John Muir wasn’t really a tramp and Teddy Roosevelt became President after he charged up San Juan Hill. But in 1903, they went on a four-day camping trip together in Yosemite National Park. Well, it wasn’t a national park then and that was the problem.

The two-person play, shown at the Asheville Community Theater last Thursday, was a retelling of that camping trip. No press (for a while), no Secret Service, no hangers-on, they just camped and talked.

Muir tried to impress Roosevelt with the conservation issues of the day while Roosevelt wanted to impress Muir with his scars, broken bones (19 of them in his lifetime) and his physical exploits.

The play was a fundraiser for Western North Carolina Alliance. Sierra Club and Friends of the Smokies were also there to talk up their organizations.

Lee Stetson (John Muir) and Joe Weigand (Pres. Teddy Roosevelt) travel the country doing this play together and also separate monologues. If they come to your neighborhood, don’t miss them.