Friday, September 30, 2005
Pursuits & Retreats
Personal File
Caring for Your Introvert
The habits and needs of a little-understood group
by Jonathan Rauch
.....
o you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?
If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?
If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly. Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans, that introverts process information differently from other people (I am not making this up). If you are behind the curve on this important matter, be reassured that you are not alone. Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world.
Advertisement
I know. My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.
Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues. In doing so, I have found myself liberated from any number of damaging misconceptions and stereotypes. Now I am here to tell you what you need to know in order to respond sensitively and supportively to your own introverted family members, friends, and colleagues. Remember, someone you know, respect, and interact with every day is an introvert, and you are probably driving this person nuts. It pays to learn the warning signs.
What is introversion? In its modern sense, the concept goes back to the 1920s and the psychologist Carl Jung. Today it is a mainstay of personality tests, including the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.
Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."
How many people are introverts? I performed exhaustive research on this question, in the form of a quick Google search. The answer: About 25 percent. Or: Just under half. Or—my favorite—"a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population."
Are introverts misunderstood? Wildly. That, it appears, is our lot in life. "It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. (They are also the source of the quotation in the previous paragraph.) Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs. But the street does not run both ways. Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion. As often as I have tried to explain the matter to extroverts, I have never sensed that any of them really understood. They listen for a moment and then go back to barking and yipping.
Are introverts oppressed? I would have to say so. For one thing, extroverts are overrepresented in politics, a profession in which only the garrulous are really comfortable. Look at George W. Bush. Look at Bill Clinton. They seem to come fully to life only around other people. To think of the few introverts who did rise to the top in politics—Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon—is merely to drive home the point. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, whose fabled aloofness and privateness were probably signs of a deep introverted streak (many actors, I've read, are introverts, and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors), introverts are not considered "naturals" in politics.
Extroverts therefore dominate public life. This is a pity. If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place. As Coolidge is supposed to have said, "Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?" (He is also supposed to have said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it." The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.)
With their endless appetite for talk and attention, extroverts also dominate social life, so they tend to set expectations. In our extrovertist society, being outgoing is considered normal and therefore desirable, a mark of happiness, confidence, leadership. Extroverts are seen as bighearted, vibrant, warm, empathic. "People person" is a compliment. Introverts are described with words like "guarded," "loner," "reserved," "taciturn," "self-contained," "private"—narrow, ungenerous words, words that suggest emotional parsimony and smallness of personality. Female introverts, I suspect, must suffer especially. In certain circles, particularly in the Midwest, a man can still sometimes get away with being what they used to call a strong and silent type; introverted women, lacking that alternative, are even more likely than men to be perceived as timid, withdrawn, haughty.
Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts. Also, it is probably due to our lack of small talk, a lack that extroverts often mistake for disdain. We tend to think before talking, whereas extroverts tend to think by talking, which is why their meetings never last less than six hours. "Introverts," writes a perceptive fellow named Thomas P. Crouser, in an online review of a recent book called Why Should Extroverts Make All the Money? (I'm not making that up, either), "are driven to distraction by the semi-internal dialogue extroverts tend to conduct. Introverts don't outwardly complain, instead roll their eyes and silently curse the darkness." Just so.
The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts' Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say "I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.
Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"
Third, don't say anything else, either.
Jonathan Rauch is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a senior writer for National Journal.
Personal File
Caring for Your Introvert
The habits and needs of a little-understood group
by Jonathan Rauch
.....
o you know someone who needs hours alone every day? Who loves quiet conversations about feelings or ideas, and can give a dynamite presentation to a big audience, but seems awkward in groups and maladroit at small talk? Who has to be dragged to parties and then needs the rest of the day to recuperate? Who growls or scowls or grunts or winces when accosted with pleasantries by people who are just trying to be nice?
If so, do you tell this person he is "too serious," or ask if he is okay? Regard him as aloof, arrogant, rude? Redouble your efforts to draw him out?
If you answered yes to these questions, chances are that you have an introvert on your hands—and that you aren't caring for him properly. Science has learned a good deal in recent years about the habits and requirements of introverts. It has even learned, by means of brain scans, that introverts process information differently from other people (I am not making this up). If you are behind the curve on this important matter, be reassured that you are not alone. Introverts may be common, but they are also among the most misunderstood and aggrieved groups in America, possibly the world.
Advertisement
I know. My name is Jonathan, and I am an introvert.
Oh, for years I denied it. After all, I have good social skills. I am not morose or misanthropic. Usually. I am far from shy. I love long conversations that explore intimate thoughts or passionate interests. But at last I have self-identified and come out to my friends and colleagues. In doing so, I have found myself liberated from any number of damaging misconceptions and stereotypes. Now I am here to tell you what you need to know in order to respond sensitively and supportively to your own introverted family members, friends, and colleagues. Remember, someone you know, respect, and interact with every day is an introvert, and you are probably driving this person nuts. It pays to learn the warning signs.
