Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Bear kills Hiker

Yea, I agree with you Gary. Back in my younger days, I brought a girl out here from Connecticut. I took her to Morro Bay, Big Sur, the Monterrey Coast, 17 mile drive, then over the Yosemite and finally to Mammoth Mtn and Mt Whitney. She said she had never ever seen a place in which everyday it was like driving in your own personal picture postcard.

I truly believe California is the prettiest state in the country, and I lived on Maui for many years. The downfall.......well, the list is too big, but it starts with Democratic lawmakers, Republican lawmakers, Jerry Brown, Arnold Schwarznegger, unfriendly business practices, high taxes, illegal immigration (which is bankrupting CA), no person with any courage to make CA great again (used to be the #6 economy in the world.)..........etc. It confounds me that the greatest state in the Union cannot figure a way out of it's problems. This is by far one of the most unfriendly states when it comes to keeping and attracting businesses.

And then, you come from another state and you see how fricken gorgeous the majority of the state is and you wonder, how the hell can California keep screwing this up? Uh, one word: SACRAMENTO.

I feel that way about the Southwest: you have largesse, color, & rock formations seen nowhere else in the world. Only Yosemite Valley(to me, of course)compares in uniqueness.

Yeah Joe, in my opinion California has more natural beauty, diversity, and range of extremes than any other state. You guys just don't know how good you've got it (I hear CaT banging his head on his desk right about now). I'll head up to John's beloved Southern Appalachians for a hike, trek most of the day seeing nothing but trees (and lots of 'em), then hit a summit with a small opening in the forest canopy and see . . . more trees. Frankly, I'm sick of trees - at least super-dense forests.

Between business and fun, I've traveled to CA better than 20 times in the past 18 years. I consider it my home-away-from-home, in more ways than one. I don't even bother packing an Atlas anymore. The only part of the state I haven't visited is Northern Cali, above Napa. Over the past 8 years, I've taken my family to almost every major national park Rockies-west, and I've been to 43 of the 50 states. The rest of the country just can't compare to California - except maybe collectively.

Think about it: you have that gorgeous, enormous coast (most of it ruined, incidentally, but still better than anything not called California), and that's what most non-Californians think of when they hear "California". Personally, I can take the beach or leave it. Then you have the Sierra, and those 3 amazing alpine national parks, with Yosemite as the crown jewel of the NPS system. You've got the Redwoods and the Sequoias, each with their own national park. You've got Joshua Tree NP. You've got volcanic wows like Lassen and Shasta. Then you have that far too under-appreciated monster of a NP to the east that I love to spend my winters in. If you combined Washington, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, you might have enough national park holy-cows to rival California. Maybe.

And those, of course, are just a few of the natural feautures of the state. The cities and resorts have their own appeal.

When I think of the problems California faces, most of it goes back to population pressure. Too many people in one place. The Eagles nailed it with "The Last Resort". Imagine what the LA Basin would be like if people had never settled there in huge numbers. I'm certain it would have become another national park.




Bee, you've gotta get outta NorCal and spend more time exploring Death Valley . . .

I admit that I only drove through it, but did not hike it. I was missing the hoo-doos of Canyon De Chelly and the brilliant red orange of the lanscape + the accent of the turquoise brush that grows along the many secret waterways. I DID notice that DV has the colored/striated rock (I even bought some of the jewelry made from the rock)but the lack of vegetation outcroppings left me feeling that the area was aptly named....

PS, I completely agree with your overview of California -- it is spot on. I have been to the Alps, Dolomites (Italian version), Carmel Range(Israel), and none of it came close to the list of attractions that you mention. HAH! Where else can you go to both the highest spot & lowest spot in the country on the same day? (Bob R's "Sunrise/Sunset" trip)

If you haven't been to see the Redwoods North of San Francisco.......put it on your itinerary. A few years back, I stayed in a small cabin in Garberville and took long walks through those majestic icons. Love it!

Joe, I haven't been to Redwoods NP yet, but have hiked Muir Woods north of San Francisco about 15 years ago. Incredible!

Bee, not sure when you visited DV, but winter is the time to go. Not only are the temps comfortable-to-cool, but the air is mostly clear of that summer heat haze that turns everything grey. The color of the rock can be just astounding - striations and patterns everywhere. A spin around Artist's Drive is just as colorful as anything I've seen in southern Utah or Badlands NP in South Dakota.

we should move in together in that home away from home - I've done more than 25 trips to CA since my first visit in 1987. This year it will be two, maybe even three trips.

I've been all over Europe before I moved here, and have to say that my favorite place there, Corsica, can't compete with California, although it does have some cultural charme you don't get in the new world.

Fish, maybe we should pool our resources and buy/lease that cabin at the Portal . . .

Twice a year to Cali is getting to be a habit for me - Death Valley in the winter and the Sierra in the summer. Someday I'll man up and do it the other way around . . .

Tomorrow: Vegas by 10:00 am, Death Valley by 2:00 pm, Hostel by 5:00 pm, Mooseburger by 6:30 pm. Then a run up the MMWT Thursday to scout out Bob R's shortcuts between the North Fork and Trail Camp for our overnighter the following week. I'm assuming Thursday walk-in day permits are pretty plentiful now.

As I'm banging my head on my desk before leaving work this evening, I couldn't agree more with Bulldog's poetic waxing about California.

I did, however, have the opportunity to do dayhikes in the Alps for a month during the summer of 2001. Before having gone over there, I was thinking "Alps, Schmalps! Nothing holds a candle to the Sierra". However, after my month there, I was whistling a different more equitable tune. The Sierra and Alps are both wonderful, each in their own way -- they are just ... different. So I do think the Alps holds a candle to the Sierra, just in its own special way. In the Alps, there are zero dangerous animals of any kind, and there is also its world-famous hut system. My recollection is that tree line in the Alps is quite a bit lower than in the Sierra -- a pro or con, depending on your personal preference (more scenic vistas sooner on the way up, I suppose; but less shade in the sun). As for the variety of hiking/climbing opportunities, both mountain ranges offer a ton of them.

But since I'm a displaced California boy, the Sierra will always hold a special place in my heart. On the other hand, if the USA ever implodes in a catastrophic way, I'm moving to Switzerland.

CaT