Comments on: Muir woods in captivity

By: Zhombre

Zhombre — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:16:26 +0000

I think you mean Gifford Pinchot, not Pinochet in the next to last paragraph.

By: gcotharn

gcotharn — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:22:40 +0000

I visited Muir Woods in 1989. I am sad to hear of the walkways. Some of the earthy experience must be gone.

I can smell Nanny State from a good distance away:
1. Don’t trust the people to make choices of their own free will. The walkways are a passive aggressive fu from the enlightened to the hoi polloi.
2. Artlessly invade the Muir Woods with the walkway. Couldn’t more tasteful, less intrusive ropes have been erected in trouble spots?
3. Expensively invade. That’s my tax dollars paying for an expensive and invasive walkway, instead of an inexpensive, less obtrusive group of ropes.

By: Yehudit

Yehudit — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:27:26 +0000

I can recommend about a dozen redwood groves within an hour’s drive of San Francisco with taller bigger redwoods and more quiet. There’s no reason to go to Muir Woods except that you can get there by bus. But it’s so beautiful around there it’s worth it to rent a car for a day or two and do some real hiking.

By: neo-neocon

neo-neocon — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:11:54 +0000

Thanks, Zhombre. I guess we can’t blame Pinochet for that.

By: Thomas

Thomas — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 23:42:30 +0000

On the debate between the sides, I’d throw in that not all of nature is as pleasing as a California redwood forest.

I see modern preservationists fighting to keep some areas from being developed, or even having non native plants introducedm and have to ask ‘why’ (other than ideology)… its ugly unproductive scrub prone to erosion and doesn’t even support much animal life… as is… just iky… Throw in some cherry trees and make a park… Sometimes people can make areas better IMO. ‘Natural State’ is not always that great… Anyway, its not going to sequester much carbon.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:04:29 +0000

It’s not so much the “souvenir hunting”. It’s to keep people from hurting themselves and filing a lawsuit. Ropes aren’t “preventative” enough.

“Got to keep the loonies on the path”

By: Gerard

Gerard — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 01:37:39 +0000

When I inhabited Muir Woods long ago it was to a different purpose entirely. Muir Woods in those days (circa late 60s) was one of the preferred destinations for consuming the mystery molecule and then communing with the spirit of nature. Very powerful molecule and much more powerful nature was always revealed.

You can bet folding money that some of those who tripped about Muir Woods in their youth were the same aging nannies that caused the planked path to be built in their dotage.

By: Yehudit

Yehudit — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 04:27:29 +0000

I visited Joe and Jan Katzman in one of those classic California modernist redwood houses deep in the woods north of Santa Cruz, and it’s refreshing to hear people totally unsentimental about redwoods because they are surrounded by the monsters, which drop dead limbs on them and block out the sunlight and interfere with their cell phone service. Ironically, if you live among the redwoods, solar panels are a joke. Two California stereotypes cancel each other out.

Then there is Michael Totten’s 100 ft tall Douglas Fir which all the arborists in Portland refuse to cut down, even though it drops limbs on his neighbor’s yard. . . .

By: Michael Blaine

Michael Blaine — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:01:41 +0000

rudelystamped.blogspot.comWow!

I’ve stumble into your blog, and note that while you say you have a background as a therapist, you blithely post about the necessity for more violence in Iraq.

Are you trying to get work catering to PTSD victims? Or do you have so little empathy that human carnage doesn’t bother you?

I don’t understand “Americans” like you. More than therapist, you seem to be sadist.

Michael Blaine
www.rudelystamped.blogspot.com

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:51:19 +0000

newsday.comGee, Michael,
So sorry you “stumbled” into here, when such a caring young man as yourself would probably feel more at home here:

http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-history-hs729a,0,9679.story?coll=ny-lihistory-navigation

with the rest of your anti-freedom for brown people crowd, like George Soros.

Don’t feel bad. Us Americans don’t understand you Europeans, either.

By: md

md — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:21:30 +0000

Lee, take a chill pill: Blaine is an American, “I cast my first presidential vote for Reagan…”; he was a conservative before neo!

By: Sally

Sally — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:50:12 +0000

md, take an upper. Blaine is, to use his own scare quotes, at best an “American”, not an American. And whatever else he is, or says he is, he’s clearly portraying himself as just another frightened troll, who thinks his obtuse and maudlin comments are original — if he can’t pay attention to the post he’s commenting on, he should at least try to come up with an assertion or argument that hasn’t already been refuted a few million times, here as well as elsewhere.

And there’s a difference, by the way, between a conservative and a neoconservative (not to mention a neo-neoconservative).

By: EssEm

EssEm — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 14:30:20 +0000

Glad to hear that you are here, neo. Now there are two postlib types in the area! LOL.