What is introversion? In its modern sense, the concept goes back to the 1920s and the psychologist Carl Jung. Today it is a mainstay of personality tests, including the widely used Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Introverts are not necessarily shy. Shy people are anxious or frightened or self-excoriating in social settings; introverts generally are not. Introverts are also not misanthropic, though some of us do go along with Sartre as far as to say "Hell is other people at breakfast." Rather, introverts are people who find other people tiring.
Extroverts are energized by people, and wilt or fade when alone. They often seem bored by themselves, in both senses of the expression. Leave an extrovert alone for two minutes and he will reach for his cell phone. In contrast, after an hour or two of being socially "on," we introverts need to turn off and recharge. My own formula is roughly two hours alone for every hour of socializing. This isn't antisocial. It isn't a sign of depression. It does not call for medication. For introverts, to be alone with our thoughts is as restorative as sleeping, as nourishing as eating. Our motto: "I'm okay, you're okay—in small doses."
How many people are introverts? I performed exhaustive research on this question, in the form of a quick Google search. The answer: About 25 percent. Or: Just under half. Or—my favorite—"a minority in the regular population but a majority in the gifted population."
Are introverts misunderstood? Wildly. That, it appears, is our lot in life. "It is very difficult for an extrovert to understand an introvert," write the education experts Jill D. Burruss and Lisa Kaenzig. (They are also the source of the quotation in the previous paragraph.) Extroverts are easy for introverts to understand, because extroverts spend so much of their time working out who they are in voluble, and frequently inescapable, interaction with other people. They are as inscrutable as puppy dogs. But the street does not run both ways. Extroverts have little or no grasp of introversion. They assume that company, especially their own, is always welcome. They cannot imagine why someone would need to be alone; indeed, they often take umbrage at the suggestion. As often as I have tried to explain the matter to extroverts, I have never sensed that any of them really understood. They listen for a moment and then go back to barking and yipping.
Are introverts oppressed? I would have to say so. For one thing, extroverts are overrepresented in politics, a profession in which only the garrulous are really comfortable. Look at George W. Bush. Look at Bill Clinton. They seem to come fully to life only around other people. To think of the few introverts who did rise to the top in politics—Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon—is merely to drive home the point. With the possible exception of Ronald Reagan, whose fabled aloofness and privateness were probably signs of a deep introverted streak (many actors, I've read, are introverts, and many introverts, when socializing, feel like actors), introverts are not considered "naturals" in politics.
Extroverts therefore dominate public life. This is a pity. If we introverts ran the world, it would no doubt be a calmer, saner, more peaceful sort of place. As Coolidge is supposed to have said, "Don't you know that four fifths of all our troubles in this life would disappear if we would just sit down and keep still?" (He is also supposed to have said, "If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it." The only thing a true introvert dislikes more than talking about himself is repeating himself.)
With their endless appetite for talk and attention, extroverts also dominate social life, so they tend to set expectations. In our extrovertist society, being outgoing is considered normal and therefore desirable, a mark of happiness, confidence, leadership. Extroverts are seen as bighearted, vibrant, warm, empathic. "People person" is a compliment. Introverts are described with words like "guarded," "loner," "reserved," "taciturn," "self-contained," "private"—narrow, ungenerous words, words that suggest emotional parsimony and smallness of personality. Female introverts, I suspect, must suffer especially. In certain circles, particularly in the Midwest, a man can still sometimes get away with being what they used to call a strong and silent type; introverted women, lacking that alternative, are even more likely than men to be perceived as timid, withdrawn, haughty.
Are introverts arrogant? Hardly. I suppose this common misconception has to do with our being more intelligent, more reflective, more independent, more level-headed, more refined, and more sensitive than extroverts. Also, it is probably due to our lack of small talk, a lack that extroverts often mistake for disdain. We tend to think before talking, whereas extroverts tend to think by talking, which is why their meetings never last less than six hours. "Introverts," writes a perceptive fellow named Thomas P. Crouser, in an online review of a recent book called Why Should Extroverts Make All the Money? (I'm not making that up, either), "are driven to distraction by the semi-internal dialogue extroverts tend to conduct. Introverts don't outwardly complain, instead roll their eyes and silently curse the darkness." Just so.
The worst of it is that extroverts have no idea of the torment they put us through. Sometimes, as we gasp for air amid the fog of their 98-percent-content-free talk, we wonder if extroverts even bother to listen to themselves. Still, we endure stoically, because the etiquette books—written, no doubt, by extroverts—regard declining to banter as rude and gaps in conversation as awkward. We can only dream that someday, when our condition is more widely understood, when perhaps an Introverts' Rights movement has blossomed and borne fruit, it will not be impolite to say "I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush."
