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Gretchen

@offgridteacher.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.3K following 5.4K posts

•Edu MA • Teach Plus Fellow Alum • Peace Corps 🇸🇳 in Agro-Forestry • Veteran Wife + Caregiver • Stay At Home Mom I talk about education, running, nature, caregiving, California, cats, and health.

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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 9h
I’m so proud of myself for trolling our neighbors.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 16h
This:
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 16h
The irony:
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 16h
Update on our canceled family vacation turned staycation: my daughter got to be home for Trash Truck Day!
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Ciara | Ciaraíoch 🎨 @ciaraioch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Happy Michaelmas! In some parts of Ireland on this day, rent could be paid in geese. If you’re due to pay rent this month, please consider setting a very irritated goose on your landlord in lieu of payment, in the name of upholding important Irish traditions.
A drawing of mine of a goose looking concerned, with a tag around its neck that reads "This month's rent, with thanks".

#SpéirGorm #SpéirGhorm #Ireland #Art #Michaelmas
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 29/09/2026
Norway has solution to this actually, stay at home parents can get their share of the public daycare subsidy as cash, that way parents are not pushed one way or the other. the problem of course is virtually no one on the center or right actually gives a shit about parents
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Matthew A Kraft @matthewakraft.com · 28/09/2026
New @nytimes.com piece ranks 30 education interventions on both effectiveness & costs. For me, the key takeaway is NOT about what academics (including myself) rated as most effective or least costly. It is about the decision making process districts use. 🧵 www.nytimes.com/2026/09/28/u...
nytimes.com
30 Ideas for Fixing U.S. Schools, Ranked by Experts
Math and reading scores are in a decade-long slump. We asked three dozen experts: What could turn things around?
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We’re trying to make lemonade out of lemons and go on a day trip in lieu of a canceled, much larger trip. Any NorCal locals with a toddler recommend either Marin or the Presidio/Tunnel Tops for a workday (ie we know we’ll be battling traffic the entire time).
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
My dad and brother both went to UC Santa Barbara, and they have both now lost their college BFF’s/roommates to ALS.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I’m looking for recommendations on the best small air purifier that is very elderly-friendly/for a tech averse senior citizen that has simple buttons and is easy to maintain. Please send any suggestions my way.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I ran into a grey fox during my run in the foothills this morning! I initially thought it was a coyote but have since been corrected.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
It is insane to me that both Sutter Health and UC Davis Health are pausing their COVID vaccines right now.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I forgot to mention it here, but I managed to podium at a 10K this weekend. I found myself initially not giving myself enough credit, pointing out that it was a small race, and was for my age group, but it did feel good to feel like all of the hours of training I did, almost all solo, paid off.
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Erin Biba @erinbiba.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
[banging on table] FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK FAT BEAR WEEK www.popsci.com/environment/...
popsci.com
The Fat Bear Week 2026 bracket is here and chunkier than ever
Voting starts September 22 with a final winner crowned on September 29.
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Jeremy Ney @jeremybney.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Maternal mortality has increased dramatically since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. We look at ectopic pregnancies, which stand nearly no chance of viable life, and how women in no-abortion states are seeing death rates rise. A real avoidable atrocity. americaninequality.substack.com/p/charts-tha...
americaninequality.substack.com
Charts that Explain the World No. 5
Prices soar across the economy, African nations agree to accept US immigrants, shifting midterm forecasts, and rising maternal deaths.
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Robert Boessenecker, Dr. of Whaleontology ™️ @coastalpaleo.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
It's #seaotterawarenessweek! 🐬🦑🧪 Sea otters only live in the North Pacific today and are the smallest marine mammals. Frustratingly, they have a very limited fossil record, and their origins are quite murky. We know *much* more about their ecology than their evolution; read more here:
coastalpaleo.blogspot.com
The terrible fossil record of sea otters, part 1: What do we know about modern sea otters?
You can find the second part here , and the third part here . Introduction Sea otters are perhaps my favorite marine mammal, for se...
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SoCal Leslie @socalleslie.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
As promised, Sea otter with her pup. Sea otter awareness week. 🦦🌿
Sea otter with her pup surrounded by kelp
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Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 21/09/2026
A theatre in Barcelona has been banned from promoting a stage adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own on Instagram and Facebook because the work includes “social topics.”* www.theguardian.com/technology/2... * "any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform"
theguardian.com
Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism
Theatre told that Facebook and Instagram filter out ads mentioning ‘social topics’ such as civil rights or feminism
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
I ran a race yesterday, then after naptime I took my toddler and myself to get our flu shots. Today I’m solo parenting, and we’re both out of sorts so… Number Blocks it is. I do have to admit screen-free only lasted until age 2.
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Monterey Bay Aquarium @montereybayaquarium.org · 21/09/2026
Every sea otter deserves a second chance! In 2025, we opened our Sea Otter Conservation Center. Thanks to donor support, this state-of-the-art facility features two new holding tanks and two exam rooms, allowing us to provide critical care to more southern sea otters in need.
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Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"What Happens When Earth Passes 1.5 Degrees of Warming" via @stevecurwood.bsky.social & @livingonearthradio.bsky.social by way of @insideclimatenews.org: insideclimatenews.org/news/1909202...
insideclimatenews.org
What Happens When Earth Passes 1.5 Degrees of Warming? - Inside Climate News
From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by host Steve Curwood with climate scientist Michael Mann. As the United Nations prepares to ...
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Adam Becker @adambecker.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
@aoc.bsky.social just put out a great statement on AI. Refreshing to see a major politician on the left nail this. "Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity. But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves." 🎯
Charles,

