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Wilderness Experienced

Denali Wilderness by Howie Wolke

Among the grizzlies in the Denali Wilderness

A light-colored sow grizzly and her two darker cubs of the year watch us from across the gravel bar as we wade the calf-deep creek. We are too close for comfort, but we’re at a narrow bottleneck of the valley bottom. The only alternative would be to detour away from the bears by climbing the steep, brushy slope flanking us, then side-hilling through the knee-high jungle of willow and dwarf birch, and then descending back to the braided stream bottom well beyond the bears.

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Olympic Wilderness, Washington

Jets and a busier but still wonderful Wilderness

For the most part my long-term commitment to Wilderness Watch has been philosophical—I want to be sure that the Wilderness is there, for all of us, and that the government (in all forms) is following the rules that are laid out to protect that resource. I’m very proud to be a part of our ongoing collective effort.

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Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness by Brett Haverstick

An early July trek into the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness

The last time I attempted to hike through the saddle, it snowed heavily, and I was forced to retreat back to the lake and build a fire to warm up. That was September though, and this was July. Rain was in the forecast this go-round, but I was determined to make it over the saddle, and find the other lake nestled in the crags that I’d been staring at on a map for years.

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Michael Edwards

Sharp-edged oasis

Perched uncharacteristically silent atop a twisted juniper, a Townsend’s solitaire scans the snow-encrusted sagebrush sea for rivals. At the base of the solitaire’s tree, juncos glean seeds from the barren ground. High above the cinder cones where brilliant cotton candy blue sets an edge against pinkish gray storm clouds, a pair of rough-legged hawks soar an invisible Venn diagram into the cold desert sky. Grown fat on ground squirrels plucked from the nearby hay fields, the hawks near their Arctic departure date.

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Ellie and Steven Gary

Wilderness perspectives, old and new

“Let it burn,” I said, referring to wildfire in the Wilderness. I almost reacted to Bob’s (unsure of his real name) retort. “NO!” he snapped and walked on up the trail. My wife, Ellie, and I were on our fifth day in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness when we had run into “Bob” and his wife on the trail, our first people to see in five days.

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The desert is a lot like beer

By Jack Smith “The desert is a lot like beer; it’s an acquired taste.” That’s what a friend of mine told me some years ago. I think he may have been onto something. However, these northern cold desert areas of Wyoming are neither a smooth lager nor an easy-drinking American pilsner. Rather, I seem to…

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Postcard to the Superstition Wilderness

By Jeri Lewis Edwards How could you have known we wouldbecome utterly, inexplicably lostwithout that misplaced map? And that razor cut trail cloaked in dust,talus, edged felsite, gneissic-banded rubble.We witnessed those tumbled stones—they weren’t cairns from your past,no markers to guide us. We couldn’t help but notice your narrow gameswaths, up boulder jutted cliffs—too exposed.We…

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The valley they call fire

By Frank Keim Thinking back…deepinto the heart of these arctic mountainsknown today as the Brooks Range,I rememberthe long windy solitude of the valley,where gray river cobbles collidewith a braided maze of ancient caribou trails,and pink fireweed blossoms brushthe wide antlers of a bull moosebrowsing nonchalantlybelowme,as I clamber up to the tip of the tailof the…

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Big Tom and other Wilderness cougars over the years

By Jim Peek I’ve seen quite a few cougars over the years, but the biggest one was in the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in Idaho.  My way to cool off from the spring semester at the University of Idaho was to borrow Maurice Hornocker’s two pack mules, saddle my horse, and have the agriculture school’s stock truckers…

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