The last refuge


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Posted by Ballpark Frank (64.79.35.96) on 09:36:41 06/26/17

In Reply to: Captain Obvious posted by ND

ND,

I agree with you wholeheartedly. We are living in an era where the combination of a growing U.S. population and prosperity in many other countries is contributing to soaring national park visitation rates.

I was in Yellowstone this past weekend. On Saturday, there was a literal throng of people at and around the Grizzly Overlook. I zoomed right on by, and found peace at the South Overlook (where the newish bison ecology interpretive signs reside). I spent 4 or 5 hours watching bald eagles, ducks, a pelican, and numerous elk herds, some with calves bedded down in deep grass or sagebrush. I kept waiting for a predator to show up, but I got skunked. Meanwhile, visitors kept arriving who had been up north at the Grizzly Overlook, where the Canyon Pack chased an elk herd into the river, right in the middle of the day.

On Sunday, we hiked a rather large (not tall) mountain in close proximity to Mammoth, which has no official trail on it. We saw no other humans the entire day, even though we were atop numerous viewpoints that afforded sweeping perspectives of the open and semi-open terrain in all directions. The backcountry is the last refuge for those of us who are frustrated with the crowding. I just fear the day when old age and infirmity prevents me from doing the off-trail hiking that I prize.

Ballpark



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