No More Drama

There are always people out there with a screw loose. I used to think that with a big enough screwdriver, I could fix 'em. But, no, I've had enough in life already. It's time to avoid them when possible. Yes, I may have to accept them to some degree when it is not possible to avoid them. It's a decision to be made and I'm now clued in... I figured it out: It's not a yes or no, not black or white, not diet or exercise, not machines or people... I like the right kind of people. Just like getting the right kind of car. It's a shade of gray. And this acceptance makes for good mental health, albeit it being conditional or partial acceptance.

- text © 2011 by Willy

P.S., no, I will never own an Italian car either.

Things Happen

Personal best happen and races get won, just like injury happens and we get sidelined... good things happen just like bad things do.

Is this luck?

I don't know when something is luck and when it is providence, but I believe in preparation: Good things happen when preparation meets opportunity, and you will be given the opportunity if you are prepared. There is no real control over opportunity but I sure can be prepared. I believe in training. Train like you play, because you will play like you train. I also believe in a higher power just like I believe in this chicken-and-egg cause and effect.

So, do we create our fate?

Both good and evil are out there. Evil is everywhere. Evil is not ugly and firebreathing, but charming and beautiful. It mesmerizes and seduces you until it makes you doubt yourself. Yes, evil functions best when nobody believes in it. Our decisions create our fate, and our decisions are based upon both good and evil influences. Things happen due to influences. I pray that my Father gives me the strength of character to keep me from temptation and deliver me from evil.

I'm going to stick to solo exercise and diet no matter the injury, no matter what shape I'm in, how stressed people make me or how attractive they are... whatever the siren song. I have faith that there just might be a reason to stay prepared.

- © 2011 by Willy

Recovered Back To Bicycling

The bane of my existence has been injuries. Yes, I admit it... even far worse than divorce, since divorce has happened far fewer times, and I've been rather klutzy. I'm an engineer, not a jock.

During the past couple of months, ever since I developed heel spur plantar fasciitis tendinitis during training, my regular cardio exercise has been swimming. There was no mp3 player and no scenery... I just followed the painted line in the pool, over and over again. Since I'm blind as a bat without glasses, I can't even delight in googling swimsuit beauties.

To me, my plantar fasciitis means a tendinitis tear between heel and arch, on the outside rather than the arch side. I am stressed and the foot tries to supinate. So, I have to think the feet to relax. The body tries to repair this tear/swelling using calcium and I get a heel spur. I've had this many times... my left foot being rather finicky. Walking and hiking on the swelling makes it worse and keeps the injury from healing. It will take months to heal.

The unloaded spin bike was OK, but did not elevate my heart rate like it should for conditioning. And bicycling outside hurt, specially uphills. Today I did a slow and flat one-hour ride, with minimal pain... and only at the end. I had a great ride. I was glad to be out, enjoying the sun, listening to the critters and dodging the cars. Today I had a delightful breakthrough. I will ride once a week and continue swimming so as to heal. I expect the elliptical on tiptoes is next, and will wait for healing before going hiking.

We heal slowly but surely... day by day.

In all aspects.


- © 2011 by Willy

Following The Poop

The mule poop, that is.

On doing the Yosemite High Sierras camp loop hike.

Summary: Last year, a group of us older adventurers put in for, and one won, the Park Service lottery to rights to get Yosemite park High Sierras camps loop hike reservations for the next season. Eight of us went. It was wonderful.

Getting to Yosemite from San Francisco airport uses a winding and slow road, which we drove at night. We spent that night at the Cedar Lodge just outside the park, and went to see crowded Yosemite Valley ("downtown") the next day to do the tourist thing. The second day we drove to Base Camp, spent the night and began to hike the loop. We completed the high-altitude, mountainous, five-camp, seven-day, fifty-five-mile loop... uneventfully and utterly amazed.


The High Sierra camps provide dinner, tents with cots, and breakfast. Lunch while hiking was granola bars or whatever we brought but a sandwich can be bought each morning. This means a light pack and luxury camping/backpacking, even though the loop is rugged, spartan and primitive. We hiked unguided but there is a ranger-guided option.

Views were amazing: balds, canyons and water. There was lots of water due to snow melt from twice the usual snow this past winter. It did not rain during our trip. Beautiful wildflowers lined our trail. Trail condition and signage was great. On-trail mule poop was everywhere (mules carry supplies to camps) and served as reassuring trail blazes or connect-the-dots.

Stats below are from my pants-pocket-carried Garmin 60CSx GPS. Besides miles and time, this GPS also computes up-only climb-feet, a great measurement of effort. Note that the group sometimes got strung out and different people came in at different times. Gary was fastest, then Diane, then me and the rest. Also note that GPS altitude does not often match a map's.

