I rarely watch the travel shows that appear on PBS stations.?ÿ Didn't see too much else on that I might watch except Glenn Ford in The Fastest Man Alive, referring to his ability with a gun (for the tenth time).?ÿ So, I would watch a bit of the travel show then flip through the channels again then back to the travel show.
I finally figured out the narrator/guide was on the San Joaquin River Trail.?ÿ He was awestruck by everything around him.?ÿ Open grasslands as far as you could see.?ÿ An area with some laid up stone fences or retaining walls was amazing to him.?ÿ At one point an Angus-cross steer was standing on the path then took off as he approached.?ÿ You might have thought he had just spotted a unicorn.?ÿ A stately oak tree was his focus for a bit.
This guy needs to get around more.?ÿ Apparently, so do a whole bunch of other Californians because the key topic of the episode was to show what can be found if you simply take off and go places you have never been before.?ÿ Something other than the typical tourist traps that are featured in the travel guides.?ÿ He was only 20 or 30 miles from Fresno.
That got me to wondering if anyone on here has spent time on that trail or in the immediate vicinity.?ÿ Perhaps even done some surveying?
Never been there.?ÿ But I do love hour long armchair vacations on PBS.?ÿ And you have to understand adventure is a relative term for a lot of people.
I'm guessing a good writer and production crew could make an interesting travel documentary about walking a mile across a pasture to search for a corner.?ÿ Lots of wonderful things to see just a few miles away.?ÿ There's a snaky creek bottom and black Angus cattle in the meadow.?ÿ The red-tail circles above and instills fear in the indigenous rodent population.?ÿ A wary coyote keeps his eyes peeled on you at distance while scouring the grass for a scent.
You're right though.?ÿ People probably need to get out more and see something they've never seen.?ÿ I guess that's why we have nature trails around.?ÿ Not everybody has the confidence to take out cross country armed with just a shovel and a Schonstedt.?ÿ But like I said, adventure is where you find it.
As a surveyor my definition of wilderness is probably similar to Aldo Leopold's.?ÿ He once said, "I am glad I will not be young in a future without?ÿwilderness".?ÿ I agree Aldo.?ÿ Give me somewhere no man has set foot.?ÿ Somewhere it is evident that nature can exist all by herself without man's help.
Somewhere the woods are not heavy with the scent of many.?ÿ 😉
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Last fall when I was out in California for work and I travelled a fair bit around the northern Sacramento Valley, in places like Sacramento, Woodland, San Francisco and Folsom and Hollister I really took notice of all the aquifers, dikes, and irrigation systems all over the place...
Not to hi-jack your post but post trip I came across these episodes as I did some personal research into all the water issues for California. While not travel related and on the surface a very boring topic, but I found them very interesting and in general the water rights and water issues in California to be very interesting.
https://valleypbs.org/tappedout/
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I haven't seen Tapped Out -- yet! -- but if the subject interests you I highly recommend Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner.?ÿ Not only does it delve into the history of water in the state, it's also a very engaging read.
@jim-frame Thank you! Yes, I have really been sucked into this topic in the last few years. I will definitely give it a read. I really enjoyed this one:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y5CV8BG?plink=CrIqJpj43VBXXhCN&ref=adblp13nvvxx_0_2_ti
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