Over the weekend I headed down to Mt Whitney with Jeremy and Emily. It was a mere 7 drive each way. Jeremy and I both wanted to try out hiking at elevation (the peak of Mt Whitney is the highest place in the continental US) and get the full story on getting permits for multiday trips up Whitney (yes I've heard of the series of pipes and tubes, but the Whitney permit site is pretty bad).
So we headed out early Saturday. Got into the area and got some info at the ranger station, made our way to our campsite, set up and then headed to Whitney Portal. Hiked for 3 hours then headed back to camp while it was still light and not raining too badly. I definitely felt the altitude (we were at about 9,000 ft at that point), but I was hiking really fast. I strongly felt my heart beat in my head and started to get a bit of a headache (even though I was drinking a ton of water). As soon as we started heading down hill everything cleared up.
That night it rained fairly hard so we did a simple dinner then hung out in my tent before heading to bed. Again my fancy new tent kept me and my stuff nice and dry.
The next day we did another 3 hour hike. The altitude had far less impact that day (got to about 9,500 feet). I wasn't hiking as fast although we did take a more challenging trail (some scrambling up and down rocks).
For lunch after the hike we went to a pizza place in Lone Pine (the town next to Whitney) and the two guys at the table next to us started talking to us about hiking/climbing. They used the term "charge it" more than once per sentence to describe anything from hiking to climbing to driving. When we asked about what is labeled a challenging climb, their opinion was "if you've ever climbed before, then you'll be fine, just charge it".
Hiking around Mt Whitney was cool especially since it looks more "mountain like" than the hills along coastal California. There is a valley lined on either side by mountains which was nice to look down at from Mt Whitney.
One thing I didn't expect is in that valley is where one of the Japanese internment camps was located. There was a small museum although we weren't there for long so we didn't visit. But it was a reminder of how little is taught about that event in school. I was also surprised how small the museum looked.
Friday, August 28, 2009
The Crippled Angel
Last week I finished The Crippled Angel the last book in The Crucible Series which includes The Wounded Hawk and The Nameless Day.
Semi-spoilers ahead.
I really enjoyed the series. It takes place around 1380. Although based on a quick look through wikipedia I think that some the "real" parts of the story are a bit off and shifted in time. Since I don't know anything about the time period I don't actually know, but it seems like she makes it feel like you are in the 1370s.
The part that makes it far more interesting is the religion/magic mix which gets more and more hilariously anti-religion. She does a good job of changing things up through out the story. Which is extra nice since so many fantasy stories take the LOTR approach - Froto you have to destroy the ring then a whole bunch of pages later he destroys the ring. Actually there is some similarity to part of LOTR - Froto finds out he is going to take away the power of the Elf queen and that Elven town would be destroyed. This series kind of takes that idea and runs with it. Plus add in some Harry Potter where the main character is interlinked with the bad guy (except by then who's bad and good has gotten mixed around). I'm trying to be somewhat vague because of the number of twists.
Overall good stuff - I'd recommend it to any fantasy fans out there. I would say that the series really reads as a single book so approach it that way. The first one is good, but is really the background and build up. The action, humor and more interesting stuff (such as explanations for what the heck is going on) is really in the next two books.
One thing I did pick up from this book is being king really wasn't such a great deal in a feudal society. I'd really rather be king at a later point when kings had more direct control rather than just trying to get the support of the lords who have the real military power and money. In general I always figured I'd rather be the King's cousin than the King - nice life style without all the responsibility and people trying to kill you. But in a feudal society that just meant being a lord so there was still responsibility and assassination attempts. So the take away is if you are going to become European royalty at some point in history think more 1600s than 1300s.
Semi-spoilers ahead.
I really enjoyed the series. It takes place around 1380. Although based on a quick look through wikipedia I think that some the "real" parts of the story are a bit off and shifted in time. Since I don't know anything about the time period I don't actually know, but it seems like she makes it feel like you are in the 1370s.
