Zion National Park Photo by Flexidan

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– Doug McConnell

Back in the late 60’s, I worked for awhile on the Navajo Reservation and had a chance to explore the Grand Canyon and the colorful landscape of southern Utah quite a bit.  I was hooked by its sheer beauty and wildness, and have returned as often as possible to visit some of my favorite haunts and to discover new canyons and vistas.

I’ve been to Zion National Park and its neighborhood many times and in every season.  One of my favorite trips was long ago, in the winter of 1971 and 1972. In those days, Zion was very quiet in the “off season.”   Which meant it was the “on season” for me.  I spent about a week in Springdale, Utah, at the west entrance to the Park.  As far as I remember, I was about the only tourist in town and the only guy in Zion for 8 days.

A light snow fell in the first few days I was there, and I spent many hours cross-country skiing absolutely alone beside the North Fork of the Virgin River and beneath the towering cliffs of Zion.  It all reminded me of a red rock version of Yosemite Valley.

One day, I took my four wheel drive, an old Ford Bronco, and drove deep into the high backcountry.  The snow was deeper there, and as I skied through it the only tracks I saw belonged to a mountain lion.  I encountered its large and very fresh prints high on a remote ridge line, and decided it was wise to make a gradual u-turn and descend slowly back towards the car.  The lion surely had its eyes on me, but was even more leery than I was I’m sure.

I’ve always loved being in places where I’m not at the top of the food chain. It heightens my senses and gives me a visceral appreciation of the power of nature and the the vulnerability of humanity.  It’s pretty humbling really to be in the presence of lions, bears and sharks for example…and we humans need to be humbled every now and then.   Hubris will take us long before the lions ever do.  Tragedies do happen, and people are killed by predators. I don’t mean to minimize those dangers or make light of deadly encounters,  but when you think of the millions of us wandering through their habitats every year, the numbers of human deaths caused by critters is miniscule. They’ve always had much more to fear from us than we have to fear from them.  Be smart.  Take appropriate precautions.  Be alert. And then, with rare exceptions, the animals of the West will give you a wide berth.  Frankly, after all my time in the backcountry out this way, I’m still
waiting to see my first mountain lion in the wild. They’re pretty shy.

Zion’s wildness was bracing and beautiful.   I hated to leave that winter retreat, but I’ve returned to watch nature’s handiwork there many times since.  She always puts on quite a show….and I hope you go see it for yourself.

– Doug McConnell

I’m often asked what my favorite short road trip is in the West, and I can never really answer because I have too many favorites.  From the Black Hills to Hawaii and Alaska to Mexico the beauty and true nature of the West can be found on countless great drives along the ocean’s edge, over steep mountain passes, through ever-changing desert landscapes and into the hearts of big cities and small towns in every state and province.   But OK, here’s one drive I especially love, and it’s only 90 miles long.

It’s no secret that the Big Sur coast of California is about as drop-dead gorgeous as a union of land and sea can get.  From north to south, you enter the Big Sur the moment you leave lovely Carmel and follow State Highway 1 towards Hearst Castle.   Mountains erupt from the sea and the highway clings to cliffs and bluffs as it threads its way gingerly southward.  Every bend in the road reveals another stunning vista.  You’ve got to drive carefully and stop often or you’ll do the journey an injustice.   The trip can take a few hours or a few weeks.   I prefer the latter.

Along the way, you should visit Pt. Lobos State Reserve, the Pt. Sur Lighthouse, and Andrew Molera and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Parks.  You should pull over to admire the Bixby Bridge, the Big Sur River, the Henry Miller Library, the elephant seals in winter at Piedras Blanca and, of course, Hearst Castle itself. Then, go back in every season because the climatic conditions are always shifting.  Oh, and by the way, keep your eyes peeled for sea otters and huge, endangered California Condors gliding along steep ridge lines or perched on rocks and abandoned structures near the road.

You can camp or stay in expensive world-class inns or get something in between. And did I mention that it’s all very romantic?

Well, that’s my Big Sur starter kit.  Take your time and you’ll easily discover much more.   Let us know what you find.

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– Carl Bidleman

Growing up in Detroit, mountains were not part of my everyday experience. Glaciers left southeast Michigan flat as Kansas and the western landscapes on television and in the movies fascinated me. So imagine my delight when I moved to Marin county in 1991 and discovered that I had acquired my own local mountain. Mt. Tamalpais rarely has the snow I captured in this photo but always has the landscapes, wildlife and reservoirs to provide a wonderful natural escape that begins just down the street. Our latest post includes a very nice Mt. Tamalpais video.  It’s called Mt. Tamalpais’ Land of Lakes and gives you a good look.

