When California’s pioneering state geologists – hardbitten field surveyors normally inured to the sight of wildly configured mountains in a continent of geological wonder – first clapped eyes on Yosemite’s dramatic peak of Half Dome they were amazed: “It is a crest of granite rising above the valley, perfectly inaccessible, and probably the only one [...]
national park
Joe Sharkey, a volunteer along with his wife at Saguaro National Park, was fired from his job as a mounted trail patrol because he contacted the police and the media to report vandalism of saguaro cacti and boulders along one of the park’s scenic trails earlier this week. Sharkey is a retired, seasoned journalist who’s [...]
It has been a loooong time in the wilderness for the status of placing climbing bolts in federal wilderness. In June 1998 the U.S. Forest Service banned all fixed climbing anchors within the designated wilderness areas under its jurisdiction. This didn’t just mean permanent bolts: It meant that pitons, nuts, and pretty much any form [...]
For the first time in Yellowstone National Park’s history, state and local plows are pushing snow off the East Entrance road rather than National Park Service plows doing the work. You might think it’s purely patriotic, this effort to open one of America’s “best ideas” on time for its traditional start date of May 1. [...]
ROPE SWING MADE POPULAR ON YOUTUBE TURNS DEADLY You just knew someone was going to get hurt at Moab’s Corona Arch. You knew it, because a few months back a guiding service was taking customers onto the BLM land, videoing the huge, 250-foot swing, and the video wound up with over 17 million Youtube hits, [...]
YOSEMITE PLAN ADDS CAMPSITES, MAKES VALLEY LESS COMMERCIAL If you’re a fan of keeping national parks more natural, it’s hard not to like Yosemite’s new management plan, which includes getting rid of the valley’s ice skating rink, commercial horseback riding, hotel swimming pools, and raft- and bicycle rentals and making more room for pedestrians and [...]
The higher you get, the higher you get. Above the clouds in Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile. Download away: 1280 x 800 1440 x 900 1680 x 1050 1920×1200 Photo by Steve Casimiro
Ed Abbey is navigating a convertible down a dirt road in Utah, talking about his rangering days, when he says, in inimitable Abbey form, “But I loved it. I love it all. The miserable road, the dust, the wind, the flash floods and the quicksand, the hoodoo rocks and the hoodoo arches, the ravens, the [...]
Wallpapers don’t get much fresher: This was shot last Friday morning on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at Toroweap Point. Download away: 1280 x 800 1440 x 900 1680 x 1050 1920×1200 Photo by Steve Casimiro
MORE ROAD RAGE AGAINST CYCLISTS IN COLORADO Unlike the last incident, this time the driver of a truck with nobody in his way actually struck the “offending” cyclist. Luckily the cyclist was released from the hospital, pending more tests. Apparently a paceline was heading up Deer Canyon, outside Littleton, a Denver suburb, when a pickup [...]
SANDY BRINGS SKIING TO NORTH CAROLINA The earliest open date on record for Sugar Mountain, in western North Carolina, was November 5th, in 1976. Not anymore. Hurricane Sandy dumped up to three feet of snow in the southern Appalachians and even if it brought nothing but misery farther north, the storm brought out skiers in [...]
Patagonia — there’s nothing like it. The eastern side of Torres del Paine National Park, Chile, is one of the most sublime spots on the planet and is the setting for this week’s free wallpaper, provided here in a full range of desktop sizes. 1280 x 800 1440 x 900 1680 x 1050 1920×1200 Photo [...]
At a recent San Francisco hearing by officials who govern the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a 276-mile stretch of coastline from Marin County all the way to south of Hearst Castle, surfers weren’t happy. They wanted to talk to NOAA officials about the ban on jet skis for big wave surfing, particularly at Mavericks. [...]
ACADIA CLIMBING INSTRUCTOR TAKES 60-FOOT WHIPPER AND LIVES It’s probable that Nicholas “Dane” Sterba, a certified American Mountain Guide Association single-pitch climbing instructor, is going to survive his fall off an Acadia wall called Central Slabs. He was on rappel when something went very wrong. At 9:30 Wednesday morning park rangers responded to the site [...]
Historical Badass: Yosemite Pioneer Warren Harding
The AJ List: 19 Awesome Hikes Under 5 Miles
AJ Is Launching Photo Tips Series – What Do You Want to Know?
The AJ Poll: What’s the Best Thing About Summer?
Thoughts on Dads and Dreams
The Flying Bike that Could Change Everything
The Storm that Ate Texas…Or Nibbled Around the Edges Anyway
Short Film Captures Hypnotizing Clouds from Above
Historical Badass: Climber and Author Peter Boardman
The AJ List: 17 Of The Best Songs About Mountains
The Lonely, Endearing Journey On ‘The Road From Karakol’
Living a Life Well Lived
The AJ Poll: What’s the Most Disgusting Thing You’ve Eaten?
Are You Ready for Your Summit Photo?