The part that makes it far more interesting is the religion/magic mix which gets more and more hilariously anti-religion. She does a good job of changing things up through out the story. Which is extra nice since so many fantasy stories take the LOTR approach - Froto you have to destroy the ring then a whole bunch of pages later he destroys the ring. Actually there is some similarity to part of LOTR - Froto finds out he is going to take away the power of the Elf queen and that Elven town would be destroyed. This series kind of takes that idea and runs with it. Plus add in some Harry Potter where the main character is interlinked with the bad guy (except by then who's bad and good has gotten mixed around). I'm trying to be somewhat vague because of the number of twists.
Overall good stuff - I'd recommend it to any fantasy fans out there. I would say that the series really reads as a single book so approach it that way. The first one is good, but is really the background and build up. The action, humor and more interesting stuff (such as explanations for what the heck is going on) is really in the next two books.
One thing I did pick up from this book is being king really wasn't such a great deal in a feudal society. I'd really rather be king at a later point when kings had more direct control rather than just trying to get the support of the lords who have the real military power and money. In general I always figured I'd rather be the King's cousin than the King - nice life style without all the responsibility and people trying to kill you. But in a feudal society that just meant being a lord so there was still responsibility and assassination attempts. So the take away is if you are going to become European royalty at some point in history think more 1600s than 1300s.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Is XKCD right?
I've got some longer posts coming, but I should be off to bed. So I'll just take a moment to ask if this xkcd comic is right?
Not sure if it captures everything, but sure seems awfully close.
Not sure if it captures everything, but sure seems awfully close.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Mountain Rescue Doctor
I was at the library looking through some books to see what they had to say about altitude sickness and noticed the book Mountain Rescue Doctor. The author Christopher Van Tilburg is an emergency room doctor who is part of a volunteer mountain search and rescue team called the Crag Rats in Hood River Oregon.
Each chapter is the story of a rescue (and/or search). In addition to each rescue story he goes into discussions of other topics like the risk reward trade off of outdoor activities (and how having a family changes that), his background, tips for survival, and so on.
There are search and rescue teams that run in with a litter (stretcher) and carry the person out. The group this book is about take care of the situations where they need to set up ropes and climb to get to the person.
The individual stories are fairly good. Even though he describes a variety of situations, it does get a little repetitive to read about, but not too bad. I liked getting a sense for the search and rescue side of rescues. I was actually surprised by how willing they were to send out rescue missions. I was also surprised that in most states, unless you do something especially negligent the state actually pays for the rescue mission and that large parts of rescue missions are done by unpaid volunteer groups. One amusing item is that while everyone says you should have basic survival stuff (like a map, compass, whistle...), in a large portion of the rescues the most helpful item was a cell phone (well, sufficient food, water and shelter were also fairly key). In one of the stories of an extended search they even had the cell phone company triangulate the position of the climbers.
The book did drive home the need to make sure rangers know your plan in as much detail as possible. Even knowing stuff like what gear you have and your experience level can help guide their search (more important when doing technical climbing than hiking). Also making sure you have enough equipment to deal with unexpected situations and how helpful it can be to have a partner with you. He also pushed that if you get in trouble you should stop and take a moment to evaluate your situation rather than just pushing on. He also discussed how important it is to get medical attention quickly for serious injuries and that the first hour is especially critical (this is where cell phones become really helpful - normally someone would have to hike out to get to a phone, add in a gps device and the search can be way faster).
Semi-related, after reading the book I bought a gps app for my phone that gives me the raw gps data since knowing the closest address isn't terribly helpful in the woods. I find it kind of strange that the standard map program won't just tell you the raw coordinates.
Each chapter is the story of a rescue (and/or search). In addition to each rescue story he goes into discussions of other topics like the risk reward trade off of outdoor activities (and how having a family changes that), his background, tips for survival, and so on.
There are search and rescue teams that run in with a litter (stretcher) and carry the person out. The group this book is about take care of the situations where they need to set up ropes and climb to get to the person.
The individual stories are fairly good. Even though he describes a variety of situations, it does get a little repetitive to read about, but not too bad. I liked getting a sense for the search and rescue side of rescues. I was actually surprised by how willing they were to send out rescue missions. I was also surprised that in most states, unless you do something especially negligent the state actually pays for the rescue mission and that large parts of rescue missions are done by unpaid volunteer groups. One amusing item is that while everyone says you should have basic survival stuff (like a map, compass, whistle...), in a large portion of the rescues the most helpful item was a cell phone (well, sufficient food, water and shelter were also fairly key). In one of the stories of an extended search they even had the cell phone company triangulate the position of the climbers.
