Commentary « Dan's Outside

QuicksilverSpringFlowers03_March2003

Spring flowers at Almaden Quicksilver Country Park
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March 29, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on QuicksilverSpringFlowers03_March2003

QuicksilverSpringFlowers02_March2003

Spring flowers at Almaden Quicksilver Country Park
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March 29, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on QuicksilverSpringFlowers02_March2003

OriginalWesternMountaineeringStory

The original Western Mountaineering store
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March 29, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on OriginalWesternMountaineeringStory

2003.03.29

***Spring in coastal California

QuicksilverSpringFlowers01_March2003: Spring flowers at Almaden Quicksilver Country Park

Spring wildflowers at Almaden Quicksilver County Park. More on the Photos page.

***Western Mountaineering Santa Clara retail store is closing.
The store is having a final sale to clear out remaining merchandise and rentals so I dropped by briefly on Thursday – partially to look for deals but perhaps more to say goodbye to a store that has some history for me.

When I was a student at San Jose State University in the 1970s I heard that some folks were producing down sleeping bags in San Jose. One day I walked west through the downtown area on San Carlos to find the tiny Western Mountaineering shop in a seedy area of town. If memory serves, it included a small main room (festooned with a multi-colored down bag) and a smaller adjacent room for filling down bags. The owners (Jeff and Gary?) were excited and dedicated young guys – not a lot older than I was.

(Note the vintage outdoor clothing style – down vests!

Some time later they moved to a wonderful space in a working class area on the southern fringe of downtown San Jose, where they restored an old brick building for their new shop. The lower level housed their down gear “factory” and the upper floor featured all of the gear that fed the dreams of young backpackers, cross-country skiers, and climbers. Since the shop was walking distance from the college I went there frequently to lust after new equipment, attend evening presentations, and purchase much of my gear. (Pivetta boots, Snow Lion tent, the original Patagonia pile jacket…)

Later they moved to a more urban location in western San Jose, in the former Freeman’s store in the Town and Country Village shopping center – now the location of Santana Row. I think this was about the time that the retail operation was merged with Marmot. I visited a few times but it wasn’t the same, and I eventually began to patronize the local REI store.

Earlier this year I found out that they had a retail store in Santa Clara so I visited. While I like the great selection at REI, I miss the smaller shops where it seems like all of the employees are more than just college students looking for a part-time job, and the WM store seemed to provide this. I purchased a pair of Scarpa tele’ boots and eyed lots of other cool stuff – like I used to do at the downtown store when I was in college.

(Despite the retail store closure, I believe that Western Mountaineering’s excellent and innovative gear should continue to be available from other retailers. And, since the WM store was essentially a Marmot retail shop, South Bay shoppers can still make the trek to the wonderful Marmot shop in Berkeley.)
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March 29, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.29

2003.03.25

***Not sure if it is the last trip of winter or the first trip of summer
but I plan to ski out to Glacier Point weekend after next. We’ll drive up from the Bay Area on Friday and ski out part way. On Saturday we’ll finish the trip to Glacier Point and hopefully enjoy the Sierra crest panorama.
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March 25, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.25

2003.03.20

***Desolation Wilderness Area
– Desolation is a sudden expanse of glacially smoothed wonder west of Lake Tahoe. You’ll discover numerous streams and approximately 130 lakes, some reaching 900 acres in size. Snow often blocks the high passes until mid-July. Long recognized for its mountain splendor, Desolation Valley Primitive Area was established in 1931 and changed to Wilderness status in 1969. [Backpacker]

This was the location of the first pack trip I ever took – during the summer I turned 16. I went with a couple of my high school buddies, Bob Ganz and Don Naylor. We started at Wright’s Lake and crossed over Rockbound Pass, then did a loop past 4Q Lakes and back out.
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March 20, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.20

2003.03.18

***Senate Rejects Oil Drilling in Alaska Refuge
– “The Senate rejected the keystone of President Bush’s energy plan this afternoon, narrowly defeating a proposal to begin oil drilling in the Alaska wildlife refuge.”

“The vote, 52 to 48 against opening the refuge to drilling, was largely along party lines. The result had been expected, since Republican vote-counters had concluded on Monday that they did not have a majority. But the result was nevertheless a stinging defeat for Mr. Bush.” [New York Times]
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March 19, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.18

2003.03.15

***Save the Giant Sequoias
– March 17 is the deadline for comments on the Forest Service’s proposal to log Giant Sequoia National Monument. Tell them that logging mature, fire-resistant trees is unacceptable.

“Visitors to the monument may be surprised to see the George Bush giant sequoia, named for the elder Bush, who made a campaign stop there a decade ago while issuing a toothless proclamation to protect the giant sequoias. He was, of course, posturing for the camera and playing up his environmental image. But at least he felt like he had to make the gesture. His son seems to have forgone even that.”

This is another example of the Bush administration misleading claim that taking trees is necessary for wildfire protection. The article includes further links to take action on this outrage. [Sierra Club]

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March 15, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.15

2003.03.13

***Just for fun
I added a like (Equipage) to a backpacking equipment list that I put together for Talusdancers pack trips. (This is a group of friends who join for at least one long Sierra pack trip each summer.)

I also added a note to the end of the equipment list that talks about some of the strange equipment we used when I began backpacking in the late 1960s. I hope to expand this when I get the time – and add some old backpacking pictures.
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March 13, 2003 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on 2003.03.13