Where the News Ends
CHAMBERLIN, WILLIAM HENRY
WHERE the NEWS ENDS By William Henry Chamberlin Hiking on Both Sides Of the Atlantic I have an unvarying rule for picking a vacation spot: It must be located in high mountain country, with plenty...
...I counted up to 530—a car passed me every twelve seconds...
...On the other hand, I am a fanatic for spending almost all my waking hours on vacation out of doors, mostly on the trails...
...Biting insects, of which there is an infinite variety in American forests, with their numerous swamps and matted undergrowth, are happily absent in Europe...
...I am, and always have been, a mountain walker, not a mountain climber...
...As regards grand and impressive scenic features, the score is about even...
...Three weeks in the Tetons produced only one day of steady rain...
...But on several other counts Europe is much more appealing to the mountain hiker—mainly, I think, because Europeans are much more willing to use their legs than car-obsessed Americans...
...They would probably perish for lack of customers...
...As I have spent a number of similar vacations in Europe before and since the war, mostly in Austria and Switzerland, a few points of comparison and contrast between hiking on the two sides of the Atlantic naturally suggest themselves...
...Because most European mountain regions are much more settled, one Very rarely meets large animals...
...Nor does one find here, as in Europe, an occasional bench on which to sit down after an hour of brisk hiking...
...There are crowded highways in Europe too...
...From a walker's point of view, the Rockies in the U.S...
...In America or Canada, one sits on the softest stone or the log with the fewest ants...
...WHERE the NEWS ENDS By William Henry Chamberlin Hiking on Both Sides Of the Atlantic I have an unvarying rule for picking a vacation spot: It must be located in high mountain country, with plenty of good hiking trails...
...I recently spent three weeks at Jenny Lake Lodge and Jackson Lake Lodge, in Grand Teton National Park, in northwestern Wyoming...
...And the existing American trails are usually in much worse condition than the European ones because they are trampled over by horses, which create dustbowl conditions in dry weather and mudholes after a rain...
...Because the American walker is still a pretty rare species, he doesn't get much consideration as regards amenities...
...Every day, I walked a minimum of ten miles, and sometimes I embarked upon twenty-mile hikes, mostly up to glacial lakes, in which the spectacularly beautiful Teton range is rich...
...The delightful and welcome Rast-haiis, strategically located at the top of easy mountains or in a spot with a beautiful view, is completely nonexistent in America...
...On a Teton trail, I walked right onto a black bear with two cubs, who were sent scrambling up the nearest trees while the mother bear maintained an attitude that might have been described as "armed neutrality...
...I have not the slightest zest or aptitude for scrambling up rock faces and glaciers with the aid of ropes and ice-axes or for struggling through stretches of uncharted wilderness...
...Mountains in the 10-15,000 feet range, wherever they may be, all have their share of foaming cataracts, brawling streams, tranquil lakes with a background of snowy peaks, and large pine forests up to the timber lines...
...Naturally, I thought wistfully of Swiss resorts, of Wengen, Muerren, Zermatt, where cars cannot penetrate— unless conditions have changed since my last visits...
...Some day, when more Americans have learned that all-day hikes in beautiful scenery represent a wonderful combination of health and enjoyment, this verdict may be modified...
...There is much less rain and much more wild life...
...But they are almost always paralleled by footpaths for pedestrians...
...and Canada enjoy two advantages over the Swiss and Tyrolean Alps...
...And, if America has the advantage in visible wild life, Europe offers far more monuments of human hands, old churches and chapels, ruined castles, quaintly decorated peasant homes...
...But now my eyes are fixed in expectant anticipation on the finest mountain-hiking country I have ever found, the Upper Engadin region of Switzerland...
...In horrified fascination I began to count the cars that were flowing along the highway...
...One would be lucky to be able to give such a weather report after three weeks in European mountains anywhere...
...On another day, I was misguided enough to walk five or six miles on a main highway near Jackson Lake...
...Twice I went up the lovely Paintbrush Trail (so-called because of an abundance of red flowers known as Indian Paintbrush) which leads to picturesque little Holly Lake, and twice I found myself the only person on the shore of the lake...
...After a number of vacations spent in the American West and the mountainous heart of Europe, I feel obliged to give the preference to the latter, from the standpoint of pleasurable hiking, anyway...
...In Europe, people either do not ride so much, or separate trails are provided for equestrians...
...In the American Rockies, the day usually starts with a blazingly clear sky, followed by gathering clouds, much thunder, but, as a rule, only a thimbleful of rain in the afternoon...
...In Europe, such an experience is extremely rare...
Vol. 41 • September 1958 • No. 31
