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.
Aspirin Use Without Specific Medical Need Questioned
HEALTH & FITNESS
Aspirin Use Without Specific Medical Need Questioned
Aspirin found not to prolong healthy aging,
Rush University Medical Center, September 17, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
Aspirin has NO Benefit
"The large clinical trial, which began in 2010, aimed to determine the risks and benefits of daily low-dose aspirin in healthy older adults without previous cardiovascular events, dementia or physical disability, and who were free of medical conditions requiring aspirin use. The results showed that aspirin did not extend healthy independent living (life free of dementia or persistent physical disability)."
No Reason? No Aspirin
“The results will have a significant impact on guidelines about aspirin use for prevention and in daily clinical conversations between clinicians and their older, healthy patients regarding whether aspirin should or should not be used for achieving disability-free longevity."
"This study shows why it is so important to conduct this type of research, so that we can gain a fuller picture of aspirin’s benefits and risks among healthy older persons.”
13,000 Year Old Beer Production, before Agriculture
HEALTH, FITNESS, HUMAN HISTORY & BEER
13,000 Year Old Beer Production
Oldest Beer on Earth, before Agriculture
A prehistoric thirst for craft beer,
Elsevier, September 12, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
“...archeologists analyzed three stone mortars from a 13,000-year old Natufian burial cave site in Israel. Their analysis confirmed that these mortars were used for brewing of wheat/barley, as well as for food storage.”
"Alcohol making and food storage were among the major technological innovations that eventually led to the development of civilizations in the world...”
"We exposed a Natufian burial area with about 30 individuals; a wealth of small finds such as flint tools, animal bones and ground stone implements, and about 100 stone mortars and cupmarks.“
“They used bedrock mortars for pounding and cooking plant-foods, and for brewing wheat/barley-based beer, likely served in ritual feasts 13,000 years ago.”
Mono Basin Scenic Visitor Center Bighorn Sheep Event
VISIT MONO LAKE
Bighorn Sheep Event, Thursday, Sept. 20
Celebration for the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep,
Sierra Wave, September 9, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
“...an afternoon of Sierra bighorn stories and hands on activities at the Mono Basin Scenic Visitor Center, Lee Vining, CA on Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018 from 1 to 4 p.m.”
ACTIVITIES
“...activities for people of all ages will include classroom activities presented by Virginia Chadwick, Vice-President of the Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep Foundation.”
INFORMATION
“Dr. John Wehausen, who has researched bighorn for nearly 50 years, will talk about unusual encounters with bighorn. Elsbeth Otto from CDFW will describe the experience of trekking into the high country to monitor bighorn populations, and Jacqueline Leary from the CDFW will give a presentation on Sierra bighorn lambs.”
STATUS
“The Sierra bighorn population has reached over 600 animals in recent years—a recovery from a low point of a little over 100 bighorn sheep around 1995.”
The Feds
Mono Lake Ranger District
Sept, 2018: Mountain Lion Fatality, Oregon, Near Mount Hood
MOUNTAIN SAFETY-WILDLIFE
Mountain Lion Fatality
Oregon wildlife officials to hunt for killer cougar,
AP, Yahoo, September 12, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
“…officials with guns and dogs will hunt for a cougar believed to have killed a woman while she was hiking in rugged terrain...”
“Diana Bober, who at 55 was an avid and experienced hiker, apparently fought the cougar with repellant, a sharp object and a stick, her sister said.”
"Diana stood at only 5 feet, 4 inches..."
“...body was found Monday, almost two weeks after she was last heard from. She was the first person known to have been killed by a cougar in the wild in Oregon, and the second in the Pacific Northwest this year.”
...“body was found along the Hunchback Trail, Wolfer said. The trail is described by OregonHikers .org as "wild and rugged" with frequent signs of cougars and coyotes.”
“Diana loved the outdoors, and that's how she should be remembered.”
“In May, a mountain biker in Washington state was killed by a cougar on a trail east of Seattle, the first fatal attack in that state in 94 years.”
