hobolinks

If I can’t go outside now, maybe I can go outdoors in history. Wild Film History, 100 years of wildlife filmmaking, looks excellent.

This is the kind of news that the internet is great for. Eric Ryback was the first person to through-hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 1970, at 18 years old. His book was an inspiration for my hike in 1996. I always wondered if he remained an avid hiker after that. This year the Onion attended the PCT kickoff party, and who showed up to give a presentation but Mr. Ryback himself! How cool. Thanks to the Onion for sharing!

Time for outdoor lovers to defend the federal roadless areas created in 2001 in state-by-state battles. Idaho first, then Colorado, then…

Take Action Here

The Encyclopedia of Life attempted to go live, and was immediately so popular it went down again. I hope it gets enough support to serve demand - I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Bruce at bioneural.net proposes a standard icon for geotags. I might have to start using it with my geo mashup wordpress plugin.

I’ve always wondered why anyone who could hike up a mountain would want to ride a train up it, but apparently I’m just bass ackwards. This study shows that people value the train ride more than the hike when asked to convert the experience to dollars. Somehow I doubt they limited the study to the opinions of people who had done both…

These maps have been public for a while from the Perry-Castañeda Library of the University of Texas at Austinj, but this Google-map index of them make finding the one you need much easier.

(Via Free Geography Tools)

It’s hard to see from Colorado what the proposed California state park closures would mean to visitors, so it’s nice to see some personal comments on the parks in an outdoor enthusiast’s blog.

You can get free blank maps for lots of places around the world, unhindered by copyright.

(Via The Map Room)

I’ve kept my eye out for a good hot springs map for a while. Free Geography Tools found it for me! Draw a box to zoom in, select the information tool, and click on red dots for info on hot springs. Orange dots are warm. Yeehaw!

A bookmark for me: I must read about Buck Nelson’s solo traverse of the Alaskan Brooks Range. Thanks to besthike.com.

Gruevy & Donna’s last CDT journal entry is an excellent trail tale. They hiked nearly the entire trail with an unanswered marriage proposal, and a concealed five-pound stone. Cheers to them.

My Dad was born further down the Salween in China in a Lisu village, and I’ve always wanted to visit the area. I had even dreamed of being the first to paddle it. These folks stayed in Tibet to keep it legal, but I’ll still want to read the whole trip report.

(Via Adventure Blog)

It’s not known how these birds are surviving, but seven have been captured in the past four years after 150 years of none at all.

My suspicion that many extinction headlines have been sensationalized is well founded, it appears. The sad part is that if most people pay no attention to the exaggerated headlines, the truth will likely have even less impact.

If I haven’t seen any bears this year in Colorado, it may be because they’ve been hanging out in people’s back yards. Fifty-nine have been killed in Colorado so far, up from the 2002 record of 55. Human encroachment is one of the factors that put bears at a higher risk of extinction than other species.

I’m no botanist, but it does seem like leaves are hanging onto trees longer than usual here in Colorado. I wouldn’t have paid much attention, but Carolyn at Roundtop Ruminations is flipping out about the clinging leaves in Pennsylvania. What does it mean?

There a lots of through-hiker journals on the internet, but I don’t see too many posts about the difficulties of starting life in the mainstream world again after a long hike. Garret the Onion has a good post on his general status after his CDT Yo-Yo.

Update:Another one I’ve been looking for, Jason of x360 briefly describes being back in society after his 13-year expedition.

The article doesn’t say it, but I think the vague threat of mass extinctions is increasing the number of species we know about as it spurs on research. It’s an odd contrast - it makes it look like biodiversity is increasing, but that has to happen before we can know for sure that it is decreasing.

Update: It seems the folks at the Extinction Blog were having similar thoughts.

I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, especially White Crow, but journeys aren’t governed by wishes. Ouch, ouch, ouch. Get well soon, Crow.