Welcome to the High Sierra Backpacker's Magazine, including forums for local and long-distance hikers sharing info about hiking the Sierra between Tahoe and Whitney.
This Magazine covers everything Sierra. Its Forums cover TYT, PCT, & JMT and alt-route hiker input from the Guide. The Tahoe to Whitney Trail Guide explores the trails & the necessary skills, fitness, and gear required to hike from Tahoe to Whitney. This evolving Magazine covers Current Conditions, News, the Arts, Sciences, Physicality, Spirituality, Gear, Environment, History, and Cultures of hiking Tahoe to Whitney.
Purposes: Expand Knowledge, Explore Potential
for Beginners: To get you off the couch, gear you up, get you into Sierra Shape, and onto the High Sierra Trails. Find info. Ask questions, get feedback, generate self-understanding and terrain awareness. Find killer short routes up and down the High Sierra Crest.
for Backpackers: Get you in deeper, longer, and higher. Train for the long trails. Find your next-steps trips. Hit the Long Trails. Hike the TYT and JMT. Find and explore side trails, alternative, and cross-country routes until you hike your skills into Winter compentency. Explore your potential.
for Experts: The information to come from anywhere in the US or world and backpack from Tahoe to Whitney. The Sierra Nevada is the ultimate wonderland for expert backpackers in top shape. But don't get cocky! The Sierra is bigger, stronger, and has been, and will be here much longer than any of us.
Warming Arctic Spreading Seal Diseases
ICE, WATER, WARMING, & DISEASE
Ribbon Seal
An adult male ribbon seal lays on the ice, NOAA Fisheries, Polar Ecosystems Program.
Warming Arctic Spreads Disease
Melting Arctic Sea Ice Linked to Emergence of Deadly Virus in Marine Mammals,
University of California - Davis, November 7, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
The Problem
"Scientists have linked the decline in Arctic sea ice to the emergence of a deadly virus that could threaten marine mammals in the North Pacific..."
"Phocine distemper virus (PDV), a pathogen responsible for killing thousands of European harbor seals in the North Atlantic in 2002, was identified in northern sea otters in Alaska in 2004, raising questions about when and how the virus reached them."
Emperor Penguins Quick-Marching Towards Extinction
ICE BIRDS IN TROUBLE
Emperor Penguins
The fate of emperor penguins is largely tied to sea ice, making them particulary vulnerable to warming. Photo by author, Stephanie Jenouvrier, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Antarctic Snow, Ice & Penguin Decline
Unless Warming is Slowed, Emperor Penguins will be Marching Towards Extinction,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, November 7, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Bye Bye Birdie
"...a warming climate may render them extinct by the end of this century."
"If global climate keeps warming at the current rate, we expect emperor penguins in Antarctica to experience an 86 percent decline by the year 2100."
"At that point, it is very unlikely for them to bounce back."
GROWING TO PHYSICAL & PERSONAL DESTRUCTION: Megacity Morons of Mexico City
UPDATED!
Pollution feeds Childhood Brain Degradations
GROWING TO PHYSICAL & PERSONAL DESTRUCTION
Megacity Morons of Mexico City
Air pollution in Mexico City is associated with the development of Alzheimer disease,
IOS Press, December 21, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
Relentless Alzheimer's Pathology
“...concerns over the evolving and relentless Alzheimer's pathology observed in young Metropolitan Mexico City (MMC) urbanites.”
THIRD WORLD SHITHOLE
“Metropolitan Mexico City is an example of extreme urban growth and serious environmental pollution and millions of children are involuntarily exposed to harmful concentrations of PM 2.5 every day since conception.”
Alzheimer’s in Two Decades
“Non-P-Tau exhibited significant increases with age, an important finding in a young population where axonal changes are present and AD hallmarks are evolving steadily in the first two decades of life. Non-P-Tau is potentially an early biomarker of axonal damage and AD axonal pathology in highly exposed young populations.”
WEATHER for High Sierra Backpackers: REPORTS, FORECASTS, PREDICTIONS, SNOW, ROADS, CONDITIONS
ALL
HIGH SIERRA WEATHER RESOURCES
NEW
GOES-17-WEST
TWO VIEWS
of the
NE PACIFIC, CALIFORNIA COAST, & THE HIGH SIERRA
NOW
THE WIDE VIEW
The NOAA VIEWER
Northern Pacific GeoColor
The Last 11 Hours over the Northeastern Pacific
The Big South East Pac View
From the South
Good for Observing-Tracking Tropical Transport Mechanisms
Finding Some Truth behind the Failure of The Paris Climate Agreement by Examining Its Pledges
ECO-CRASHING NEWS: INTERNATIONAL FRAUDS
Grow, China, Grow!
Grow, USA, Grow!
Modern Industrial Infrastructure
A Power Plant
One of the, "Last of the Mohicans," if Paris is going to, "work?" Credit Carnegie Inst. Sci.