- On 13-15 Aug 2011, Gary, Diane, Suzanne and I did Yosemite Valley from Cedar Lodge, just outside the Park. I unfortunately had developed persistent heel spur plantar fasciitis tendinitis due to trying to break-in new boots, so I saved myself for the loop. I had originally trained to climb Half-Dome up to the cables.

- Day 0, the 16th: drove to and met Geanine, Ray, Carolyn and Skip at Base Camp for the High Sierras camp loop start at Tuolumne Meadows camp "lodge" (ja!), altitude 8720 feet. We ate burgers at The Grill, next door to the gas station. These three were the entire civilization at the Tuolumne area.

- Day 1, the 17th: hiked an easy 8.2 miles in 5 1/2 hrs with 1520 climb-feet to Glen Aulin camp, elev 7980', which had a water limit, due to sewer limits, due to being in the watershed to Hetch Hetchy reservoir, where Frisco gets 80% of their water. They served good food. We had a great campfire sing-along led by an 80-year-old lady guest. Glen Aulin camp had a beauuutiful waterfall.


- Day 2, the 18th: hiked moderate and beautiful-vista 8.8 miles in 7 hrs with 2820 climb-feet to gorgeous May Lake camp, elev 9360', with a beautiful reflection of mountain on lake. A family of husband, wife and daughter run the place very well (he's been there 10 years). Great food, very organized, showers and washtub with wringer, and the best camp by far. It would be definitely worthwhile to go there again, and it is an easy 1-mile hike from a side road.

- Day 3, the 19th: hiked 10.2 tough and painful climb miles in 7 hrs with 2650 climb-feet to Sunrise camp, at a huge alpine meadow, elev 9360', and stayed two nights. Sunrise camp season is only 3 weeks this year, was closed until our start due to snow melt flood and thus ineffective leach fields (we were formulating a Plan B). Had a million-dollar shower and toilets building but there were lots of mosquitoes and temperatures were freezing overnight.

- Day 4, the 20th: stayed at Sunrise for a rest day.

- Day 5, the 21st: hiked 10.4 moderate miles in 7 hours with 1350 climb-feet to Merced Lake camp, elev 7300'. On the way met a 15-person, four-generation group hiking to Sunrise with 75-year-old grandma and 80-year-old grandpa. Grandpa had fallen, was not doing well, and was getting helicoptered out when he got to Sunrise's meadow. Merced Lake camp is the furthest and least supplied, and of least altitude of all the camps, but still very cold at night, with lots of flies rather than mosquitoes. It had a drip for a shower and a sink for laundry but no washrag nor soap nor paper towels... and skimpy food. Too spartan, it was the worse camp but still appreciated.

- Day 6, the 22nd: hiked 9.2 miles in 8 1/2 hours with 4969 thin-air, high-altitude climb-feet through a river canyon, over a beautiful pass and through a gorgeous saddle meadow to Wogelsang camp, elev 10200'. Yes, here's where Suzanne said "And we've got to climb THAT?" There was no mule poop in this trail. It was a very tough hike (steep, cold and windy, with snow on top) but the views, especially from the south side of the pass, made it worth it. It was a moderately cold camp, laid out on rock, with lots of mosquitoes. Good food. No shower or opportunity to wash. Still, this one also would be definitely worthwhile to again hike (a 7-miler) there just for the view from the pass, and for the saddle meadow, or to backpack and camp at the meadow instead of at the camp.

Wogelsang (and other) camp food can be reserved without reserving the tent, still using the lottery.

- Day 7, the 23rd: hiked out a glacial canyon, a very painful (due to my heel plantar fasciitis) 7.6 downhill miles in 4 1/2 hours with 580 climb-feet back to Tuolumne Meadows camp "lodge" Base Camp to pick up cars, drink beer, and drive partly out the park to White Wolf camp, to shower, dine and spend the night (still in tents!). On this hike from Wogelsang to Tuolumne, we passed a bunch of oncoming hikers and two mule resupply teams, so it was the busiest trail, probably due to Wolensang pass beauty. The White Wolf camp restaurant was very disorganized, the dinner was disappointing and the mosquitoes were the worse, but we were back in civilization, and we were tired.


- On the 24th, we drove down or south to classy Wawona Hotel lodge to gawk at the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia trees. On the way there my three traveling companions hiked several waterfalls. I had had enough heel pain already and so stayed in the car to finish an Arthur C. Clark book I picked up at Sunrise. Wawona is a grand, old, historic hotel lodge that reminded me of my grandmother's beach house due to its big wooden porch. We met the other four there. It was a beautiful hotel, and dinner was great.

- On the 25th (today), we all drove back to Frisco and are spending the night in a motel, ready to get home on our early morning return flight tomorrow to clean up and and wind down.

- Conclusion: The loop was six camps in seven days for about 55 miles and 14,000 climb-feet, in luxury. And we had pre- and post-loop activities.

That was our adventure. We followed the mule poop.



This report was tapped into an iPhone on-trail.


- © 2011 by Willy