The Chief wrote:I only wish that more would think and do (move to) as did the OPist.
** Like Galen, I too have visited and climbed in many different locations throughout the world. Only to return to my home here in the Range of Light that has no match for it's specialness in beauty, spirituality and diversity. None.
My move to the Pacific Northwest was because the State of California is broke, not because I chose to. I would wish that no one would have to leave their family and friends behind so that one man can plant a flag in his backyard and call the range his to enjoy alone.
If I had it my way, I would be back in Reno, next to the lovely Lake Tahoe and within eminent striking distance of the Eastside- even with its hordes of Bay Area desk jockeys (credit: WML), backwards laws and strange, self-entitled population (I would bag on the drivers, but Reno is no better).
I've scaled the walls of Yosemite, squelched inner demons in theTetons, fought grade creep in Joshua, pulled on alligator scales at Red Rock, dislodged rock missles in the Palisades, nearly sunk my car in the red mud of Indian Creek, sat and stared dismally at lofty peaks in the Andes, got lost in wintery tree-prison approaches to Cascade Volcanoes, climbed local favorites on the Front Range, hitchiked my way around the Western Slope to climb ice in Ouray, waded through ticks and poison ivy in NorCal, backpacked in the Sawtooth and dropped my favorite flask in the dark learning to climb at Donner.
The Cascades have given me the chance to spread my wings in ways that I couldn't within the Sierra- or anywhere else for that matter. For that reason, I posted the question- opinion based entirely. I came up here with a closed mind to what I would encounter and had my perception blasted away.
Maybe I'm not the only one with a closed mind out there who needs to check this stuff out...
copyright: Bell