Missing My Dad on the John Muir Trail

So we're getting ready for a week on the North part of the John Muir Trail in the Sierras and only now with in a few days of leaving am I really missing my Dad.  He loved the Sierras and even though he was always calling the JMT a freeway, I know that he would be completely curious and asking me endless questions about the trip and the process of getting ready for it.  He's not just on my shoulder, he's right beside me saying "Have you thought about X or Y or how about Q?"  

The biggest thing for him would be his concern about the small issue of a storm in November of 2011 blowing down 700 trees with great many of them blocking the trail.  It has just (and I mean like a few days ago) been cleared to where we're going.  This would then send him off talking about all the tree work he's done in his life as we used to have an orchard.  Then he'd no doubt be reminded of when they pulled out a grapefruit tree stump using an Alfa Romeo.

Then he'd segway back to one of our Sierra  trips where he let a very young me talk him into taking a short cut and we wound up spending the night on a mountain side.  I still think the shortcut made sense (kinda, sorta), but I had little appreciation on how up things can be in the mountains and how much shrubery like Manzanita and Cat Claw can slow you down especially when you're small.

But irritating as he could be, and as much time I spent answering his endless questions, I mostly just miss him.  I know that I'm going to be hearing his voice the whole trip and that's ok. 

Is that a Real Lake?

One thing that I've often wondered when I've seen a lake is: Is it a "real" lake or is it a human made reservoir?

From the ground unless you already know, it's kind of hard to tell sometimes.

From the air and especially from Google Maps it gets much more obvious.

Natural lakes have rounded edges and look like they belong there.   This is Consultation Lake in the Mt. Whitney area in the Sierra Nevada.  Rivers enter and leave much the same way they came.  This particular lake was covered in snow when its satellite photo was taken so this is the map view.

Lakes created by dams have that stopped up bathroom drain look about them

This is O.H. Ives Lake in East Texas that I have only seen from a plane.

The fastest way for me to tell from the air is to look for that tell-tale straight line which is the dam.

This are some local resevoirs near me.  Briones and San Pablo:

Looking closer you can see the flat lines where the dams are located:

 Another way to tell a fake lake is to look at where you see where a river should be.

 
In the O.H Ives Lake pictured above, you can see two rivers streaming in, but only a ghost of one on the other side and sure enough that is where the dam is,  Zooming in on ghost river you can see a discontinuity that is the dam.

Another example is Red Bluff Resevoir:

Big River going in an just a trickle at the bottom.  Zooming in you see:

Some are harder to spot but you can using the same technique.

This is Shasta Lake in California.  It definitely has that plugged drain look about it.

There are several rivers so it takes some looking around to spot the affected river.

Looking on the West side there is a candidate on the bottom left:

And zooming in your see the dam:

But sometimes even natural lakes have human intervention.

Lake Tahoe is a gorgeous natural lake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Tahoe) 

But even it has a dam where they can control the lake's level. I couldn't see it myself, but the Wiki page says it's in Tahoe City and on closer inspection in that area you can see it:

So now you have something to obsess over when you're looking out  a plane window.  Of course most people just enjoy the scenery or read a book.

"Reno-Tahoe" Has No Meaning

On the raiio, I've hear over and over again about a million dollars of advertising about "Reno-Tahoe" and it's such a marketing ploy.  If you drive way past Tahoe into Nevada you come to Reno which is fine.  But they have been trying so hard to pair the names as if they go together.  They really don't.

Here's the map.

When you are in Reno you might very well be thinking of Tahoe, BUT when you are in Tahoe you are so NOT thinking of Reno, in fact you're not thinking of the closer Carson City.  If you need to go to a city to go shopping, you go to Truckee.  If you want to go gambling, you go down the South Lake Tahoe.  What is Reno trying to pull?  Is all this advertising helping? It just seems surreal and artificial.

Writing Angst

Here I am doing it again: I am stressing about not easily being able to write fiction.

This is a joke as the very first thing I ever did was tell stories to myself at night.
It was because I had crushes on people I couldn’t have so I would create life and death settings where we were thrown together where I could say how I felt - mostly because they were dying.  I did died occasionally too, but mostly them because if I died it was most inconvenient to telling the story.

Let’s just say the Hunger Games strikes a chord.  I could have written it if doing so had even crossed my mind as something that would remotely appeal to anyone else.

I think I need to treat this like learning anything else.  Break it down into doable chunks, but it’s more a matter of figuring out the chunks.  I can come up with characters, but the overall story structure is something I am not practiced in.

But stressing about it is completely silly and just giving me a reason to beat myself up.  Stop worrying about it and just write stuff.  Bits and pieces is fine.

Writing Fiction vs. Blogging: Completely Different

I'm (casually) trying to learn storycraft and fiction writing, and I'm completely fascinated how different writing fiction is vs. blogging.  The philosophical approaches are vastly different in a way.  A blogger writes down their thoughs quite soon after they think of them and pretty soon after that publishes them.  A fiction writer on the other hand, will spend weeks, months, years working out a story and that story may not ever get printed if they can't find a publisher.  Plus they don't breathe a word about it for fear that someone else will print the idea first, and also publishers often won't touch something that has been printed before even if it's just the internet.

This secrecy drives blogger types like me nuts.  As I work out my ideas I'd love to show the process publicly as I think that would be extremely cool.  The problem is that I don't have a lot of ideas in the fiction realm and, unlike blogging, they're kind of hard to come up with.  As a result, if I were to do this I would have to come up with a throwaway example, or one that is just given away on the web as a way to show what I can do. 

All this while my really cool idea just sits there begging to be free.  Argh.

Backpacking is No Longer about Pain

I know I've written about this in terms of boots, but makers of backpacks have made incredible strides in backpack comfort.  I'm on my third backpack (forth if you count the external frame one) and I'm worn out pretty much none of them.  What I have learned over time is that they are in order of decreasing discomfort to use the double negative that I'm kinda fond of.

Not only that, these days backpack manufacturers have created a sizing system so that you now have the equivalent of a shoe size.  Now I can walk into any outdoors store and ask about backpacks that fit a size 15.5 (inches I believe).  If your equipment is more than 2 or 3 years old, seriously consider taking a closer look at the new stuff.  Backpacking gear is not that expensive, and your body will thank you.

You also owe it to yourself to have your pack fitted to you by a knowledgeable person which should mean an employee of a reputable outdoors store and not a Significant Other (hearkening back to Snowboarding: Domestic Discord).  You do not want your S.O. to be blamed for any soreness.  There are a lot of fitting details and variables and getting it right can make a real difference in pain free or real pain.

Brain Health: Do Tasks the Hard Way

So according to some recent studies (here's one: http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/boosting-brain-power-how-stay-sharp/nPF7r/) doing something that is difficult is actually good for your brain.  Examples they use are using your non-dominate hand, or reading or writing upside down, or physical things like jogging backwards.  I've also heard that working on learning a new language or a musical instrument are very good.  You brain has to develop new pathways.

