Alex Hole Spring (1683.3) to 1703.8
7/20/2019
20.5 miles
Today I crossed the Oregon border! I’m beyond joyful, not because this means I’ve completed the arbitrary goal of hiking the whole PCT in California. But because this means I’m entering the state where I was born and grew up.
It makes me think about what it means to be a native Oregonian. Even though I only lived there the first dozen or so years of my life. But still, the reason I’m hiking the PCT is because Oregon is my home. It’s the reason I love big trees and the cascade mountains so much.
I stop and talk to another hiker and ask if he wants a picture at the border. He is having a completely different reaction than me, expressing his regret about skipping the Sierra. It’s hard to see someone out here that is so unhappy with where they are. The whole reason he says he is hiking the PCT is to see the Sierra. He says at the next town he will try and hitch out so he can skip down.
Beyond the sign saying that I am entering the Cascade- Siskiyou National Monument, I stop to talk to a dayhiker about the wildflowers. She is a local and tells me that the Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument is the first monument set aside for biodiversity. Hers is such a different story about the monument than I heard at Seiad Valley that at first I don’t realize its the same monument.
Today I’m very sore after yesterdays higher mileage day. I take extra breaks and end the day early.
I set up camp at the junction of a bunch of roads. Perhaps I’ll regret where I am set up, but I want to take it easy today.
Hi Rambling Hemlock,
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting your updates! I feel rejuvenated when I read them. I was wondering if you are comfortable sharing a bit about the controversy re: monuments? Curious because I have always thought monuments = good, though of course I am not affected by them as I don't live near them. Is it the increase in unwanted tourism? Decrease in land use availability?
I'll answer only as a private citizen (not as a government employee)-- I've heard locals express concern that when land changes from being just BLM land to becoming a monument, that people feel it puts their livelihoods in jeopardy. That was what many of the locals said in Seiad Valley about the mining rule changes. Increases in tourism is also a huge concern here in Southeast Utah.
DeleteThe local PBS station, KUED, put out a documentary called "Battle Over Bears Ears" that features many local voices that I found helpful for understanding the issues:
https://www.kued.org/whatson/kued-productions/battle-over-bears-ears
Thank you very much for your recommendation! I look forward to watching the documentary to become more informed.
DeleteI forgot to mention how I stumbled across your blog--I was looking for a means to attach my umbrella to my pack, and your method worked like a charm! Most of my friends find it ridiculous but I get to gloat in the pleasure of literal coolness while they swelter. :P
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear the umbrella trick worked for you! I totally know that feeling of being so nice and cool under the umbrella while others bake. Nice!
DeleteCongratulations on completing the California reach of the PCT! It is an amazing accomplishment. Your beautiful photos of the landscapes, plants and butterflies are amazing tributes to nature and it is great to have species ID's.
ReplyDeleteAs for National Monuments, they are whatever the legislation says they are. Objections in the Siskiyous are about another monument that had once been considered there, even though the Cascade-Siskiyou NM further east had not brought real changes to any land management. I visited Bears Ears NM as it was being downsized and re-branded, and chatted with locals who were still mining and drilling regardless. The environmental reviews of federal actions are best opportunities to comment on land planning, although passed now for (the former) Bears Ears. Other NM's in the past have become National Parks (e.g., Grand Canyon, Lava Beds). Some newer NM's have only nominal recognition, oddly specifying no actual change in management (e.g., Blue Ridge Berryessa NM in central California). There, no federal action is actually taken that effects anything on the ground, or other parts of the environment, so that no environmental review is needed. BLM and USFS just point to each other on web pages and press releases for the 'joint' management. Comment by letter on the small-scale plans for routine management actions in the meantime.
Interesting takes on the NM issues. I didn't know Oregon has its own controversial monuments, though I think when it comes down to it, most of the parks in the NPS system had some controversy.
ReplyDelete