While coming down from 12,000 foot Mather Pass, I was hiking behind Dr. Suuz, and noticed that she seemed to be limping a little. She admitted that her knee was bothering her a little, but she didn’t think it was serious. Just as we were almost off the steep part, she suddenly stumbled and almost […]
Entries from August 2013
Helicopter Med-Evac
August 18th, 2013 · 1 Comment
Tags: Family Updates
Solar Charger
August 16th, 2013 · 4 Comments
I took a small solar charger with me on the John Muir Trail, to keep my smart phone and SteriPen charged. The Switch Eight charger by Goal Zero comes with a solar panel and a rechargeable Li-Ion battery. You charge the battery up with sunlight during the day, then use the battery to recharge phones […]
Tags: Uncategorized
Foot Problems
August 15th, 2013 · 7 Comments
A couple of weeks before I started the Big Hike, I had some inflammation in the first joint of the second toe on my left foot. That’s right in the ball of the foot and each step was painful. The podiatrist gave me an injection of cortisone and it was feeling pretty good when it […]
Tags: Uncategorized
JMT Elevation Profile
August 14th, 2013 · 3 Comments
The John Muir Trail can be hiked from north to south (Yosemite to Mt. Whitney), or from south to north (Whitney to Yosemite). Most people do it north to south, as we did, for one very good reason: The elevation profile. As you can see from the graph, the trail starts at 4000 feet elevation […]
Tags: Family Updates
Perseids
August 14th, 2013 · 2 Comments
The Perseid meteor shower peaked on our last night in the Sierra. We slept at over 10,000 feet elevation that night and the skies were clear. The Milky Way stretched from mountain-blocked horizon to mountain-blocked horizon, and there were as many stars visible in the sky as I have ever seen. I got up a […]
Tags: Family Updates
WAG Bag
August 14th, 2013 · 5 Comments
(So I chose this topic first…?) The area around Mount Whitney gets so much hiker traffic that it could not withstand the usual human solid waste disposal method of burying 6 inches deep. There would be trenches everywhere and up in the higher elevations the number of rocks make digging a trench almost impossible. So […]
Tags: Family Updates
Back from the John Muir Trail
August 13th, 2013 · 3 Comments
220 miles, 11 passes and an ascent of Mount Whitney. A helicopter evacuation of one of our party with an injured knee. Well below freezing temperatures at one campsite at just under 12,000 feet. I came home with sore feet and 15 pounds lighter (160 going in, 145 now). I think I need to gain […]
Tags: Uncategorized