I'm finding this whole thing very intriguing.  It means that you can try to do something just on the basis that it's difficult.  Personally I would need more motivation than that, but it really does take you off the hook in terms of having to be good at something.  You don't have to be perfect at it you just have to be willing to work at it.  That's very freeing.  Work at it just because it's hard.

My current example is of course an odd one.  My dogs like herding stock, and herding is very difficult.  If you though dog agility was hard, try it with all of the obstacles moving.  It's brain bendingly difficult, but the challenge is fantastic and you learn new observation skills and you learn how to make efficient choices on what to watch and how carefully.

It also means that I should really consider going back to guitar playing or staying involved in some way.  Songwriting and story creation are very difficult and frustrating for me but it's probably something I should persue.  Struggle is good.

Eat Before You Exercise

A while back I wrote To Run Further - Fill the Tank First.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6035513#editor/target=post;postID=6286714753798553177

Today I was on a training climb that was intended to be a shake down of a new backpack and my experience is still the same.  An hour before, I ate lunch a veggie burger patty, and tortellini pasta.  I did a 1300' climb with a 30 pound pack pushing pretty hard.  I didn't eat at all during the climb.  I had plenty of energy and did not bonk at all which would often happen under the same circumstances.

 I haven't tried this at altitude or over a longer period of time.

Altitude is especially tricky as altitude depresses appetite for me at least (others too).  I've been reading (kinda sorta) that there really is something to "carb loading," but that more has to do with eating a lot of carbs the night before but that you can store extra energy in your muscles for a little while.

The Mighty Haddorff Vertichord Piano

Some years ago my mom gave me the family piano when they moved to Seattle.  I actually don't remember how it got here - their movers must have dropped it off.  She had told me that someone told me that it was unique (vaguely implying valuable).  I finally checked into it.  The reason the Haddorff Vertichord is special is that it was a fantastic design error:

http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Forum/1/topic/021272/Number/0/site_id/1#import


The one thing I don't understand is that I'm comparing the Vertichord's string layout to another upright and they actually look pretty similar.  This is mine.

And here is one from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Upright_piano_inside.jpg

Theirs look even more vertical.
 
 But the poster is right it doesn't stay in tune for very long.  Fortunately unlike the poster's experience there aren't any glue failures in this one.  Although having said that I just checked and only 3 keys are out of tune and it's been a few months.

A plus side is that after I had one tuner out, I figured out how to tune it. (and yes, those short strings are a pain), and we use it to practice on and Terri's band uses it to rehearse with, so it actually does get played.

Regardless I am getting tired of its fussiness and and just about ready to buy a new piano sounding weighted keyboard (no room for a grand piano and we're not good enough players to really appreciate it.

I Miss Dodgeball

Dodgeball.  That word alone makes a legion of people shudder.  It seems as it any number of people who were forced to play it in school have horror stories about it.

I walked my dog past the local elementary school and they were playing a game where you threw bean bags at the other team, but the object wasn't to hit them.  You wanted the bag to hit the ground (a la Baseball I think.)  It still resulted in what appeared to be complete mayhem due to multiple bean bags in play, but I'm quite sure the injury rate is much lower, (save for the fact that they're playing on asphalt.)

But all I could think about was how I kinda miss the, oh-so not PC, near bloodsport of Dodgeball (or Nationball when it was on a Basketball court instead of a circle.)  I and a female neighbor of a similar build and age were chatting about how it was an excellent way to get back at boys that had been tormenting you.  Even though I didn't think about it then, dodgeball was definitely a time to settle scores.

There actually is a National Amateur Dodgeball Association and you can get an official ball here: http://www.dodgeballusa.com/gear.html Wonder if old scores are still settled there.

Make Your own Switchbacks

When you're out of a trail on a hill the trail will often turn into switchbacks to make the climb easier.  When you're on a snow slope it's common to traverse across it back and forth essentially making your own switchbacks.

Where I live there are various trails that area actually bulldozer created wide, steep fireroads.  How do people climb these things?  By going straight up them and breathing (gasping) real hard and stopping a lot.  The other day I started zig-zagging up one.  Suddenly all the effort went away.  I was even able to work a rest step in by accident.  It was so easy and I got up that hill in 90 degree heat without nearly dying.  Seems so simple, but it was quite a revelation.  Or course no one else was doing it and that surprised me as I was the only one to be able to ascend with any consistency and I wasn't dying at the top either.  It was really straightforward, but you do have to get past the feeling ridiculous part, but there isn't anyone there to impress save for the fact that you are not collapsed in a pile..

Plus you're happier when you get up to where you are going.

I am Plot Impaired

I like to write, and I can create small character vignettes about nearly everything.  I also can write dialog without issue.  So why is it the idea of creating a story with an actually plot makes me completely freeze up?  Eeek, I don't know how to do that.  Yet that can't be true.  I've read 100s of stories and I know what makes them good and not so good.

Person Q is a [such and such job] and yearns for [some goal] but [something] is standing in the way.  How Q overcomes the obstacles is a Story.  This is not Nuclear Physics ya know?  And there I stand not moving until the oncoming car runs me over.

Though I can go on and on about what it's like just standing there.  Maybe I should just go back to eavesdropping in public places--a great source of weird ideas.  Especially on people having cell phone conversations with lettuce.

Blogs as Resumes? Hardly.

Linkedin just sent out a missive saying how you can use your personal blog as a sort of resume.    This blog mostly shows how easily distractable I can be, and my dog's blog shows how obsessive I can be.  I'm not sure either would be good job hunting material though I don't hide them or deny their existence.  They both show that I can write and have the will to stick with it, but defining just what "it" is can be a challenge.  Perhaps glorious determination to research and to think outloud about silly things.

Ducks "Flying"

I live by the water and we have a lot of beautiful, graceful water fowl.  Most notably the amazing  Canadian Geese (who live here year round it appears), the Western Grebe, the Cormorants,  and even the Seagulls.  And then we also have the Ducks.

The Ducks are usually migratory and think it's perfectly fine to plop down in the middle of a busy parking lot for a nice rest.  They seem so puzzled when one of us humans gets out of the car to shoo them over to the side.  But what I love about the Ducks the most is just how distinctive their flying "style" is.  You can spot a Duck even in low light because of it.  Their wings are flapping very fast and the body language is almost as if they're shouting OMG Look!  I'm Flying!  Wow.  FlapFlapFlapFlap.

How they manage to migrate anywhere is just a little amazing to me as they appear to be the definition of using entirely too much energy to fly.  Maybe we have to shoo them out of the parking lot because they really are that tired.

