High Sierra Topix

It has reached the point where it is a pleasant surprise when there IS a register on a peak these days. It really sucks that some self righteous a-holes take upon themselves to remove them. If they don't believe in registers, the solution is simple: ignore them and don't sign them.

A box/jar/can stashed in a rock pile is hardly a blight on the environment.

I agree Gator. Does anyone know if Mt. Emerson still has a register? It did about 20 years ago.

In the past I searched a bit in the usual mountaineering forums and generally on the web trying to find a discussion about why whomever(s) might have a reason to remove the registers. But have never seen anything. That in itself is odd because often people on some kind of mission that grates against the rest of culture are iften eager to proclaim their reasons to the public. And of course the internet is an easy way to do so even if one does not want to be traced. Anyone can log into computers in public places as libraries and post once anonymously. From this I would speculate, the perpetrator(s) is a local mountain person of little means that has probably never even touched a computer. They have probably little education and are generally ignorant about much that is considered acceptable. They might even be at odds with the mainstream mountaineering community due to confrontations about something totally unrelated. They love the mountains and our apparently avid peak baggers. They don't like those who abuse the environment. Unfortunately in the case of summit registers they have created some ridiculously stupid reason for not liking them just as many people of small reason do in life. I would hope that the mountaineering peak bagging community does something to nail the person(s). Given all the missing cannisters it would seem they would be able to put some clues together if there was cooperation about information. These days many folk have small digital cameras. If peak baggers made a point of simply taking pictures of others they see climbing peaks, even those at some distance, sooner or later this person(s) might be captured and that could lead to an ID. ...David

There was a thread on summitpost a few months back on the topic. Apparently someone came across a couple of guys claiming to be rangers (they weren't in uniform) and the were "directed by their supervisor" to remove summit registers. This led to someone phoning the "supervisor" to check out their story - which I recall was bogus (yet they were in fact rangers).

Go figure.

OK Shaun, Renegade Rangers. That is just too bizzare. They were really rangers, but with no "an order" to remove registers? I'm definitely not questioning you at all. I believe you completely. I'm just wondering how rangers, some of which are certainly back country, find the time to bag peaks? I've never met a ranger on a summit. Maybe a call to Ash Mountain? Hmmmm, something fishy here? And, why the heck would anyone even bother stealing or chucking a register. I dunno. ELF?

Personally, I suspect it is not a single renegade person, but a group of people with the ambitious pursuit of removing them. I find it difficult to believe that one person, or even two, could remove this great number of canisters so rapidly. Reading Snow Nymph's reports, often canisters are removed within weeks of someone else reporting it existed, on various summits all over the Sierra. I don't think one person, even doing this full-time, could hit so many peaks in such a short period of time. I could be wrong, but I have a hunch it's some sort of group of well-informed peak baggers who are opposed to these registers who are taking them. There ya go. I have spoken, thank you, you may all be seated.

Certainly odd events to say the least. Here is the message thread on summit post that I refered to:

http://www.summitpost.org/show/mread.pl ... 591&page=1

That thread you linked to Shaun, is just too bizzare.

I just talked to the head of Yosemite's backcountry. She confirms that the removal wasn't offical, just two over eager rangers acting on their own. It's pretty bizarre that they weren't in uniform 'cause the uniform causes confrontations?? Weird, but everyone is young once. Or twice.

I will also take exception (though on shaky ground myself) that Sequoia Kings backcountry rangers don't climb peaks:

I'm just wondering how rangers, some of which are certainly back country, find the time to bag peaks? I've never met a ranger on a summit.

With the exception of yours truly, that's not correct. All the other b/c rangers get on several peaks per summer. Kind of like Brownian movement -- not running into a ranger is not evidence we don't climb them.

I also talked to another climbing friend who says there's been a fair amount of discussion in the peak bagging (ugh, that's why I don't go up peaks -- that phrase alone makes me cringe...) on the mystery of disappearing registers. It's not SEKI rangers for sure. I think Buck's right that it's a few people -- maybe not even connected. Strange that no one claims credit.

George

I would have liked to find a register on the top of Mount Williamson this past 4th of July after struggling through the snow to get to the top.