Hey Folks,

Recently some of the environmental news has be regarding the delisting of the Gray Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Hence you can see, I post a picture of a wolf from Denali National Park. As you can see from the image, the wolf was collared by the Park Service biologists, to track and record her movements and to help them learn more about wolves. She’s dead now, apparently killed by wolves in another pack last winter, wandering onto some turf that didn’t belong to her. Such seems to be the way with wolves.

Anyway, onto the Yellowstone Wolf scenario. The wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone Park, and to Idaho, in the mid-90s, in an effort to bring back some semblance of balance to the natural ecosystems of the region. Well, so the story was told, anyway. Reality is, the reintroduction was really just a con-job, a veiled way of granting continued logging and mining rights to those in power in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE). By reintroducing the wolves to the region, the wolves would not be granted “endangered” classification, but were instead listed as an ‘experimental population’, and not give protections afforded under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). That means timber sales and mining leases for the National Forest Service were allowed to go ahead. If the wolves had returned to the region naturally, i.e., on their own, as was happening anyway as wolves moved south from Canada, the population would’ve been granted protection, and their critical habitat would’ve been included. As it was, the logging, et al, went ahead, and the wolves of Yellowstone enjoyed a little protection in the park.

Outside the park, they didn’t get it quite so easy. However, being successful predators, the population did rebound, and they seem to be doing pretty well. So well, in fact, that they were officially delisted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (US F&WS), and their management returned to the state governments, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Those states presented their plans to the federal govt., and, after a deal of haggling, the announcement was made that the wolves wouldn’t be under federal management, but state management from now on. Unless, of course, the wolves don’t remain above a ‘sustainable population’. That population is listed as 10 breeding pairs in each state, which means an overall average population of around 100-150 wolves. If the numbers go below that, the management is returned to the federal govt.

So that’s the history. My problem with all this is the idea of ‘sustainable wildlife management’. Why settle for ‘sustainable’? Isn’t that the ecological equivalent of minimum wage? Why would we want a biotic community that is merely ‘sustainable’? It’s a cold word, it fails to capture any of the beauty, the mystery and the joy of the natural world. I think we lose a lot when we define things this way. Why not a ‘flourishing, bountiful wildlife management program’? I don’t want ‘sustainable’ any more than I want to ‘scrape by’. When I set out to learn to play guitar, I didn’t want to settle for a passing grade. I wanted to do well, and then do do better (turns out I should’ve settled for a Cminus). I don’t want a natural world around me that’s ‘sustainable’.

Secondly, I don’t want ‘wildlife management’ period. It’s interesting to me how so often the folks who advocate ‘wildlife management’ in situations like this (usually conservative, politically right-wing folks – a generalization, I know) are also advocates of a free market, unregulated economy. Well, it seems to me that if a free market economy is best, then a free natural economy ought equally, if not more so, be the best choice. Why pursue regulated natural ecosystems and unregulated market economies? If anything, a free natural economy is at least somewhat feasible, far more so than a free market economy ever will be, simply because we know a natural economy, by definition, can exist without us to mold it along the way. A market economy, by definition, requires human intervention.

So give us a free natural market. In those wild places that remain, give us an unregulated biotic community, allow the ecosystems to show US how they might best flourish and grow. I guarantee they’ll surprise us. And in the meantime, take those damned collars off the animals.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

I think Glacier National Park is one of the grandest places in North American, certainly that I’ve been. My first ever solo trip out backpacking in the Rockies was at Glacier National Park, many years ago. I was scheduled to go with a friend of mine, and he bailed out right before the trip – I had to choose between going solo and canceling. Like there was an option! I had no idea at the time, but that trip probably put me in Alaska right now, and on the road to being a backpacking guide.

I flew out to Kalispell, got off the plan and grabbed a shuttle straight to the park. I remember arriving in the park, in awe, trying to see it all in one breath – impossible! Trees towered over me as we travelled through the forests of the Western edge of the Rockies – huge, healthy, trees, tall as the sky. The mountain backdrop of Glacier National Park was too much – I fell in love. It was simply amazing. I camped that night in the first available space, and then was up before dawn to get to the permitting office when they opened to schedule my trip. It was a hassle, because they had a bunch of fires going on, which closed a lot of the park, and all the wildlife migrated to the places that weren’t on fire – which means a lot of those places were closed too, because of bears. I’d spent months pouring over maps, reading trail books and guides, talking to the NPS folks at Glacier National Park about hikes, etc – this, of course was back in the pre-internet days, when research took time. All of my research was for naught, as I wasn’t able to do the route I’d carefully picked out, from the north-western corner of the park, east toward the Continental Divide, and south, across Going to the Sun Road, and on down to East Glacier. It seemed like every trail was closed.