How can I let the introvert in my life know that I support him and respect his choice? First, recognize that it's not a choice. It's not a lifestyle. It's an orientation.
Second, when you see an introvert lost in thought, don't say "What's the matter?" or "Are you all right?"
Third, don't say anything else, either.
Jonathan Rauch is a correspondent for The Atlantic and a senior writer for National Journal.
Sunday, November 02, 2003
The love of my life. The twinkle on your finger
American consumerism knows no bounds. I am cheap I admit it. Something to do with my immigrant mentality (or as someone in the USA would say depression mentality). If you have seen poverty face-on in its very gory details, as someone growing up in India is very likely to ave done, it is very easy to lose your appetite for consumerism or more precisely (spending money)
That said American consumers are not a very critical or a bright bunch. Most of the traditions of today and almost all the "days" (like fathers day, mothers day etc) are fads and myths of American marketing that american consumers gooble up by the boatloads and will look at you pittingly if you fail to subscribe to the same values.
Chocolates and Diamonds are today the epitome of your love for your beloved. Without going in to the details of how such show of affection might hurt your wast line or bank balance we merely point out that these traditions were started by Cadbury's and DeBeers respectively in the not so distant past. That's right this timeless gesture of love of giving chocolate on Valentine's day or diamond on engagement day is a marketing ploy and not so timeless afterall.
Furthermore Diamonds (as most other commodities that derive their value from shortages like gold, artwork, collectibles) is artifically priced higher than it should be because of a monoploy and strict rationinig of supply (I am not making it up. The US Department of justice agrees. Google it or read this !)
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.htm
American consumerism knows no bounds. I am cheap I admit it. Something to do with my immigrant mentality (or as someone in the USA would say depression mentality). If you have seen poverty face-on in its very gory details, as someone growing up in India is very likely to ave done, it is very easy to lose your appetite for consumerism or more precisely (spending money)
That said American consumers are not a very critical or a bright bunch. Most of the traditions of today and almost all the "days" (like fathers day, mothers day etc) are fads and myths of American marketing that american consumers gooble up by the boatloads and will look at you pittingly if you fail to subscribe to the same values.
Chocolates and Diamonds are today the epitome of your love for your beloved. Without going in to the details of how such show of affection might hurt your wast line or bank balance we merely point out that these traditions were started by Cadbury's and DeBeers respectively in the not so distant past. That's right this timeless gesture of love of giving chocolate on Valentine's day or diamond on engagement day is a marketing ploy and not so timeless afterall.
Furthermore Diamonds (as most other commodities that derive their value from shortages like gold, artwork, collectibles) is artifically priced higher than it should be because of a monoploy and strict rationinig of supply (I am not making it up. The US Department of justice agrees. Google it or read this !)
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.htm
Sunday, October 19, 2003
Beatification of Mother Teresa
I cannot possibly write anything that wouldnt be too small in Mother Teresa's honor. She has been praised and applauded by countless people already and my prayers are just one in a crescendo of many.
Some people have questioned if she really performed miracles and whether then does she really deserve to be a saint. She likely did not perform any miracles but it does not matter. Performing routine, humdrum jobs that brings solace to countless suffering people is more important than performing miracles and curing only handful of people of their ailments. But perhaps the biggest service that she has done is to make people more humble about their achievements and realize the roots that they come from and how many people still are left behind and need a hand.
I hope that when I am in one of my down periods and hate all of humanity I will take inspiration from her work. This short, frail woman was a giant amongst all of humanity.
I cannot possibly write anything that wouldnt be too small in Mother Teresa's honor. She has been praised and applauded by countless people already and my prayers are just one in a crescendo of many.
Some people have questioned if she really performed miracles and whether then does she really deserve to be a saint. She likely did not perform any miracles but it does not matter. Performing routine, humdrum jobs that brings solace to countless suffering people is more important than performing miracles and curing only handful of people of their ailments. But perhaps the biggest service that she has done is to make people more humble about their achievements and realize the roots that they come from and how many people still are left behind and need a hand.
I hope that when I am in one of my down periods and hate all of humanity I will take inspiration from her work. This short, frail woman was a giant amongst all of humanity.
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/6
The next day we got up as usual and SM and BD were already on their way out. They wanted to cover as much distance as they could before we caught up with them. The idea being that we would all finish at the same time.
I forgot to mention that by this time I had sores on all the ten toes and a Mother of All Sores (MOAS) on the left heel of my right foot. I had taped them all the previous night using SM's needle and thread method ie burst the sore and keep a small thread in it (so that the water flows out and remains out because of capillary action). Of course there is a possibility of infection so you always keep an anitbiotic handy.
