Ike's Stories of the High Sierra

“Norman B. 'Ike' Livermore is one of the best friends that anyone who loves the Sierra Wilderness ever had. As Secretary of Resources for eight years under Governor Reagan and later as Member and President of the State Fish & Game Commission, he was the major force in decisions benefiting the Sierra Wilderness.

He was born in San Francisco on March 27, 1911 and he spent his early days working and playing on his family’s 7,500 acre ranch near Napa. He went to high school at the Thacher School in Ojai, CA and he was 15 years old when he went on his first backpacking trip… and what a trip it was! He hiked all the way from Ojai to Monterey through what is now the Ventana Wilderness Area.

When he was 18 he took a summer job working for the Mineral King Pack Station in Sequoia National Park (then it was part of Sequoia National Forest) and he made his first trip into the High Sierra in 1930. He later went on to Harvard Business School and earned his Masters Degree from Stanford. For his thesis he wrote about the tourist packing business.

In 1937 he bought an interest in the Mineral King Pack Station. In 1938 he began packing for Sierra Club Trips and he met his wife Virginia Dina Pennoyer. They had five children, two of which took over the packing business, which at that time was the largest in the Sierra, from their Dad after 1949. In 1949 Ike also organized the Sierra Club's First Wilderness Conference.

For a while Ike’s packing business was not making much money so he did a stint as Treasurer for Pacific Lumber. It was then that he learned much about the endangered coastal redwood forest. He also attracted the attention of Tom Reed, Governor Reagan’s Appointments Secretary. He was appointed Secretary of Resources and served from 1967 to 1974.

During this time he had provided leadership in preserving the beautiful High Sierra. He can be credited with preventing the Porterville Road from being built. This road would have been built between Porterville and Lone Pine in the 1930's, bissecting the area that is now part of the Golden Trout Wilderness.

He also prevented the Minarets Highway from being built which would have bisected the High Sierra near Mammoth. He brought Governor Reagan to the High Sierra for a pack trip to announce the end of the federal planning and future construction of the Minarets Highway.

Because these two highways were never built California boasts the 2nd largest stretch of continuous Wilderness in the Lower 48. It also means the John Muir Trail remains unbroken for 250 miles between Yosemite and Mt. Whitney.

Ike also persuaded Reagan to prevent construction of the Dos Rios Dam which would have been built on the wild Trinity River in Northern California and would have flooded Round Valley which is sacred to Native Americans.

He was also very influential in the establishment of Redwood National Park and enacting tough environmental regulations for the Lake Tahoe area.

Ike is now a 93-year-old retired horsepacker, hiker, and river runner whose accomplishments include preserving many areas as Roadless, Wilderness, and National Park land. He still resides at the Napa Ranch which has been in his family since 1880. He is a member of the Advisory Board for the California Wilderness Coalition, a member of the advisory councils of the Sierra Club Foundation and Save the Redwood League, and a member of the Stewardship Committee of the California Wetland and Waterfowl Program.

And he is one guy I'd love to have a conversation with someday. In The Backcountry News, the Quarterly newsletter of the Backcountry Horsemen of California, there is a great list of his backcountry anecdotes. Here's a few that I liked...

- He remembers him and his brother John going over Sawtooth Pass in Sequoia National Park just before a lightening storm, and having his hair stand straight up from his head from static electricity.

- He remembers being swept over a waterfall in the San Joaquin River near Red's Meadow, losing his hat, and having to ride the whole length of the John Muir Trail without it.

- He remembers meeting a one-armed packer whose only explanation of his loss was that 'it was bit off.'

- He remembers Norman Clyde with his 90-lb pack and his story about packrats forming a pack train that carried away Sierra Club members hot water bottles

- He remembers the story of Frank Chrysler breaking his leg but straightening it out in the crouch of a tree in what is now the Golden Trout Wilderness.

Oh how these bits of stories intrigue me and I would be happy to just hear one of the stories in full by Ike :)
last edited: 1/25/05 5:45:37 PM”

“He sounds like a really cool dude!”

“Yeah.”

“What fascinating information about him! I loved reading this, thank you so much BC for posting this. What a wonderful man to do what he as done for the environment, wish there were more like him on this planet. Loved the Norman Clyde story!
im curious what he did in Tahoe?”

“You're welcome madeintahoe :) I didn't see anything specific about his work in Tahoe, just some general info about watershed protection, but lemme see if I can dredge up anything else...”