Last weekend, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, one of the largest Al companies in the world, publicly asked his industry to slow down Al development.

Shortly after, Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAl, followed suit. Then Elon Musk.

This all came days after an Anthropic researcher quit, citing his belief that this technology could wipe out humanity and that Al companies are "gambling with our lives."

For years, people have warned that generative Al could slip out of our direct control.

Those safety concerns must be taken seriously.

And this is why I have advocated for strict safety standards on how Al is built and deployed, public oversight over this technology, and using existing laws to hold these companies accountable when they cause harm.

But I want to draw your attention to another reality: Right now, the U.S. economy and our financial futures are riding on Silicon Valley's bet that Al will soon be immensely profitable and pay off. And that bet isn't looking good.

The formula for a profitable business isn't complicated: make more money than you spend. But the biggest Al companies aren't doing that. They are spending hundreds of billions per year on data centers, chips, and other costs while their ability to make revenues that exceed their already-immense sunk costs are unclear. Experts estimate that these Al companies will require another $600 billion of debt just to financethemselves in 2026 alone. That is more than the entire budgets of the U.S. Departments of Justice, Transportation, & Education combined.
Meanwhile, despite almost every single one of these companies not turning a profit & having sunk billions of investor dollars in development of data centers & other infrastructure, Al companies are also on a spending spree of hundreds of millions of dollars in lobbying & dark money in our elections.
It would be one thing if we were discussing a few private companies with a poor business model. But last year, virtually all stock market gains - 80% - rested entirely on just a handful of Al companies.
That tells us two things:
1. Nearly the entire U.S. economy outside the Al industry is relatively stagnating and faring poorly & the gains from these few companies are disguising it; &
2. Millions of people's retirements - including their pensions, 401ks, & investments - are potentially exposed to this risk.
That's why these Al companies' dubious financial positions matter to working people.
These companies argue that debt is necessary. They'll tell you that building transformative technologies requires upfront capital, & that massive borrowing today will pay off in generating unprecedented prosperity tomorrow.
But this is not the typical debt that startups take on while they build out a company. We are talking about billions going on trillions of dollars leveraged with no indication that these companies will be able to recoup these funds profitably. And they are increasingly looking to the government as their source of cash.
In an effort to hide their debt, tech companies have been relying on "circular financing" where tech giants like Google, Amazon, & Microsoft give billions to Al startups like OpenAl & Anthropic, only for those startups to hand that money right back to buy Al processing power.
In other words, these Al companies are luring in new investors by making it look like their financials are healthier than they really are.What's even worse is that retirement & pension funds are key to supporting this illusion.
When the Al companies issue bonds to raise more money, your pension funds & retirement accounts are some of the biggest buyers. When Musk's Al business went public, it became part of index funds where millions of Americans invest our savings. Many Americans don't even know that their retirement investments are tied up in these companies at all.
From Big Tech's perspective, that's a feature, not a bug. By tying our futures to their reckless gambling, Al billionaires are trying to make themselves too big to fail. They think they can take such dangerous risks because we will bail them out if things go wrong.
Sound familiar? This scene is dangerously reminiscent of the rampant speculation, corruption, & broken incentives leading up to the 2008 financial crisis that plunged millions of working class Americans into financial chaos that we never fully recovered from.
It is no accident that these warnings from Altman & Amodei come months-if not weeks-before these companies were meant to go public.
When companies go public, they have to be more transparent about how they are doing financially. And after a waiting period, they typically have to let private investors-like their own employees-sell their shares.
The New York Times recently confirmed that OpenAl has postponed going public for this very reason. They are in no rush for the truth about their finances to come out.
But the moment these oligarchs began to seek our public tax dollars & public contracts while exposing their companies to public pension funds & investments, they opened themselves to public accountability & scrutiny.
Silicon Valley billionaires have rigged the game & are attempting to shift their financial risk to working people: If they're right about Al's potential, they reap the profits. If they're wrong & the bubble bursts, they are setting up the American people to pick up the tab.
Heads, they win; tails, we lose.We can stop this, and we shouldn't play their game. Together we can address both the economic and safety threats of unrestricted Al development and prevent financial chaos and stabilize market risk.