As I would find out later, sores would bother me for the rest of my trip. However I have hiked with sores before and you get used to them soon. But for now we were just dreading the climb up to palisades lake. We would again reach a altitude of about 10500 feet from 8k+ feet. As was expected the group soon broke up into different sub-groups hiking at different paces. GL and JB were usually in a single group hiking at the same pace. while SC would hike in spurts, fall back and then climb really fast till you couldnt even see him. I kept on trudging along at the same old pace. I was the tortoise of the pack. And No ! tortoises dont always finish first.
The hike was uneventful, though I did see a bobcat and a marmot on the trail. The bob cat @ much lower elvation (around 8k+) and the marmot at around 10k+ elevation. We reached our destination at around 2:00 pm. Most of us were (including SM and BD who had left earlier in the day) within half an hour of each other. I of course was bringing up the rear to make sure there were not stragglers :)
As soon as we had watered and carbed up, we went into an analysis paralysis as to where to camp. GL wanted to continue climbing another 1500 feet. I wasnt interested in any more punishment. SM and GL couldn't agree whether to camp on the trail (near a stream) or descend about 100 feet down and camp near the lake. Finally to my surprise SM put her foot down and told everyone to camp at the lake. It was 100 feet extra climb for us the next day and most of us didnt agree with SM's decision but were happy to comply. A vacillating leader is more painful to watch than a decisive albeit wrong leader. Forcefulness of thought and focus in action immediately brings a following. Wait I am beginning to sound like chenney defending the Iraq war.
We had already setup camp by 2:00 pm in the day and we would pass the rest of the day just idling around. The sun was playing peekaboo with us and there was never a large stretch of time greater than 15 minutes when the sun wasnt hiding behind clouds (though clouds were dispersed and certainly not carrying any rain at all. In fact it was generally a sunny day). Multiple attempts by GL and SC to take a dip in the lake were thwarted by the diasppearing sun. Though SM did manage to wash her hair and I did take sponge bath later in the evening. But by this time, we werent really worrying about hygiene :)
While setting up the camp GL had created a fuss that there were ticks there. That was enough to get us concerned. I immediately perked up in my tent. But others did not see any. GL meanwhile changed his canopy from one tree to another tree next to it. It was unbelievable that ticks could inhabit one tree and not the one next to it. This and other mannerisms lead me to believe that GL was an overly excitable and hyper person. If there really ticks that GL had found, he would have packed up and gone some hundreds of feet away.
We cooked our dinner and sat around talking about stuff. I vaguely remember some massage exchange and getting a hug from SM. She had started mssing her BF back home and wanted hugs from the guys around.
By this time we could see the end of out trip. There were only two more nights remaining and we started planning for our big last night dinner, which would mean everybody pooling all the remaining food and having a feast. Though considering that we were running so low on food, it didnt look like much of a feast.
A interesting phenomenon had developed over the past few days. I used to make tea every night (i had brouhgt a limited number of orange pekoe tea bags - the cehapest ones in the store). People started asking me to shre my used tea bag. The tea bag would go for second and third and fourth. Of course by the time the tea bag had been used four times, there wasnt really any flavor left, but people still enjoyed it. That tea bag wouldnt even have garnered one tenth of the attention that it did on the bakpacking trip. And this happened everyday. Indeed goes to show how your needs shrink in the outdoors.
We were beginning to see the end of the trip. The next day would be another 1.5k climb up, but after that all the hike was either downhill or relatively flat or moderately uphill. That night I was a happy sleeper.
The next day we got up as usual and SM and BD were already on their way out. They wanted to cover as much distance as they could before we caught up with them. The idea being that we would all finish at the same time.
I forgot to mention that by this time I had sores on all the ten toes and a Mother of All Sores (MOAS) on the left heel of my right foot. I had taped them all the previous night using SM's needle and thread method ie burst the sore and keep a small thread in it (so that the water flows out and remains out because of capillary action). Of course there is a possibility of infection so you always keep an anitbiotic handy.
As I would find out later, sores would bother me for the rest of my trip. However I have hiked with sores before and you get used to them soon. But for now we were just dreading the climb up to palisades lake. We would again reach a altitude of about 10500 feet from 8k+ feet. As was expected the group soon broke up into different sub-groups hiking at different paces. GL and JB were usually in a single group hiking at the same pace. while SC would hike in spurts, fall back and then climb really fast till you couldnt even see him. I kept on trudging along at the same old pace. I was the tortoise of the pack. And No ! tortoises dont always finish first.