Spring 2018 Mountain Lion Attack A Bit West of PCT at Snoqualmie
CLIMATE CRASHING POLITICALLY: The Governor of, and for, Endless Growth of OIL CONSUMPTION
CLIMATE CRASHING POLITICALLY
The Governor of OIL
‘It’s literally drill, baby, drill’: Did Jerry Brown’s climate crusade give Big Oil a pass?
Sac Bee, September 13, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
A Rare article critical of our Corporate Masters
Jerry Brown’s Battle Cry
“...not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.”
(WHY? Pillaging our State is the Dims Job…)
The Gov of Oil
Jerry, “...has approved more than 200 new wells in state waters, and more than 23,000 oil and gas drilling permits overall, since he returned to the office nearly eight years ago.”
Growth Machine of Death
“...a refusal to curb California production of oil, whose consumption in the transportation sector is a leading cause of the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming the planet’s temperature.”
Gov of Oil
MOUNTAIN SAFETY in a CRASHING CLIMATE; Smoke and Fire of 2018: Two Reports UPDATED
MOUNTAIN SAFETY in a CRASHING CLIMATE
SMOKE and FIRE
UPDATED
THIRD REPORT
A Video
A Season of Smoke,
NASA Earth Observatory, September 11, 2018.
ORIGINAL REPORTS
Smoke and Fire: Two Reports
Mid-to-Late August
1> 1.9 million acres burned or burning, Smoke Covers Western US
2> HOT, HOT, HOT: Fire Season Just Beginning in California
#1> MOUNTAIN SAFETY
Near Two Million Acres On Fire in the United States,
NASA, August 20, 2018.
Western US Covered with Smoke
Image of the distribution of smoke across the U.S. on August 20, 2018.
John Muir, the establishment of Yosemite Nation Park, and construction of the John Muir Trail.
History of John Muir, Yosemite, and the John Muir Trail
Two elements of the history of John Muir
on this page:
1> Exploration of Sierra Nevada and formation of Yosemite National Park
2> Father of the John Muir Trail, and the History of the Construction of the John Muir Trail
John Muir Trail on Tahoe to Whitney Trail Guide
A Brief History
John Muir's influence on the establishment of Yosemite National Park.
From Green, Yosemite, Park and Resources.
Arrival of John Muir in California, page 299.
March 1868
History of Tuolumne Meadows
History of Tuolumne Meadows
From Green, The Park and its Resources.
Trail Guide
Backpacking Resources
Tuloumne Meadows: Backpacker Resupply & Resources
Tuolumne Meadows-Yosemite Permits
Tuolumne Meadows Backpacking Map
Tuolumne Meadows & Central Yosemite Map
Tuolumne Meadows, North Yosemite, & Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne Map
WEATHER for High Sierra Backpackers: REPORTS, FORECASTS, PREDICTIONS, SNOW, ROADS, CONDITIONS
HIGH SIERRA WEATHER RESOURCES
First
Key Quick Reference
Current Visible Satellite View of the Whole Sierra Nevada Range .jpg)
Above:
Current National Weather Service 3 KM VISIBLE
Sierra Nevada Mountains.
Visible Northern California & the Sierra
DONNELL FIRE: SEPT 8, PCT FINALLY OPEN-CARSON ICEBERG-OPENING
DONNELL FIRE INFORMATION
Updated September 16
Serious SMOKE Hazard Conditions
DISSIPATED
ALL SMOKE RESOURCES
September 16
EXCELLENT HIGH SIERRA BACKPACKING CONDITIONS
Fires Suppressed, Smoke Light or Cleared, Mosquitoes Diminished, Temps looking very comfortable-cool.
TYT-PCT
Trail Map South
Kennedy Meadows & Sonora Pass South across Emigrant Wilderness
TYT-PCT
Trail Map North
Carson Iceberg Wilderness Backpacking Map
September 2018 All High Sierra Outdoors & Nature News Index
LATEST HIGH SIERRA TRAIL NEWS
BELOW
LATEST HIGH SIERRA GENERAL NEWS
BELOW
Latest
High Sierra Backpacker's News
Man and Nature
September, 2018
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.