Writers Without Boundaries

I'm considering taking a fiction writing class as while I'm happy to write about most anything, actual story construction is a whole different talent that I very much admire and want to learn.  In my search, I am finding that as Hollywood and Movie Studios know, writers need a construct to work with in otherwise they just run amuck--especially if they don't know anything about web design. Take this page for example: 

There are just simply TOO MANY WORDS.  Good web and graphic design is much more about the placement of words and images in a pleasing way that communicates effectively.  What is wrong here is someone desperately trying to squeeze in as much information as possible, but good design is just as much about white space as words and pictures.  What needs to happen is to present something like a succinct and eye catching table of contents and push the information down to different pages.

Happy Suicidal Angry Birds

Why are the Angry Birds so happy to be suicidal?  They rejoice in it.  Probably because they have that cartoon can’t die sort of ethic.  They go smash and poof and reappear.  I admire that.  It’s completely Wiley E. Coyote inspired even if they are Finnish.  Do you wish we all were like that?  Our enthusiasm for life would be unmatched and it would really take the motivation out of war

The Effort of Managing Personal Debt

I recently finally paid off my Student Loan debt.  When interest rates plummeted the first time a few years ago, Sallie Mae could not compete so I took a chance and started passing it around to whatever credit card companies were offering the best deals.

Cruising through my Google Docs for a different reason I came across a payoff plan that I had created.  The amount of effort that I put into managing the debt was impressive and I feel slightly guilty about deleting a spreadsheet that I had put so much time and thought into though now it is happily irrelevant.

I hated (still hate) being billed excessively and I became a fine print expert.  I think this is one reason I started enjoying carefully reading the bad home mortgage refi deals that came in the mail pre-2008 housing crash.  But it is so nice not having that burden of potentially expensive debt anymore, and really brings home how crushing excessive debt is for those who have entirely too much of it.

Now onto paying off the car and figuring out how to own the house sooner.  Both are much more enjoyable.

The Euro: Where being too Polite is a Huge Risk

Only This American Life and Planet Money can make economics fascinating.  In particular, they are geniuses at bringing the involved personalities to life.  It's like the disaster movie where everything comes down to the choices of just a few characters.

They explained the American Housing Crisis and I can now explain what a Credit Default Swap is in some detail.  But in this show about the European Debt Crisis and how the Euro is in real danger:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/455/continental-breakup

What I find fascinating is that one reason it came about was that the other countries chose not to question the Greek deficit numbers which were later found to be false by a factor of TWO.  The reasons were that (a) everyone, especially Germany, really wanted the Euro to happen and (b) it was just impolite to say "We just don't believe your numbers."

WHAT?!  Multiibillion [insert monetary unit of your choice] decision and you're worried about offending someone?

I don't think that would have happened in the US.  The US Housing crisis was all about greed, law breaking, hiding the truth even to your customers, and betting against the very economic system you depend on.

The Greeks lied.  It sounds like they may not have meant to (some Greek-German cultural differences in play here), but they certainly slanted the truth and it took a new Greek government to come clean about it 10 years into this mess.  And the shoot-the-messenger old-guard Greek statisticians are actually trying to prosecute those involved with estimating the real amount of the Greek deficit.

The US is slowly recovering from its economic tailspin, but if Greece sinks the Euro then we all could be in a world of trouble.  They were saying that a strong nation in a group can bring all of them up, but a weak one can bring them all down.

Staying tuned...

Smart Phone, Dumb Battery

[There is an update at the end.]

So I finally got a smart phone because it made sense for me to have one professionally despite the annoying monthly cost. (I'm one of those I.T. people),  I must admit that I love having a small computer with an internet connection right in my hand whenever I want.  It's way cool.  I can be in a lengthy presentation and don't have to be away from work email.

But what I'm not happy at all about is the smartphone's battery is lucky to make it through the day and only if I turn it off part of the time.  Dumbphone will last for 3 days.

I still have dumbphone and have completely mixed feelings about giving up on it.  I sometimes go into the wilderness and for safety want to have a working phone with me.  I think if I get into the habit of turning the phone off in that situation it will work, but the thought of having the phone just completely die is very unsettling.

I could just get an additional dumbphone and have it be a pay-as-you-go phone (my dumbphone is ancient and needs to be replaced though it has outlived two younger phones).  T-Mobile has a great deal where you pay $100 for 1000 minutes, but T-Mobile doesn't have the best reception in my area.  I switched to Verizon for their great reception, but their pay-as-you-go deals are not good deals.

There is also a Motorola device that holds two charges which sounds intriguing and would be cheaper than carrying a second phone.

But I think I need to buck up and at least take the leap and stop paying contract prices for two phones.

A friend of mine who keeps up with these things tells me there are 100 companies working on this battery issue as it affects everyone with a smartphone and that's a lot of irritation.

In the meantime I get to get used to charging my phone every night.

---

So after that bit of whining I came across Battery Defender.
I was dubious at first but let it install.

What it does it that it puts a lot of unused applications to sleep (and I had already disabled or uninstalled several of them too.)  As a result I now have a phone that can easily go two days which is much more livable.

To Run Further, Fill the Tank First

I've been doing treadmill running for over a year now.  I've been slowly getting better at it, but my progress has been glacial.  I see these sofa-to-marathon training plans and I just laugh.  That may be for other people, but not me.  My feet will start to drag or my pulse used to go way high and I would have to stop.

Once in a while I would be able to go further that I normally could do and was thinking that it was because of the time of day.  Usually I run after work, but once in a while I would do it on a weekend mid-morning and I would do better then.  Finally, finally I realized it was because I had eaten beforehand and not just a handful of skittles, but an actual light meal about an hour before like one of those mini burritos or similar.

I feel so silly that it took me this long to figure it out.  Fill the tank first before you exercise, and give the food time to get into your system.   Obviously, carbs help a lot, but I'm not entirely sure it has to be that specific though I haven't tried not eating carbs.

Anyway, if I eat beforehand I can run around 50% further which is a nice non-glacial result.

Coordinating Schedules and Matching Talents - The Trouble with Dog Sports

Dog sports are a great way for you and your dog to spend time together and work on something that requires teamwork.  When it works it is very rewarding.

The trouble with dog sports is that there are two of you and each of you bring different talents to the table.  While we as dog handlers think that if we choose our canine companion well we can train them to do whatever we wish barring injury, but it doesn't always work out that way.

My chosen dog sport is agility.  I love it and have spent enough time on it that I'm pretty good at it and I'm confident teaching my dogs the skills they need to be successful at it.  The trick is that it's not either of my dogs' favorite activity.  They love doing it, but the reality of an agility trial compromises their ability to do well in it despite years of training and conditioning.  (One doesn't like all the other  dogs, the other doesn't like the noise).

Their favorites?  Herding and Obedience (and Rally).  I am fortunately already comfortable teaching my dogs obedience and rally and belong to an obedience club to consult for the more difficult to train issues.  I have a herding instructor, and had to learn how to a herding handler which is a brain bending experience that was very good for me to learn.