– Carl Bidleman

Been at the computer too long? Need a little break? Take this 20-second vacation. Look, listen and imagine yourself at Pt. Reyes National Seashore. Then you can get back to work.

– Doug McConnell

Islands have closed. Beaches are contaminated. Fisheries are shutdown. Birds are soiled. Tempers are short. Fingers are pointed. Hearts are broken. Nearly 60,000 gallons of oil follow the currents around San Francisco Bay and out through the Golden Gate into the Gulf of the Farallones. Prime wildlife habitats are under assault and it’s not at all clear how far the catastrophe will reach and how long its consequences will last.

Photo: Carl Bidleman

I don’t claim to have any great insights. But I recommend a number of organizations to you and you may know others you’d like to post here as well. I’m a big fan of the San Francisco Bay Keeper and the worldwide network of bay and water keepers. Locally, Save the Bay and The Bay Institute are fine and knowledgeable institutions which advocate for the understanding and protection of the entire bay and its far-flung watershed. I’m sure the Marine Mammal Center, Wildcare in Marin, and the Peninsula Humane Society are good sources of information, too.

If I weren’t so wrapped up in helping build OpenRoad.TV, I’d be much more involved in trying to figure out, as a reporter, how all of this happened and what could have been done to prevent or at least corral the spill. As a citizen, I’m reserving judgment until more facts are in but I am stunned and amazed at how poorly we were prepared for a spill. We have millions upon millions of gallons of oil and other hazardous materials coming and going through the Bay every day. This small body of water is one of the busiest in the world and one of the most vulnerable to the slightest human or technological failings. We’ve had spills here before. Did no one see this coming? Why was there not an instant response from all of the affected communities and agencies? Oil in the Bay, in huge or small amounts, should be an immediate “all hands on deck” emergency, but it surely doesn’t appear as if it were treated that way.

I covered the Exxon Valdez tragedy in 1989. The ship ran aground on Bligh Reef in calm weather. The oil seeped into the sea but could have been contained for several days had there been an adequate response capability. By the time serious oil containment efforts were underway, the weather had changed. The winds blew, the seas became rough and the currents carried the oil and their awful effects far and wide for hundreds of miles. The damage was done. People were left with the sad chores of counting dead animals, saving a few and uselessly and perhaps harmfully scrubbing rocks and sterilizing beaches. It was an exercise in near futility.

The San Francisco Bay spill looks to me like a microcosm of the Exxon Valdez calamity. Human error compounded by inadequate response. Those who depend upon the sea, mammals, birds, fish and fishers are left to bear the burden. Those of us who love Angel Island, Alcatraz, Marin Headlands and the beaches, wetlands and waterways in this region are left with broken hearts.

– Doug McConnell

Photo by Alan Tobey

Daylight savings have been spent and we’re back to early evening darkness in California and the slanted daylight of approaching winter. This is always a complex time of year for me. I like winter but I enjoy light even more. When I lived in Alaska, my least-favorite/favorite day was the Summer Solstice. We were at our peak moment of light, but every day for six-months after led straight to greater darkness and my favorite/least-favorite day, the Winter Solstice. Darkness was full but light was coming.

It’s all much more mild and less dramatic in California, which is a good and bad thing too. I get to hold on to more light in the winter but I miss the winter extremes of the far north. Fortunately though, northern wildness does find its way south in the form of millions of migrating birds, many of whom winter in the wetlands of California’s Delta and Central Valley. They don’t entirely darken the noon-day sky as they did before California began to fill up with people, but ducks and geese and swans and other commuters along the Pacific Flyway still come in great numbers and put on quite a show for all of us to see and hear. Take a look and listen at a few birding meccas right here: Grizzly Island’s Animal Sanctuary & Grassland’s Haven for Birds.

The protection and restoration of wetlands is a very good thing for all of us members of the animal kingdom. We feature other stories about special places for creatures great and small: Elkhorn Slough’s Wild Kingdom, Alaska’s River of Bears and Roadside Elephant Seals and we’ll keep adding to our inventory all the time. Please let us know your favorite spots to see wildlife. The more we see nature in the raw, the more likely we are to take care of it and to take care of ourselves.