Above The Canopy

After reflecting for weeks on my hiking trip with Jennifer this year, I've realized that impossible things happen by the grace of God.

I got a grandstand seat to see the splendor of His majesty from a bald ridge six thousand feet high, but to do so spent my physical body beyond the possible, with no injuries nor trauma. There must have been angels there carrying me.




I took me a couple of weeks to get my strength back. I'm not attempting something like that again, but I had a great time... after the fact.

- © 2009 by Willy

Yes, Another Wedding and Reunion

Seems that the family only gets together for weddings and funerals. Flew in late Friday, returned Sunday. Another quickie. My fortysomething second cousin Juan married Nancy this weekend. He was laughing and she was crying, and I hope this isn't ever turned around on him like it did me. The priest was eloquent and the food was great. Nobody wrote "Help Me" on the soles of his shoes. It was nice to see the family, specially those that I hadn't seen in decades. Motel great, with free gym across the street. My flight uneventful. The rental car people ripped me off, but that's what I get for using the biggest.

It was the family that made it a pretty darned good weekend overall.

Funny Thoughts While Riding

Sometimes I get the most peculiar thoughts while bicycle riding.

I seldom carry an mp3 player with me due not only to safety concerns but also to my need to think things out.

Rudy Kalman, of Kalman Filter fame, one of the cornerstones of systems theory, stated that if a thing can be observed, it can be controlled.

OK, I've just lost you, so let me back up.

Where was I 40 years ago? When Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon, my liberal arts dorm roommates were picking on me because I was studying. NASA had been using all kinds of neat technical tools. The Kalman Filter was used in the Apollo computer for orbital insertions then, and I use it now for proper positioning of any vehicle. The Kalman is nothing but a simulation running onboard the rocket's computer, telling the rocket where it should be (giving observability), which comes in handy if the sensors briefly black out for any reason, like noise and vibration. Sensors being either optical or radar seekers, GPS, gyroscopes and the like. Us humans do this all the time, like when driving through fog at night, we know to keep slow and straight... unless we're at a curve on the road.

The key word is "briefly." The rocket and its sensors have to be designed for observability, and there are some things that just cannot be observed. Yeah, yeah... like teenagers out for the night. And, yes, sometimes we don't want to observe them even if we could.

Behavioral political psychologists or theorists also use this if-a-thing-can-be-observed rule in their logic, except that, to them, everything can be observed and thus everything can be controlled, even in this noisy economy. Not only do they forget their Kalman systems theory, but also, it seems, they forget their sensors altogether. Or is it their senses? The economy is shaking itself to death due to the meddling... can't these theorists observe that? Obviously not.

And, yes, it was a beauuutiful bike ride anyway! It was a relatively cool day and light traffic on an early Sunday for a solo ride at my own pace. I've never had a bad solo ride.

- © 2009 by Willy

Home!

I've hung up my backpacking gear... for now.

I'm relieved to be back home. I just went and did my favorite local hike to (figuratively) kiss the (relatively) flat ground we walk on. I did not know how easy my hike was until now.

My experience with The Whites hit me between the eyes to humble me. It enlightenned this ignorant man off his blissful darkness. I have got to invest more time and pay some significant attention to serious fitness.

- © 2009 by Willy

P.S., shortly after I got home I got word from my daughter, still hiking the Appalachian Trail, that she had indeed had an accident in the gruelling terrain (got impalled by small stump like Pungi sticks in Vietnam), had help from rescuers getting her to an emergency room and was grounded for two weeks.

Plan Checklist

Lessons learned from this year's backpacking trip with Jennifer (written at Pinkham Notch lodge library).

- Don't plan on hiking in the heat! If it's in July, it'd better be up north.

- Don't plan on hiking at too high an altitude! Dad doesn't have time to acclimatize.

- Planning ahead, everything ultralight and minimal.

- Don't even start unless dad has really trained well, is the right weight and uninjured.

- Look at the plan! And again, this time from the eyes of a 60-year-old!