This is all well and good, but I miss doing agility terribly.  One dog and I still train in it and compete from time to time, but things are not looking good for the higher levels which is terribly disappointing.  I feel like the parent who has aspirations for their kid that their child doesn't share.

I'm ready, why aren't they?  Another dog?  My household is very stable with two dogs and I really don't have the time for a 3rd one (plus three dogs is not a very steady combination).  So I am either going to have to borrow a dog (but there's that time issue) or wait till I lose one of my dogs.  The trick is that could be years down the road and then I am that much older.  I keep reminding myself I do this for fun.  Really.

Facebook is Bad for Blogging

It's been 2 months since I posted here.  I blame Facebook entirely.  If you like social interaction then Facebook is very reinforcing and makes you want to post there.  I take a lot of photos and it's fun to show them to people and get their impression/opinion.

As a result my blogging here has languished.  They definitely have their separate places. The blog is better for more well thought out issues that I want to exame in more detail and have something to teach or expound upon. Facebook is the province of the silly photo and various "I hate it whens." I'm not sure what this means but Facebook has been sucking up the time more.  Right now I'm stuck in an airport and will be on a plane and maybe this is what it takes sometimes.

Reactionary Cuisine

Paula Deen (http://www.pauladeen.com/) is a moving target

I've been thinking about writing about something I'm calling Backlash Cuisine.

Backlash or Reactionary Cuisine is epitomized by the Paula Deen of around 3 years ago, and still alluded to by her. She shows you how to cook things that are guaranteed to kill you over time because "It's so stinkin' good." I call it reactionary because while much of the US is becoming aware of what a dramatic difference in their health they can make by eating a healthier diet, there seems to be an immature feeling pushback that's gaining traction (sorry for the mixed metaphor - I do love them).

Examples are the increasing size of restaurant meals. It used to be just fast food places, then Denny's jumped in and now we have well known chain restaurants doing it (how high can you stack that hamburger?). This site has a hit parade of meals with really scary calorie, fat and salt counts:


The 20 Worst Restaurant Meals in America
http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slideshow/20-worst-restaurant-foods-america

It completely underscores that restaurants do not have your health in mind when they design their menu. They just want it to taste really good. I am so looking forward to having calorie counts printed on the menu like they do now in New York.  We're starting to see it in California and it's pretty eye opening.

But it's one thing for a restaurant to slip in calories, it's quite another when you do it to yourself.

Paula Deen is the shining example of death by butter.

Things like (no urls, I refuse):
Fried butter balls
Deep fried bacon wrapped mac and cheese

And I will add the url for the donut burger because it's just so appalling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv8yEMRDe_w

It's using donuts instead of hamburger buns and she didn't slice the donut, no it's TWO donuts.

The website Serious Eats has a growing set of pages entitled Paula Deen is Trying to Kill Us
(Googling that phrase is pretty funny too)

http://www.seriouseats.com/2007/04/paula-deen-is-trying-to-kill-u.html


But while looking up the links I notice the dates seem a little old. I first heard her on Wait, wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR. Now that interview is relatively recent, so I know she still thinks "it's so stinkin' good" but these days she seems a little slimmer. (She's also utterly charming - she'd make a great assassin.)

Googling for Paula Deen weight loss reveals this amusing and slightly alarming video of her pants falling off after showing her now slimmer bum to the audience.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/archives/2009/02/paula_deen_show.php

I do wish her well and hope that she survives her success.

My "Son" the Ranch Hand

If it isn't entirely obvious I keep a (now 7 year) blog/diary about me training my dogs and all the unlikely places it's taken me, but this is more about me than them so it seems more appropriate to put it here.

Dog agility is a love of mine.  I really like the problem solving aspect of it and it's something I can do well.  One of my dogs I got with agility in mind, the other I got to manage the first dog and to maybe do agility.

Well that was the plan.  Turns out that agility is not Dog #1's (whose name is Yoshi) passion at all and all the dogs crowding around kinda drive him a bit nuts.  The reason?  He's an order obsessed herding dog.  Unauthorized motion drives him crazy and an agility trial is full of such commotion.  All he wants to do is tell other animals what to do to the point of clamping on to them which is rather frowned upon by all of us.  He is very physically talented, and could have gone to any high powered agility school he wanted and done well (in fact for a while he was at one).  It took me months to figure out that all he really wanted to be was a Ranch Hand.  Yes, my son the Ranch Hand who is pictured here.

I'm realizing that there's a lesson in there somewhere.  You have a plan for a child or a pet of yours and it turns out that's not what is going to happen.  I'm used to the idea that children have to make their own choices, but I sort of thought that I'd have some power to dictate what my dog did and I do, but it's hard to see your dog stressed out and being a freaky boy about OMG there's a dog/cat/squirrel/etc moving, so I gave in and we both started to learn herding.

Herding is a very difficult thing for a dog to learn as the dog has to respect what the handler says, in particular, STOP moving when asked.  What this means is that we argue a lot which I first thought was not a good thing for our relationship, but then I started to notice how happy he was.  He's still a head case as he worries about not being able to control the stock and starts whizzing around in manic circles which doesn't make anyone happy (especially the sheep, though the goats aren't thrilled about it either), but we're learning and I find myself in a pasture stomping around in herbivore poop wondering how I got there.  I used to be a horse person so pastures are at least familiar, but this is still not where I was aspiring to.  I was more thinking the Agility National Championships.  This certainly isn't it, but I look at the photo and realize that he's right were he wants to be.

Ya just have to Love Facebook

For me, Facebook is an excellent source of levity and reality check.

The suggestions from my "So What Now?" post were

 - Take up knitting (From a non-knitter)
 - Keep a goat herd on a mountain (a clever combination of one of my dog's obsessions and mine)
 - Ice Hockey! (From someone who does play it and has all of her teeth.  I asked if she was doing it right and she assures me she is.)
 - World Peace

For World Peace I said that I thought I should instead work on World Power and Dominion, but dictators aren't doing so well these days.  I could go back to the idea that I wanted to start my own religion, but you have to have a certain delusional intensity and maintain it.  I guess that's true for dictators too.

So Now What?

In July I finally climbed all the way up Mt. Whitney after figuring out how to overcome a lot of altitude issues and learning to feel comfortable around snow and rock.

It's been an accidental 10 year journey, one that I gave up on a few times, but couldn't let it go and would go back every couple of years or more often (once even twice in a year).

it inspired me to learn things that it turned out I didn't need to know, but am glad I did
 - snow skills like "self arrest" which is stopping your slide down a mountain with an ice axe.
 - some skiing and winter camping skills
 - rock climbing basics
 - route finding with a map and gps/compass, and how to travel cross country.

