New and Experienced Climbers over 50 #31

Lori Milas wrote:

It's kind of hard to believe... that this virtual campfire is still going strong.    

I feel like the universe has sent me some powerfully strong messages in the last few days to help me adjust my feelings of doom and gloom about aging.  I don't even realize when the dread and anxiety are creeping up again, but it's a slowly sinking feeling.  This may be our contribution to the understanding of aging... that we seem to be giving the middle finger to age.  (Carl, included).  

Allow me to let you in on a little dietary secret that allows me to remain youthful.  I eat at least one cat a day.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a PNW road trip, crossing Rainy Pass from W to E- it had just opened a few days before after the Ruby Fire came into control in that area. A day or two later, we drove up to Hart's Pass- hadn't been there since I hiked the PCT back in the 80's. There were huge swaths of burned trees from an earlier fire (looked like 5-10 years ago), which is always striking, but somehow is even more striking in the PNW where the stands are so dense, massive and uniform. It was a brilliantly beautiful day, with very little smoke visible anywhere- this gorgeous section was closed, and the re-route wasn't at all appealing, requiring hiking waaaaay down to the east towards Mazama, then back up to the crest. I thought of you, Brad, empathetically...and there was definitely a part of me that wondered how I'd approach this closure if I'd hiked all this way...or had been devoted to it like you and your daughters have been...given how splitter that day was, it would be hard to not just go for it.

Just below Hart's Pass, I saw this image on a trailhead sign, and modified it, emulating a common meme that has been recently popular. It just seemed to fit:

Brad Young wrote:

Phylp: the icon you posted included the phrase: "Based on a study done by Carl Douglas in 1974."

Only a person our age would see that and understand that it's actually part of the joke. Nice job ;)

LOL!  These funny things pop up in my Facebook feed every day. I thought that one was particularly cute. But getting the joke is definitely age-dependant!

"Climbing is too much of a blessed quest to give up just because, well, I suck. Climbing is more than grades. The world is still full of new adventures and cliffs, new people to meet and old friends to share a rope with. I plan on sucking in as many of those places and with as many folks as life will allow." Russ Clune from his recent article about being old in Climbing magazine . Rich gets a nice mention as well!

Article 

apogee wrote:

...and there was definitely a part of me that wondered how I'd approach this closure if I'd hiked all this way...or had been devoted to it like you and your daughters have been...given how splitter that day was, it would be hard to not just go for it.

Oh yes, we thought about "going for it" possibilities. Did we ever. Two things stopped us.

The first was the chance that the closure where we needed to start hiking would lift. Other closures nearby lifted a couple weeks ago. But for some reason, this one did not. The other fires were bigger and, at least looking at WiFire, the little fires near the first hiking we need to do have been out for a few weeks now. Still no opening.

The second thing, and this eliminated possibilities quickly, is the very rough and remote nature of where we needed to be. There's one trailhead in the area, the one we came out on last summer (using any other trailhead would add on tens and tens of miles - many with very bad trail conditions). This trailhead has been closed also because of the fire. So that's 10 or 12 miles of road that we'd somehow have to travel undetected just to get to our start point. Other, similar difficulties would continue, but you get the point. There just didn't seem to be any realistic way to get in there.

I'd expect though that more than one through-hiker just quietly continued through the area. Hiking at night if necessary, pleading ignorance in the unlikely chance that they were seen.

EDIT: I don't think it was mistake to let my hopes get so high. Everything else needed to do this trip aligned perfectly. Dammit.

Phylp saved the day with her post yesterday.  Thank you, Phylp!  Except now the song is stuck in my head.  

Brad, I'm so sorry about your hike.  Is it 'no' for now, or 'no' forever?  Something this big no doubt involved a lot of meticulous planning and awaiting... this is a hard pill to swallow.  

I finally got out of the house to take a walk this morning... due to the smoke, I've just stayed inside.  I swung by the Sphinx to consider a way up.  There is a route called Cleopatra on this formation, which looks almost doable (by me).

A ways past that is a rock I discovered... but Bob says I didn't.  He likes to spoil my joy.  I found it... no one has ever seen it before.  Although some character named John Long appears to have climbed it some years ago.  Where's he now?   

I have to laugh.  No matter how beautiful or special a formation is, Tony can only remember "Intersection Rock" and everything else is "Pile of Rocks".  Either/or.  So, this entire canyon is rightly Pile of Rocks. 

Upward and onward to Pilates this morning.  The equipment has Kris' imprimatur, so now I know I'm in good hands. 

I wanted to talk about my favorite subject, diet/nutrition.  I wish Russ were here, because he'd be SO supportive.  

Talking about Tony's Heart Failure yesterday... after a mountain of drugs and having him act comatose for almost a year, I suggested we add a few supplements.  I talked to Brian Johnson, aka "LiverKing" at length.  He sent me bottles of Ancestral Supplements Heart and Lung, which is dried, dessicated bovine actual heart and lung capsules.

Almost immediately they worked.  Tony faithfully took these until his heart issues were gone.  Then he 'forgot' and stopped taking them for 3-4 months.  Pretty soon, those symptoms came back with a vengeance.  I reordered the Heart and Lung... within a week or so, he was back to normal and he could discontinue all medications.  

I like the theory of 'like treating like"... of consuming corresponding lungs, pancreas, thyroid etc to support our own weak organs.  I like taking bone meal (from organically raised beef).  

