went hiking today in the hills outside corvallis, or - where i now live. green, lush, beautiful - even though we have not had rain in a very loooong time (thank god because it did nothing but rain for weeks when i got here).
as i drove to the trailhead i saw the requisite fire warning signs. we are at a yellow now. do you ever wonder if we were to be at the same homeland security warning level as fire level would the terrorists spontaneously combust? no? ok...fire warnings yes...so i passed those and on to the parking lot where i learned that to climb mary's peak from that angle requires a $5 day fee. now, i have climbed mary's peak a great number of times from a couple of different directions, but this is the first i've seen the fee. and $5 without even being able to have a fire? as they say at the end of the world - wtf mate?
first, i did not have a $5 bill - just a $10 and a $20. i'll be damned if i am going to pay $10 to walk 6 miles up a 4000' hill - you know i never really GOT the mountain snobbery until i moved away from the rockies. mary's peak is beautiful, and i really really enjoy it - maybe a mountain - definitely not a peak. i decided to be a bit on the shady side. put a $10 into the envelope and filled it out, stuck it on my windshield. if i came back and it was still there i'd take it home with me and get them back later when i had the proper change (of course those of you who know me know that i will never go back to the lot where i have to pay $5 to hike rather than go to the free ones). i suppose that makes me a bad person.
i headed out on my way to the actual trail. wanted to leave the newly paved lot, the construction site below it, and the rather large toilet house behind. when i got to the trail there was yet another sign. this one said i had to have my dog on a leash no longer than 6' at all times. i turned to ask summit if she knew where we'd put her leash to find her taking a shit just off the side of the trail.
yeah summit, i feel that way too.
rules in the wilderness...now i know, i know, hiking up mary's peak is MOST DEFINITELY not wilderness. people can drive to within 10 minutes of the summit for pete's sake (also, who is this pete we refer to all the time?). but really - rules. have you seen the honey badger on youtube? i think you should because i am telling you honey badger don't care about rules and little bear don't care either.
check out this badass salamander i found on the trail recently. do you think salamander cares about rules? salamander don't care! yeah yeah, fire rules are there for safety. i don't want to burn down mary's peak. i don't even actually want to go up there and have a fire, but le sigh to the max - i know how to not burn it down. i also hiked through the ghost fields in and around yellowstone - no trees yet after 23 years. i know what fire can do AND i know that the fire there burned so badly because fire had been removed from the ecosystem for way too long. when you remove something from an ecosystem it throws off the balance. fire is a predator just like hawks and wolves and honey badgers. you take it out and you can get trouble.
i am not proposing we remove the fire rule. it just makes me sad that we need to have it. i know not everyone is skilled or aware or remotely uncareless (hehe made up a word). i suppose little bear do care, but little bear don't like it.
and the $5 fee? see this tree? what this tree gonna do with $5? tree don't care. yeah i get that there is maintenance and work and all kinds of things that are done that these dollars cover. in this bent though i have to say that i side with good ol' uncle ed in his desert solitaire diatribe about national parks. let's get the roads out of it! let's save the roads for people who can't walk to the top (sorry ed - i differ from you on that point)! let the people who can, do so - if they do DON'T CHARGE THEM FOR IT. i appreciate that people want to enjoy the outdoors, but this has led to the creation of all this infrastructure, and then infrastructure to maintain the infrastructure. that leads to having to pay to walk 6 miles up a big hill. little bear don't care.
see this puppy dog? ok, i suppose this is the shadow of the puppy dog. puppy dog don't care for leashes, muzzles, harnesses or any other kinds of doggy s&m accoutrement. puppy dog would not even wear a collar except mommy wants her phone number on puppy in the event of separation. i get that some people don't train their dogs. put those dogs on leashes! i went to the rogue brewer's memorial beer festival - dogs and beer, beer and dogs. it was fun but there were a lot of misbehaving puppies not being restrained by their drunk owners. this one should have a leash rule, but outdoors? my dog likes to run and play and enjoy the space. i trained her well. she does not bite, jump, nip or bark. i dislike heartily the idea that because some people can't take care of their pets that mine needs to be tied up. little bear don't care.
i think what i am really saying is a) if you don't want rules avoid hiking up the east ridge of mary's peak, and b) i miss my wide open, wild and wooly, camp where you want, have a nice fire, and don't gotta pay shit honest to goodness wilderness. gots to get me outta dodge for some of that soon!
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