And I got to know the Mt Whitney Main trail really well.  I'd been on the lower part many times, I've been to Trail Crest (the hard part of the climb) 3 times.  I've been on the lower part of the Mountaineer's route (Different approach than the Main Trail) 3 times which is the best view of Whitney, albeit not the easiest way up it at all (especially that last part, just before the summit, where you're climbing up a very steep pile of rocks with a very long way to fall.  I don't think I'm going to do that - I prefer being roped in on such surfaces.)

And I learned the reality of "climb high, sleep low" as it's the one thing that kept me healthy, as I know that my body doesn't do that great with altitude, even if I can climb in it.

So I'm left with Now What? I've fallen in love with Mt Shasta and am getting to know Yosemite, and working on them further seems like a natural, but I hesitate to take on another inadvertent long term project.  Shasta is a tough enough mountain that it's possible despite if I keep trying that I might never summit it and I'm not sure I want to deal with that kind of "I'm a failure" disappointment.  I think I'm more interested in attainable goals, which is wussing out in a way, but honestly I'm tired of failing, and I want to work on something I at least have a chance at succeeding at.

Mountains offer easily recognizable goals.  Get to the top, being the most obvious version among many.  And I love climbing even if I struggle physically.  But my first love besides horses and dogs is cycling, and I'm thinking i want to do more of that especially mountain biking.  And, of course, there's the dog sports obsession.  Accidentally, I have three dog sports.  Agility is my first love, but one of my dogs really likes Herding (something I never thought I'd do) and the other is partial to Obedience and Rally.

But it's fun to do other things besides dog sports, even though it makes me chronically short on time, so I want to focus on something else but don't know what.
 - running? (not very good at it, but I like being able to sort of do it.)
 - cycling?
 - skiing - yes yes
 - hiking?
 - climbing?
 - kayaking?
- something else?  I really miss traveling internationally



One thing I've noticed is that I really like climbing up something and then being able to safely go down much faster.  I'm not that patient with hiking in that respect.  Once I've climbed something, I'm ready to go down ... fast.  Hence my love of cycling, skiing and glissading on snow (way cool).  Mt Diablo has a lot of fireroads that are actually too steep for me to bike much of, but I'm happy to push the bike up just so i can go down (weeee.)  River kayaking (as opposed to Sea kayaking) has going down rapids but it's a logistical hassle (two cars to shuttle things around), and there is that drowning potential that is a little bothersome, though that should get better with more experience.

So I dither and just have short local adventures.  The most recent being crashing down Shell Ridge in Walnut Creek. Ah well, the flesh wounds are healing.

I Miss My Dad

My father recently passed away and I've asked to speak at his memorial service tomorrow.
I still haven't completely decided what to say but writing it in my blog seems to help me focus (similar to my putting my struggle with writing my marriage vows here.)

The trouble is that I'm not going to be able to get a sentance out without breaking down in tears but I have to remember that's completely ok.  It's a small service with family and another family who are very close friends.

It feels a little strange to be talking about myself, but it's a lead in and it occurred to me as I was spreading his ashes, so it seems pretty essential.

------------------------------------


Two weeks ago I summitted Mount Whitney.  My father would have been so proud.
Climbing to the top of mountains was never really his thing, he more liked to go into the mountains to decompress and relax by a nice lake.  He would climb over mountain passes like Kearsarge in the Sierras, but it was more with a destination in mind.

However, he knew that I and a neighbor before me, liked climbing and he was always supportive.  He also knew of my struggles with trying to deal with altitude sickness, and what makes today in particular really hard is that I want to tell him:  I figured it out.  Here is how you do it.  I want to tell him every part of it, and he would ask me detailed questions and we would talk about it for hours.

In short, my being able to climb Mt. Whitney was a problem to solve, and he and I both have that in common.  We love to solve problems.

Mt. Whitney was never his thing because it's a popular trail and he claimed that he liked to get away from people.  That is the biggest lie and I do regret never calling him out on it, because it's a conversation he would have loved.  He would claim this wanting to get away from people, all the while talking to every single person we met on the trail.  He loved talking to people, and quite honestly he would have loved talking to all the people who are drawn to Mt. Whitney as they come from all over.  He wouldn't have even had to have gone on the trail, but could have just hung out at the cafe and store (after he got over the idea of a store in the edge of the wilderness) and talked with the very knowledgeable proprietor Doug Sr. and his wife Earlene and anyone else who stopped in.  I always go by the store and say hello to Doug and Earlene and I know it's a habit I got from Dad even if he would have claimed otherwise.

To spread Dad's ashes Terri and I drove up from the town of Independence on highway 395 to the Onion Valley which is a trailhead for going up Kearsarge Pass which is a trip that he took all the kids on.  We walked about quarter to a half mile up the trail to find a really beautiful spot and all I could think about was: How the heck did he convince his kids to put backpacks on and climb over a mountain pass.  And this is in the 70's where blisters and pain where a guaranteed part of the experience.  Not only that, we wanted to go.  What charisma he had.  And what a great attitude.  On a separate trip his boots fell apart (the soles had come off) which is a very, very serious problem.  He managed to find a pair of tennis shoes on a mule train and they wouldn't even let him pay for them and he walked out of the mountains in Keds, and never complained.  I sure would have been, but he was like that.

Terri and I would travel with Mom and Dad on trips to Canada and I took him to Scotland once.  Every so often Dad would turn up missing and I'd have to go find him.  If someone goes missing it can be quite stressful, but after a few times of this I realized how easy he was to find.  All I had to do was stop and listen for the laughter.  I would eventually find him talking to one or more people from somewhere and having a grand time.  People loved him.  I learned so much by seeming him through other people's eyes.  As his kid, I tend to see him as smart and grouchy, and kind of an overbearing pain sometimes, but seeing the real joy that he spread was such a gift to me.  I've lot count of the number of people who have gone out of their way to tell me "I really like your Dad."  And that is my take away:  People loved him and  I do too.  I miss you so much Dad.

Summiting Mt. Whitney - What It Finally Took

After 10 years of struggling with altitude issues (on and off) I finally summited Mt. Whitney and I was not ill.  It most certainly wasn't easy, but was doable without a lot of suffering (ok, a little but nothing like it's been in the past)  It took years because I had to explore all the wrong ways to do things.  I kept at it because I solve problems for a living and it was my personality that just couldn't let this problem go unsolved.  And it's gorgeous up there anyway.

The basics are, find a way to get enough oxygen, water, food, glycogen and sleep.  Oxygen trumps everything including sleep.  In fact, especially including sleep.

