Thoughts and Feelings

"I understand the reasons that drive us to want to share what we have here in Idaho. Yet, like I said, sharing too much is not a good thing.

Tom's book is a wonderful resource, even with some of the directions being vague. That is what makes it so great. Just that tiny bit of information is enough to get the blood flowing, to cause one to wonder and daydream about possibilities......

I call it my dream book. It kick starts my imagination just enough to cause me to start to make plans, to reserve weekends/vacations for exploration. For the magic of the mostly unknown....

When I was a teenager, many, many years ago, I spent several weeks over 3 or 4 summers in the Bighorn Crags. What magic that was. We just went, with little to no planning. No real destination in mind. We just went. It was the most amazing times. My heart just soars when I think about how truly wonderful it was.

I want that feeling back." - Biglost aka JB
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I suggest not bolting the register.

If someone removes summit registers, then bolting the register just confirms their belief that the register damages the wilderness experience/environment. I assume the people with these beliefs also take apart summit cairns for the same reason. I would like some of these folks to post their reasons so I don't have to speculate.

I feel ambivalent about summit registers. If they are there, we enjoy reading the entries and most of the time we sign in. If not, we don't leave one.

We have seen that summit registers play a part in search and rescue because you can confirm that the person lost made it to that specific place. This is a definate and valuble data point. One could argue that registers are important for this reason and should not be tampered with.

But people don't sign registers to leave SaR clues; no one anticipates getting lost. What part of the human psyche needs to leave a record that says 'I was here?' Are we craving immortality? We don't want to be forgotten? We want to share our experience with others? When does the register cease being simply a place to leave our mark and become a treasured part of human history? In the big scheme of things... does it really matter? Can we be content simply with the personal satisfaction that we set a goal and reached it?" - Judi S


From the Idaho Summits message boards.