My apologies for slacking in the blogosphere recently... hope this can give you some thought though. This quote comes from a story told by 180 South's Jeff Johnson. (I posted the story below)
In 1985, climbers Yvon Chouinard, Rick Ridgeway, Doug Tompkins, and itinerant cartographer Gerry Roach had been commissioned by National Geographic to explore a remote valley in Bhutan. Their objective was to climb the highest unclimbed mountain in the world, a 25,000 ft peak allegedly called ‘Gankar Punsum’. Because virtually no one from the outside world had visited the area, they had no idea where it was or how to find it. Some locals pointed them in the direction of some nearby mountains and after a month and a half of trekking and climbing, they ascended a 21,000 ft mountain only to see the peak of ‘Gankar Punsum’ far off in the distance. Resigning to the fact that they wouldn’t make it there on that trip, they remained in that valley, mapping and exploring for another few weeks. On their last night, all the guys sat around the campfire.
“What a great trip,” said Rick.
“Except for one thing,” Yvon replied.
“What’s that?” said Rick.
“The maps!” said Yvon.
“What’s wrong with the maps?” asked Rick.
“I think we should leave this place just as we found it,” said Yvon. “So the next people that come here will have the same experience.”
“What should we do?” asked Rick.
“Burn Em!” Yvon declared.
Gerry Roach, climber and itinerant cartographer, had worked tirelessly gathering details for the maps that were to be handed over to Nat Geo upon their return. But he understood, went to his tent and brought back the maps…
Broad grins aglow in the firelight, all four of them tossed the maps into the fire…
“National Geo was pissed.” Jeff [Johnson–(from 180 South)] finished, “But how classic! After all, aren’t the names of the best places in the world not found in magazines or newspapers but whispered in dark corners and written on the backs of soggy bar napkins?”