• climb high, sleep low
• learn pressure breathing and do it a lot on your climb, or doing any exercise
• bring and eat food you love as nothing else will look good
• bring and eat easily digestible trail snacks that you will eat while climbing
  I use Skittles of all things, and Trader Joe's Chocolate Nibs
  This is "Bonk Prevention"
• bring and drink a sports drink like Gatorade
  This is also Bonk Prevention
• sleeping low may mean a longer summit day
• spending an extra night at a moderate altitude (but still in the "sleep low" range) seems to help increase oxygen in the blood by a few percentage points
• if Diamox helps then feel free to use it

Not getting enough oxygen is probably the main reason I have gotten altitude sickness.  Two years ago I was feeling great and ready to go for the Mt. Whitney summit the next day.  I went to sleep at Trail Camp at 12,000' and woke up very ill and lucky to move anywhere, until I got enough energy to go down.  I detail that misery here:

http://nondogblog.frap.org/2009/07/mt-whitney-last-time.html

I let it go for a year and then I realized that I wanted to try again this year, but this time I was going to go from the lower Outpost Camp (10,300') which is a gorgeous place with a lovely waterfall and none of the crowded slum features of Trail Camp.

The issue is that when you fall asleep you lose control of your breathing, and at altitude it's important to be able to control your breathing, and you're at risk of getting ill from too little oxygen.

There is just as much oxygen at altitude but there is less air pressure (A great reference on this is the book "Going Higher" by Charles Houston, David Harris, and Ellen Zeman).  The effect of that lack of air pressure is when you breathe out not all of the carbon dioxide leaves your lungs leaving less space available for incoming oxygen.  To get the CO2 out of your lungs, one very effective way is to "Pressure Breathe" which is where you forcefully exhale hard.  I have a video demonstrating it in a Mt. Shasta parking lot with an oximeter here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-ZPjlWK0jc


Pressure breathing is probably the reason I summitted this time.  Alas there is no way that manually managing your breathing is a good as your automatic breathing so my climbing was slower, as I had to pause every so often.

So oxygen is the main issue but there is also the issue of maintaining the level of glycogen in your muscles.  If you've ever had the experience of suddenly having your muscles refuse to do anything at all you have "Hit the Wall" or Bonked (not in the British sense):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitting_the_wall

To avoid The Bonk you have to keep eating and drinking (more than water).  The exercise you are doing is seriously depleting your energy stores and you need to find a way to maintain or at least replenish it.  On this trip I actually did Bonk while carrying a backpack during the first part of the climb.  I had to pause and eat simple sugars (Magic Skittles in my case) and also do a lot of Pressure Breathing too to help with the oxygen part of the exhaustion.

I find that carrying heavy things takes a lot of the oxygen in my blood and there's not much left for everything else.  After about 30-45 minutes I was ok to start climbing again.  Fortunately we didn't have far to go, but we had a significant short climb left to do.

So I made it.  I started at 3am.  Summited 12 hours later, and then got back 7 hours after that.  It was a long day, but with breaks and attention to detail it was very doable, and I stayed healthy which was the important part.

Given that I am no naturally very good at elevations over 12,000' I'm probably going to make this my first and last 14er.  I was working on climbing Mt. Shasta too, but things are much harder when snow is involved and I had a hard enough time on the trail (and Shasta is much steeper too.)  I have gotten up to Helen Lake 3 times (one time even higher) and glissaded down but I think, for me, Shasta is going to be a place to ski on which is a very nice thing.  It's a way of extending your ski season by two months, and it's so lovely to camp near the cabin and that wonderful spring.

But back to Whitney.  The answer is you can do it.  It takes care and determination and thought but it is possible, you just gotta work for the oxygen.

Shasta Skiing

Before I get into the Whitney entries I just wanted to mention that after I decided that I didn't want to go on a multi-night snow camping trip by myself, I turned it into a couple a days trips skiing which was much more fun.

The is the second of two trips.  The first one is where I made the Pressure Breathing demo video in one of the lower entries.  This time I was using the Randonee skis again (same ones and I might buy them) but struggled to find a boot that fit me.  Leif at 5th Season tells me that that issue goes away when you buy the boots as they a fitted to you by using heat molding.

This trip was two weeks later and the snow was now not fun anymore but very sun cupped.  On one day I would up snowshoeing instead.

Shasta Revelation: I Don't Want to Do This by Myself

It's funny what it takes for something to FINALLY get through to me.  I'm in the final planning for a Mt. Shasta trip.  I'm going to have to spend a couple of days at altitude to see if I can adjust to the elevation more to see if my blood oxygen level increases to more acceptable levels.

I've done these trips before both with and without other people.  The times I've been by myself I've been miserable at camp - missing Terri, missing my dogs.  I have a great time talking to people there at Horse Camp and higher, but when I am in camp I get lonely.  And after the trip, it's funny how quickly I forget that.  I've been planning this trip for a months  now and while this must have been in the back of my brain at the time I was completely committed to figuring out this altitude issue that I appear to have (low blood oxygen at altitude)  I get obsessed with the details and I forget but just now as I'm in the middle of putting everything together (see photo) - it hits me.  I don't want to go like this.  I want Terri with me.  Of course it's logistically too late for this trip so we're looking at next year but I'm amazed at just how blind I can be sometimes.

So Terri agree to go next year and I'm kicking myself for being SO dern slow at getting this.  Who knows I could change my mind again (not leaving for a couple of days) and I'll still go, but instead will likely ski or day climb, both of which don't answer my altitude questions.  We are going to Mt. Whitney in a couple of weeks so I'll get a chance to research it them.  But it's crazy making how conflicted I am about this.  I love climbing, but am unwilling to pay the price of time to make myself successful at it.

Good thing I'm not out of any money, but this is frustrating.

Pay Pal Scam

I find I'm often writing about these types of scams over and over so I thought I'd write something I could refer to later.

It's very common to the point of passe' to get Pay Pal scams in email.  They're actually getting less common as they are kinda patently obvious, and people are getting wiser these days and scammers seem to have moved on to Facebook viruses and breaking into Yahoo accounts.  That said, there are always the Junior Scammers who are just getting their fingers going.

So in email, I receive something from allegedly from Pay Pal with the Subject line "Update your account"

Warning Notification

		Dear PayPal Member, It has come to our attention that your PayPal® account information needs to be  updated as part of our continuing commitment to protect your account and to  reduce the instance of fraud on our website. If you could please take 5-10 minutes out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into any future problems with the online service. However, failure to update your records will result in account suspension.  Please update your records before June, 30, 2011. Once you have updated your account records, your PayPal® account activity will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Click here to update your PayPal account information [link removed]

Now first of all Pay Pal says they NEVER send this sort of request, but that's not the only thing.
Key elements of a scam are:

• Vague "Dear Pay Pal Customer
• Ominous tone "Warning" "Account Suspension" "problems"
• Sense of urgency - you need to act now
• Some drivel about "protecting your account" for which their feet should be held to the fire for an extended period of time

One thing way that you know Pay Pal or your bank is really who they say who they are is that they address you by your name.  When that is missing, with a bit of practice it's absence really sticks out.
Then the ominous tone becomes a joke.  If you're not sure about something then try doing nothing and see what happens.  If there's really a problem you'll get more email or even a phone call.

