Wednesday, June 19, 1991

Dear Ron
Last weekend I participated in Maris's hike up Boundary and an aborted attempt at Montgomery (too much snow). I had a great time, although we had to "battle" numerous ticks and I did get bitten. Anyway, since this was such a long drive for me (I live in San Diego) I wanted to bag another peak on the way home. Since it was convenient, I decided to go for White Mountain. On Sunday, I drove to the locked gate (two miles south of the Barcroft Research Lab) where I parked my truck and spent the night. After returning from an enjoyable day hike up White Mountain on Monday, I discovered that my truck had been "vandalized" by marmots. Specifically, they had nibbled on several hoses, but more catastrophic, they had actually chewed into and punctured my radiator (several core "tubes") apparently in search of the sweet glycol anti-freeze. I noticed this shortly after I started my truck due to the strong smell of leaking radiator fluid. Needless to say, I was panic struck since I was so far away from any service station and water was gushing from my truck's radiator. With a lot of luck, I was able to make my way down to Big Pine with moderate overheating. There, I was able to plug the leaks with a special aluminum "powder" plugging kit I purchased at a local service station. Nevertheless, I still had a 350 mile drive home to San Diego. Fortunately, I bought an extra plug kit which I needed to use about 150 miles down the road when another leak emerged. I finally made it back home without further incident. So far, radiator repairs have cost me nearly $400 (I needed a new radiator). A local radiator "technician" here had heard of this happening before in Yosemite, and was familiar with this type of damage. I had prematurely assumed it was a rock that had hit the radiator, but upon inspection he assured me it was NOT a rock, but an animal (marmot). Numerous hoses have been bitten, some I can easily see, I'm sure there are others I can't. Only time will uncover new "leaks"..hopefully somewhere more convenient than at the locked gate near the Barcroft Research Lab.
The reason I write to you is not for pity or for your amusement at my predicament. Rather, I wanted to inform you and other DPSers about the rogue marmot situation at the parking areas along the dirt road to White Mountain. A simple warning would have at least given me a chance at preventing this from happening. I also have pity on the innocent marmots who apparently die from consuming the glycol-laced radiator fluid and rubber hose material. I did see several marmot carcasses along the road and presume they MIGHT have died from ingesting these substances.

Regards,
Mark Adrian
Mark Adrian
5116 Park Rim Drive
San Diego, CA 92117-1044

P.S. Please feel free to print/publish this letter in part or in whole as you see applicable.
 
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