Not Targeting the Sources, Nor even the Symptoms!
The Truth behind the Paris Agreement Climate Pledges,
Universal Ecological Fund, November 5, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
It Studies Itself
This study, "...examines in great detail the 184 voluntary pledges under the Paris Agreement, the first collective global effort to address climate change."
"Simply, the pledges are far too little, too late."
It Concludes Disaster Approaches
They Keep Saying, "If,"
"Failing to reduce emissions drastically and rapidly will result in an environmental and economic disaster from human-induced climate change."
Tracking Fall into Winter, 2019-2020, Early Season Snow
December 1, 2019
Tioga Road & Pass Closed for Season
Yosemite National Park Announces Glacier Point and Tioga Roads are Closed for the Season,
Yosemite National Park, November 27, 2019.
Highways 4 & 108 closed across Sierra Crest.
The 26th
RISING PM SHOWERS
WINTER STORM
FIRST of the YEAR
The 27th
Crestline Reporting Stations
24 hour Snow Accumulation and Temperatures
Complex Society Discovered in Birds
BIRDS
Vulturine guineafowl
Vulturine guineafowl move in highly cohesive groups. This cohesion allows them to coordinate their actions as they move together through the landscape, and therefore maintain stable group membership over extensive periods of time. James Klarevas, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft.
Some Smart Dino-Birds...
Complex Society Discovered in Birds,
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, November 4, 2019
MAIN POINTS
"Multilevel societies have, until now, only been known to exist among large-brained mammals including humans, other primates, elephants, giraffes, and dolphins."
The Vulturine guineafowl
"...the birds can keep track of social associations with hundreds of other individuals--challenging the notion that large brains are a requirement for complex societies and providing a clue as to how these societies evolved."
Screen Time Degrading Children's Brains
HEALTH & FITNESS
Child Brain Degraded by Screen Time
This lateral brain image of a child exposed to significant screen time shows lower level levels of white matter structural integrity. These effected areas are in blue. Image by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Creating Dull, Stupid Consumers
Screen-Based Media Associated with Structural Differences in Brains of Young Children,
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, November 4, 2019.
Bottom Line
"...study documents structural differences in the brains of preschool-age children related to screen-based media use."
Manufacturing Morons
"...children who have more screen time have lower structural integrity of white matter tracts in parts of the brain that support language and other emergent literacy skills."
"...include imagery and executive function - the process involving mental control and self-regulation."
"...also have lower scores on language and literacy measures."
Any Amount of Running Linked to Significantly Lower Risk of Death
HEALTH & FITNESS
Keep Moving for Health, Department of Running
Any Amount of Running Linked to Significantly Lower Risk of Death,
BMJ, November 4, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
"Any amount of running is linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause, finds a pooled analysis of the available evidence..."
"...any amount of running was associated with a 27% lower risk of death from all causes for both sexes, compared with no running."
"...associated with a 30% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and a 23% lower risk of death from cancer."
"Even small 'doses'--for example, once weekly or less, lasting less than 50 minutes each time, and at a speed below 6 miles (8 km) an hour, still seemed to be associated with significant health/longevity benefits."
Caveat Emptor
"...the researchers caution that the number of included studies was small and their methods varied considerably, which may have influenced the results."
Nonetheless
"Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity."
NOAA Assessing the U.S. Climate in October 2019
CLIMATE, WATER, & WEATHER: US SEPTEMBER
Extremes of US Temperature & Precipitation Continue
Assessing the U.S. Climate in October 2019,
NOAA NCEI, November 6, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Record Cold in NW with Record Heat in Southeast
"Below-average temperatures were observed from the High Plains to the Pacific Coast, while above-average temperatures blanketed the eastern third of the contiguous U.S. Parts of southern Florida were record warm."
October Temperatures
October US Mean Temperature Percentiles
Extreme Cold Event in Northwest
"An early-season snowstorm and associated bitter cold temperatures affected Rockies and Midwest...All-time record low temperatures for Oct were set across the West.
Extreme October Temperature
Wow
"Peter Sinks, UT, often one of the nation’s coldest locations, dropped to −46°F early on October 30, according to the Utah Climate Center. This temperature may be the coldest October temperature on record across the contiguous U.S."
NOAA Assesses the Global Climate in October 2019: Second Hottest October on Record
ECO-CRASHING NEWS
NOAA Tracking Our Devolving Climate & Weather
Assessing the Global Climate in October 2019,
NOAA, November 18, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Second Warmest October Ever,
Second Warmest Year to Date, within range of records…
"The global land and ocean surface temperature departure from average for October 2019 was the second highest for the month of October in the 140-year NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880. "
Second Hottest Year to Date
The year-to-date temperature for 2019 was also the second warmest on record for the January–October period."
Global Land & Ocean Temp Percentiles Sept 2019
NOAA charting the heat distribution of the second hottest October ever...
