Over a hundred of our members were treated to “A Weekend with Nevada Barr” this past weekend, an offering of our Yosemite Outdoor Adventure Program. During her sessions at the Ahwahnee, Nevada delighted us with her comedic presentations, prompting many audience members to suggest that she pursue a career in stand-up comedy. Nevada signed hundreds of copies of her new novel, High Country, which is set in Yosemite National Park.
Butch Farabee, former assistant superintendent at Glacier and expert on National Park search and rescue operations, gave an enlivened presentation on the drug plane crash of 1977, the incident Nevada uses as the focus of High Country. Commonly referred to as the Gold Rush of 1977, some enterprising individuals braved the snowy conditions and cold weather to retrieve bales of marijuana, reported to be worth $400 a pound, that were submerged in Lower Merced Pass Lake after a drug plane crash.