Moosilauke-Sarah's 48th-Ravine Lodge?

[Jasonst]

Try Colorado soon, preferably the southwest (San Juans) It will definitley expand your view of our hills! (no offense intended to anyone)

SJ - Also, I am an innocent bystander having not participated in any of these hikes, but it seems that the major concern from most is "impact" or the trampelling of flowers, plants etc. You must admit that this can be less of an issue in the winter. The only other issue I can see is "aloneness" and I can't think of a good excuse for depriving others of that, list or no list. Let it go...

 

[Sherpa John]

::lets go:: .'.'.'.'.'.'. ::walks away::

 

[chomp]

Sorry if this re-ignites discussion but again.. I felt these points very alid to the conversation and thought they should be said in anonymity. Also.. I appologize to seema for using the memory of her ascent in this way.

Thanks for the extra dose of double talk, John. You are not sorry to re-ignite this discussion, but rather its exactly what you want. If you didn't want to keep this conversation going, you would have let this thread died out after it reached a very ammicable conclusion. But you have to prove yourself right no matter what, and you want to hammer your point in and hope that people stop responding. Well, I'll bite, mostly because I still think you are wrong.

First off, posting personal emails in a public forum is a major faux-pas. Those emails were sent to you in confidance, off-thread, for a reason. I realize that you did not share the names of those people, but if they wanted their comments to you made public, they could have done it. Poor form, IMO.

Second, the comparisons of Sarah's hike to Seema's hike are apples and oranges. Seema never set out to set a "record", you did. This was the source of misunderstanding. Seema invited anyone that wanted to join her, and ended up with 32(?). You stated from the outset that you wanted to break that number instead of taking a similar path. This reason, and ONLY this reason, is what caused this discussion - it has nothing to do with a YOU vs. Seema issue that you seem intent on pursuing.

In fact, you have since retracted your intention to set a "record" on the summit. Immediatly after that, everyone dropped their objections. A few people (myself included) even said that we might join you guys on your hike. So why bring this back up again? This issue was resolved, at least I thought it was. Instead, you are implying that people like Seema and look the other way at her hikes, while people don't like you and are more critical of your endevors. This is not true.

Finally, as for welcoming SherpaK to the "stick up for SJ" crowd - maybe you should re-examine your posts and wonder why exactly it is that you need such a crowd.

In closing, I don't want this to be taken as an anti-SherpaJohn post. I was at the first showing of '48', I think that what you are trying to do is admirable, and I think that Sarah's accomplishment deserves more than this type of post. However, I think that your interpretation of people's opinions on this thread is not correct.

 

[Dr. Dasypodidae]

I agree with Jason about the need to make the distinction between summer time and winter time human impact on vegetation. My plant ecology colleagues (many with PhDs) tell me that even during our recent winters when alpine vegetation has been exposed more than usual, tundra plants are much hardier than they are in summer; I believe the word to describe vegetative shut down in the winter is dormancy. Ditto with trees wihen you talk to arborists.

I am more concerned about alpine and subalpine plants over the next couple of months of mud season, as folks try to avoide the mud in the middle of trails. Of course, staying in the middle of trails also leads to erosion, so the best we can do is attempt to tread lightly (i.e., abandon the heavy, sharp-edged, plastic climbing boots in favor of something softer).

My guess is that by mid-June, the trails and summit area will be pretty much dried out on Moosilauke, and that the alpine stewards from the DOC and USFS will be patrolling the top on weekends to ensure that hikers stay on the rock and off the vegetation.

As for crowds in the mountains, I tend to avoid them, although joining about 45 others to accompany Brutus and Kevin for their last of the NH48 in one winter on Cannon was a hoot this past early March.