We must make it clear now that should the Al bubble pop, Congress should not bail out Big Tech.

And across our federal agencies, we have the authorities and tools to hold Al companies and their leaders accountable for releasing dangerous, unvetted, and defective products. We must not wait.

Silicon Valley billionaires want us to believe that Al robots will destroy humanity.

But the biggest threat to humanity are the tech oligarchs themselves.

It's time we hold them accountable.

Thank you for reading.

In solidarity,

Alexandria
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Alt CDC (they/them) @altcdc.altgov.info · 19/09/2026
📣📣 Protect vaccines: Make a public comment DEADLINE: TOMORROW (Sun) Bottom line: HHS is asking to change how federal vaccine reccs are categorized Sounds technical. Yes Innocuous? Absolutely not Check out EvidenceCollective easy-to-read primer 🔗👇 Then comment: www.regulations.gov/document/HHS...
evidencecollective.substack.com
TWO days left to comment on HHS's vaccine category proposal
Vaccine recommendations are on the table. Comments close Sunday.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
This is why I’ve been taking a break and choosing an alternative for my own child:
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
In probably the pettiest thing I’ve ever done, I’ve decided to start a sign/flag war with my neighbor. I’m tired of looking at her “Freedom Flag”, so I got a UC Santa Cruz Slugs flag (I actually went there). Go Fighting Slugs! 🐌
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Dr. Tom Frieden @drtomfrieden.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
"I'm not going to take away anybody's vaccines.” - Health Secretary Kennedy, November 2024. Covid vaccination cuts a child's risk of hospitalization by about two thirds. Half of American children get their vaccines through the Vaccines for Children Program. www.wsj.com/health/healt...
wsj.com
Exclusive | States Delayed in Getting Covid Shots for Children’s Immunization Program
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hasn’t opened up the ordering process, raising concerns about delays as vaccination programs kick off.
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Kathleen Bachynski @bachynski.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
This pretty much says it all: “Andrew Wakefield, a former gastroenterologist whose medical license was revoked after he was found to have fabricated research indicating a link between vaccines and autism, spoke before and immediately after Kennedy.”
theguardian.com
RFK Jr promises anti-vaxxers a ‘friend at the White House’ amid deadly measles outbreak
The US health secretary added that he would’ve made sweeping changes ‘on day one’ but he had to follow the law
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Talk about gatekeeping a trail. I hit this in the middle of my otherwise lovely run this morning.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The perfect library display doesn’t exi-
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Marcus Luther @marcusluther.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Reason #1837261938 www.edutopia.org/article/teac...
edutopia.org
What Worries Me About Teachers’ Use of AI
A high school teacher reflects on how adult choices around AI use—particularly their approaches to transparency and focus on efficiency—can affect classroom culture.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Sign me up!!!!
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
View from my night run along the edge where the suburbs meet the expanse beyond.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
My newborn baby starts preschool today, please send good vibes to both of us.
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𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕖 𝔾𝕦𝕣𝕝 @sundaedivine.lol · 10/09/2026
Every year Idiocracy gets a little less funny and a lot more accurate.
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Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 10/09/2026
As a higher ed finance person, I keep emphasizing that more students are enrolling in high cost of educating fields like health and engineering and fewer in lower-cost fields like the humanities. This squeezes institutional budgets as cross-subsidies disappear.
insidehighered.com
Report: Humanities Majors Disappearing
Anxiety about job prospects and heavy reading loads have led to dramatic declines in humanities majors since 2012, according to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
What would you do with your child the day before preschool starts? I’m oscillating between having a little adventure and having a calm morning at home (the afternoon is ballet class and then dinner).
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Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Edu research is in serious danger of capture by genAI companies. They have research infrastructure most departments can't even imagine. But if you work with OpenAI or Anthropic et al? You're not just doing snazzy science but helping them capture the sector www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/codepat...
edtechinnovationhub.com
CodePath and Anthropic team up to open source AI's impact on students | ETIH EdTech News — EdTech Innovation Hub
CodePath and Anthropic have announced a Knowledge Network to share live research findings on how AI tools affect student outcomes across thousands of students. Edtech news from ETIH on AI in education...
