Gary Snyder at home near Nevada City, USA. Photograph: Dan Chung. I must turn and go back
caught on a snowpeak
between heaven and earth
And stand in lines in Seattle.
Looking for work.

A brief summing-up by Rob Woodard, Guardian Unlimited Blog.

1. Times Square: 35 million/year; 2. Vegas Strip: 31 million/year. NYT PHOTO.Not the National Parks, apparently. Lake Mead beats the Grand Canyon by 3 million visitors annually. And Disney's Magic Kingdom beats the waterfalls of Yosemite by... wanna guess?

14 million credit-card wielding human beings per year.

America's Top 25 most-visited tourist destinations (forbestraveler.com)

Without the title, what's left for Methuselah and Co.? Photo by Burke Griggs

"The new contender for world's oldest 'tree,'" writes William Tweed from Three Rivers, "is a bush that is not as old as bushes here in California."

The full story, Visalia Times-Delta.

Reuters photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi

"If you want to see Yosemite as spring takes hold," says Tom Stienstra, "now is the time." As for Tioga: "Rangers hope that snowplow operations get Tioga Pass open by Memorial Day Weekend, but the better bet is early June."

From the SF Chronicle.

Playa, lee side Red Hill cinder cone, Owens Valley

February looked good, with 98% normal snowpack and the reservoirs nearly full. Then came March and April, together the driest since 1921.

"I have not seen a more serious water situation in my career, and I've been doing this 30 years," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California Water Agencies.

Uh-oh. What are we going to water our lawns with?

From the LA Times.

"Why is it so hard to admit you like the good 'ole US of A?" asks Ben Groundwater of the Sydney Morning Herald.

"To kids, unblemished by political views or the rants of others, it's not a country of hicks intent on world cultural domination - it's the home of Disneyland and Universal Studios, of Hollywood and Cape Canaveral, of snowfields and the International House of Pancakes..."

"As you grow up, however, the place becomes harder and harder to love."

There is all the scenic beauty stuff, yeah, yeah, Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and all that. But what about those damn Seppos?

"Borat made those college kids look pretty damn stupid when he hitched a lift with them in the movie," writes Groundwater [what a great moniker, BTW], "but have a think about what was actually happening. Here was a bunch of kids heading off on holidays, picking up what was, to their minds at least, a middle-aged Kazakhstani hitchhiker, sharing their precious stash of beer with him and trading stories."

"Find me any Australians who would do that."

Oh yeah, and it's cheap.

The full story.

What’s the process for writing a guidebook? Obviously, it involves a lot of research, but how much of that is done first-hand? In other words, how many of the restaurants have you eaten in, etc? And how much is done through other avenues of research?

The full interview.

Owens Valley and Sierra Nevada Escarpment from the Inyo Range

Based on studies of volcanic glass and ancient variations of rainfall, scientists have found that portions of the Sierra Nevada may have reached their present elevation 8 or 9 million years earlier than the commonly thought 3 or 4 million years before the present.

"For the first time, we were able to document that we can track the rain shadow on both sides of the mountain range over very long time scales," said Andreas Mulch, professor of tectonics and climate at the University of Hannover in Germany.

The Stanford Report.

The Tioga Entrance Station, still closed for the season. PHOTO BY BURKE GRIGGS.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 19 through April 27, 2008, as National Park Week. I invite all my fellow citizens to join me in celebrating America's national parks by visiting these wonderful spaces, discovering all they have to offer, and becoming active participants in park conservation.

(At no charge.)

Line Street. Bishop, CA. BURKE GRIGGS PHOTO.

In a poll of members of the Outdoor Writers Association of California last week, Bishop was named "No. 1 place to live for outdoor recreation" in California. "The variety and quality of nearby hiking, horseback trips, fishing, wildlife watching, backpacking and natural beauty," writes Tom Stienstra of the SF Chronicle, "rivals the best anywhere."

"Mammoth," he explains, "is like gazing off into the solar system; there seems to be no end to the stars."