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bear mauling death in Denali

A hiker in Alaska’s Denali National Park photographed a grizzly bear for at least eight minutes before the bear mauled and killed him in the first fatal attack in the park’s history, officials said Saturday.

Investigators have recovered the camera and looked at the photographs, which show the bear grazing and not acting aggressively before the Friday attack …

A state trooper shot and killed the male bear on Saturday.

The hiker was identified late Saturday as Richard White, 49, of San Diego. He was backpacking alone along the Toklat River on Friday afternoon when he came within 50 yards (50 metres) of the bear, far closer than the quarter-mile (0.4 kilometres) of separation required by park rules, officials said.

Calgary Herald

This is another bear in the same area 2008. … That photographer survived.

more details on National Parks Traveler

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snorkeling off La Paz, Baja

After kayaking marvelous Isla Espiritu Santo off La Paz, Baja in 2006 … I created a website promoting the kayak/hiking adventure.

For fun.

This kid had an even better time than I did. 🙂

Check out Diego as he snorkels with amazing sea life at Espiritu Santo, an island in the Sea of Cortez. While diving or snorkeling there you can see whale sharks, mobula rays, groupers, snappers, turtles, sea lions and numerous species of fishes and crustaceans.

Many people are now calling for increased protections at Espiritu Santo from harmful fishing practices such as gill nets. In this short film, Diego shares his love for the sea life at Espiritu Santo and his desire to help protect it for future generations.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Click through to islaespiritusanto.org if you’d be willing to support a campaign to ban gill nets around those rich reefs:

CONANP Letter in English

Dear. Mr Bermudez.

On behalf of present and future generations of Pacenos and visitors to Baja Sur, I am requesting the government ban use of gill nets on inshore reefs around Isla Espiritu Santo in the new management plan.

The plan documents a decline of fisheries, due in large part to the ongoing use of gill nets, yet allows those same gill nets to remain on inshore reefs around the island. In fact, this plan offers no substantive decrease in fishing effort, gear types used, nor areas fished and is not consistent with the plan’s vision to protect and restore the marine ecosystem.

As a result, this plan guarantees further fisheries degradation and will do further damage to the recreation and tourism economy of La Paz.

Thank you for protecting the ecological integrity of the marine environment around Isla Espiritu Santo with the sustainable use of the fisheries resource.

islaespiritusanto.org

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no evidence bear attacks related to menstruation

Huckleberry Hiker:

Ever since the night of August 13, 1967, when two women were attacked and killed by grizzly bears in two separate incidents in Glacier National Park (which was later chronicled in Night of the Grizzlies), a myth has persisted that women may be more prone to bear attacks as a result of odors associated with menstruation.

However, according to a paper recently published by the National Park Service, “there is no statistical evidence that known bear attacks have been related to menstruation”. …

Myth Busted: Women are more prone to bear attacks due to menstruation odors

More detail on that research.

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building a ‘living bridge’

… The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to fifteen years to become fully functional, but they’re extraordinarily strong – strong enough that some of them can support the weight of fifty or more people at a time.

In fact, because they are alive and still growing, the bridges actually gain strength over time – and some of the ancient root bridges used daily by the people of the villages around Cherrapunji may be well over 500 years old. …

atlas obscura – THE ROOT BRIDGES OF CHERRAPUNJI

I saw that linked from The Long Now Foundation. That page has a good video describing how local people build these living bridges.

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a new Kloofing video

Kloofing is an adventure activity that typically involves the descent of a deep ravine or watercourse that may be dry or wet. The defining factor is usually that the ravine is several times deeper than it is wide. All manner of walking, scrambling, climbing, swimming, plunging, jumping, bumslides or abseiling (rappelling) could be involved.

A kloofing trip usually combines hiking with the descent of a watercourse. Some of the more “interesting” kloofing involves long abseils or high jumps into pools from varying heights, up to as high as 20 or more metres (for example the popular ‘Suicide Gorge‘ in South Africa). …

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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with Fedak in Tuolumne Canyon

16.5 miles and 2700 foot gain down into the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River.

… For three miles, the Tuolumne River curves lazily through meadows like a time-lapse video of a cat on a sunny windowsill. Then it perks up and dashes over a series of cascades and waterfalls, terminating at Glen Aulin …

Yosemite Hikes – Glen Aulin (Tuolumne Falls & White Cascade)

John Fedak, resident of the Sierra Nevada mountains for the Summer season, led me on this, one of his favourite hikes.

Here’s John’s photo trip report of our day — LeConte Falls 2012.

We rendezvoused at Lembert Dome trailhead on the Tioga Road. This was the shortest winter snow closure for Tioga on record, by the way.

Tuolumne Meadows

On a Saturday in July the trail was busy. We even shared the bridge with these beasts.

In the Spring, it’s great for waterfalls. Later in the season, popular for swimming.

Thank you kindly for sharing this trail, John. It was a terrific day.

Fedak is one of the original hiking photo bloggers. He has thousands of annotated photos from his many, many adventures.

Check those out at Fedak.net

More of my own pics from this glorious day are posted on Flickr.

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Skerwink Trail, Newfloundland

A hiker named “Walker” recommends this short coastal hike in gorgeous Newfoundland:

… 5.8 km moderate trail that skirts the edge of ocean-side cliffs towering to 300 feet above the water. Beats most of the southern stretches of the East Coast Trail hands down. Trail head in Trinity East or Rexport (5 minute drive from 300+ year old Trinity). …

photos

What’s a Skerwink?

A shearwater. “Skerwink” is a local name for this pelagic seabird species, which lives offshore (they’re also known as “hagdowns,” in Newfoundland). It is highly unlikely that you will see a shearwater when you hike the trail. Many shearwaters do breed on the island of Newfoundland but only in a few places, and they return to their nests only at night. But do keep your eye open for other birds and wildlife!

FAQs

TheSkerwinkTrail.com

It gets great reviews on Trip Advisor, too.

More NFLD hikes.