered from previous trips. I recall that in 1969 there used to be two parallel ruts and a central ridge in the South Kaibab trail. Those are now gone. The trail has become more narrow, and thousands of log water breaks have been installed which, as I've said in the article above, makes downhill hiking somewhat difficult for younger and older knees.

I totally agree with you about the heat and hazards encountered when hiking up the South Kaibab Trail during the daytime hours of the summer months. During my two summer-time hikes to Phantom Ranch in 1969, I opted to hike down and back by night, resting in the shade of the inner canyon by day.

My two hikes to Phantom Ranch in 1987 were made in late fall. Those hikes were taken during the day, and were absolutely delightful. I highly recommend hiking these trails in late fall or winter, taking the slowest pace possible to enjoy the magnificent canyon scenery, which changes dramatically with each step. In my opinion, it is impossible to walk too slowly when walking into and out of the Grand Canyon.

Other than noticing the effects of advanced age and the renovated conditions of the two trails, the only other major difference I noted from past hikes was the absence of geological interpretive signs. I recall these interpretive signs from all of my past hikes into the canyon. They were quite effective in explaining the significance of the various rock formations encountered on this walk through time. I have no idea why they have now been removed from their trailside locations. I missed seeing them.

I also don't recall the squirrels at Indian Gardens having been so unusually large. They were the biggest squirrels I've ever seen in my life. Perhaps they have grown accustomed to daily access to an enhanced caloric diet composed of the remains of Phantom Ranch sack lunches? Or, perhaps these animals are simply storing a few extra pounds to survive a long, cold winter? Indian Gardens is an excellent place to stop and rest for lunch when hiking up from the bottom of the canyon.

We were in our shirt-sleeves when hiking up from Phantom Ranch to Indian Gardens. However, temperatures cooled rapidly when entering the shade of the upper portions of the Bright Angel trail, which required putting on extra clothing despite the natural warmth of hiking uphill. Ice on the trail was encountered during the final mile and a half.

Owen Hoffman
Oak Ridge, TN 37830

Did you use hiking poles? They are motivators on the uphills (plant them alternatively in front of you and walk up to and past them) and knee-savers on the downhills. They also are help on rough, rocky or eroded trails -- like both Bright Angel and South Kaibab, which have such steady mule train traffic.

IMO, South Kaibab might be a good hike-out option in winter, but I think for most people, it would be lethal in summer. It's exposed and broils in the sun, and unlike Bright Angel, there's noplace to get water en route. You'd have to carry a lot of water just to return to the rim w/out becoming totally dehydrated.

Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com