The hike was uneventful, though I did see a bobcat and a marmot on the trail. The bob cat @ much lower elvation (around 8k+) and the marmot at around 10k+ elevation. We reached our destination at around 2:00 pm. Most of us were (including SM and BD who had left earlier in the day) within half an hour of each other. I of course was bringing up the rear to make sure there were not stragglers :)
As soon as we had watered and carbed up, we went into an analysis paralysis as to where to camp. GL wanted to continue climbing another 1500 feet. I wasnt interested in any more punishment. SM and GL couldn't agree whether to camp on the trail (near a stream) or descend about 100 feet down and camp near the lake. Finally to my surprise SM put her foot down and told everyone to camp at the lake. It was 100 feet extra climb for us the next day and most of us didnt agree with SM's decision but were happy to comply. A vacillating leader is more painful to watch than a decisive albeit wrong leader. Forcefulness of thought and focus in action immediately brings a following. Wait I am beginning to sound like chenney defending the Iraq war.
We had already setup camp by 2:00 pm in the day and we would pass the rest of the day just idling around. The sun was playing peekaboo with us and there was never a large stretch of time greater than 15 minutes when the sun wasnt hiding behind clouds (though clouds were dispersed and certainly not carrying any rain at all. In fact it was generally a sunny day). Multiple attempts by GL and SC to take a dip in the lake were thwarted by the diasppearing sun. Though SM did manage to wash her hair and I did take sponge bath later in the evening. But by this time, we werent really worrying about hygiene :)
While setting up the camp GL had created a fuss that there were ticks there. That was enough to get us concerned. I immediately perked up in my tent. But others did not see any. GL meanwhile changed his canopy from one tree to another tree next to it. It was unbelievable that ticks could inhabit one tree and not the one next to it. This and other mannerisms lead me to believe that GL was an overly excitable and hyper person. If there really ticks that GL had found, he would have packed up and gone some hundreds of feet away.
We cooked our dinner and sat around talking about stuff. I vaguely remember some massage exchange and getting a hug from SM. She had started mssing her BF back home and wanted hugs from the guys around.
By this time we could see the end of out trip. There were only two more nights remaining and we started planning for our big last night dinner, which would mean everybody pooling all the remaining food and having a feast. Though considering that we were running so low on food, it didnt look like much of a feast.
A interesting phenomenon had developed over the past few days. I used to make tea every night (i had brouhgt a limited number of orange pekoe tea bags - the cehapest ones in the store). People started asking me to shre my used tea bag. The tea bag would go for second and third and fourth. Of course by the time the tea bag had been used four times, there wasnt really any flavor left, but people still enjoyed it. That tea bag wouldnt even have garnered one tenth of the attention that it did on the bakpacking trip. And this happened everyday. Indeed goes to show how your needs shrink in the outdoors.
We were beginning to see the end of the trip. The next day would be another 1.5k climb up, but after that all the hike was either downhill or relatively flat or moderately uphill. That night I was a happy sleeper.
Saturday, September 27, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/5
The next day was god sent. There was nice bright sunshine in the morning. That thing people say about the beauty after the storm - that is so real. You are so relieved the storm passed that you find everything else pretty. A nice morning with great sunshine is so under-rated by us. We quickly broke camp and got everything out to dry in the sun. BD termed it "explosion of the camp". Everything was strewn over every piece of rock so that it could dry as quickly as possible.
The prodigy that she is, SM was quickly done with her packing and was ready to leave. But I was not in a hurry this time. The hike today was going to be all downhill and fairly easy. JB, SC and I took our time packing and left a good half an hour late. The downhill hike in the canyon was gorgeous. As we dropped in elevation, the boulders started giving way to vegetation. First just grass meadows, then small shrubs, plants and then trees. We passed a number of scenic lakes and nice camp spots. At one of the camp spot, the campers had brought lamas with them. They apparently breed the lamas and sell them as pack animals or for meat. I am sure the lamas were feeling very @ home at those elevations. We continued down through Le-Conte Canyon. The hike downhill was fairly eventless. This Canyon is absolutely gorgeous. Only backpackers that venture away from the road will ever get to savour this beauty. The rest of the mass of humanity will stick close to the road and go ooh and aah on the limited things they see from the road.
Rain clouds had begun to gather again afar and started to move in. So the respite from the rain was going to be just brief then huh ! It is such a great sight to see rainfall from afar. It almost looks like the cloud is slowly dissipating to the ground in sheets of vapour. We quickly wore our rain gear and started hiking down. By the time the rain caught up with us, we were fairly low in elevation that we could take cover under the trees. It probably rained more severely on the higher elevations.
We continued trudging along to our camping spot for the night. All the going that day was downhill and we lost a substantial elevation (from 12k to 8k ft). But as in normal life, you have to make up for all that you lose while hiking. Indeed the next day was goign to be a killer. We would recover substantially all the elevation that we lost today. All this uphill and downhill made me comment sarcastically " Seems like we cant make up our mind, whether we want to be on the top or the bottom".
