12.4 million people visited ADK wilderness last year
www.adirondackcouncil.org
Interesting stuff. The Adirondacks felt oppressively crowded this summer....until you stepped 10 feet off of a trail. 99% of the land is deserted, even on a weekend. Just these narrow ribbons of humanity criscrossing the landscape... Personally, I kick over the little cairns and leave the big ones. Does that just make me lazy?12.4 million people visited ADK wilderness last year
Overuse in the Adirondack Park - Adirondack Council
15.6 million hunting licenses were sold in the country.
This convo ain't about folks with rifles chasing chuckar in the frank church.
I think when this guy sees a wilderness sign he thinks...
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reality
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I’ve thankfully followed cairns when there was no other way to see a trail. I’ve also followed cairns into a steep walled canyon in arches NP. Not everyone exploring the backcountry has a gps or good navigation skills.
Ok, to go back on what I said in post #9 for the most part when I go out west I’m surprised by all the freedoms you have.
Completely hypothetical, but I could see “cairning” taking off on Instagram and the area around the Peralta trail head going to Hell in a hurry.
Prob should’ve researched Edward abbey before posting on here.
An introduction to The Monkey Wrench Gang — Faculty/Staff Sites
Below is a brief snyopsis of the first five chapters of Edward Abbey's novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.www.uwosh.edu
An introduction to The Monkey Wrench Gang
— last modified Aug 14, 2010 01:38 PM
Below is a brief snyopsis of the first five chapters of Edward Abbey's novel The Monkey Wrench Gang.
The Monkey Wrench Gang is Abbey’s novel about four wilderness defenders who join together to attack those who are wrecking the wild. It is an exuberant, ribald, and humorous work, a wild ride into one type of response to environmental degradation. The novel helped spawn the Earth First! movement, and both the book and the movement are highly controversial. Just before he died, Abbey completed a sequel: Hayduke Lives!
Characters and the introductory chapters.
Chapter One introduces A. K. Sarvis, M.D., whose hobby is highway beautification – in the form of burning or chainsawing billboards. He is rather middle-aged and professor-like.
Chapter Two introduces George Washington Hayduke. He is a twenty-five year old former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) who spent three years in Vietnam, the last one as a prisoner of the Vietcong. He returned home to find his beloved desert Southwest getting “developed.” Hayduke is gruff, burly, and impatient, a sexist, beer-guzzling gun-lover who is skilled in demolition. (His character is based on the real-life Doug Peacock.) In chapter 2 he returns to his hometown with a long-standing grudge at a local policeman. He steals his patrol car, parks it where a freight train takes it for a ride, and heads into the wilderness, “the heartland of his heart” (26).
Chapter Three introduces Seldom Seen Smith, on a “lifetime sabbatical from his [Mormon] religion” (29), but enough of a traditionalist to practice polygamy (without his wives knowing it). “Like Hayduke his heart was full of a healthy hatred” (31) at the degradation of the sacred lands of the Southwest. He worked as a professional guide on rivers and in the back-country. In chapter 3 he is at the infamous Lake Powell, thinking about how he can destroy the Glen Canyon Dam.
Chapter Four introduces Ms. Bonnie Abbzug, twenty-eight years old, who has a “loose and partial relationship” (41) with the much older Doc Sarvis. She appeared with him in chapter 1, and they are working together on highway beautification in this chapter as well. But they conclude that they “we’re meant for finer things” (49).
The “Wooden Shoe” Conspiracy (Chapter Five)
“Wooden shoe” is the root meaning of “sabotage,” a term that arose several centuries ago to indicate the willful destruction of the machinery and production capability of the Industrial Revolution that oppressed the workers and peasants. Chapter Five depicts our four characters (and two unidentified women from San Diego) in a trip down the rapids-churned Colorado River and into the Grand Canyon. At night by a fire, the three men talk about what is wrong with the world, and begin to think about doing sabotage against the forces that are destroying the wilderness and its wild rivers.
Many years ago Jose' sent me a copy of The Monkey Wrench Gang. I forwarded on to someone else after reading. I might have to enjoy it again.
The one and only Seldom Seen Cuervo?
