Destinations, Environmental Protection, Interview, National Parks, PBS, Podcast, Television, Yosemite / 19.04.2011
A walk in the park with John Muir
01 Lee Stetson 1
Yosemite Valley California, president day: I’m walking with my recorder along a wooded path with a long bearded man wearing period clothing circa 1890, a tweed coat, a wool vest with a red pocket square and wide brimmed hat. Ahead of us is Yosemite Falls, a massive flowage of water running white and fast, churning with melted snow from the high country upstream. The man describes a fanciful vision of what we see.
"Can you imagine? Can you imagine if in the midst of its headlong descent with all this whirling fairy springtime spray and those rushing comet tails that the fall was suddenly frozen solid and then carried bodily out into the middle of the valley that we might go around it and see it from all sides in the sunshine,” he says. “Oh was a show it would make. This colossal white pillar half a mile tall adorned with airy flowing drapery as if chiseled out of white marble.”
Who better with whom to tour one of America’s greatest National Parks than the man himself John Muir. As if transported back in time I had the rare opportunity to get his impressions on Yosemite today.
Yosemite Valley California, president day: I’m walking with my recorder along a wooded path with a long bearded man wearing period clothing circa 1890, a tweed coat, a wool vest with a red pocket square and wide brimmed hat. Ahead of us is Yosemite Falls, a massive flowage of water running white and fast, churning with melted snow from the high country upstream. The man describes a fanciful vision of what we see.
"Can you imagine? Can you imagine if in the midst of its headlong descent with all this whirling fairy springtime spray and those rushing comet tails that the fall was suddenly frozen solid and then carried bodily out into the middle of the valley that we might go around it and see it from all sides in the sunshine,” he says. “Oh was a show it would make. This colossal white pillar half a mile tall adorned with airy flowing drapery as if chiseled out of white marble.”
Who better with whom to tour one of America’s greatest National Parks than the man himself John Muir. As if transported back in time I had the rare opportunity to get his impressions on Yosemite today.
The idea of wilderness conservation would seem to be a foregone conclusion. But at the turn of the last century private interests of corporate greed may well have developed the wild and scenic places we enjoy today well out of existence. Prized then for their vast resources of timber, fresh water and minerals these lands are valued now more for their intrinsic beauty and awe-inspiring tranquility. Had it not been for the passionate and articulate voice of a Scottish-American from Wisconsin our system of National Parks and Conservation Areas may have never been established.
Now that spring is in the air it’s time to start thinking about that next great road trip. In the coming weeks I’ll pack up the Jetta and head out on a tour of the adventure media and film festivals. Looking for stories that celebrate the active lifestyle and environmental conservation I’ll be reporting from the 
If you’re a fan of protein you’ll love this new project from folks the 
It’s really cool to see the cycle come full circle. We just cracked open the last jar of pickles from the fall canning. And today we planted our first row of spring vegetables. After a long cold winter we still have a little pesto left in the freezer and soon we’ll have fresh salad greens to enjoy through the summer. There’s a lot of satisfaction in knowing where your food comes from. And as the seasons change the same appetites for outdoor recreation compels us to spade the ground with the fervor of paddling a kayak or an SUP board or peddling our bikes.
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