Outdoor roundup
Bike commute to work today so to celebrate, here’s a bunch of cool links for you to check out.
Redlands Daily Facts: “Loma Linda OKs $3.8 million for purchase of 586 acres in hills”
The City Council on Tuesday night approved spending $3.8million to buy 586 acres of open space south of Beaumont Avenue. The city will borrow from several internal accounts to pay for the purchase. The money will be reimbursed from various sources, including development impact fees.
LA Times Jacket Copy: “John Muir, nature man of Yosemite”
The man who championed protecting natural spaces — especially in what is now Yosemite National Park — was born in Scotland, moved as a boy to Wisconsin and later hiked from Kentucky to south Florida; there, he got sick and headed to California to recuperate. Once he found the wilds of Northern California in 1868, he was smitten. He climbed rocks, cursed the sharp hooves of sheep that tore up wildflowers and even snuck President Teddy Roosevelt away from his handlers and into the backcountry for three nights of camping.
He also wrote like a fiend.
BikeCommuters.com: “Just Ask Jack — Deflecting the Naysayers?”
Although we know several people at our work who also bike in we also get some remarks from a few people who seem to subtly suggest that we are trying to make a political statement or trying to look ‘hip’ or ‘holier than thou’. Yes, I am a liberal but I am also a hair and makeup girl and getting to work slightly messed up has been a mental barrier I had to overcame solely because I can’t stomach or afford $4+ a gallon - we have a mortgage to pay.
Do you ever get this?? If so, how do you handle it?[...]
LA Times: “The trail is his destination”
Billy Goat has hiked more than 32,000 miles — which would have taken him around the world and a third of the way again. He has walked across the South and the Southwest, the Northeast and the West. He has crossed the Rocky Mountains on four occasions, twice in each direction. He has conquered the so-called triple crown of American hiking — the Appalachian, Continental Divide and Pacific Crest trails — multiple times.
Writer Unboxed: “Velvety Shadows: Dealing with Fear”
This push/pull has been going on for a couple of months. I’ll dare myself to try a new challenge, a hike in an area I’ve not visited, freak myself out completely the night before, get through the hike, NOT see a bear, and feel like Paul Bunyan and Rocky all rolled into one. Then I’ll be twice as fearful the next time. Last week, I hiked with joy through an area called Saylor Park, while Christopher Robin, my significant other, orienteered. It was a thrilling challenge–hiking by myself in back country, in deep quiet forest with dazzling views of Pikes Peak from the backside.
But you know, all I could think about was bears. And it’s cub season. And what would I do. And there is a velvety shadow and—eek! It was an enormous relief to get back to main roads and be able to stop thinking about bears, bears, bears.
LA Times Emerald City: “Goodbye and see you at Green Drinks”
Starting tomorrow, June 22, all my green L.A. lifestyle blogging will happen on my own website, green LA girl.
Phew! Now I can close a bunch of browser tabs. ;)