The big disappointment is what has happened to the LiverKing himself.  He took a wrong turn somewhere.  

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A more subtle approach is a company called Standard Process.  Todd, I wonder if you have heard of it, because it appears that most Standard Process products are sold through Veterinarians, for pets and livestock.  

Anyway, about 40 years ago I worked for a doctor who was a bit 'holistic'.  And I remember sitting in on a conference call with the owner of this company, Standard Process, who described a "proprietary Protomorphogen".containing a unique profile of nucleotides and peptides from bovine organs, encapsulated.  According to this doctor (from Standard Process), they could track these various organ PMG's radiographically going straight to the corresponding organ.  In other words, if you took a thyroid PMG, it would head straight for your thyroid gland, as a specific building block.

I have since been a patient of several doctors who primarily use Standard Process products in healing.  I find them quite remarkable, and have friends who feel their ailments have been helped or healed.  More interestingly, the BIG stories are with animals who are given these supplements.  Pancreas PMG, Neurotropin PMG (to stop seizures in dogs), etc.  

I have restarted Standard Process Pneumotropin, hoping it will help with this new lung/asthma condition that arose with the mold in my house.  Looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Going to try climbing lower grade stuff every day. See if I can peak out harder grades certain days.

My partner climbs daily. I’ll try for a a week to a month… already gotten to 4 climbing days per week.

Lori Milas wrote:

Brad, I'm so sorry about your hike.  Is it 'no' for now, or 'no' forever?  Something this big no doubt involved a lot of meticulous planning and awaiting... this is a hard pill to swallow.  

Finishing with Tricia in northern Washington is now almost certainly no for now (just checked and the trail is still closed). Not no forever, at least that's not the intent. Unless something weird happens we'll plan on finishing to Canada next summer.

And you're correct - lots of careful planning and several similar periods of "waiting" over the many years. I have to be zen about this to the extent that my personality allows: I have no control over this trail closure and can do nothing about it.

I'm almost packed for this trip with Katie and I'm reflecting on when she quit the continuous footsteps with us in 2013 (to go off to UCSB). I thought that she was done and yet, soon after she finished her freshman year there she starting hiking some of the PCT with us as well as joining me for occasional climbing trips (often through the UCSB Excursion Club where she and I co-led some trips). This one is gonna be a short hike - but I am really excited to spend more time with her on this trail.

I have a long history of doing (mostly-photos) trip reports about these adventures and I'll link this coming trip's report once it's done.

Looking forward to it Brad after following you guys on ST. 

The kids sure grow up fast.

Best wishes to you and the family, 

Tad

Brad Young wrote:

Phylp: the icon you posted included the phrase: "Based on a study done by Carl Douglas in 1974."

Only a person our age would see that and understand that it's actually part of the joke. Nice job ;)

“Those cats were fast as lightning
In fact, it was a little bit frightening…”

Trust me:  

No one, is catching and eating those cats.  Even in Ohio…

ed “ who is very, very, very distantly related to ‘little Sammy Chung…’‘“ e

ps. if pressed, I’m a Wheat Thins kind of guy.

I have no tolerance for wheat thins people! 

Or maybe it's the gluten. 

Museum in Bern highlighting Swiss achievement.

Lori Milas wrote:

Phylp saved the day with her post yesterday.  Thank you, Phylp!  Except now the song is stuck in my head.  

Yes, I’ve been singing Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting for a week.

Until last night:

You’re welcome!

Brian in SLC wrote:

Museum in Bern highlighting Swiss achievement.

So, we’ve the Swiss to thank for toddlers demanding BOTH GoldFisch and Milk Chocolate?

Who’d have thunk that?   

Oh thanks, now it's stuck in my head!

OIL IS HEAVILY SUBSIDISED in every direction. I have made a lot of money in the oil business. There are many companies in the oil infrastructure business that you can invest in tax-free or tax-deferred. The tax write-offs in the Oil industry are amazing.  

You could easily earn 5%-12% tax-free in the oil infrastructure business. 

Mark Frumkin wrote:

Oh thanks, now it's stuck in my head!

OIL IS HEAVILY SUBSIDISED in every direction. I have made a lot of money in the oil business. There are many companies in the oil infrastructure business that you can invest in tax-free or tax-deferred. The tax write-offs in the Oil industry are amazing.  

You could easily earn 5%-12% tax-free in the oil infrastructure business. 

Not sure if this is enticing us to invest more into oil, or making an argument that it’s subsidised?
Either way, I may put more of my bond portfolio into oil. Oops, already done.   

Was intending to leave today for Rumney, NH and Vermont for 10 day of climbing and mountain biking but that darn SARS virus had other plans.  So just sitting out in the yard on a nice sunny day about to watch some football and maybe drink a beer.  Symptoms for me were very mild this time, but the spousal unit has been flat on her back in bed for 3 days now.  

If I can test negative and she can get well enough to fend for herself, maybe I can still salvage a few days.

First world problems.  

Oh, and speaking of FWPs, the f%ckin squirrels ate every asian pear off the tree.   

Best wishes to you, Tim & your spousal unit.

Squirrels, just doing God's work!   

Li Hu that was not an endorsement for oil! I would suggest doing a lot of research before investing in the oil industry. A mistake could be financially catastrophic!