We finally reached our campground. The rain clouds till now had been more thunder than rain. The sky was still overcast but since we were so low among the trees it was farily certain that we wouldnt face the same challenges as from the previous night. We found a very nice camp spot close to water and setup camp (of course we had the whole clash again between SM and GL about leadership issues but the dynamics had indeed changed. SM was decisively more agressive and GL was defintiely on the retreat.) A few minutes after we setup camp the sun came out. So it was goign to be a nice night after all.
We cleaned up, pumped water, cooked our dinner and started the fire and sat around talking about stuff. I had begun to burn out from the trip and missed my bed and shower and hot food. I suspect others were also burned out. We started discussing what we wanted to eat as soon as we got out of the mountains. It was Pizza for some, but thick, creamy, fat laden milk-shake for me. And I made sure that I got my wish at the end of the trip. But for now it was the tent and psyching yourselves for the uphill the next day.
Shackleton
I just happened to chance over a book of pictures @ Barnes and Noble about Shackleton and his antarctic adventures. After reading that book, I am beginning to consider myself a wuss.
The next day was god sent. There was nice bright sunshine in the morning. That thing people say about the beauty after the storm - that is so real. You are so relieved the storm passed that you find everything else pretty. A nice morning with great sunshine is so under-rated by us. We quickly broke camp and got everything out to dry in the sun. BD termed it "explosion of the camp". Everything was strewn over every piece of rock so that it could dry as quickly as possible.
The prodigy that she is, SM was quickly done with her packing and was ready to leave. But I was not in a hurry this time. The hike today was going to be all downhill and fairly easy. JB, SC and I took our time packing and left a good half an hour late. The downhill hike in the canyon was gorgeous. As we dropped in elevation, the boulders started giving way to vegetation. First just grass meadows, then small shrubs, plants and then trees. We passed a number of scenic lakes and nice camp spots. At one of the camp spot, the campers had brought lamas with them. They apparently breed the lamas and sell them as pack animals or for meat. I am sure the lamas were feeling very @ home at those elevations. We continued down through Le-Conte Canyon. The hike downhill was fairly eventless. This Canyon is absolutely gorgeous. Only backpackers that venture away from the road will ever get to savour this beauty. The rest of the mass of humanity will stick close to the road and go ooh and aah on the limited things they see from the road.
Rain clouds had begun to gather again afar and started to move in. So the respite from the rain was going to be just brief then huh ! It is such a great sight to see rainfall from afar. It almost looks like the cloud is slowly dissipating to the ground in sheets of vapour. We quickly wore our rain gear and started hiking down. By the time the rain caught up with us, we were fairly low in elevation that we could take cover under the trees. It probably rained more severely on the higher elevations.
We continued trudging along to our camping spot for the night. All the going that day was downhill and we lost a substantial elevation (from 12k to 8k ft). But as in normal life, you have to make up for all that you lose while hiking. Indeed the next day was goign to be a killer. We would recover substantially all the elevation that we lost today. All this uphill and downhill made me comment sarcastically " Seems like we cant make up our mind, whether we want to be on the top or the bottom".
We finally reached our campground. The rain clouds till now had been more thunder than rain. The sky was still overcast but since we were so low among the trees it was farily certain that we wouldnt face the same challenges as from the previous night. We found a very nice camp spot close to water and setup camp (of course we had the whole clash again between SM and GL about leadership issues but the dynamics had indeed changed. SM was decisively more agressive and GL was defintiely on the retreat.) A few minutes after we setup camp the sun came out. So it was goign to be a nice night after all.
We cleaned up, pumped water, cooked our dinner and started the fire and sat around talking about stuff. I had begun to burn out from the trip and missed my bed and shower and hot food. I suspect others were also burned out. We started discussing what we wanted to eat as soon as we got out of the mountains. It was Pizza for some, but thick, creamy, fat laden milk-shake for me. And I made sure that I got my wish at the end of the trip. But for now it was the tent and psyching yourselves for the uphill the next day.
Shackleton
I just happened to chance over a book of pictures @ Barnes and Noble about Shackleton and his antarctic adventures. After reading that book, I am beginning to consider myself a wuss.
Friday, September 26, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/4
The next day we were very loath to leave the amazing camp site. If I ever get married and if my wife happens to be a hiker, I wouldnt mind going to some such camp site and spending my honeymoon there. This was really a very nice area.
Today was the day that I was going to join the others in climbing a peak. We had decided to summit Mt Spencer. This was a 12.4 K ft mountain. Not very high in real terms to be impressed, but off trail hiking added to the challenge. At the top of the mountain is just a big pile of rocks. These rocks were strewn around by nature and besides being unstable (just a few) there were also some mighty deep crevices. I was scared of all the crevices since an accident would definitely have been catastrophic. We didnt want to be heroes and we definitely took our time (others were faster, I was a bit slower). But we did get some awesome photos once @ the summit. The funny thing after reaching a moutain summit is that there is always another mountain next you that is taller.
