Interview with Pete

[yvon]

For those who can read french, here is a link to an interview of Pete in a french magazine on the Adirondack. And this interview was done by Meo.
I am sorry for the others who dont understand french.

http://www.espaces.qc.ca/espaces/html/rencontres/rencontres35.shtml

 

[dvbl]

Green square to the first person who translates it into English.
Merci beaucoup.

Old joke:
What do you call someone who knows three languages? -- Trilingual
What do you call someone who knows two languages? -- Bilingual
What do you call someone who knows one language? -- American

 

[yvon]

It is not perfect but, translation with Google tool.
http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.espaces.qc.ca%2Fespaces%2Fhtml%2Frencontres%2Frencontres35.shtml&langpair=fr%7Cen&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=%2Flanguage_tools

 

[dvbl]

Wow, that was fast. Thank you.

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

Green square to the first person who translates it into English.
Merci beaucoup.

Done

Ok, so Google isn't such a great translator.

Edit again...darn I'm slow.

 

[prino]

Green square to the first person who translates it into English.
Merci beaucoup.

Old joke:
What do you call someone who knows three languages? -- Trilingual
What do you call someone who knows two languages? -- Bilingual
What do you call someone who knows one language? -- American

What do you call someone who knows one language but can't speak any ----Englishman

GREEN SQUARE(S)please CARRE VERTE sil vous plait!

OK I don't think I got the lot but it's pretty close....

24.000 square kilometres of surface, 3.200 kilometers of paths, famous tops such Marcy or Algonquin and hundreds of campsites, small and large… For 10 visitors million each year, the park of Adirondacks is an immense play-ground. But it is also a place on the ground and the vegetation very fragile. Is there risks ecological skid? Interview with Pete Hickey, one of the enthusiastic actors of his protection.
Person in charge for the maintenance of the paths within the organization of the 46ers1 and in love with nature, Pete Hickey is before a whole being which preaches for the example. This Gatinois of New Yorkean origin does not make only enfourcher its bicycle 12 months per year to go to the job; it often uses it to make, outward journey and return, the Gatineau-Adirondacks way, question of climbing a top by the only force of its legs. It is also voluntary keen which devoted 1000 hours to the maintenance of the paths until today. It presents here the challenge to us which the safeguarding of nature in this park of the state of very attended and mediatized New York poses.
Which threat planes on Adirondacks?
That to lose the little that it remains us as natural zone in the American North-East if one does not arrive at well managing his exploitation. Often, people do not have idea of the impact which they have on nature. For example, the Department of the Conservation of environment (DEC of the State of New York) request to people to avoid the tops of more than 3000 feet in spring, during what is called the “mud season” [note: literally “season of mud”, who stretches himself between the April beginning and the festival of the Patriots]. As opposed to what one believes, mud, that one finds especially in low altitude, do not constitute the true problem. That is arranged with maintenance work. On the other hand, in high altitude, the frequent episodes of freezing/thaw form tiny crystals of ice which make take expansion on the ground and make it still more porous.

 

[prino]

Done

Ok, so Google isn't such a great translator.

I guess I'll have to settle for a RED one!

 

[NH_Mtn_Hiker]

I guess I'll have to settle for a RED one!

Actually it was my translation that came out bad...yours was just fine.

 

[nartreb]

We can do better. I'll take the introductory paragraph, there are plenty of others here who can do more pieces:

24,000 square kilometers in area, 3,200 kilometers of trails, famous summits such as Marcy or Algonquin, and hundreds of camping areas large and small... For 10 million visitors each year, the park of the Adirondacks is an immense playground. But it's also a place whose soil and vegetation are very fragile. Is there a risk of an ecological wipeout*? An interview with Pete Hickey, one of its fervent protectors.

In charge of tail maintenance for the "46ers" organization, and lover of nature, Pete Hickey is above all one who preaches by example. This Gatinois - originally from New York - doesn't just hop on his bicycle twelve months a year to get himself to work; he often uses it to undertake, round trip, the journey from Gatineau to the Adirondacks, for the sake of climbing a mountain using only the strength of his legs. He's also a dogged do-gooder who has devoted 1000 hours to the maintenance of trails up to today. Here he presents us with the challenges posed by the preservation of nature in this crowded and highly publicised park of the state of New York.