However, my research stood me in good stead, as I knew enough about the trails to pick from the available options with at least some semblance of an informed position. So I got my permits all done, watched the Video on traveling safely through bear country, and thumbed a ride to my first trail head. I got there, Kintla Lake, and it was closed, because a grizzly bear had killed a black bear about a mile down the trail, and was still in the area, feeding on the carcass. Now for someone who’d never seen a grizzly bear, but was eager to walk in the woods they lived in, this was a little more than I had planned on. Exciting, for sure, but a little too much reality for me. I headed down to the next trailhead, Bowman Lake, and headed up that trail. Fires had closed the east end of the trail, where I was headed, so I had to just make a day hike of it, and return to Bowman Lake come evening.

Next morning I had to head back to the Ranger’s Office, and re-schedule the rest of my trip. did so, and was lucky to get access to the Highline Trail, right on the Continental Divide, scheduled to head north along the ridge. By the time I got up there, it too was closed, and I had to re-examine my options. I headed east, down Going to the Sun Road, aiming for Two Medicine Campground, near East Glacier, on the south east corner of Glacier National Park.

All of the public transport closed for the season, I had to hitch-hike. Hitch-hiking is quite an experience – I waited a few hours for a ride, mid-September not being the best time to get a ride, the only folks in the area cruised by me in their RVs, always turning their heads to look at some view on the other side of the road as they drove by me. So, finally, I get a ride. During the course of our ride, we start talking, and it turns out the girl in the passenger seat had lived in Eugene, Oregon, for a little while. They both now lived in Portland, Oregon. I mentioned I was born in Eugene, and had actually spent a year there later, when I was 15. She asked me what school I’d gone to, and I said “South Eugene High School”. She’d apparently gone there for a year, too. What year, she asked?

“1983/1984″, I replied.

“No way”.

“Way”.

“I was there that year, I was a Freshman”, she said.

I’d been a sophomore, and it turns out we were on the Swim team together – she remembered me, that crazy Aussie who swam in Lane 4, and I remembered her, she used to train in lane 1. How wild is that? Here we were, riding along Going to the Sun Road, in Glacier National Park, Montana, and we used to train together on the same Swim Team, over 10 years earlier, before I returned back to Australia. So that was kinda cool.

Of course, we got to Two Medicine, they dropped me off, and I ain’t seen them since.

I backpacked a lot of Glacier National Park on that trip, including a a big loop down in the south-eastern region of the park, and also a trail called Gunsight Pass Trail, over the Continental Divide. Glacier remains my favorite of the Parks in the Lower 48, and my favorite area in the Rockies. I’ve not spent enough time there since, but every time I’ve been there it’s like coming home, in a way. I really enjoy it.

This last fall I stopped in with my parents in tow. The weather didn’t co-operate, it was cold, cloudy, drizzly, even snowed a little. We couldn’t drive over Going to the Sun Road, because they closed it due to weather, and also they wouldn’t let us cross the Divide in the huge over-sized RV dad rented, even when I explained to the ranger that I was probably one of the top 2 or 3 drives ever to tackle the traverse – I think I had her, until she balked at the word tackle. So I didn’t get to show my folks a lot of the park – which means they both have to come back and do it again, soon!

This photo is from fall, the previous year, on the west side of Glacier National Park on Going to the Sun Road.

Cheers

Carl

Glacier National Park Photos.

Hey Folks,

Yellowstone at last. It took us a while, and some expert driving (from yours truly, no less!), but I finally managed to land my parents in Yellowstone.Yellowstone National Park is the oldest national park in the US, and my parents are quite possibly the oldest parents in the US; my dad is 387 and mum turns 373 in a few days. They do pretty well for their age, but they’re definitely slowing down a little. I find after hiking 18 or 19 miles one or the other of them start to lag, and they both begin to show clear signs of fatigue on the return.

