Trinity Alps Rambles
The night before the gnarliest climbing ascent of my life I had my first and only certifiable out-of-body experience. We had our sights on Stone House Buttress … full of kitty litter chimneys and decapitating loose blocks along 800 feet of a vertical granite sluice … the severity unknown to us until we were committed on the route. This climb awakened me to the power of a Wilderness Area, especially the Alps.
I later discovered that the Alps is jointly used as a vision-questing area by four Northern California Native American Tribes. For them, the Alps is sacred and holy, neutral ground for those wanting to be healers, tribal doctors. This is easy to see if you spend some time there. So a word to the wise: Approach the Alps with reverence and respect, and you won’t be disappointed.
Author’s Note: In winter and spring the snowy slopes of the Alps can be heavily avalanche-prone, meaning death and destruction for all in their path. Know where you are, and calculate your odds by putting risk points over potential rewards, then divide by the number of days you think you have left on Earth.
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Today
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Open Gardens
outdoors / 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Humboldt Botanical Gardens, College of the Redwoods, Eureka. Roam the 44-acre fully fenced property. $5. www.hbgf.org. 442-5139.
Organic Gardening Seminar
garden / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Shafer's Ace Hardware and Garden Center, 2760 E St., Eureka. Free lecture by Duncan McNeill on how to create a healthy environment and healthy soils for your plant’s roots. E-mail shafers@sbcglobal.net. 442-5734.
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