Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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From the Outings Chair Carol Vellutini | |
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As I write this I am preparing to leave for the Sierra Summit. Living in the North Bay is wonderful until you try to make transit plans. I found out it costs $38 per night to park your car at the hotel in San Francisco. So in considering the bus, found out it takes 2 hours to get where I am going and then I have to tote my luggage four or five blocks. As I am not a world traveler, this all seems a bit daunting. Went to buy a ticket at the transit center only to find out there are no humans there. So went to a store to make sure I have exact change. It took me two months to find a roommate for the hotel and she is from Baton Rouge where now we have no phone communication because of the hurricane. Delegates give four days of their time and we have lots of workshops to attend. So just saying, I hope all of you appreciate what the volunteers do. It is a big commitment. Speaking of commitments we need more leaders for all sorts of outings. We need winter Sierra hut trip leaders, short easy hike leaders for Sonoma Group and car camping leaders. Call Outings chairs for training sessions. Eric Carter is the North Group's newest outings leader. He has joined the Sierra Club to lead "Sierra Singles" outings, which will fill a real need on the North Coast, since many people have been asking about a singles group but no one had ever stepped forward to organize one. Eric is a Park Ranger for the North Coast District's Prairie Creek and Patrick's Point State Parks. He was born outside Boston and is a University of Massachusetts Amherst graduate. Eric came to the Golden State in April of 1998 to visit, with his truck packed with only the "necessities": a mountain bike and backpack. He volunteered for the local Parks |
Service. They hired him that very day! He spent three seasons working with Conejo open space and was then picked up by the State Parks Academy in Pacific Grove. After that, his tour of duty included Benbow Lake & Richardson Grove. Only two short years later and he feels he's in the best park in the world - Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Eric enjoys all non-motorized sports and he calls himself a "gear head," having worked at EMS and REI. He's looking forward to many adventures with the Sierra Club and the Sierra Singles that he is starting up on the North Coast. He loves this fantastic community. As he says, "See you outside!" The last three years, Chuck Sturges, a leader in the Lake Group, has led hikes designed to observe sunset and moon rise on the evening of the full moon. The full moon for August occurred on the 11th. The location this year was Elephant Peak, which is to the north and across Clear Lake from Mt. Konocti. After a steep 2-mile hike, the group arrived at the summit about 7:40 pm and were able to see nearly all of Clear Lake and the sunset and moon rise at 7:55 pm. They had a glorious evening and a pleasant descent in the moon light. The Napa Group is continuing to have work parties at Hutchinson Lodge. Please try to help. We also will find out soon the status of Clair Tappaan Lodge. You can be sure I am going to talk to everyone at the Summit about our heritage in the Sierra. Now do you see how important it is to vote in a Board of Directors who has the same values as you do? |