I’m kidding – they’re not really that old – not even in dog years. They’re kicking pretty well, and enjoying this trip through the Rockies. The weather has been sweet, cold clear nights (mostly) and reasonable days. The one snowy cold day we did have was spent most of it on the road, traveling south from Glacier. Today we drove from near Livingston over to Bozeman, where I had to drop a backpack off for some repairs – of course, not thinking about the days of the week until too late, mum mentioned it being Sunday. Sure enough Mystery Ranch packs weren’t open, so I have to return another day. We came back thru Livingston, and down thru Gardiner, in to Yellowstone via Mammoth. We drove around a little, mum saw her first wild bison, and we’re camped down at Madison Junction. This campground is OK, but a little tight, with to much room between sites – unfortunately most of the campsites are closed this time of year. I wish they kept a couple of primitive campgrounds open, but alas, such is not to be. We’re here with the masses at Madison.

I think tomorrow we’ll head down the Madison, look for some elk, run out to West Yellowstone, and up to Bozeman so I can get my pack dropped off and get that errand out of the way. Then we’ll spend a few days tooling around this park, then wander down to the Tetons for a couple of days, and then hit the road for Seattle. I say goodbye to my parents, and they head south to Eugene and I fly back to Anchorage to settle down for the winter – we’ll see how that goes.

Until then, well continue to hope for good weather, and enjoy spending time together in this incredible place called the Rockies.

Cheers

Carl

PS – the photo was taken on Kings Hill Summit, in the Lewis and Clark National Forest, Montana, on route to Yellowstone. Thanks.

Hey Folks

Well, here we are in Montana, the Big Sky. Right now it’s a big cloudy snowy wet sky. But it’s awesome. My parents (whom I now refer to as “you pair”) had a good, albeit brief, time in Glacier National Park.Much of the park was closed, including Going to the Sun Road, which I really wanted to show them, but we had a nice time anyway.

The previous day we drove through southern Alberta, and, thanks to dad’s poor sense of direction, we took a wrong turn (or missed a turn) in the tiny town of Pincher Creek. upon reaching the edge of town, I realized his mistake and cleverly stop to ask for directions. The young girl walking along the side of the road was somewhat surprised when the window rolled down and a heavy Aussie accent says “We’re trying to find America – Do you know where it is?”.

We crossed the Canadian border first thing in the morning, from Waterton, and had some trouble convincing the customs agent/nazi that I, though related to the par of Aussies riding with me, am a US citizen, though I didn’t have my passport to prove it. He asked me twice where I was born, and both times I answered correctly. 100% is a good enough score to be allowed to pass into the country. So we sauntered on through, and into Glacier National Park. Glacier’s awesome, and one of my favorite places anywhere. We spent some time in and around the Many Glacier area, drove up to Sun Point on Going to the Sun Road, then drove on down to Two Medicine, near East Glacier. Absolutely awesome! The place was nearly deserted, just a few other campers in the vicinity. We hiked about 3.5 miles around Two Medicine Lake, and the colors were simply amazing. Subtle and soft one minute, vibrant and intense the next. The hike was fantastic, quiet and peaceful, the forest provided a reverie we all connected to. Mum won the hike back to camp, she stayed in the rear behind dad (leading) and me in the middle, then stormed back the last few hundred yards with a devastating finishing kick. I think dad led too hard to early, and though he denies it, I’ll bet his hamstrings, quads and calves are feeling it today. I performed well, though even after a solid season of hiking and backpacking, my form couldn’t touch mum’s. She’s always gone for gold, and this hike belonged to her – great effort mum!

We had a nice quiet evening, went to bed early, then awoke to snow in the morning. We had a simple breakfast, and headed on out, though the colors along the Two Medicine Road were even more intense than they had been the day before on our drive in, and we stopped a number of times to enjoy them. This photo posted above is of a small stand of aspen, right at the peak of their color, wrapping themselves around a dead and split old spruce tree. I loved the contrast of color, as well as the feeling of vibrancy of the fall leaves and their symmetry with the gnarled trunk.

After leaving Glacier, we drove down to Great Falls, did some grocery shopping, and I realised I’d lost my cell phone. I visited an internet cafe to find the number to call to report it to my provider, and found a few emails from friends who’d received a call from the person who found it, and handed it in to to the Tourist Information Center in Banff National Park. I have no idea who the person was, or how to reach them, but a thousand of the most sincere “thank yous” from me to you. I appreciate it so much. Hopefully they can mail it to Anchorage and I’ll pick it up there. Thanks again. If you ever read this, contact me, and I’d like to offer a print, any size, if you’d like. If not, may the best of Grace be with you.

The rest of our journey included an awesome drive south from Great Falls through the Lewis & Clark National Forest, and over Kings Hill Summit, touched with a slight dusting of fresh snow. Absolutely stunning!

Tomorrow, a few errands and we visit Yellowstone!

Cheers

Carl