Then in these scams there is usually (almost always) a link for you to click on.  The link may say "PayPal," but it's actually going somewhere else.  You can try this link:  PayPal
After you click on it, come back and just hover the mouse over it.  You will see nowhereinparticular.com, which I assure you has nothing to do with PayPal.

So when you get one of these emails if it's not plainly obvious it's a scam, you can hover your mouse over the link to verify that it's not PayPal, though you have to be careful.  Bad guys sometimes name things paypal.badsite.com, which is just them naming one of their hosts "paypal."  The "paypal" has to be right before the ".com/" for it to be legit.

Blood Oxygen Percentage and Climbing - Good and Bad News

After my father passed away my family decided to give me his Oximeter which is that small thingy (technical term) that they clip onto the end of your finger at the hospital or doctor's office to measure the percentage  of oxygen in your blood.  Given that I've struggled with getting enough oxygen at altitude, I've considered buying one before, but held off due to the $300 cost,  As a result, it's a sweet and much appreciated gift.

One of my hesitations about buying one was that I wasn't sure how much information out of it.  It's easy for me to justify the cost of a GPS as I know what to expect out of it and use one very, very often.  Knowing my blood O2 % was either going to be really revealing or really boring.

At sea level it's very boring which is what you want.  Normal readings are 90-100% below 90% is hypoxia and a potentially dangerous condition.  Hypoxia can make both pilots and mountaineers really stupid sometimes.  I live at a glorious 20' elevation so mine is 98-99% and other people around me often have 100% readings.

However when I drive up to nearly 7000' I now know that my oxygen level plummets to the 80's without a lot of help with pressure breathing.  I made a video testing this out at Bunny Flat on Mt Shasta:

The fact that I can at least temporarily fix it with pressure breathing is both good and bad news.  The problem is that the effects of pressure breathing are highly temporary, so you have to be willing to do it a lot,  The other problem is that this explains why I sometimes get sick when I sleep at 12,000' even when taking Diamox (a drug that increases your respiration rate).  When I sleep, my respiration level goes down and my oxygen level stays very low for too long.  What I don't know yet is if there's a way that I can adapt by spending a night or two at just below the altitude that I get ill.

Even small changes in altitude will affect blood oxygen as there is lower air pressure.  Even in Redding (1000') my reading was 96%.  In Mt Shasta City (3653') it was in the low 90's.

It probably is the powers that be telling me that I have the wrong hobby and I should be doing more kayaking, sailing, and other sea level events.  I love kayaking and know how to sail and live near the water, but there's something about the mountains that calls out to me.  It may be that I am doomed not to climb super high (I don't climb well above a certain altitude which varies), but I have a new toy/tool and can gather a fair bit of information with it.

The next thing to do will be to drag my sorry butt up to Horse Camp at 7900' and hang there for a couple of days and see if my base level of blood oxygen changes.

Another thing I want to check on is how is my O2 level affected by exercise.  Is my leg dragging because of low oxygen? 

This should be fun.  Besides it's the climbing season and it's gorgeous even if I'm not getting up super high.  I'm also learning to ski off piste and skiing in June is just glorious - note the crowds on Mt Shasta.

The Year's First Predatory Loan Offer

When the housing bubble finally burst (took long enough didn't it?) all of the predatory loan offers disappeared from my mailbox.  It was surprisingly sudden.  It's like they all went off to the Cayman Islands to open casinos or something.

Maybe it's a way of measuring that the market is recovering some, or that we didn't punish the perpetrators enough, but one substandard loan-sharky offer has finally reappeared in the mailbox.

Since this is more about how to read Fine Print that to pick on a particular company (even though they really do deserve it) I've taken the name out of the images.

So after some introductory statements trying to make things look legit which is just quoting stuff off of public record here is the body of the letter:

It clearly says "Lock in a fixed rate" and even uses the S-word: security.
And goes on to say that they have an A rating with the BBB (A+ being the best).  Sadly this is true.

Now (and this is the important part) skip to the bottom.  They have to say (in the finest print possible) what they are actually talking about:

(Sorry for the too wide image - I wanted it to be readable)

"This is an offer for s new 5 year adjustable rate mortage." NOT a fixed rate.
and (OMG) "with an interest-only payment"

ARMs are not horrible (more info http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomeFinancing/could-a-5-year-arm-save-you-money.aspx) it's fixed for 5 years (which is why they get to imply that it's a fixed rate loan), but after 5 years the rate then adjusts ever year.  If you're going to sell you house in under 10 years and if (big if) your house's value hasn't been over-inflated and is about to become unsellable for at least what you paid for it, then an ARM is not too awful, but what makes this particular loan fall into the Run Away category is the "interest-only."  Your payments are doing nothing, but making the lender rich.  And you have probably paid a fee to them as well for the privilege.

I Wanna be a Philanthropist or Venture Capitalist

This really should just be a Facebook post but Facebook makes me neglect my blog so this is just evening things out.

i think I'd be good at figuring out who to give significant portions of money to, but I don't know how to train for such a career.  And I lack the essential large pile of money.  I have fun with my itty bitty pile at the end of the year enough to be harrassed by the recipents the rest of the year, but it's just not the same.

I think I should practice saying No as that's an essential VC skill.  We have and depend on caller ID to ignore the robot callers, but if I would just pick up the phone and politely say to the poor minimum wage slave that is answering the rare call pickups that "I'm sorry, we don't accept sales calls." and "Our donation program period is at the end of the year, and no it doesn't matter what your agenda or campaign is."  (The obvious exceptions would be around election time but we'll skip that.)

It takes effort to give money, and surprisingly little effort to say no.  It's completely maddening that charities will turn right around the second you give them money and ask for more.  It's hard not to take it personally, but they are operating on their own schedules and you have to realize that you don't have to dance to the same beat.

But back to my silly ambition.  It would be really cool to be in a position to really make a difference by investing $$$ in new research or new infrastructure, or just keep my favorite artists collective afloat.

Judgment Day - Another Jonestown?

The fervor that Harold Camping has stirred up about his current prediction of May 21 being a day that at around 6pm there will be a massive Earthquake felt around the world (never mind that's not how earthquakes work - duh) and that the usual Christian cataclysmic events will occur, has me concerned.  Dynamic leaders know they carry a lot of sway but there are some ways that they seem unable to see..

Mr. Camping (who is 89 according to here) says he is 100% sure that "judgment day" (lower case intentional) will be May 21, 2011.  What he seems to lack is a plan B that he claims there is no need for and he desperately needs one.  Given that he is 89 and he group doesn't quite count as a cult (Dynamic Leader - check, Us and Them - check, Cloistered membership - nope.) I don't quite seem him pulling off a mass suicide like in Jonestown especially since Christians are taught to be passive and wait, but I don't think he realizes that the disappointment and outright anguish that his followers are going to experience.  I worry that those who truly feel abandoned are going to feel suicidal and I worry that there is a definite risk of several of them jumping off of the cliff that they're likely out waiting on.