September 2018 California Fires
Started September 5, 2018
Updated September 16th
September 2018
CALIFORNIA FIRES
The Latest
Updated News, Smoke, & Fire Info Below
All Fed Fire Info
Inciweb
All State Fire Info
Calfire
Best Map
2018 Statewide Fire Map
Potential Hazard Conditions
ALL SMOKE RESOURCES
LATEST NEWS
September 16
EXELLENT HIGH SIERRA BACKPACKING CONDITIONS
Fires Suppressed, Smoke Light or Cleared, Mosquitoes Diminished, Temps looking very comfortable-cool.
September 8
California Aims to Drop Fossil Fuels for Electricity by 2045
CORPORATE GREENERY
Greening the Corporate Growth Machine of Death
California Aims to Drop Fossil Fuels for Electricity by 2045,
US News, September 10, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
“…goal of phasing out electricity produced by fossil fuels by 2045...”
“...along with an executive order Brown signed directing California to take as much carbon dioxide out of the air as it emits...”
“...require California's utilities to generate 60 percent of their energy from wind, solar and other specific renewable sources by 2030. That's 10 percent higher than the current mandate.”
This is All Propaganda
“It's merely a goal, with no mandate or penalty for falling short.”
Oil State
“...Brown has often faced criticism that he's too lenient with the oil industry, including from environmental groups pushing him to create a moratorium on new oil and gas wells in the state.”
“California has nearly 54,000 active wells, some of them close to urbanized areas in Southern California and the Central Valley...”
Art: Sierra Art Trails Open Studio Tour
HIGH SIERRA TRAIL CULTURE
Art: Sierra Art Trails Open Studio Tour
Oakhurst, October 5, 6, and 7
Sierra Art Trails Preview Exhibit And Gala Reception,
Sierra News Online, September 9, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
SIERRA ART TRAILS
"The Sierra Art Trails Open Studio Tour takes place in homes, studios, galleries, and businesses in communities throughout Eastern Madera and Mariposa Counties. The show is the largest and most anticipated arts event in the area, say organizers, featuring artists and artisans working in a wide range of media including painting, photography, jewelry, sculpture, fiber arts, woodcarving, ceramics and glass."
"...Sierra Art Trails as the Preview Exhibit opens at Stellar Gallery on Gallery Row — Saturday, Sept. 8. The gala reception for the event is on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 4 – 9 p.m. Everyone is invited."
"The Preview Exhibit is open to the public, featuring a representative piece by each artist in Sierra Art Trails."
"The catalog — your $20 “ticket for two” — is a collectible, full color publication that includes articles, special features, artist listings and detailed maps that guide visitors to the various Art Trails locations. This year’s catalog features cover art by Carolyn Hartling."
Pretty Pretty Gavin Newsom: How Our Financial-Political-Social Aristocracy Works
PRETTY PRETTY GAVIN NEWSOM
How Our Financial-Political-Social Aristocracy Works
How eight elite San Francisco families funded Gavin Newsom’s political ascent,
LA Times, September 7, 2018.
Observations
on the
Creation, Care, and Feeding of Our Corporate Elite
Pretty-Pretty Gavin Newsom
MAIN POINTS
Gavin Newsom, like his father before him, is a footsolider in the Getty Political Family/Machine.
This article shows us how our corporate elite, “groom,” corrupted politicians as a pedeophile grooms children. Except, in this case, both of the participants are the worse kind of criminals.
These are the criminals who assault the very nature of our political principals, who show that many American’s love of our country and its most fundamental democratic principals are far weaker than their love of money and their love of themselves. Pretty Pretty Gavin and the Getty Machine are those kind of people, the, “better,” kind of people who's vast wealth earns them the rigth to rule over us from their palaces of superority and privilidige.
Kind of like how the Spanish elite rules over Mexico...
Brown signs bills blocking Trump Offshore Drilling Plan
ECO-CRASHING OCEAN NEWS
California Blocks Federal Offshore Drilling
Gov. Brown signs bills to block Trump's offshore oil drilling plan,
LA-LA Land Times, September 28, 2018.
