Klamath River Un-Dammed - 2002 Fish Kill Disaster... Trinity River Memories... NorCal & Oregon

The Klamath River Basin in California and Oregon has been obstructed by different dams for over 100 years. The first dam was constructed in 1908, and the last was erected in 1962. In 2002, a catastrophic fish kill resulted in over 70 thousand salmon deaths, and this kicked off the fight to restore the Klamath River Watershed to its original glory. 4 of 6 dams are slated to be removed over the next few years.

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/california-klamath-river-why-are-the-dams-being-removed/

Golden Bear at the Klamath River Bridge 

on Highway 101, Northern California...

I have a Personal Feeling about the Klamath River... My Brother in Law Came all the way from Maryland to Fly Fish that River... It's a Classic Trip involving Hiring a Local Guide, Renting a Room and Eating at Restaurants... 

However, in 2002, George (American Idiot) Bush the Son DIVERTED the Water to Potato Farmers in Oregon. More Water, More Potatoes, More Profit... What He Didn't Realize was that the Lack of water would KILL the Salmon... How would he know? He's just a BOUGHT Politician and the Potato Farmers Bribed Him... 

anyway... The Oregon Tourist Business Lost a Fortune because... without FISH... NO Fishermen come to Visit... No Rooms Rented, No Guides Hired... and No Restaurants Selling Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner... The Bottom Line was that the Tourist Money LOST was MUCH GREATER than the Increased Profit from selling Potatoes... 

I learned that the Salmon have a Five Year Cycle... They get Born, Swim to the Ocean... spend Five years out there and Then Swim Back to the Same Place that they were born... So the Fish Kill of 2002 did NOT effect the 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006 Salmon Runs... but 2007 was a bad year to be a fish... and 2012... 2017... 

I have swum in the Trinity River... it flows into the Klamath... On a drive along Highway 299 coming home I got stuck in a construction zone traffic Jam... and it was over a Hundred Degrees... NO Air Conditioning in the Car... so as soon as we were free to proceed... I drove to the First Place to Jump in the River... and BLISS!

Jerry Garcia's Father Drowned in the Trinity... 

My Father, Uncle and Grandmother Camped by the Trinity When They Wanted to Save Money instead of  Paying Rent... and they ate Trout FISH that They Caught in the River...

When I was a Student at Humboldt State University we had a Guest Lecturer... Derrick Jensen... Who OFTEN Spoke of Un-Damming the Klamath. He is a co-author of Deep Green Resistance, and the author of Endgame, The Culture of Make Believe, A Language Older than Words, Bright Green Lies, and many other books.

He was named one of Utne Reader’s “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World” and won the Eric Hoffer Award in 2008.

All Species Parade in Arcata, CA

"Un Dam the Klamath Protest"

Headline: The world’s largest dam demolition has begun. Can the dammed Klamath River finally find salvation?

https://calmatters.org/environment/2023/08/klamath-river-dams-demolition/


I met a Lot of Yurok Tribe People when I worked in the Welfare Office in Eureka. 

They Fish the Klamath for Salmon but Do Not Catch ALL The Fish because the Hoopa People Upstream also need to Eat... Somehow they managed to Cooperate for Thousands of Years... WISDOM... 

Photos of the Yurok Loop Trail - Wetland near the Klamath River in Northern California - and Photos of the Golden Bear on the Klamath River Bridge on Highway 101

Formerly a Lumber Mill storage pond.

After they closed the lumber mill in the 1940's,
the park service let this pond return to nature.

Klamath River Bridge and Highway 101 in Northern California... YUROK Nation on the North Side of this Bridge... Cheaper Gas Since They Don't Pay State of California Taxes... They are NOT a part of the State of California... They are their own Country.

It seems to me that driving can be a meditation awareness tool. Today I was really focused on the sound of the engine, alignment of the wheels and gear changing. Before I left I checked the oil and added a quart. So I was listening for the valve chirping I heard last week. I also put air in all 4 tires so I was paying attention to the steering and if the van tended to drive to the right... or the left...
AND I was staying on the road, avoiding head on collisions with the logging trucks and watching for unexpected slowdowns. Three times there were One Lane Roads with a flagman and a lead car... Not only do I have to stop in time but all those people behind me had to also.

So, I believe that driving can be used as an Idea Factory.

I'm not alone in this belief. Robert Pirsig wrote
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_Maintenance about this.

and Bob Seger sang "your mind goes wandering when you're riding sixteen hours and there's nothing else to do" in the song "Turn the Page"...


Links to National Park Service Trail Guides for Northern California Coastal Trails...  http://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/hiking-trails-north.htm

http://www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/coastal-trail-sections.htm

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yurok+Loop+Trail/@41.594556,-124.0997769,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54d059faa3875011:0x350778962b0a9c06?hl=en

Bigfoot - The True Story - Son Speaks Out about the Patterson/Gimlin Film - Police Sketch Artist Interviews Witnesses and All the Drawings Looked the Same...