Hope you enjoy your time here in the People’s Republic and northern Mexifornia. The beauty and the weather are continuing miracles for me after fifteen plus years living here…the population? Good looking…but nuts!

By: Driver

Driver — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:55:49 +0000

I visited Muir Woods a while back…I can remember the temptation to bring back a redwood seedling as a souvenir. But I resisted, and then at the end of the walk, found out I could legally buy one right there in the gift shop. They don’t do well back east…

By: chuck

chuck — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 18:27:52 +0000

Walden pond has gone much the same way, although the last time I visited it didn’t yet suffer from rails and boardwalks. I grew up in the area and learned to swim in Walden pond back in the days when there was a concrete pier to dive off, changing rooms, and men fishing from boats out in the center. It was a more carefree time, now it is a state reservation, the pier has been torn out, and there is a visitor’s center, a gift shop, and a large parking space. Maybe population pressure drove the change, maybe the revived interest in Thoreau, but the Walden experience has lost much of its fun. It seems a bit too reverent these days.

The area is popular for fishing, swimming, and walking. To protect the natural resources of the area and ensure that Walden Pond remains a pleasant place for people in the future, the number of visitors is limited to no more than 1,000 people at a time. Dogs, bicycles, floatation devices and grills are prohibited. To avoid disappointment, visitors are encouraged to call the park in advance and check on parking availability. A replica of Thoreau’s house and the location of his modest home are available for viewing by the public. Year round interpretive programs and guided walks are offered as well as The Shop at Walden and the Tsongas gallery. Specialized Equipment includes portable FM listening systems for park programs and a beach wheel chair for access to the beach and water.

Roland Robbins, a guy who painted houses and washed windows, lived two houses down from us and was the amateur archeologist who found the remains of Thoreau’s cabin. He later went on to restore the Saugus Iron Works.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 19:50:33 +0000

blackfive.netHere’s a message for all Americans and “Americans” alike, but I think it’s more for Blainey Boy:

http://www.blackfive.net/main/2007/07/patton-on-the-m.html

Warning: Graphic Language. It is “Patton” after all.

By: Michael Blaine

Michael Blaine — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 22:31:57 +0000

rudelystamped.blogspot.com’md Says:
July 25th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Lee, take a chill pill: Blaine is an American, “I cast my first presidential vote for Reagan…”; he was a conservative before neo!’

Correct. Then I grew up, developing a moral imagaination along with empathy. And the gratuitous killing my government engages in, along with my fellow citizens who support it, began to repulse me.

Michael Blaine
www.rudelystamped.blogspot.com

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:05:58 +0000

“And the gratuitous killing my government engages in, along with my fellow citizens who support it, began to repulse me.”

So you became a Nazi. Good move, there Michael.

By: Prometheus

Prometheus — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 18:09:14 +0000

If you had made an effort to walk more than the initial boardwalk loop (or looked at a map), you would have seen that the vast majority of the park is rough and sometimes even risky dirt trails. The initial restricted area is aimed at bus-loads of tourists which, in the summer, you could compare to “the running of the bulls” in a small china shop. With out the paths the soil would be too compacted to support life. The boardwalks don’t block nutrients to the soil like paved paths (which as I recall still coexist with them) and allow bugs and amphibians to pass under the paths without being trampled. This area is handicap accessible and allows as many people as possible to experience a bit of majestic “nature” for what may be the first time. You can take Grandma in her wheelchair or walker and the Grandkid in his stroller. If you have more than a passing interest and are up for it, you are free to explore vast acres of woodlands where you may not see another soul for hours even on a busy day. You can pet all the giant banana slugs you want. Otherwise, get back on your bus, enjoy your postcards and quit complaining. Its a grand experience for absolutely no effort.

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 11:29:53 +0000

Dear Neo,
I was in Muir woods in ‘94 w/ my daughter who has since moved to the area. She’ll be replying herself; but assures me the boardwalks are for the handicapped and group tour-types only. She points out that a raised walkway is better for the roots (shallow on such big trees) and they also provide safety for the small critters living and traveling along the ground. She has personally taken hikes up into the woods with interested visitors and claims; ‘ you could be seriously lost’. So the pocket wilderness Muir Woods represents for the millions of Bay Area residents should be applauded and not looked askance at. Here in the East, we have many trails throughout the White Mountains of NH that have been ‘loved to death’. The exposed roots lay in wait for the unwary hiker; ’slipery root syndrome’ is a serious health hazard..a few judiciously placed raised boardwalks would be welcomed.

Chris

By: M. D. Vaden

M. D. Vaden — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:22:51 +0000

The boardwalk you describe, is also used near Ape Caves close to Mt. St. Helens at a place where tree “molds” exist from trees encapsulated in lava - later decomposing.

The ancient grove I like, and hardly anybody knows the location…

Grove of Titans redwood trees

Hopefully, the secret of the location stays a secret for a long time.