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.
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
Also See
NE Pacific Water Vapor
Tracking Fall into Winter, 2019-2020, Early Season Snow
FIRE & ICE
WEATHER HAZARD WARNINGS
RED FLAG FIRE WARNING
up the
NORTH VALLEY & FOOTHILLS
WINTER ADVISORY & WINTER WARNINGS
along
SIERRA CREST & FLANKS
Last year at this time the Camp Fire was raging, only to be put out by the first substantial storm in months, marking the beginning of our impending above-average Winter.
See the High Sierra Calendar for More
November of 2019 All High Sierra Backpacker, Hiker, 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
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.
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.
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.
Massive 2019 Blob Forms
OCEANS, ICE, WATER, & THE BLOB
Comparing The Blobs of 2014 & 2019
NOAA Sea Surface Temperatures representing the 2014 & 2019 Blobs, Big Maps.
UPDATE
Marine Heat Wave Returns to the Northeast Pacific,
NASA Earth Observatory, September 12, 2019.
Massive 2019 Blob Forms
New Marine Heatwave Emerges off West Coast, Resembles "the Blob,"
NOAA Fisheries, September 5, 2019.
WATCH the BLOB
Current & Recent
Sea Surface Temperatures
(Scroll up for El Nino Information)
MAIN POINTS
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
September 20, 2019
to
August 11, 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
Longest Orbital Cycles Proven and Measured; Half-Billion Year Super-Milankowitch Cycles
THE BIG CLIMATE PICTURE
Update
What Caused an Ice Age Expansion from 40 to 100 Thousand Years,
“Despite Orbitally Paced Drivers?”
A Gradually Precessing Elliptical Orbit
Thanks to WillowW, Wiki
Original Research
NATURALLY CHANGING CLIMATE CYCLES
Longest Orbital Cycles Proven and Measured
Super-Milankowitch Cycles a Half-Billion Years Long Explained,
& the Shorter Epi-Cycles subdividing the Super Cycles,
In ancient rocks, scientists see a climate cycle working across deep time,
The Earth Institute at Columbia University, May 7, 2018.
MAIN POINTS
"Scientists have for decades posited that Earth's orbit around the sun goes from nearly circular to about 5 percent elliptical, and back again every 405,000 years."
My 5g Cell Phone Health Concerns Run Deep
HEALTH & FITNESS
5G Phone Rollouts are, "Happening."
CELLPHONY
Two smartphones: a Samsung Galaxy J5 (left) and an iPhone 6S (right). Photo by Senado Federa, Wiki.
Direct to Two Reference Articles
Yes it Is
All the proof you need that 5G phones are coming in 2019,
c/net, February 8, 2018.
Cities Quick, everywhere else, Slow
5G hype is coming. Don’t fall for it.
Android Authority, August 26, 2018.
Updated
Wi-Fi & Electromagnetic Radiation Research War
Continues
My Cell Phone Health Concerns Run Deep
New Superbug Camouflage
HEALTH, FITNESS & SUPERBUGS
SUPERBUG!
Inside the MCR-9 Jumping Superbug's Protein Structure
This is what death looks like. From, New Super-Resistant Jumping Superbug Gene Discovered, by Ahmed Gaballa, Cornell University.
New Superbug Evolutionary Weaponry
Superbug Camouflage
'Wolves in Sheep's Clothing' -- the Superbugs Outsmarting Laboratory Tests,
University of Leeds, October 28, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
SARM Bacteria
"Our findings highlight the fact that antibiotic resistance can sometimes effectively be hidden: in other words, it looks like you're dealing with an infection that should be treatable with a given antibiotic, but that may not be the case."
Land Use, Erosion, and Climate Change's Ancient and Modern Relationship
ECO-CRASHING NEWS: LAND USE, EROSION, AND MORE RAIN
Is this What Happened to Summer, Ur, & Babaylon?
Erosion caused by agriculture is a major cause of land degradation. Photo by Rick Bohn / United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
Its Ancient Beginning: Massive Climate Feedback Loop Well Underway
Human Activities Boosted Global Soil Erosion Already 4,000 Years Ago,
Institut national de la recherche scientifique - INRS, October 28, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Ancient Land Use Erosion
"...recorded temporal changes of soil erosion by analyzing sediment deposits in more than 600 lakes worldwide. They found that the accumulation of lake sediments increased significantly on a global scale around 4,000 years ago. At the same time, tree cover decreased as shown by pollen records, which is a clear indicator of deforestation. The study suggests that human practices and land-use change have intensified soil erosion long before industrialization."
Massive 40-50 Percent Great Barrier Reef Coral Losses
OCEANS AND CORAL
Measuring Massive Reef Destruction
Repeated disturbances from climate change and deteriorating water have changed some reefs from coral to algae. David Wachenfeld, Triggerfish Images.
