by KENTO » May 19, 2013 8:14 pm
Stan , I am needing to emphasize , here a little further, why I bothered to mention the Helicopters in GTNP. I may have sounded a bit like a cyberflamer, mebbe, the post was between after some night shift work and perhaps I was low on sleep.
1. Ed Abbey was not a Caver and I appreciate everything he wrote about Wilderness values. Having said that, ...just how much of the criteria for evaluating impacts to the Wilderness experience in Slot Canyons with petroglyphs , Climbers carrying Boom boxes and large hammer drills for bolting sport routes on El Cap in Yosemite can be transferred to the evaluation of Wilderness ethics for us Cavers in our underground Wildernesses? I have been to Boulder Falls and elsewheres in Lech also back in the days before L.E.A.R.N. I witnessed a lead climb done very delicately and in good clean style with some good and not so bomber intermediate anchors placed. While waiting below, our exploration party witnessed a faint humming sound up above I am going to attribute to the sound of our lead climber attending to some hygiene issues with his lightweight electric razor. Everything was packed away by the time I got up there and he was looking relaxed and well kempt. This was during that phase of time when the NPS was beginning to roll out the rules for Electric drills and fixed anchors in the above ground Alpine Wildernesses caused pretty much by all the Activity up on the Yosemite Big Walls and a few other areas. Contrary to what is mentioned above the early mandate and guide in Lech was not firmly anti hammer drill or clearly understood as such. Carbide lamps were outlawed for exploration a few years after the breakthrough in 1986 because of Native Sulfur presenting a risk for a fire that could never be put out.
Should we outlaw the use of Carbide lamps above ground in our Wilderness areas because they are a light source that is a confirmed potential source of chemical pollution and they might start a fire? Gene Espy carried a Guys Dropper from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail during the second ever " End to Ender" or " Thruhike " as they say. Nowadays I use LED's above and below ground of course , I hammock hang and practice LNT. Bury my poop , pee on flat rocks away from Water sources. Does anyone know why I mention that? Why that is a recommendable practice around areas where campers congregate in Wilderness areas above ground? Please ask me.
And yes , I would still advocate for reasons of efficiency and human safety , that limited well thought out use of power drills might be worthy of consideration in designated underground Wilderness areas, some times.