Rabbit Creek, cs 15  Halloween  2015

We had it all to ourselves.  Guess no trick or treaters had the nerve.

Then again, it involves scary creek crossings.  Ok, one scary creek crossing.

And there's always the possibility of a random hatchet in a tree.

I always seem to roam here around this time of year.  Our last foray was somewhat comical.  Frank and I headed up in an ice storm, got to camp and came back.  Largely because I forgot my sleeping bag.  Hard to believe it has been a year.

But we had the area to ourselves.  On a peak Fall leaf peeping weekend, the backcountry was deserted.

We set about sprucing the place up a bit.

And it soon felt quite homey.

Ever seen one of these?

A storm rolled in overnight with a good bit of wind.  The next day we had quite a few new blowdowns on our way back out.

But we made short work of it.

This is funny.  Someone apparently thought that the marker for this campsite that leads down to the old shelter site, was the actual campsite.

(at the junction to Hannah Mtn and Rabbit Creek)  It's right in the middle of the trail.

The wind blew a limb into the log footbridge and blew out the railing overnight.

It was a great Halloween outing in the Abram's drainage.

On December 3, Myers and I will travel to Cincinnatti to present oral arguments before the sixth judicial circuit court of appeals on behalf of the Southern Forest Watch.  The crux of our appeal is the dishonesty of the NPS with regard to assertions we have documented patently false.   In the meantime, the crooked NPS folks have manipulated their Lamar type cronies into proposing more legislation to grant them even wider fee authority than now.  It will also expand the roles of concessionaires in the NPS.  In other words, two major things will happen if FLREA is allowed to expand as written.  The second thing that will happen is that the NPS will be able to put up a picnic table or bathroom and charge you to hike to Leconte.  Dayhike to Leconte.  Consider that! 

What can you do?  Plenty, and it will not cost a dime.  Send an email to these two members of the Natural Resources Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives.   Tell them NO to FLREA and NO to Concessionaires and NO to more Fees on public lands.  Email is free and politicians are much more susceptible to taxpayer sentiment than lifetime NPS folks.  Please send an email voicing your opinions on the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act that enabled this backcountry tax.  Expect more if you do nothing.  Here are the contacts.

This bill is the wrong direction for federal public lands. 
The hearing record is open for public written testimony until November 6. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts with the Committee members and urge them not to enact this bill.