Rain clouds had begun to gather by now and I was really worried. I had forgotten to bring rain gear to the summit with me and I wanted to get down as fast as I could. Well once again the others were faster than me going downhill (funny how that worked !!) Either I am really careful or really scaredy cat. Whatever ! The whole climb cost us (me, JB, SC and GL) about 4 - 5 hours. We still had to negotiate Muir pass and enter Le-Conte Canyon on the other side of the pass the same day. Muir pass was about 5 miles away and @ about the same elevation as the summit that we had just done. We needed to hurry as the rain clouds were gathering already (see the photos) and the ranger had predicted a good chance of shower that day. It took us the rest of the afternoon (me about half an hour more) to reach the Muir pass. Along the way we passed many scenic and very desolate alpine lakes. It was a wonder that the JMT(even being such a famous trail) was so desolate.
I dont know about others but hiking after some time for me becomes a reflex action. You dont think - you just put one foot forward after the other. And as long as you have energy/calories to burn you just keep on trudging along. It is amazing how much distance people can cover in the wilderness while carrying weight on their back.
So we reached the Muir pass in the evening and their is an amazing hut there that can be used as a protection from the storm. Apparently storms are a common occurence in these parts ? There were very dark clouds in the canyon on the other side of the pass and it looked very probable that it would rain that night. We ran into some other hikers who were also taking shelter in the hut. It would have been most prudent to camp the night out in the hut, but since we were going to meet SM and BD in the canyon on the other side of the pass, we had no choice but to crossover into the canyon. As soon as we started descending, it started to rain and in almost no time we were drenched. There were strong winds and the whole canyon was filled with boulders. Getting a camp site would have been very difficult. All the locations were exposed to the elements and GL did not have a tent to sleep in (long story). However we found a nice flat area next to a rock shelter and GL came up with a great idea of how to setup the tent. See picture here :
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?Uc=10duzb3h.9knvkex&Uy=nb7zfq&Ux=1&UV=94773006320_367175570103&collid=691464650103&photoid=50592468505
There was a brief respite in the storm and we setup our camp and ate our food. There was an altercation between GL and SM about what was the best thing to do in the storm (continue further down in to the canyon or stay put) and SM walked out from the tent. After that day for the rest of the trip SM would be more assertive of her leadership role and GL would try not to fill her shoes again.
That night was a bad night. The wind howled incessantly and BD who usually slept outside joined us in the tent. That night was also the night we found out that my tent leaked (oops bad karma !). But we were too tired and sleepy to want to do anything. I prayed that my sleeping bag was water proof enough that it could last one night. But it was really hard to sleep that night. SC told us the next day about his dream that the wind had picked the tent and tossed it away a few tens of feet and he couldnt figure out if it was dream or if it was really happening. Everyone was in the zone of being half asleep, half awake that dreams seemed surreal and it was hard to distinguish if it was something you had dreamed or something you had experienced. I just prayed that the next day would at least bring the sun out and tried to sleep as best as I could.
The next day we were very loath to leave the amazing camp site. If I ever get married and if my wife happens to be a hiker, I wouldnt mind going to some such camp site and spending my honeymoon there. This was really a very nice area.
Today was the day that I was going to join the others in climbing a peak. We had decided to summit Mt Spencer. This was a 12.4 K ft mountain. Not very high in real terms to be impressed, but off trail hiking added to the challenge. At the top of the mountain is just a big pile of rocks. These rocks were strewn around by nature and besides being unstable (just a few) there were also some mighty deep crevices. I was scared of all the crevices since an accident would definitely have been catastrophic. We didnt want to be heroes and we definitely took our time (others were faster, I was a bit slower). But we did get some awesome photos once @ the summit. The funny thing after reaching a moutain summit is that there is always another mountain next you that is taller.
Rain clouds had begun to gather by now and I was really worried. I had forgotten to bring rain gear to the summit with me and I wanted to get down as fast as I could. Well once again the others were faster than me going downhill (funny how that worked !!) Either I am really careful or really scaredy cat. Whatever ! The whole climb cost us (me, JB, SC and GL) about 4 - 5 hours. We still had to negotiate Muir pass and enter Le-Conte Canyon on the other side of the pass the same day. Muir pass was about 5 miles away and @ about the same elevation as the summit that we had just done. We needed to hurry as the rain clouds were gathering already (see the photos) and the ranger had predicted a good chance of shower that day. It took us the rest of the afternoon (me about half an hour more) to reach the Muir pass. Along the way we passed many scenic and very desolate alpine lakes. It was a wonder that the JMT(even being such a famous trail) was so desolate.