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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
The idea that classrooms are chiefly spaces for product testing, and that it is irresponsible pedagogy not to enforce this, is both cynical and vile, and “fuck off” is a cogent response from any professional educator to any non-teaching salescreep or tech-but-not-subject-matter expert who voices it.
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michaeledward @michaeledward.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Spotted over I-5 in Seattle
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
I’m kinda depressed that my old neighbor from the Peace Corps, who stayed in his village for far longer stretches than I did, studied climate science in grad school, and solo kayaked in remotest Alaska… is now “Creating Generative AI Tools for Business.” I want out of this version of the matrix.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
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Jane Rosenzweig @janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Sounds like Dartmouth is doing really interesting work with AI, including having a critical AI librarian. But this article sets up a straw man. Prohibiting AI in some classes isn't pretending "trying to make it go away" and may be a way to help students develop the judgment the author calls for./1
The University of Chicago’s social-science faculty have prohibited most technology and banned the use of AI tools from their core classes. Although law firms are beginning to embrace the benefits of generative AI, the technology apparently makes many law schools squeamish. In May, the UC Berkeley School of Law announced that students are prohibited from using AI in “conceptualizing, outlining, drafting, revising, translating, or editing any work submitted for credit.” The University of Chicago Law School has decided to ban all screens from first-year classrooms entirely.
In an atmosphere of uncertainty—and given prevailing concerns about students using AI to cheat—such bans would seem to make some sense. But draconian mandates and screenless classes can’t be the only ways that colleges deal with AI. If universities hope to remain relevant in a world shaped by artificial intelligence, they should strive to guide students to understand and use these tools productively.
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
I spotted two coyotes during my run club run in suburban Placer County today. Some of the other moms thought they were wolves at first, I had to clarify that there are NOT wolves here, and that we would have heard about it if they had made their way to the suburbs. Terrible photo below:
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fravery.bsky.social @fravery.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
"Every sunset is an opportunity to reset.” ― Richie Norton Normov Art Studio
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
We’re going though some medical stuff right now. To calm me down, the Mr pointed out that if he winds up with a blood cancer it’ll be what finally gets him to 100% disability rating with the VA since he was exposed to the burn pits.
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Mark Crail @markcrail.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
Rich people more likely to steal children’s sweets, finds Ig Nobel prize-winning study
We round up the winners at awards for achievements that ‘first make people laugh and then make them think’
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Gretchen @offgridteacher.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
We had our Meet and Greet for Waldorf preschool today, and the teacher uses a homemade wooden flute as her attention getter. I’m really digging the vibe.
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MeidasTouch @meidastouch.com · 02/09/2026
Trump is turning federal disaster relief announcements into MAGA campaign messages, using FEMA aid posts to promote GOP candidates, tout his endorsements and brag about his election margins. Meanwhile, several Democratic-led states seeking assistance were notably absent from his announcement spree.
meidasnews.com
Trump Turns Disaster Relief Announcements Into MAGA Campaign Messages
FEMA funds should be distributed based on need, not loyalty to Trump.
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spirit airlines presents: airplane fall @makeitsnow.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
it’s worth remembering, when our turn comes, that the tech giants did the math and determined that they were not bigger than the united states government
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Ryan J Hollister @phaneritic.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Dubious developers are trying pressure the NPS into building a road THROUGH Yosemite to connect their mostly undeveloped $4mil ranch property (surrounded public lands) to HWY 120 in Yosemite. Why is it a terrible idea? 1/n www.sfgate.com/national-par...
Screenshot of forest service topo map showing Hazel Green Ranch private land parcel outlined in orange. The eastern edge abuts Yosemite.A zoomed out screenshot of the CalTopo map app showing a very windy and circuitous path from Highway 120 over gravel national Forest roads to get to the Hazel green Ranch property. It looks like it’s six or 7 miles maybe more of windy roads I don’t think anyone in history has stayed at the ranch or lived at the ranch as a jumping off point to Yosemite.
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