The book did drive home the need to make sure rangers know your plan in as much detail as possible. Even knowing stuff like what gear you have and your experience level can help guide their search (more important when doing technical climbing than hiking). Also making sure you have enough equipment to deal with unexpected situations and how helpful it can be to have a partner with you. He also pushed that if you get in trouble you should stop and take a moment to evaluate your situation rather than just pushing on. He also discussed how important it is to get medical attention quickly for serious injuries and that the first hour is especially critical (this is where cell phones become really helpful - normally someone would have to hike out to get to a phone, add in a gps device and the search can be way faster).
Semi-related, after reading the book I bought a gps app for my phone that gives me the raw gps data since knowing the closest address isn't terribly helpful in the woods. I find it kind of strange that the standard map program won't just tell you the raw coordinates.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Lassen Volcanic Park
Two weekends ago (weekend of August 1st) I headed out to Lassen Volcanic Park with 4 other fellow backpackers. Unfortunately I don't have the pictures yet, but I'll post a link once those go up.
Friday night we drove up and camped near the cars. Used my fancy new tent for the first time (well other than in my living room) - thanks mom and dad. Next morning we got up and headed to the start of the trail. Then wasted an hour figuring out that we had to head back to the camp ground to get a permit. Was a waste of time, but I did get to drive around the hills with the top down in the mustang, so not all bad. Then we headed out. Did about 8 miles getting into camp. Was a nice walk, a bit of elevation gain/loss but not too much and walked by a few lakes. While the elevation gain/loss wasn't much, everything started out at about 6,000 feet so we had to breathe a bit harder than usual. Once we got to camp (this was a camp where you want place so "getting to camp" was picking a place along the lake to plop down) we put up a line between trees to hang our food (keeps it away from bears and keeps the smell above bear nose level). During this exercise we learned that when I sit on Jeremy's lap I still can't reach any higher than the one female backpacker in the group. Then after I made some overly harsh comment about the idea of finishing the day after only 8 miles, 4 of us headed out to see the lava bed and climb the cinder cone:
View Larger Map
The person we got the permit from told us it would be about a two hour walk from the lake to the top of the cinder cone and back. Well it took about two hours from the lake to the base of the cinder cone and we weren't cruising, but we weren't that slow. Especially since we didn't take backpacks, just some water. Well it was a very cool view from the base of the cinder cone - we looked down at "painted dunes". Basically rocks that were a few different colors, it was other worldly looking. One of us decided to turn back at that point since it was just starting to get dark. The trail was very clear so we weren't super worried about someone going off on their own. Then the three of us started walking up and noticed the mass of clouds in the distance and the thunder and lightening. We stopped to discuss and decided that rather than spending a bunch of time discussing we should just walk up. Several minutes later I took another look at the clouds and the ground we were on (basically a giant pile of ash) and envisioned racing down a pile of wet ash while it rained on us. So I suggested we turn back and the other two readily agreed. Once we got to the bottom the clouds had moved in right over the top of the cone - those clouds moved super fast. So then we embarked on what was probably the most intense hour and a half of walking of my life. Only got rained on a little. The main motivation was we hadn't set up tents or had dinner.
After that walk we got back, set up tents as fast as possible. Got rained on a little in spurts, but nothing bad. Got the food down, cooked, ate, got the food back up (this time super fast) and got in tents just as it started to pour. Luckily the tent kept me and my stuff completely dry.
Next day we got up, played around in the lake a bit. Had breakfast and headed out. This time we were taking an 11 mile path back to camp. Not too strenuous, but we did have a 5 hour ride ahead of us so we wanted to move at a decent pace. At one point Jeremy and I were a bit ahead of the others and took a wrong turn. Then decided that would be a good place to wait for the others. Waited a really long time then Jeremy realized our mistake. Not that we had to catch up with the others, but seemed like a good thing to do so we got moving. All day I had felt a bit tired and my feet and knees ached. Once we kicked up the speed all my pain and tiredness faded away and I was feeling great. Caught up with the others, walked with them for a bit, but then decided to kick the speed up again.