Several of us happy heathens have been having a good time about this but there is a serious side to it. 
If you know someone who has bought into this, please check in with them.  They will not be happy campers on May 22.

The Judgement Day people need FUD lessons

I was serious Christian from when I was 16 to until I was 20.

When I was even younger, I figured out that Jesus would come back in 1983.  Even at the time I honestly didn't believe it then and now most certainly don't since I'm no longer a Christian (I'm much more a Gnostic and the rest of Christianity wiped them out so I rather enjoy holding a grudge).  To help myself extract myself from Christianity, I took a fair bit of Christian history in college and it helped me a lot with perspective.  Anyway my point is doing these calculations are not hard as there are a lot of what appears to be hard numbers in the Bible.

So now we have Judgement Day prediction du mois which is set for May 21.

This end times thing is absolutely nothing new.  The early Christians thought Jesus was coming back very soon (like within their lifetimes, and that feeling is often stoked from time to time.

Reading this fantastic NPR article here: http://www.npr.org/2011/05/12/136239062/divining-doomsday-an-old-practice-with-new-tricks
It's clear that what Mr Camping needs is FUD lessons (Fear, Uncertainly, Doubt).  The strongest fears are vague and for heavens (sorry) sake don't put a date on it, you're just going to look like the moron that you really are.

And what I can't figure out is it they people are literalists then they really have their order all wrong.

I still have a New International Version of the Bible (a very geeky bible)

The order laid out in Revelation indicates that the current wackos are just off the scale.

There isn't a rapture in Revelation by the way.  In fact the word isn't in the Bible though this reference points out the various places the concept may be referred to in the Bible: http://christianity.about.com/od/faqhelpdesk/a/whatisrapture.htm

- Christ reappears in Rev 19:11 if you believe that "Faithful and Truth" is Jesus
- lots of B Movie bloodshed ensues
- then 1000 years passes (Where is this in their calculations?)
- at the end of that then Satan is unbound
- then you finally get your Judgment Day

Do you know how much I'm looking forward to doing a: "Happy Judgement Day, All sinners present and accounted for?" Status update?  And of course there will be: "Happy Day After Judgment Day."   A friends wants to see if she can talk one of them out of the nice car that they're driving.  I look forward to see if she succeeded.

The Search for the Perfect Place

My father very recently passed away, which albeit expected doesn't make it any easier.

He wished to be cremated and my family has asked that some of his ashes be taken to the Sierras and I'm the only one able to make the trip.  My father loved the Sierra's.  He was a Boy Scout leader and took my brother's troop on trips there and later started taking my sister and brother and a family friend, then finally after a whole bunch of whining and prodding, I was included - first to the San Gabriel Mountains and then a couple trips to the Sierra's. 

Honestly, no one cares where I take the ashes including my Dad (perhaps especially him).  I could drive to the Sierra's, stop by a nice trailhead and dump them off, but of course the original inspiration for the suggestion was from the trips that he often talked about. But this isn't about him, it's about what I can live with for the rest of my life and the "where" really matters to me.  It mattered when I was distributing some of my dog's ashes and it really matters with my Dad's. It's a way of closure and the more effort I put into the process, the more at peace I will be.

But we are talking about the Sierra's here which is not always the most straightforward of destinations.  At first it was going to be really easy.  I have a Whitney trip coming up in July and I can easily take the ashes with me (it will only be some of the ashes so it won't be a huge deal bringing them.)  No problem right?

Leave it to me to over-think things.  Dad never climbed or even tried to climb Mt. Whitney even though a neighbor of ours did several times.  It was just never his thing I get the impression.  He went into the mountains to get away and the Mt. Whitney Main Trail is not the place to get away from people.  Ironically I don't mind people, I go into the mountains for the challenge and beauty of them and the people there usually don't bother me and are often welcome company.  In fact, if I'm hiking by myself having people around is a safety net of sorts - it's why Terri is ok with me going to Mt. Shasta by myself as you're never really completely by yourself.

But back to the issue at hand - making a simple task complicated.  So I'm thinking that Mt. Whitney may not be the ideal place.  My Dad was always looking for nice lakes to camp near.  Unlike me, he wasn't necessarily a climber.  He was much more into finding a nice spot to decompress.

So I'm thinking what lake?  Well there's no shortage of really nice lakes, but it has to be one with meaning.  The place that Dad spoke of over and over again was going over Kearsarge Pass (11,750') and then down into that area which has some lovely lakes like Bullfrog and Charlote Lakes.  Those would be just fine, but the trip that he talked about over and over again is the one didn't start at Kearsarge but from the West side via Bubb's Creek.  It was the time where he took us up a climber's trail (not a regularly maintained trail) into Gardiner Basin.  What made the trip memorable was not only the scenery, but his willingness to let me talk him into taking a "shortcut" up a mountain side.  We did not get all the way up and wound up spending the night on it.  In fairness, he did check this plan out with a ranger and the ranger thought it might be fun.  It was mostly a lesson for me in just how big mountains can be especially when you're 15 years old.

Here's the basic layout.  The actual trail is in pink and my shortcut is in red.  The plan was to get from Bubb's Creek to Charlotte Lake over night there and then go up into Gardiner Basin to the North.  We never made it that far and that's where we got to sleep with the Manzanitas.

Then the next day we hiked up into Gardiner Basin which should have been hard and was, but was nothing compared to yesterday's misadventure, and that's where we landed for a couple of days.  Just fishing and messing around the lakes.  I wasn't a climber then so it's didn't occur to me to climb Mt Gardiner or Mt Cotter.  It sure would have now.

So the choice that immediately occurred to me was somewhere in Gardiner Basin, but I haven't been over there since and if I go into that area I likely would like to go see something else, so I vacillate.  What makes me hesitate is that it's two day trip and there are some gorgeous places that we (Terri will come along) will pass up to do it.

I think one solution I have for the moment is to go in via Kearsarge on the East side and camp at Charlotte Lake (if it's allowed, it's a popular place).  Then just climb over to Gardiner as a day trip and come back and then if we wish, we can go somewhere else like Rae Lakes or 60 Lake Basin since I've seen neither place.  But all this rigmarole seems a little silly as simply going to the gorgeous places would be more than fine.  And so I dither.  Fortunately unlike a Whitney trip I have some time to make up my mind.

Epilogue
My sister found some photos of a Kearsarge trip we took and that trip started in the Onion Valley.  Fortunately the Onion Valley is out of Independence which is just north of Lone Pine where Terri and I were going anyway.  So we wound up driving up to the Kearsarge pass trail head and walking 1/3 of a mile up the trail till we found this gorgeous spot similar to the photo which was just perfect and it didn't take a day of trekking to get there either.