Ed Abbey: 25 years gone

And yet he's somehow still around, eh?

25 years ago today, Ed Abbey moved on to the next great wilderness awaiting us all ... meaning, he died. But he sure had fun when he was here -- as shown in this 10-minute "video essay" he did for a national TV news show that aired in 1986, in which he revisits the places in Arches NP made famous in Desert Solitaire. Pretty funny -- and fun. Of course! As Abbey would say: Carry on, comrades!

Edward Abbey revisits Arches National Park in 1985 [Vimeo link]

Then, have a beer and sing along with Tom Russell's "Ballad of Edward Abbey."

A brief history of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers

It was a cocktail-fuel conversation lamenting that "few hunters' groups show any interest whatsoever
conserving the wildlife resource that is the pie they covet" that birthed a group that filled that gaping hole in the country's sportsmen's group options, writes David Petersen -- the Elk Hunting Bard of the San Juans --  today in the Huffington Post.

That conversation eventually led to the creation of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, a member-based, volunteer-run, Aldo Leopold-style conservation group comprised of hunters and fishermen (of both genders) who also love the land and rivers that make their wild country pursuits posisble. David Petersen is today vice-chair of the BCHA Colorado Chapter.

This is a great group doing much needed work on the proverbial shoestring budget most groups doing Good Work must endure. Read Petersen's lively nutshell history and overview of the group at the Huffington Post Blog.

Ice Age artists of the San Juan River

Okay, this is crazy stuff: 13,000-year-old (at least) pictographs of woolly mammoths found near Bluff, Utah, along the San Juan River. That is just ... so ... damn ... cool.

You can listen to and read the story from Arizona Public Radio here.

Not much has changed ...

A little internet gem: A mini-documentary from 1958, "Magic Rails to Yesterday," which includes a 8-or-so-minute look at the ride from Durango to Silverton on the DSNGRR, starting at 07:30.