From the category archives:

history

Public Comment on World War II NPS Historic Sites

November 30, 2009

This Thursday and Friday, the National Park Service will hold listening sessions in Los Angeles and San Francisco to take public comments about its grand program for preserving World War II-era Japanese Internment sites.
I know it’s not technically hiking news, but I had the opportunity to visit Manzanar National Historic Site this year on the [...]

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Pre-Sale and Discount on National Parks Box Set

September 23, 2009

The PBS store announced today it would be offering a 20% discount on all their Ken Burns paraphernalia, in preparation of the new National Parks series that’s just around the corner.
The storefront is accepting pre-orders for the new doc series, which will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on October 6th. For your completists [...]

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Ski History at Kratka Ridge

August 6, 2009

A while back, Zeke from the Ski Channel emailed me, asking about some of my pictures from a hike at Kratka Ridge. Unbeknownst to me, this short, pleasant hike in the upper San Gabriels was holding a piece of skiing history – one of the last remaining single-person chairlifts in the country.

I’m not [...]

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Happy Birthday, Smokey

August 5, 2009

Thursday, August 13th, is Smokey Bear’s 65th birthday, but the US Forest Service has planned ahead and launched a birthday section of SmokeyBear.com, devoted to the mascot’s long history in our wilderness … thankfully replacing the pretty racist WWII forest safety posters that preceded him.
The site has a huge gallery of historic print, radio, and [...]

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If You Ever Wondered Why California Doesn’t Have Grizzlies

July 8, 2009

… this probably had something to do with it:

via Leslie Miles, with thanks to my old boss Gavin for tweeting it.

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Historic Filmstrip of California State Parks

July 7, 2009

If you love history and hiking as much as I do, then you’re probably really going to dig this 1935 video about the birth of the California State Park System, courtesy of the National Archives.
The 23 minute filmstrip has a few pops and video losses here and there, but it’s a great view of our [...]

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Not Modern Hiking

March 26, 2009

If there’s one thing I love almost as much as hiking, it’s educational, narrated archival films. Just probably something you should know.
Kurt at National Parks Traveler dug up an amazing film promoting Yellowstone National Park from the Prelinger Archives, and even though it gets cut off at the end, it’s still a fascinating look [...]

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Historical Switzer’s Photographs

February 18, 2009

If there’s one thing that gets me more excited than hiking, it’s history — which is why I was very happy to see SoCalHikes post a slideshow of historical photos from Switzer’s Camp from a user on the San Gabriel Mountains Forums.

The slideshow is a fascinating look back in time at the so-called Golden Age [...]

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