The Brain at Rest

Don't think we don't know that some of you probably cheated--the Web does rather aggressively tempt honor these days. Still, we're proud that more than 1,200 readers unraveled the literary mystery in Sierra's 12th annual travel contest (March/April), discerning that the book in question was Bill Bryson's acerbic account of his problematic hike along the Appalachian Trail, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (Broadway Books, 1998).

There's something about summer and books. A good book in a good tent in a nasty rainstorm can be blissful. "Mixed Media" offers suggestions of outdoorsy books--and movies--to sprinkle on your vacation like cerebral seasoning.

Sierra too strives to spice minds. Someone at this moment is kicked back on a river raft as the Grand Canyon spins by--and maybe he's reading Matthew Taylor's exegesis of the Burning Man festival's greenification efforts. Maybe someone else has just cycled over a high mountain pass and is, right now, absorbed in Paul Rauber's Ethiopian adventure as she soaks in a hot springs.

Often brains at rest think best. Who knows? Reader one just might learn something from the Black Rock Desert's naked art anarchists and--aha!--concoct a brilliant way to improve lives and landscapes in Africa. And reader two could glean an insight from Ethiopia that will help Burning Man go green. —Bob Sipchen, editor in chief

Case Closed

Congratulations! Hundreds of literate Sierra readers figured out the answers to our 12th annual travel contest. The three winners, selected at random from among those who answered correctly, have been notified. (For their names, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Sierra.) Check out the March/April issue online for the complete contest and a list of the excellent prizes contributed by Sierra Club Outings, JanSport, Eureka, Tilley Endurables, La Sportiva, Crazy Creek, and New England Natural Bakers.

TOO MANY PEOPLE
After reading Carl Pope's "Not Broiled Yet" ("Ways & Means," May/June), one has to wonder when and if any environmental organization will have the intestinal fortitude to address the fact that the number one cause of all our environmental problems--including global warming--has been and will continue to be overpopulation.
David Gross
Morganville, New Jersey

GO OUT AND PLAY
Regarding "Are We There Yet?" (May/June): Children influenced by the grandeur of nature tend to be gentle to other people.
Hajime Kimura
Otsu City, Japan

HATCH AND RELEASE
"A Fine Kettle of Fish" ("Savoring Wild Salmon," May/June) makes no mention of Alaska's salmon hatcheries, which produce hundreds of thousands of fish to complement the wild salmon at a much improved survival rate.
John Ammerman
Sterling, Virginia

POTTY-MOUTHED HEADLINE
Those of us on the front lines of water conservation are keenly aware of the damage that irresponsible language can do to water conservation. Your reference to "Toilet to Tap" ("Lay of the Land," May/June) in connection with Orange County's water-reuse project denigrates that effort.
Norm Allenby
San Diego, California

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