Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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Big Ed
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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franklin411 wrote:I think SEKI is too close to Fresno to get decent Rangers
Workers come from all over, not just the local area. And we have some very good people in Fresno, don't believe all the stereotypes.
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Big Ed
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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maverick wrote:have heard of peoples food/supplies disappearing, several times (never happened to me), these occured at the more popular trailheads.
Anyone can drive to a trailhead, this includes people that don't know what a trailhead or bear locker is. I've seen people think they're trash cans, and are befuddled by my explanation of what they are. This doesn't even include people that don't care and will take anything that isn't bolted down. For this reason I don't leave resupplies in them.
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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If you wanted safe storage and the post office is open you could probably just talk them into holding it for you. I doubt they would charge you postage. The people there are very friendly. Since they were closed and I was looking for a way to send some stuff home the guy at the post office said he would mail it for me in Three Rivers. I handed over 500 dollars worth of gear and 20 dollars for postage and when I came back 2 weeks later not only had he mailed it but he had change for me from the 20.
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franklin411
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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Big Ed wrote:
franklin411 wrote:I think SEKI is too close to Fresno to get decent Rangers
Workers come from all over, not just the local area. And we have some very good people in Fresno, don't believe all the stereotypes.
I mean they live in Fresno--a pretty big town. I get the sense that they drive up from their tract houses and white picket fences and big screen TVs and 2.5 kids, put in their duty time with one eye on the clock/calendar, and get back to their happy suburban lives as soon as humanly possible. They're not bad people, and they do want to help. But this is just a job to them. Nothing more.

The sense I got from the Rangers in Rocky Mountain NP over several trips was that they lived and breathed the mountains, which made them better able to help visitors (it's very difficult for anyone to do a really good job unless they love what they do).

Denver is a big town too, but Colorado really has a mountain culture, and California does not.
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AlmostThere
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Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

Post by AlmostThere »

You do know there is housing inside the park, and towns closer than Fresno? No ranger I have conversed with has lived in Fresno.

California has a great mountain culture. I am part of it....
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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AlmostThere wrote:You do know there is housing inside the park, and towns closer than Fresno? No ranger I have conversed with has lived in Fresno.

California has a great mountain culture.
^This.

The rangers live right near where they work, as far as I know. That's been my observation when in the area during opening/closing time. They walk to work.
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

Post by RoguePhotonic »

Most of them live on the North West side of Lodgepole. There is a number of government houses in there. I stayed in one once while I installed a ceiling in the water treatment plant.

Now some of the other employees such as bus drivers come from Fresno daily.
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

Post by Big Ed »

We have a neighbor we are good friends with that drove bus in Yosemite for many years, she would be home two days and there five days. I know it's a different park, but about the same distance from home.
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

Post by WarrenFork »

franklin411 wrote:
Denver is a big town too, but Colorado really has a mountain culture, and California does not.
For me the idea of "mountain culture" is more localized. My criteria would be a place that's actually in the mountains, with a good share if not a preponderance of people whose everyday lives revolve around mountain experiences in one form or another. As far as California vs. Colorado goes, I'd say that Boulder has a concentration of mountain culture that lacks any real equivalent on either coast. Of the places I've lived myself, I'd nominate Chamonix, Telluride, Yosemite Valley, and Kathmandu as the purest examples. The trouble with Yosemite is the difficulty of putting down roots and staying there. I really admire people like Werner Braun and a few others I know from back in the day who've managed it. My ambitions sent me packing, both for better and for worse.
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AlmostThere
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Re: Lodgepole (Sequoia NP) question

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WarrenFork wrote:The trouble with Yosemite is the difficulty of putting down roots and staying there. I really admire people like Werner Braun and a few others I know from back in the day who've managed it. My ambitions sent me packing, both for better and for worse.
I know quite a few people who grew up in Yosemite. They're still here. Randy Morgenson was born and raised there, but yep, he moved on - to the backcountry of SEKI.

I've never lived more than two hours from the central Sierra, and there is a reason for that. I live there. I may reside somewhere lower, but you just don't get to leave if it's really your home.
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