Great discussion! My relationship with PO over the years has been long and intimate. I contracted a severe case once, while crawling through brush up Willow Creek. I had only been in Big Sur for a short time, and didn't know what I was doing. I was hiking back into the canyon to retrieve a dog and t...

...looks amazingly like the Basin Fire aftermath! Moonscape!

http://www.inciweb.org/incident/pictures/1640

I can understand not understanding the fear of the outdoors that has been discussed on this thread: most people here have wilderness experience, and a healthy understanding of the outdoors and a reasonable respect for it. However, there are millions of people who really never experience the true out...

"Can you think of, --- 1---, movie or television program where people went hiking, backpacking, or any wilderness activity where they didn't: die, get lost, get eaten, chased, fall, or some kind of "unpleasant" event happen?" There is a new "adventure reality" program, ...

"Don't denigrate RV campers, though. Just because they're not in the backpacking elite doesn't mean they don't treasure their wilderness experience. I was at an RV campsite in a desert reserve that must remain nameless, and the other RVs in the area really understood what they were there for. I...

Paul...you hit on a personal nerve with this topic. I believe that this very issue is the CORE issue of what is 'wrong' with our society: dis-association from Nature. I would venture to guess that electronics (video games, more available fancy TVs/movies, handheld whatevers) contribute a great deal ...

http://www.ksco.com/dspNR.cfm?nrid=14827 "CHALK FIRE" BURNING IN SOUTH MONTEREY COUNTY - S.S. Monday, September 29, 2008 3:01 AM --- ABOUT 700 FIREFIGHTERS ARE WORKING TO CONTAIN A WILD FIRE, THAT IS BURNING IN THE LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST. THE CHALK FIRE, WHICH HAS CHARRED AT LEAST 800 ...

Chalk Fire spreads to nearly 1,000 acres

http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 29021/1002

Chalk fire prompts evacuations

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sectio ... id=6421371