Summer 2019 MONO & INYO SAR High Sierra Mountain Safety Information and Index
Summer of 2019 High Sierra Safety Intro and Reports
The Intro, Index, and Analysis Page
A Selection of Typical High Sierra Mountain Safety Incidents
by
INYO & MONO SAR
Covering
June 19 to September 29, 2019 Over Three Pages
The Index, Introduction, and Analysis Page
Below
SAR INCIDENTS INDEX
Purpose
To make ourselves aware of the wide range of external and internal threats we confront when departing the safety sphere of civilization entering the HIgh Sierra Wilderness.
More precisely, we use these SAR reports to see how & why people are requiring SAR assistance to better avoid hurting or killing ourselves while engaging the wilderness and wild beauties of the High Sierra.
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY: Summer 2019 SAR Incidents & Accidents, Page I
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY
SAR Incidents & Accidents
Summer of 2019 Mountain Safety Review
REPORTS INDEX
Page I
August 11, 2019
to
September 20, 2019
12 Rescues of Note
Deceased Hiker on PCT above Leavitt Lake
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY: Summer 2019 SAR Incidents & Accidents, Page II
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY
SAR Incidents & Accidents
Summer of 2019 Mountain Safety Review
REPORTS INDEX
Page II
July 22, 2019
to
August 10, 2019
11 Rescues of Note
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY: Summer 2019 SAR Incidents & Accidents, Page III
HIGH SIERRA MOUNTAIN SAFETY
SAR Incidents & Accidents
III
Summer of 2019 Mountain Safety Review
Page III
May 20, 2019
to
July 14, 2019
Technical Nightime Search & Rescue, Incredible Hulk
November of 2019 All High Sierra Backpacker, Hiker, Outdoors, & Nature News Index
Last Updated
December 1, 2019
Except
For the November, "Catch-Up"
LATEST HIGH SIERRA TRAIL NEWS
BELOW
LATEST HIGH SIERRA GENERAL NEWS
BELOW
Latest
High Sierra Backpacker's News
Man and Nature
November, 2019
Happenings in the relationship between Man and Nature affecting our hike down life's trail through both worlds. We study both the reality created by humans and the uncreated reality reflected in, and tended by Nature.
2019 Season High Sierra Fire, Smoke, and Mountain Safety Information
Resources
SUMMER & FALL
BACKPACKING SEASONS
of
2019
FIRE & SMOKE INFORMATION
ALL
FIRE & SMOKE
INFORMATION & RESOURCES
FIRE
All FEDERALLY
Managed Fires
Parks, Forests, and Federal Lands
Inciweb has been downgraded in services and quality by their redesign. For a list of National and California Fires, now see:
Bribed Dems Make Us Pay PGE to Burn Us Down
Important Note
For our Public, Personal, and Financial Safety and Stability
We Must
Convert PG&E into to a Ratepayer-State Owned Public Utility
CORPORATE CAPTIVES on FIRE
Bribed Dems Make Us Pay PG&E to Burn Us Down
Newsom Authorizes $21 Billion Fund to Protect Utilities From Fire Costs,
SF Chron, July 12, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Demon Corporate Rats
"AB1054, which overwhelmingly passed both chambers of the Legislature..."
Public Funded Private Profits
"...a new wildfire fund for claims associated with future blazes started by power lines, mandates safety investments from the major utilities and changes crucial aspects of how the state regulates them, among other provisions."
Full Range of Rapid Climate Changes Across the Arctic Felt in Alaska
ECO-CRASHING NEWS-CLIMATE ISSUES INTERSECT IN ALASKA
The Incredible Rapidly Shrinking-Disappearing Alaskan Winters
Length of the snow season (gray bars) in Alaska each year from 1997-2018. Orange slanting bars show the trend: the date when the state becomes 50 percent snow covered is arriving a week later in October than it used it, and the spring "snow-off" date—when half the winter snow has melted—is arriving nearly two weeks earlier. Image by Rick Thoman, Alaska Center for Climate and Policy.
Full Range of Rapid Changes Across the Arctic Felt in Alaska
New Report Highlights Alaska’s last Five Years of Dramatic Climate Change,
NOAA Climate, October 15, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
"Alaska’s climate is changing, thanks to human-caused global warming, and the effects are widespread and sometimes dangerous."
October of 2019 All High Sierra Backpacker, Hiker, Outdoors, & Nature News Index
LATEST HIGH SIERRA TRAIL NEWS
BELOW
LATEST HIGH SIERRA GENERAL NEWS
BELOW
SEPTEMBER ALL HIGH SIERRA NEWS
Latest
High Sierra Backpacker's News
Man and Nature
October, 2019
Happenings in the relationship between Man and Nature affecting our hike down life's trail through both worlds. We study both the reality created by humans and the uncreated reality reflected in, and tended by Nature.
The vast majority of our reporting on Nature comes from the American Association of Scientists summarizations of each day's bounty of the peer-reviewed research published by academic institutions and journals around the world.
