Northwest:
–If you’re a user of the Mountain Loop Highway (Vesper Peak, Pilchuck, Big Four) in the Cascades, please take this survey. It will help dictate where trail building resources are focused.
Sierra:
–There have been two rattlesnake incidents in the last couple weeks in Yosemite. One snake bit a barefoot fisherman on the Tuolumne River. And the other bit a hiker on a steep slope. Both victims were in the hospital for several days. To read more, click here.
–Climbing is reporting that, “unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions on social gatherings and the wildfires currently burning in California, the 2020 Yosemite Facelift has been called off. However, in lieu of the Yosemite Facelift, the YCA is holding a Facelift: Act Local event from September 22-27, encouraging climbers to clean up their local crags and outdoor spaces.” The Facelift is an annual Yosemite clean-up event. To read more, click here.
–And the most famous couple in American climbing just got married at Lake Tahoe. You probably already know who they are, but if you don’t, check it out… Side note: This is the first post ever here from Brides Magazine.
Desert Southwest:
–KOLD News reported that, “following an investigation by Special Agents of the National Park Service and U.S. Park Rangers, a Flagstaff man pled guilty to misdemeanor violations for starting a wildland fire within Grand Canyon National Park. Thomas Grabarek, 71, pled guilty on Sept. 8, 2020 to misdemeanor violations for starting the Cottonwood Creek Fire which spread approximately 64 acres in the Inner Canyon along the Tonto Trail near Horseshoe Mesa.” To read more, click here.
–Unofficial Networks is reporting that, “two trails at Taos Ski Valley’s Kachina Bowl will honor Matthew Zonghetti and Corey Borg-Massanari, both of whom died tragically in an avalanche in 2019. The trails will be known as Z-chute and She Gone. The Zonghetti and Borg-Massanari families selected the names.” To read more, click here.
—This is a sad piece from the National Parks Conservation Association about a fire that destroyed thousands of joshua trees in the Mojave National Preserve. The piece starts with the lines, “I lost the center of my world last week. I’m feeling a kind of vertigo of the soul.” With the changing of the climate, it’s unlikely those trees are coming back.
–It looks like we might start to have to make reservations to climb in Red Rock Canyon, near Las Vegas…
Colorado and Utah:
–Sophia Tang recently became the first woman to complete the 485-mile Colorado Trail from Denver to Durango, unsupported. In other words, she carried all her food for 21-days in one go. To read more, click here.