Early in the drive back stopped at applebees (by far the best choice in the town we stopped in) and ate a hamburger with a side of buffalo wings. And then drove till 3 am. The next day at work around 4 pm I literally had to concentrate on keeping my eyes open.
Friday night we drove up and camped near the cars. Used my fancy new tent for the first time (well other than in my living room) - thanks mom and dad. Next morning we got up and headed to the start of the trail. Then wasted an hour figuring out that we had to head back to the camp ground to get a permit. Was a waste of time, but I did get to drive around the hills with the top down in the mustang, so not all bad. Then we headed out. Did about 8 miles getting into camp. Was a nice walk, a bit of elevation gain/loss but not too much and walked by a few lakes. While the elevation gain/loss wasn't much, everything started out at about 6,000 feet so we had to breathe a bit harder than usual. Once we got to camp (this was a camp where you want place so "getting to camp" was picking a place along the lake to plop down) we put up a line between trees to hang our food (keeps it away from bears and keeps the smell above bear nose level). During this exercise we learned that when I sit on Jeremy's lap I still can't reach any higher than the one female backpacker in the group. Then after I made some overly harsh comment about the idea of finishing the day after only 8 miles, 4 of us headed out to see the lava bed and climb the cinder cone:
View Larger Map
The person we got the permit from told us it would be about a two hour walk from the lake to the top of the cinder cone and back. Well it took about two hours from the lake to the base of the cinder cone and we weren't cruising, but we weren't that slow. Especially since we didn't take backpacks, just some water. Well it was a very cool view from the base of the cinder cone - we looked down at "painted dunes". Basically rocks that were a few different colors, it was other worldly looking. One of us decided to turn back at that point since it was just starting to get dark. The trail was very clear so we weren't super worried about someone going off on their own. Then the three of us started walking up and noticed the mass of clouds in the distance and the thunder and lightening. We stopped to discuss and decided that rather than spending a bunch of time discussing we should just walk up. Several minutes later I took another look at the clouds and the ground we were on (basically a giant pile of ash) and envisioned racing down a pile of wet ash while it rained on us. So I suggested we turn back and the other two readily agreed. Once we got to the bottom the clouds had moved in right over the top of the cone - those clouds moved super fast. So then we embarked on what was probably the most intense hour and a half of walking of my life. Only got rained on a little. The main motivation was we hadn't set up tents or had dinner.
After that walk we got back, set up tents as fast as possible. Got rained on a little in spurts, but nothing bad. Got the food down, cooked, ate, got the food back up (this time super fast) and got in tents just as it started to pour. Luckily the tent kept me and my stuff completely dry.
Next day we got up, played around in the lake a bit. Had breakfast and headed out. This time we were taking an 11 mile path back to camp. Not too strenuous, but we did have a 5 hour ride ahead of us so we wanted to move at a decent pace. At one point Jeremy and I were a bit ahead of the others and took a wrong turn. Then decided that would be a good place to wait for the others. Waited a really long time then Jeremy realized our mistake. Not that we had to catch up with the others, but seemed like a good thing to do so we got moving. All day I had felt a bit tired and my feet and knees ached. Once we kicked up the speed all my pain and tiredness faded away and I was feeling great. Caught up with the others, walked with them for a bit, but then decided to kick the speed up again.
Early in the drive back stopped at applebees (by far the best choice in the town we stopped in) and ate a hamburger with a side of buffalo wings. And then drove till 3 am. The next day at work around 4 pm I literally had to concentrate on keeping my eyes open.
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Transmitting Silence
This is probably a no one but me cares post (or may be an everyone already knows, but I'm guessing more of the former).
It just occurred to me that when you tune your radio to your favorite FM station and instead of hearing music and/or talk you hear silence it is not that they're not transmitting. If they weren't transmitting then you'd hear static like when you tune to an empty station, as your radio tries to pick up any little signal out on the air (or even the internal electrical noise of the stereo). But rather you are getting silence which for FM means that the radio is picking up one dominant signal, but the frequency of that signal is not changing (or changing too quickly - the key is none of the change is in the 20 Hz to 20 kHz range). So it is not that the station's transmitter is broken or turned off, it must be an earlier stage that isn't working.
