News and Views From my kids accomplishments, to my heretical perspective of the world

(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 the authorities require that you carry and use a WAG (Waste Alleviation and Gelling) bag. After use, the contents are double bagged and carried with you until you leave the Whitney area.

Here’s the outside packaging of mine before I used it. Notice that the handy chair shown in the picture doesn’t come with it. The actual bag inside is much larger — about like a kitchen garbage bag.

The bag does have chemicals inside that reduce odor, but it still seemed kind of yucky to be carrying it around. There are lots of cheaters, I’m sure, but the park service reports that they collect over 3 tons of human waste every year at the WAG bag disposal stations, so they certainly get used. I guess the cute name helps alleviate some of the yuck factor.

Dale and I are preparing to hike the John Muir Trail in the California Sierra. It starts at Yosemite Valley, passes through Kings Canyon and Sequoia, and ends at the top of Mt. Whitney, 210 miles away. We will have to climb over several 11,000 and 12,000 foot passes on the way.

Dale left this morning in my van so he could pick up the Troverts (X and N) and their friend Dr. Suuz at LAX and then head on up to Mammoth Lake, where they will acclimate for three days. I will fly up to join them on Friday (yes, there is an airport at Mammoth Lakes), losing a couple of days of acclimatization to take care of some things here before I leave the low country. From Mammoth Lakes we will take a shuttle up to Yosemite on Saturday and start the hike on Sunday.

The JMT is not like the Appalachian Trail that Dale (Castaway) hiked last year. The AT passes through many towns along the way with lots of opportunity to resupply. The JMT is almost entirely in wilderness. We will be able to get supplies in Tuolumne Meadows, but otherwise we had to pack 3 boxes and send them ahead to be waiting for us at a couple of wilderness “ranches”. In one case we had to mail a box to a mule driver who will pack our supplies over a pass and meet us on the trail. I hope we both arrive on schedule.

The other main difference between the JMT and the AT (besides being less than 1/10 as long) is the high elevation. After the first day we will not drop below 8000 feet, while the AT peaks at 6600 feet and much of the way is below 3000 feet. That thin air takes a toll, especially in the first few days before your body gets used to it.

We arrived back in Phoenix last night around 6:00pm. The pilot announced that it was 111 degrees as we were approaching the airport. What a shock after three weeks of temperatures in the 60s!

It was a great trip. We met a lot of friendly and helpful French people, who don’t deserve their reputation of hostility towards Americans. If you approach them respectfully they will reciprocate likewise.

Annecy in the foothills of the Alps was wonderful. Gisele and I are talking about going back there sometime and spending a few weeks, perhaps taking classes at a language institute.

Normandy was very moving, and prompted me to read “The Longest Day”, about the D-Day invasion. There is a lot of history in the area, and plenty of museums to display it.

The excesses of Versaille, the enormous estate built by Louis the 14th, helped me understand what pushed the French people to revolution a few years later. So much opulence while the people were starving in the streets. While there are still great inequities of wealth in the world, democracy tends to reduce the ability of a head of government to grab all the wealth for himself.

With the excepting of having my phone picked from my pocket, the time in Paris was also pleasant. The mass transit system there is among the best in the world. You can generally catch a subway within a 5-minute walk of wherever you are and end up within 5 minutes of where you want to go. Of course, you may walk over 5 minutes within a station going from train to train. My main complaint about Paris is the size of the hotel rooms.

Gisele would probably go back to France every year, but there are too many other places in the world I haven’t seen, or would like to see again, so I don’t expect this to become an annual pilgrimage for me. But I’ll be glad to go again some year, but let me get over jet lag first.

After the other women returned to the US yesterday, Gisele and I drove to the small town of Bayeux in Normandy. Today we went to Omaha Beach, the first landing point on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

We first went to the American Cemetery near the beach.

I didn’t expect to be as moved as I was. As I walked through the field of cross after cross, I began reading the names, rank, state, and date of death on each cross (or star of David). It brought home to me that each one represented a real person who had died here in Normandy. There are so many!

We then went to the hills above the beach and explored the ruins of the German bunkers overlooking the beach.

Finally I went down on the beach where the American troops landed and looked up at the hill.

I kept thinking of the D-Day scene from “Saving Private Ryan”. I could see where the German bunkers were located, and I imagined trying to move up that hill carrying 75 pounds of equipment while being fired on from above.

I will definately watch SPR again with a new perspective.

There are several museums around the area dedicated to WW2 and especially the Allied thrust through Normandy. We visited one of the best in nearby Caen and spent over three hours going through the exhibits that started from the end of WW1 through the rise of Hitler and on to D-Day and the end of the war. Audio guides, movies, a WW2 tank, airplane and soldier’s equipment brought it to reality. Today has probably been the best part of the trip to France.

Yesterday we went to the house where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life, in a little town called Clos Luce. I stood in the bedroom where he died.

There were many models of his inventions, some of them full size and working, that we could touch and move. Here is his machine for lifting heavy objects, demonstrated by traveling friend Sharon.

We also visited the largest castle in the region, out of more than 300, at Chenonceau. Huge castle and grounds. Somebody sure had a lot of money.

That evening the couple we are staying with treated us to a quiche dinner. Here are Karen, the Madame, the Monsieur, and Janice at the table in the back yard. Of course the meal included bread, local wine, and camembert cheese.

Derek graduated with a BS in Mathematics in December, but even before he graduated he had set his sights on becoming an actuary. This past Monday he began working as an intern at an actuarial consulting firm in Scottsdale (Optumas). It’s a 6-month internship with a probable full-time job offer at some time during that period if both parties like what they see.

Interestingly, last month the Wall Street Journal published a list of “Best and Worst Careers“, and actuary came out number 1, at the top of the list. They based the rankings on “High pay, low stress, a robust hiring outlook, a healthy work environment and minimal physical exertion”.

Here’s another article from CNN about how actuary is “the best job you have never heard of”. The article gives a brief description of what actuaries do.

Actuaries have to pass a series of difficult tests to rise in the field. Most applicants take a test every 6 months to a year, and pass rates are generally less than 50%. In the four months since graduating, Derek has passed the first two tests and will be taking the third next week. However, he warns that now that he is working he won’t have as much time to study and his progress will probably slow significantly. Still, it’s a good start.

In my last post I described how Gisele had surgery on her finger to remove a cyst. One result of the cyst was frequent infection under the nail.

Since surgery more infection has set in. The doctor had her on oral Keflex for three weeks and it has been improving, but slowly. This week he is concerned enough that he has started her on twice-daily intravenous antibiotics.

The visiting nurse came on Friday evening to start the IV. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, he failed on two attempts (poor Gisele!), so another nurse tried again Saturday morning. This time it went fine.

The catheter stays in the vein in the back of her hand and twice a day I hook up to it and administer the drugs. This will go on for a week.

The infection seems minor, but I guess this is how MRSA and C-Dif get started, and we certainly don’t want that. It already seems a little better today, so we are hopeful that this will do it.

Derek went to the orthopedic surgeon for a followup to his shoulder surgery of 6 weeks ago, and was told he no longer needs to wear the sling. He is celebrating. He is progressing well, has full range of motion and feels pretty comfortable. Now he just has to continue to heal and strengthen the shoulder

But the sling doesn’t get put on a shelf, since Dale broke his clavicle yesterday and needs to keep his arm in a sling for a few weeks. A timely trade!