This article shows Jerry Brown pointing out his own hypocrisy, how his fundamental programs of endless growth into California, and endless offshoring of our manufacturing to China, both demand more and more oil for more and more, “consumers,” here in California, while his offshoring all our manufacturing to China has not only broken our environment, but gutting California’s manufacturing broke our middle class, too.
MAIN POINTS
“Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed two bills that would block new offshore oil drilling in California by barring the construction of pipelines, piers, wharves or other infrastructure necessary to transport the oil and gas from federal waters to state land.”
“Today, California’s message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now,” Brown said in a statement. “We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast.”
(Jerry & the Dims do that in California...)
Brown & Dems Stuffing The Twin Tunnels Down our Throat
THE SOURCE of OUR ECOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN
Massive Irresponsible Growth and Development
& Stuffing The Twin Tunnels Down our Throat
Clendaniel: Stop the Delta debacle before property owners get gouged,
How atrocious twin-tunnels mega-deal could cost Californians billions,
Mercury News, September 6, 2017.
MAIN POINTS
Democracy?
"...Brown’s administration will try for a third time to secure a political mega-deal that would commit millions of California property owners to pay for the $19.9 billion Delta twin-tunnels water grab. Without approval of voters or the Legislature."
Corporate Growth Machine of Death
"It’s an atrocious abuse of the political system that must be stopped. Blocking the effort would save property owners thousands of dollars over the next 20-40 years and help preserve the health of the Delta for the next generation and beyond."
Another Brown Scam
"...the state Department of Water Resources convinced the Joint Legislative Budget Committee to schedule a hearing that would enable backers of the Delta tunnels to extend state water contracts for another 50 years."
High Sierra Backpacking Trip Report: Twin Lakes-Benson Lake Loop, July 14 to July 21, 2018
Trip Report
Bensen Lake Loop
July 14 – 21, 2018
Time & Distance
Eight Nights
Around 54 miles
Trail Guide
Trouble in the Cloud Forests, Birds Ascending 23 Feet a Year
BIRD NEWS
Cloud Forests Rising
Birds retreating from climate change, deforestation in Honduras cloud forests,
University of Utah, August 6, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
"A cloud forest is an ecosystem that derives much of its moisture from water vapor in the surrounding air."
"A 10-year study of bird populations in Cusuco National Park, Honduras, shows that the peak of bird diversity in this mountainous park is moving higher in elevation. Additional land protection, unfortunately, may not be enough to reverse the trend, driven in part by globally rising temperatures."
"...predicted that rising temperatures and changes in precipitation would cause species, particularly birds, to shift to higher elevations, shrinking their habitat and boosting the risk of extinction."
"That...is exactly what’s happening."
"...most species moving upslope, at an average of 23 feet (7 m) per year."
Not Just Climate
"One factor is the continuing development and deforestation within the park."
"The terrain’s status as a national park...doesn’t seem to be much of a deterrent for those seeking to expand agricultural land."
But Climate is Changing
“Increased protection is unlikely to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Amazing Ancient Human Climate Interactions
ECO-CRASHING NEWS
Amazing Human-Climate Interactions
What a Long, Strange Trips It’s Been
Ancient farmers spared us from glaciers but profoundly changed Earth's climate,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, September 6, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
Human Global Warming began a Long Time Ago
“Millenia ago, ancient farmers...may have been fundamentally altering the climate of the Earth.“
“...without this human influence, by the start of the Industrial Revolution, the planet would have likely been headed for another ice age.”
First Human Tipping Point
“...the Holocene reversed direction 5,000 years ago, hitting peak concentrations of both gases by 1850.”
The Long Cycle
“For most of Earth's 4.5-billion-year history, its climate has largely been determined by a natural phenomenon known as Milankovitch cycles, periodic changes in the shape of Earth's orbit around the sun - which fluctuates from more circular to more elliptical - and the way Earth wobbles and tilts on its axis.“
