By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In response to this week’s unnecessary contentions on a personal and national scale I thought I would offer to the reader a bit of a respite and distraction. Here follow a few pictures of a journey I made to the coast, featuring the woods, lighthouses and a sunset.
Feel free to click on each image for a larger version. Enjoy…
Continue reading “A Few Pictures Of The Coast”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We went for a short drive and found a few images worth sharing. People should take more time to experience nature, and less time fighting about the employment status of elected officials.
Click each to enlarge
Continue reading “A Few Pictures of the Coast”
Yesterday hiking in Nevada and California took me from the sweet to the bittersweet. The Sagehen trail can only be described as a “sweet” trail. Trails have personalities. Some played with you and make you earn the summit. Some are just sweetheart, girl-next-door trails. That is the Sagehen trail. A lovely 5 miles there-and-back to a lake with added side trails available. I then did the Donner Summit and Mount Judas trails. That one is not sweet but gorgeous. Think of Mary Ann and Ginger. It was a great combination on a spectacular day.
Continue reading “Sweet to Bittersweet: Hiking Sagehen And Donner Summit Trails”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
My wife and I went for a drive and happened along an abandoned nuclear power plant along the side of the road. As this was a bit out of the ordinary, I took a few pictures.
Continue reading “From Atoms to Mothballs: Photos of an Abandoned Nuke Plant”
I am in California to speak among the judges and attorneys of the Eastern District in Lake Tahoe on Sunday. As many on this blog know, I am an avid hiker and often take the opportunity of these trips to explore the local trails and forests. Yesterday, I hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail and then the Mt. Rose Trail. These trails take you along the Nevada and California border. The latter is quite difficult as you work your way up the summit of the highest point in the area. At roughly 9000 feet, it is the highest peak of the greater Sierra Nevada range. It is a gorgeous though strenuous hike.
Continue reading “The Beauty of Mount Rose”
Good news for kids around the world! Researchers at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands have determined that it is possible to grow food on Mars except for spinach. Of course, Matt Damon was the first to demonstrate this finding. Unfortunately, the selection thus far is not what many of us would prefer: garden cress, rocket, tomato, radish, rye, quinoa, chives, peas and leek. Only spinach failed to grow.
Continue reading “Report: No Spinach On Mars”
I started Sunday with a dawn hike at Billygoat trail. I then went on a hike with visiting family (and our dog Luna) to Scott’s Run. It was a gorgeous fall day with temperatures hovering in the 50s. Scott’s Run is shorter, but you can walk to the waterfall and then along the river. It tends to be quite busy, but it remains a favorite for dog owners.
Continue reading “Sunday Hikes: From Billygoat to Scott’s Run”
Elephants are remarkably intelligent and communal animals. They often exhibit the same attachments as humans to members of their herd. That attachment led to tragedy this week when most of a herd died in Thailand while trying to rescue a calf at a waterfall. This terrible loss should educate people about these animals and the savagery of hunting them. I have repeatedly denounced killing giant elephants and other forms of trophy hunting. From the killing of Voortrekker (“Pioneer”) to countless other elephants, these magnificent animals are being killed for the vanity and thrill kill of wealthy hunters.
Continue reading “Hell’s Abyss: Five Adult Elephants Die In Effort To Save Calf”
By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
We as a rather insular species often forget that nature tends to get along well when left to its own devices, while a human construct such as bureaucracy tends to languish and fail when permitted equal liberty. I found credible proofs to both when traveling on business recently–a former Forest Service campground, abandoned apparently due to red tape and yet showing quite clearly that nature still moves on. And it does so vibrantly.
Continue reading “Nature’s Reclamation Project: A Closed Campground With Fall Colors”
The problem with blood hoses is that they are inclined to human-error hemorrhaging. Protesters in London planned to use an old fire engine to spray the Treasury building with fake blood but it did not exactly work out . . . .
Continue reading “Protesting In Vein: Blood Hose Hemorrhages On Climate Demonstrators”
As many of you know, I am no fan of such trophy hunts. I often hike in remote spots to see bears and other animals in their natural habitat. We have previously followed the controversy over the shooting of “Cecil the Lion” by an American dentist Walter Palmer from Minnesota as well as subsequent controversies of an Idaho hunter taunting animal advocates and killing giant elephants or giraffes or famed wolves or mountain goats or hundreds of hippos for trophies. We also discussed the shooting of an iconic elephant as well as disgusting videotape has emerged of a trophy hunter shooting a sleeping lion. The latest outrage is over new pictures of English hunters posing with dead zebras. Shooting a zebra is about as challenging with a long-range rifle as shooting a neighborhood dog.
Continue reading “English Hunters Post Pictures Celebrating Dead Trophy Zebras”
I took my customary dawn hike on the Billy Goat trail this morning and the trees are just showing the start of fall. With it comes my favorite season in Virginia. Soon I will return to Old Rage and other favorite sites to enjoy the changing foliage. Here are a few pictures from this morning for the vicarious hikers.
Continue reading “Dawn On The Billy Goat”
Some of us go to great lengths to see Grizzly bears in the wild. Devin Mitsuing, 35, appears to look for bears for a more hands on interaction with the bears. Mitsuing was found guilty in trying to box with a grizzly bear after stripping off his shirt and charging at it.
Continue reading “Canadian Man Convicted For Trying To Box With Grizzly Bear”
We have previously discussed cruel abuse of wild animals by people who then post their twisted achievements on the Internet. One such idiot is Robert Lee “Bo” Benac III who recorded the dragging of a shark to its death behind a high-speed boat. Benac was given a generous a plea deal and sentenced to only 10 days in jail. He is the third person to face charges for the disgusting videotape shoot near Egmont Key, Florida. Benac pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and violation of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rules. This is what you get for an open and brutal case of torturing a wild animal to its death.
Continue reading “Florida Man Who Dragged A Shark To Its Death Given 10 Days In Jail”
I previously warned the nation of the invasion of airborne Canadian wolves. Now, it appears that our Northern neighbor is switching back to the land attack with news of an invasion of feral pigs. They can be distinguished from our own feral pigs apparently because they are more polite and put mayo on everything.
Continue reading “Canadian Invasion! Polite But Feral Pigs Moving Toward The Northern Border”