Massive 40-50 Percent Great Barrier Reef Losses
Great Barrier Reef Island Coral Decline,
ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, October 27, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
40-50% GBR Coral Declines
"A long-term study of coral cover on island groups of the Great Barrier Reef has found declines of between 40 and 50 percent of live, hard corals at inshore island groups during the past few decades."
"...the data was so alarming that they checked and re-checked it."
Locations
"...researchers surveyed coral cover on fringing reefs of the Palm, Magnetic, Whitsunday and Keppel Island groups along the central and southern Great Barrier Reef, and compared it to historical records."
Unknown Skeleton found below Mount Williamson
MOUNTAIN SAFETY
Failure is Forever
APNewsBreak: Skeleton Unearthed Beneath California Peak,
AP, October 16, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Two Recent Climbers on Mount Williamson
Encountered skeletal remains, "...discovered Oct. 7 near a lake in the remote rock-filled bowl between the towering peaks of Mount Tyndall and Williamson, which rises to 14,374 feet."
Off Route Discovery
"The average person who was hiking to Williamson wouldn't have gone the route we went because we were a little bit lost, a little bit off course."
"...came upon the grisly discovery of what looked like a bone buried in a boulder field."
"...moved rocks aside and discovered an entire skeleton. It appeared to have been there long enough that all that remained were bones, a pair of leather shoes and a belt."
No Answers
"Who was the unfortunate hiker? How did he or she die? Was the person alone? Were they ever reported injured, dead or missing?"
NOAA Assesses the Global Climate in September 2019: Hottest September on Record
ECO-CRASHING NEWS
Tracking Our Devolving Climate & Weather
Assessing the Global Climate in September 2019,
NOAA, October 16, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
Warmest & Warmest September Ever
"...2019 tied with 2015 as the highest for the month of September in the 140-year NOAA global temperature dataset record, which dates back to 1880. The year-to-date temperature for 2019 was the second warmest January–September on record."
Global Land & Ocean Temp Percentiles Sept 2019
The September temperature across global land and ocean surfaces was 1.71°F above the 20th century average of 59.0°F and tied with 2015 as the highest for September in the 1880–2019 record. NOAA.
Points
Hot Run
"The 10 warmest Septembers have all occurred since 2005, with the last five years (2015–2019) being the five warmest Septembers on record."
Hottest September
Northern Hemisphere
"The Northern Hemisphere, as a whole, also had its warmest September on record at 2.23°F above average, surpassing the previous record set in 2016 by +0.05°F."
The US Army Assesses What We're Up Against
STRATEGIC AND TACTICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CLIMATE-WEATHER DESTRUCTION
Coming to an MegaCity Near You
Urban Tanks in our Climate Breakdown Future? Michel_van_der_Vegt, Pixabay.
The US Army Assesses What We're Up Against
Implications of Climate Change for the US Army,
Army War College. May 2019, PDF.
Our Future, According to the Army
I typically comment at the end of research. This report draws me to consider the environment in which this research was prepared.
While reading the highlights of this report, one must note that this military assessment seeks to provide information for the preparation of strategic and tactical responses not to, "climate change," but to the likely breakdown of whole countries and societies.
Half Dome Permit Policy Safety Analysis
MOUNTAIN SAFETY
Half Dome
From the Trail Guide
Liberty Cap in Shadows with Half Dome towering over Mount Broderick, Looking from just West of Nevada Falls, Guide, Map.
Half Dome Safety Analysis
Restricted permit-only access to Yosemite National Park's Half Dome summit, anticipated to improve hiker safety, did not,
Elsevier, June 26, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
2010 Half Dome Permit Restrictions
"Implementation in 2010 of permit-only access to Half Dome cable handrails along the final ascent of this iconic landmark reduced the number of people on the summit at one time, but this did not result in a significant reduction in the overall toll of associated human suffering and mortality, or search and rescue (SAR) activity and costs."
Let's Explore Some of the Strange, Complex Elements of Quantum Computing
ASTROPHYSICS, SCIENCE, & TECHNOLOGY
Schrödinger's Cat Says Quantum WHAT?
Cool Quantum Cats not down with Schrödinger's quantum superposition. More. By geralt, Pixabay.
Let's Explore Some of the Strange, Complex Elements of Quantum Computing
Achieving Quantum Supremacy,
University of California - Santa Barbara, October 23, 2019.
MAIN POINTS
The Sycamore Quantum Computer
"...with Sycamore, 54 qubits (one didn’t perform) that take advantage of the both awe-inspiring and bizarre properties of quantum mechanics."
Quantum Supremacy
"...to perform an algorithm or computation that couldn’t be done otherwise."
"Using 53 entangled quantum bits (“qubits”), their Sycamore computer has taken on — and solved — a problem considered intractable for classical computers."