*(literally "skid" or "slide", "wipeout" is probably a bit too strong but I didn't think the other choices sounded right in English)

 

[Meo]

I just saw this thread. Good job Nartreb, translations get better with each post

"dérapage écologique" means that ecologically, the situation could become out of control. I tried to find the right word in my english-french dictionnary, without success.

 

[Meo]

Oh, and by the way, in the paper version of this article, we can see the famous picture of Pete half naked with an axe in his hands

 

[Double Bow]

Oh, and by the way, in the paper version of this article, we can see the famous picture of Pete half naked with an axe in his hands

Is that half as disturbing a sight in French as it is in English?

 

[sardog1]

Imperfect translation be damned. Here's a quote that will stick with me forever. I've taken the liberty of fixing the translated pronouns and preposition. I'm leaving the rest alone:

Suddenly, I understood that I had just reflected as an adult. It is not the absence of sight which saddened him: he cried because he had just realized that he could not take a piece of cloud, to bring back it to the house and to show (share?) it to (with) his friends. The beauty of nature is often where one expects it less, from where importance to preserve it in its integrity!

Pete gets it. His kid gets it. And the latter circumstance is inextricably entwined with the former, and we are all indebted to fathers like him.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

"dérapage écologique" means that ecologically, the situation could become out of control. I tried to find the right word in my english-french dictionnary, without success.

Dérapege translates into skidding. It is phrases like "dérapage écologique" that make french such a wonderful language.

Unfortuantely many years (decades) spent in a monolingual society have made my french vocabulary vestigial at best. Sad ...

 

[SherpaKroto]

Oh, and by the way, in the paper version of this article, we can see the famous picture of Pete half naked with an axe in his hands

A greenie for the interview, a red square for the imagery I still have sleepness nights remembering Pete standing bare feet and chest in the frozen parking area on the Glencliff trail at Moosilauke! He is truly one in a billion: we wouldn't have it any other way

Unfortuantely many years (decades) spent in a monolingual society have made my french vocabulary vestigial at best. Sad ...

You and me both

 

[Neil]

Excellent points.

But it wasn't an article about trail clearing. It was an article about Pete.

Anyway, the newspaper would probably only allow so many words.

Go Pete!

Now Mario has material for another article.

Go Mario!

 

[Meo]

The subject of the article is Pete Hickey. Not the 46ers.

That's the guideline (l'angle, in french) which was given to me by my editor. She's the one who would tell me "you should write this, you should write that, and you have that amount of space", not Blackspruce.

 

[Meo]

Sorry Neil, I was typing my answer while you posted yours

 

[Neil]

Three or four years of hiking in the Adirondacks have made me aware of the colossal job that is required to keep the trails free of blowdown, to provide for and maintain adequate drainage, hardening etc. and probably a lot more that I'm not even aware of. These short years have also made me aware of what a "force de la nature", all around good guy, hilarious lyricist and great brewer Mr. P. Hickey is. That article was a well-deserved spotlight on him.

A good idea would be to contact the paper and suggest having Meo do an article on all the trail-work that gets done but still needs doing. It might just expose a few Montrealers to mtns. other than Marcy and Algonquin.

 

[michael]

... what a "force de la nature", all around good guy, hilarious lyricist and great brewer Mr. P. Hickey is.

I recall a Mahoosuc's trip about 3 or 4 years ago where I first met Mr Pete Hickey. It was during a night of torrential rains and wicked windy weather. We were hold up in the Gentian Pond shelter and through the din we heard two voices approaching. It was not early, though there were two thru-hikers already sacked out for the night we three were still up and actively feeding and socializing. In came the two wet but not so weary travelers. It was none other than Nadine and a Mr Pete Hickey. I was excited first of all to have finally met a bonafide vftt member in Ms Nadine and Pete was the icing on the cake. And to our amazement Pete produced a growler or two of his homebrew and then proceeded to through down this amazing dinner before our eyes (and noses!) of fresh tomatos, basil and mozzarella, I mean it was the BOMB! I dunno, things got kind of exciting and me and my group stared rapturously at this feast and the wonderful aromas permeated the lean-to.
But I knew right then that this guy was a character and possesed that joie de vive that I could relate to.