There was a large man who ran away from his job at the California Conservation Corps near Eureka, CA. He lived in the woods fishing the Trinity River and took a Hoopa Lady as a wife. Her father made up the story of Bigfoot to explain the abduction of his daughter. It's a better story than "the white man stole her". Real Man, Exaggerated story.

Famous Bigfoot Film by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin.

At the man's funeral, his son said that the movie was a fake. The other people who lived in Willow Creek objected strongly to his stating the truth in public. So he retracted his statement. There are many tourist business that depend on the Bigfoot Legend to bring customers to remote Humboldt County.

I read a book about Bigfoot where the author interviewed many Hoopa Indians. He brought a Police Sketch Artist along with him and the Indians described what Bigfoot looked like... ALL THE PICTURES LOOKED THE SAME... None of the People Interviewed Knew What their Neighbor's Sketches Looked Like... a Totally Honest Experiment... 
 https://harveypratt.com/bigfoot/

~~~~~~ (~);-} ~~~~~~~


Great Backpacking Trips in Northern California

Hetch Hetchy: A level path goes around the lake. A good place to camp about 5 miles in. We used it as a base camp for "free climbing" granite. Be careful of accidentally slipping into the river... I did upstream of Wapama Falls.

Link to Google Map:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hetch+Hetchy+Valley,+California+95321/@37.9429661,-119.765467,12z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80971f8a91c736fd:0x423983ee122b8b47

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wapama_Falls


Canoe Creek Trail - Avenue of the Giants - Humboldt County.
A hidden footbridge over the Eel River lets a person explore in a virtually human free zone. Walk from the Garden Club of America Grove to the river, walk upstream about a quarter of a mile and That's where the footbridge is...  The Roads and civilization are all on the other side of the river... I Don't Know if that Bridge is Still There... However, One Day I Was Feeling Stressed and When I Got to The Other Side of The EEL... I Felt Relaxed... 

Link to Google Map:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Garden+Club+of+America+Grove/@40.2932599,-123.898538,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x49a50404452ac4ab?hl=en


In 1972 we went backpacking in the Yolla Bolly Middle Eel Wilderness. Liz Dunbar, myself and two brothers. The brothers were hang gliders. I wonder what ever happened to them. We had a great time. The brothers taught us an acapella singing technique. One person would act as a conductor and whenever he pointed at you, you sang your short bit. A percussive scat singing... like "dink ka dink ka do wah", "badda badda shoop shoop" or "diddy wah diddy"... Then the conductor would sing an improvised melody.

Link to the map on Google:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Yolla+Bolly-Middle+Eel+Wilderness/@40.1630015,-124.3261205,8z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x54d4a7fe0bdc6501:0x2ead91827000bd48?hl=en

Another great place to backpack is Hobo Gulch in the Trinity Alps off #299. Joe Franck showed me where is was... Granite, Cold Crystal Clear Lakes... melted snow.... Above timber line we navigated using topo maps and just walked where there were no trails...

Link to the map on Google:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hobo+Gulch+Campground/@40.9289597,-123.1555172,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x54d23113a261e7af:0x942df68dd1f5e5d5?hl=en

Big Sur: Sykes Camp Hot Springs. 12 mile hike in at Pfeiffer State Park on the Pine Ridge Trail up the Big Sur River. Very Hot dry difficult hike. Take two days... Stay at Barlow Flats to rest... Ranger maintained and totally natural hot spring seats 4 comfortably. There is a Parking Lot at the Big Sur Trailhead... 

Link to the map on Google:
https://www.google.com/maps/search/big+sur+sykes+camp+hot+spring+pfeiffer/@36.2448162,-121.7780059,16z?hl=en

Great Documentary Movie "Tending the Wild" - Yurok Wisdom - Forest Management - Kalamath River - Salmon - Acorns- Massive Fish Kill by George Bush the Son

https://www.kcet.org/shows/tending-the-wild

Intentional Controlled Burning of the forest to help fertilize plants, increasing growth. And causes roots to hold more water. Springs have more water after a controlled burn. A Better Plan Than Out Of Control Wildfires... OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbxLv9EEzs8

Golden Bear Statue on the Klamath River Bridge

American History: 

George Bush sold water to potato farmers in Oregon. That caused a Massive fish kill. Now, Once every five year there is a low salmon population. 

Ironically, while the farmers grew more potatoes and made MORE money that year, the LOSS to people catching fish, renting motel rooms to tourist fishermen and selling Guide services was TEN TIMES AS MUCH as the profit selling potatoes. 

A classic example of WHY it's a bad idea to bribe politicians to do favors for one industry or another. A BETTER PLAN is to do what is right instead of doing what the corrupt lobbyists want... Nowadays, Trump has sold the entire Government to the highest bidder and we have more pollution, more Fracking, more drilling for oil and gas and MUCH MORE pesticides and herbicides... This will cause Ecological damage that may last for 100 years... or more... if that suddenly "SAFE" Atomic Waste gets spilled on a highway when they are trucking it around...