- Don't hike on the day we fly in.

- Keep the mileage low for the first couple of days to warm up to the place.

- Daily mileage less than ten (there won't be anything easy).

- Come up with exit strategy, Plan B or bailout points (won't be anything easy).

- Nothing longer than a week (won't be anything easy).

- Plan on rain (in equipment, slow days and dryout spots).

- Take the GPS and extra batteries, no matter the weight (15 hours/set of 2)!

- Remember that daughter is in MUCH better shape than her dad!

On-the-way procedure that works is for dad to break camp at daylight and let daughter catch up later. Also for daughter to go ahead on climbs and wait for dad at the top. Daytime food to be on the run (bars), with one big sitdown at camp end-of-day. Drink water continuously and generously (bladder and bottles).

- © 2009 by Willy

I Did Not Know I Could Do This

Bailed! (Written at the Crawford Notch lodge).

On the first day I took a 6 am flight into Manchester where I met daughter Jennifer and we got dropped off at Franconia Notch at 6 pm. The first mile was not bad but the next couple to the Liberty campground were straight up the mountain. When somebody says straight up I hear "difficult" but this was miserable and unreal... with full packs in the rain we were crawling over boulders and flowstone at 45 degrees. There were no switchbacks, it was straight up! Looked like a mountain stream bed. We got to the campground at 10 by which time I was delirious and seeing things (a big rock looked like an REI Half-Dome tent). Since lunch, we'd had nothing to eat, so it was a protein bar dinner and sleep. I was so tired that I was not even going to pop the tent and instead sleep in the rain, but Jen set up my tent. It was obvious that I had not trained for this!




Chapter 2: "This is f****** unbelievable!" said the young, fit, avid, experienced hiker with 1800 miles of Appalachian Trail under her belt. Jennifer had finally come to the conclusion on the second day that we had to climb down a big, steep, roaring waterfall to stay on the trail. I took the lead, holding some trees for balance, hugging wet rock and getting drenched.... again. The terrain was beautiful. The terrain was also kicking my butt. We finished exhausted at 10 that night too, but at a wilderness "hut" this time, which meant a dry bed and breakfast the next day, miles from nowhere. What a luxury!

On the third day, I drew blood. But I did what I did not think possible...10 miles of the most rugged and grueling terrain I have ever done, and I'm an old man that has done it all. Or I forgot. Some of this "hike" was rock crawling on stream beds, some vertical rock climbing and some was very STEEP bouldering... for miles at a time, up and down, over and over again. There was very, very little walking. We went slowly due to the terrain, the rain and the risky slick conditions. Coach Jennifer's encouragement helped.

At one spot I had Jennifer worried... a trail crossing expected in 0.3 mile had not yet shown up in a couple of hours, which meant to this old engineer that we had crawled to a virtual stop but yet we had another 1.6 miles to go past that, so I panicked, computing that it would be morning by the time we got through that stretch and I wondered how to get us out of this crazy predicament. Turns out that the trail crossing was not 0.3 but 1.3 miles ahead and we soon got done that night and into a hut.

Things got easier the next day, with fewer miles to cover and the trail less challenging (we actually walked some!). We got in to huts in time for dinner and slept well, although still miles from nowhere. I could enjoy the wildflowers and the bird songs. We did slip in the slick rocks and roots but had no accidents or injuries. I was having fun! Then we finally got to another Notch... and civilization! A road! A lodge! A room with real beds, showers, clean dry clothes and much needed rest.


My feet were killing me, with two blue toes, one of which will shed the nail. All our down was wet, even on dry bags. A week of bouldering the Whites is enough. I sucked. Jennifer suggested I bail out there. She'd continue up to Katahdin after drying out and spending a couple of days with dad.

At the lodge, we heard how often accidents happen (daily!) and how common it was to mobilize rescue squads and helicopters. But we had a good touristy time too, even went moose hunting (spotlighted two) and heard all kinds of tales.

It was great fun. In hindsight. Really!

- © 2009 by Willy