End Pavement

Where most of our hikes take place, the worst we have to worry about are rattlesnakes, mountain lions, and maybe black bears.

For Johan Otter and his daughter Jenna, traveling from California to hike in Glacier National Park in northernmost Montana, a beautiful trip took a tragic turn for a much bigger reason. Their story is being told in the LA Times in two parts, the first installment of which is in today’s paper — “A hike into horror and an act of courage”.

Johan and Jenna had been on the trail little more than an hour. They had just followed a series of switchbacks above Grinnell Lake and were on a narrow ledge cut into a cliff. It was an easy ascent, rocky and just slightly muddy from yesterday’s rain.

Johan took some pictures. Jenna pushed ahead. It was one of the most spectacular hikes they’d taken on this trip, a father-daughter getaway to celebrate her graduation from high school. There were some steps, a small outcropping, a blind turn, and there it was, the worst possibility: a surprised bear with two yearling cubs.

Today’s powerful article covers the attack and rescue, and tomorrow’s will be focused on recovery. I had tears in my eyes reading it earlier, as it was all-to-easy to put myself in the shoes of Johan trying to protect his daughter.

Even if the threats are relatively minor compared to a protective grizzly bear mother, it’s still a sobering experience to think of being out on the local trails, with no idea of what’s around the next bend.

Will something happen to you on any given day? Almost certainly not. But it’s the “almost” that provides motivation for preparing for the worst as best you can.

Update: Part Two was published today: “Pain, gratitude and a long fight back”.

His daughter was safe and he was recovering, but months later, he knew the bear still had him.

His halo was a cage, and all Johan Otter could do was stare out through the carbon graphite rods that pinned his head in place.

Check out the bicycle “crop duster” in use over in a Beijing softball field complex. :)

More on the story at Murray Cook’s Field Blog, as pointed to earlier on Trolley Dodger.

Redlands, California, has been leading a local effort to repurpose and reclaim greenbelt areas, including the Orange Blossom Rail Trail Project. In yesterday’s Redlands Daily Facts, there was a story about some organized community outings called “Trails at 10.”

“Hikers, cyclists hit the trail Saturday morning”

Hikers, cyclists and public officials gathered Saturday morning to kick off a group of events intended to get the community excited about the city’s hiking trails.

“Trails at 10″ is a series of outings sponsored by the Redlands Conservancy and the Orange Blossom Rail Trail Project that gives residents a chance to experience the trails of Redlands firsthand. This year’s first “Trails at 10″ event took place Saturday, when hikers and cyclists enjoyed the Santa Ana River Trail.

The “Emerald Necklace” mentioned in the story refers to the idea of encircling the city in greenbelts. They are also talking about the possibility of hooking the trails up with the Metrolink system, which will be pushed out to Redlands someday. Hopefully sooner rather than later. ;)

Today would have been John Muir’s 169th birthday, but considering all he did in his life, he lived every year like two. From Wikipedia:

John Muir (April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914) was one of the first modern conservationists. His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, and wildlife, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, were read by millions and are still popular today. His direct activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. His writings and philosophy strongly influenced the formation of the modern environmental movement.

The Sierra Club website has a John Muir Exhibit which includes Google Earth tie-ins to follow along with his adventures.

John Muir led a life that mixed high adventure and heartfelt advocacy for the protection of wilderness — an approach to living summed up in the Sierra Club motto: Explore, Enjoy and Protect the Planet.

Now, you can explore some of the important places and moments in Muir’s life with Google Earth, powerful mapping software you can download for free.

Give the nearest patch of dirt a friendly pat tomorrow and wish the planet a happy Earth Day while you’re at it. ;)

And then on Monday, wish my wife Denyse a Happy Birthday! ;D

Thanks to Gadling for the story — “Hiking Hollywood: The M*A*S*H Trail” — on visiting locations where M*A*S*H was filmed (not to mention all kinds of other movies and folderol) in the Santa Monica Mountains:

The movie location is located in Malibu Creek State Park. The 4.5 mile hike follows Malibu Creek past Rock Pool (where Planet of the Apes was filmed), Century Lake and eventually onward to the M*A*S*H site itself where fans of the series can reminisce over a stripped-down jeep and ambulance. Not much else remains from the show.

I wanted to point to three writers I’ve been enjoying, all of whom coincidentally are posting about the Far East.

First up is a trio of posts that blogger Modern Hiker’s has put up recently about his trip to Tokyo last year. Great descriptions and photos:

• Hiking in Japan: Takao-San
• Hiking in Japan: Kamakura Pt. 1
• Hiking in Japan: Kamakura Pt. 2

The most recent from Kamakura seems to encapsulate what I imagine life to be like in Japan with the modern and ancient intertwined, from the organized games at an elementary school, to being caught in the wonder of a giant bamboo grove, to doing the tourist duty at a 13th-Century statue of Buddha.

As we continued our unscheduled surprise hike through the wilderness of Kamakura, we came upon many of the same sorts of things we saw while walking through Takao-san: rugged, rocky trails; dense forests; elderly, fit hikers; and shrines hidden and carved just about everywhere you could think of putting one.

The second writer is one well-familiar to hiking bloggers as someone who posts both evocative stories and gorgeous photographs — living in Japan, Bastish.net has posted about playing host to his parents of late. Back a couple of weeks, check out these posts: “Shitami” and “Going for Water”, while short, are wonderful. And since he’s been posting since the year 2000, there’s lots to check out.

The third writer is 80 Days or Bust, a travel blog being posted on the Condé Nast Traveler website by Mark Schatzker. Here’s the description:

One man sets off to re-discover the world the old-fashioned way, traveling no faster than 100 mph and taking the time to see, eat, drink, and blog about his experiences.

He started in California and took a cruise ship across the Pacific — the current posts are about traveling across Mongolia on horseback and in a Russian-made UVZ van. Schatzker has a good sense of humor that comes through in his writing, and the informal nature of the blog makes for a fun read. For an example, check out “My Sorry Attempt at Fly Fishing in Mongolia”.