Mt Whitney Photos
Mt Whitney in Three Hats
The new hat on the left shows the elevation of Mt Whitney to be 14,508. The old hat on the right shows an elevation of 14,497.61 The third hat is one I bought in 2013 and lost on Mt Charleston, NV in 2014. It showed a different elevation but still within a few feet of the others.
The equipment for measuring the elevation of mountains is getting better so the data are changing which eventually effects the hats.
Side story: I first hiked Mt Whitney with Lilli in September of 2013 and bought a tan hat at the Whitney Portal Store. In the spring of 2014 while hiking with Howard R. in Nevada I lost the hat at Mt Charleston. That Fall I hiked Mt San Jacinto above Palm Springs with Byron W. and at the top of the mountain down in the rocks I found the tatty hat shown on the right above. So when Rebecca asked if I wanted to Hike Whitney again I had to accept. We got to the top on July 6, 2015 and I bought the new hat shown on the left above. I’m planning to “lose” the old one on one of the local mountain tops soon to complete the cycle. Is this littering?
Mt Whitney 2015
Two weeks from today I will be making another attempt to hike up Mt Whitney with Rebecca, Anthony and some of their friends. Heidi, Chris, Matt and ?
Two years ago I made the hike with Lillian, Ben and Carmella and got to the top. It was an amazing experience in itself. As a bonus the training in preparation for the hike is a way to get in good shape and stay very focused.
I have three more serious hikes to make before our departure on July 2nd for our permit date on July 6th. There are terrific trails in Southern California and I’m seeing lots of them and what they have to offer.
Most of the time I hike alone. To keep busy I mentally write lists, poems and blog posts. I do math problems in my head, review old grudges and try to calculate my location.
Here is my draft of my hiking rules which is a list and a blog post. I’m working on a poem that starts:
Two trails diverged in a western wood
we took the one more traveled by
and that has made all the difference
we came to water and are still alive today.
But I’m having trouble duplicating Frost’s rhyming scheme. ABAAB and generally am not a poet.
Nurit and Lillian are coming along on this expedition as the support staff. It should be a very good weekend independent of whether we make the summit.
Simon’s Rules for Hiking
This draft of Simon’s hiking rules is a work in process.
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Stay positive, you are more than halfway to somewhere.
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Bring extra water.
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Buy good boots that fit properly.
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Hike when you can, don’t wait for good conditions.
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Smile and say hello to people on the trail. This is a community of strangers.
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Getting to the peak is not mandatory, getting back to the trail head is.
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Enjoy the journey, the destination is a bonus.
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Hiking is not climbing, climbing is not hiking.
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Avoid Littering and pick up litter on your way back to the trail head.
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Don’t cut the switchbacks.
The Future
“The upper classes are merely a nation’s past;
the middle class is its future.”
Ayn Rand, Russian-American author (1905-1982).
Crony Capitalism
Both the Left and the Right denounce crony capitalism,
The right is furious about the cronyism,
and the left is furious about the capitalism.
Jonah Goldberg
Meanwhile I’m training to hike Mt Whitney on July 6.
He’s Back
“Walking is man’s best medicine”
Hippocrates, Father of Medicine
That is the famous Broom Tree in the background from today’s training hike.
Idaho
The Sawtooth Mountains
are often confused with the Bitterroots.
Fortunately without consequences.
Have I been here?
We spent four days at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in July 2014
There are lots of mountains.
We spent four days at Lake Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in July 2014
There are lots of mountains.
Banana Slug
“Change is hard,
Not changing is even harder.”
Have I been here?
I have seen the banana slugs in Oregon.
They are unattractive and slimey.
I have seen the banana slugs in Oregon.
They are unattractive and slimey.
Angeles National Forest National Monument
The designation on Thursday by President Obama of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument took me completely by surprise. I had no idea that a change of status for part of what is now a National Forest was even being considered. According to the LA Time article the designation will help increase funding for preserving and enhancing the area. An organization called San Gabriel Mountains Forever has been advocating for more protection and development of recreational facilities in the area for a decade. My search indicated that San Gabriel Mountains Forever has been asking for the National Monument designation since August 2014.
Why did the President do it now? Declaring a National Monument is one of the things that Presidents can do without Congressional approval. There is always a strong desire by people who lead to Do Something. It also justifies a trip to Los Angeles and makes a local Congress-person happy.
The authority to declare National Monuments was given in the antiquities act of 1906 and has been used by many president since to create additional protections for federal land. I had earlier told people that the act was only used to protect small areas until President Clinton declared a large portion of Federal Land in Southern Utah to be the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. I was wrong. President Carter used the act to make a very large National Monument in Alaska, President Roosevelt used it to greatly expand Grand Teton National Park and there are many others. In all of these cases the President acted because Congress was listening to local interests and not acting. They were almost always very controversial acts.
In my opinion creating a National Monument in the Angeles National Forest is a really bad idea. I have list of reasons for my opposition most of which stem from my practical experience and my libertarian bent. I really don’t have a dog in this fight. Where I do most of my hiking is not included in the designated area. So why am I opposed?
At a time when the Federal Government is having a difficult time managing its current portfolio (the VA and Secret Service for example) why increase its responsibility.
When the Congress and the President have budget fights the first thing that they shut down is public land. This designation increases the power of the spenders.
The Park Service and the Forest Service are always short of funds. Why do we think that increasing their responsibility will increase their funding.
The attraction of the San Gabriel Mountains is not that they are beautiful. They are not. Their attraction is that they are a near wilderness close to a large population area. By increasing the footprint of the government on the area their attractiveness will inexorably be lowered.
A designation of a large area as a National Monument has almost always lead to its becoming a National Park. This restricts its use to low impact recreation. Is this what we want for the long run?
There are at least two alternatives to creating a National Monument and its increase in local dependency on federal largess. One is the Swiss model of private ownership of mountain land with very strict zoning and local control. The trails in the Swiss Alps rival those in Yosemite and Colorado and there are inns and chalets every few miles. See a discussion of this here. The other alternative is to turn the vast majority of Federal land over to the states. That is what happened in the Northeast and it seems to be working very well. Local control often gives better balanced results than national control.
One final thought: Why is it that Disneyland charges $100 a day and is always crowded while hiking in the mountains is free and the trails are nearly empty?