Marble Mountain Wilderness, in northern California, has long been on my list of places to explore. I finally made that happen during a four day backpack last weekend. Thanks to the wet and snowy winter of 2016-17 the place was in rare form with lush vegetation, plentiful water, and an impressive show of wildflowers. We set up a base camp in Sky High Valley and spent two full days exploring ridge tops and lake basins. On one of those days we observed seven black bears including two youngsters who were playing on a snow bank below us for an hour. We came away from the area impressed by the amount of biodiversity and the rugged views, but as we were leaving we encountered the beginnings of a cattle drive at the trailhead. Why the USFS continues to allow cattle grazing in the Sky High Basin is beyond me. Tradition, I suppose. Let's return this beautiful place to its highest and best use, which certainly does not include running cows through paradise.
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