It just occurred to me that when you tune your radio to your favorite FM station and instead of hearing music and/or talk you hear silence it is not that they're not transmitting. If they weren't transmitting then you'd hear static like when you tune to an empty station, as your radio tries to pick up any little signal out on the air (or even the internal electrical noise of the stereo). But rather you are getting silence which for FM means that the radio is picking up one dominant signal, but the frequency of that signal is not changing (or changing too quickly - the key is none of the change is in the 20 Hz to 20 kHz range). So it is not that the station's transmitter is broken or turned off, it must be an earlier stage that isn't working.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
The Wounded Hawk
Finished up The Wounded Hawk a couple days ago. This is the second book in the same series as The Nameless Day.
Still going to wait to finish the whole series before saying much. But this book definitely kicks up the action and the heresy a notch.
Thanks again to Julie for letting me borrow the series.
Still going to wait to finish the whole series before saying much. But this book definitely kicks up the action and the heresy a notch.
Thanks again to Julie for letting me borrow the series.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Three Cups Of Tea
While I was in Tahoe I read most of Three Cups Of Tea and then finished it up a bit after getting back. My Mom introduced me to the book and let me borrow it. The book is about Greg Mortenson who has spent about 16 years building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The book starts out talking about his attempt to climb K2 and some of his life story. I really enjoyed reading about his attempt at K2. The life story stuff is good build up to understand where he is coming from, but not the most interesting part. Then when it really gets into his work building schools in Pakistan it is very cool. It has a great message about the power of small contributions to education. Also some cultural info and a look into the life of the mountain villages. There is a bit of back and forth over if people who live in small mountain villages have a simpler better life or if living in tough conditions with minimal money isn't so great. I actually almost wonder if that's some natural back and forth or perhaps the voices of the two different authors coming through. And there's some good adventure. Just getting from place to place is a bit of an adventure, but the peak is when he gets captured and held for 8 days with minimal explanation.
This is far from the main point of the book, but often times when I hear about adventurous travel or outdoor adventures I think, oh that would be so cool to do (even if it is far beyond what I'd really do). But this book showed me someone who takes risks beyond what I have any interest in taking. So that was kind of cool to bound my interest in adventure by reading the book. (Note, just because that is an upper bound doesn't mean something far less adventurous would not also be an upper bound).
Not that I've read a lot of biographies, but I think this may be the first that was about someone who is still alive. It doesn't make a big difference, but it is a bit different. I found myself sometimes questioning how well he remembered all the details and feelings, but I think that was one of those MST3000 "It's just a show, I really should just relax" moments. And I do get the sense that the main author did a lot of interviewing and fact checking on all the important stuff.
Unlike a lot of what I read which tends to have a more focused audience, I'd really recommend this book to basically anyone.
The book starts out talking about his attempt to climb K2 and some of his life story. I really enjoyed reading about his attempt at K2. The life story stuff is good build up to understand where he is coming from, but not the most interesting part. Then when it really gets into his work building schools in Pakistan it is very cool. It has a great message about the power of small contributions to education. Also some cultural info and a look into the life of the mountain villages. There is a bit of back and forth over if people who live in small mountain villages have a simpler better life or if living in tough conditions with minimal money isn't so great. I actually almost wonder if that's some natural back and forth or perhaps the voices of the two different authors coming through. And there's some good adventure. Just getting from place to place is a bit of an adventure, but the peak is when he gets captured and held for 8 days with minimal explanation.
This is far from the main point of the book, but often times when I hear about adventurous travel or outdoor adventures I think, oh that would be so cool to do (even if it is far beyond what I'd really do). But this book showed me someone who takes risks beyond what I have any interest in taking. So that was kind of cool to bound my interest in adventure by reading the book. (Note, just because that is an upper bound doesn't mean something far less adventurous would not also be an upper bound).
Not that I've read a lot of biographies, but I think this may be the first that was about someone who is still alive. It doesn't make a big difference, but it is a bit different. I found myself sometimes questioning how well he remembered all the details and feelings, but I think that was one of those MST3000 "It's just a show, I really should just relax" moments. And I do get the sense that the main author did a lot of interviewing and fact checking on all the important stuff.
Unlike a lot of what I read which tends to have a more focused audience, I'd really recommend this book to basically anyone.
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