I dont know about others but hiking after some time for me becomes a reflex action. You dont think - you just put one foot forward after the other. And as long as you have energy/calories to burn you just keep on trudging along. It is amazing how much distance people can cover in the wilderness while carrying weight on their back.
So we reached the Muir pass in the evening and their is an amazing hut there that can be used as a protection from the storm. Apparently storms are a common occurence in these parts ? There were very dark clouds in the canyon on the other side of the pass and it looked very probable that it would rain that night. We ran into some other hikers who were also taking shelter in the hut. It would have been most prudent to camp the night out in the hut, but since we were going to meet SM and BD in the canyon on the other side of the pass, we had no choice but to crossover into the canyon. As soon as we started descending, it started to rain and in almost no time we were drenched. There were strong winds and the whole canyon was filled with boulders. Getting a camp site would have been very difficult. All the locations were exposed to the elements and GL did not have a tent to sleep in (long story). However we found a nice flat area next to a rock shelter and GL came up with a great idea of how to setup the tent. See picture here :
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?Uc=10duzb3h.9knvkex&Uy=nb7zfq&Ux=1&UV=94773006320_367175570103&collid=691464650103&photoid=50592468505
There was a brief respite in the storm and we setup our camp and ate our food. There was an altercation between GL and SM about what was the best thing to do in the storm (continue further down in to the canyon or stay put) and SM walked out from the tent. After that day for the rest of the trip SM would be more assertive of her leadership role and GL would try not to fill her shoes again.
That night was a bad night. The wind howled incessantly and BD who usually slept outside joined us in the tent. That night was also the night we found out that my tent leaked (oops bad karma !). But we were too tired and sleepy to want to do anything. I prayed that my sleeping bag was water proof enough that it could last one night. But it was really hard to sleep that night. SC told us the next day about his dream that the wind had picked the tent and tossed it away a few tens of feet and he couldnt figure out if it was dream or if it was really happening. Everyone was in the zone of being half asleep, half awake that dreams seemed surreal and it was hard to distinguish if it was something you had dreamed or something you had experienced. I just prayed that the next day would at least bring the sun out and tried to sleep as best as I could.
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/3
Day 3 of backpacking started early. SM decided that she was being too slow and wanted to leave early (there it has begun already). Well she did - so that she could get a head start on the rest of us ! However seeing her leave, everybody else left early too and I was left all alone drying my clothes that I had washed the previous night. So much for her head start !! Its a funny sight when a guy cant decide whether he should dry his clothes or pack up and leave. SC had to wait up for me, becuase we were sharing a tent and he couldnt get to the tent poles that he was carrying until I broke camp.
To cut a long story short, we broke camp almost half an hour after everybody had already left. The day's hiking was to be about 10 miles and was broken up as - a killer uphill, a long flat and then again a killer uphill. We negotiated the first killer uphill fairly easily. I was very happy with the speed that I was climbing. We were still close to 10k or so in elevation. Unfortunately the same did not hold true in the second half of the day. I was struggling going up on the second hill.
After spending some time for thoughts about the matter I have realized that I have not trained enough for anaerobic exercise. Most of the running in the gym I do is still in the aerobic region - I breathe normally, no side aches etc and at the end of the run the only symptom is muscle fatigue. And while I run long distance (~ 7 miles) this running is still in my aerobic region. While hiking @ higher elevations I tended to go slow but did not tend to get winded. What this tells me is that while hiking I refused either conciously or sub-conciously to push myself into the anaerobic region (especially true @ > than 10 k elevations). Perhaps I am just weak in my anaerobic regimen. I have henceforth decided to break my running @ the gym into two batches alternating each other. Long distances at my normal comfortable pace to increase endurance and build leg muscles and shorter, faster more intense runs to improve breathing and anaerobic response. Hopefully this should improve my hiking ability in the next season.
Coming back to day 3 - well we hiked really fast and soon caught with the group. They were resting on the other side of a stream that had no rock bridges to use to cross it. This was the first and hopefully the last time that I have to take off my shoes and cross in that deathly cold water. Well actually it wasnt that bad and SC and SM were very nice in helping me cross by sharing their poles. After taking a brief break we pressed on. Soon we were @ mcclure meadow. A photo of this meadow is here :
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?Uc=10duzb3h.9knvkex&Uy=nb7zfq&Ux=1&UV=797638531405_690397660103&collid=691464650103&photoid=21861468505
This was an awesome meadow, very peaceful and beautiful and had an awesome camp site next to water. Unfortunately it was too early in the day to have been camping already and we still had the second hill to tackle. We took a brief lunch break at the meadow, exchanged back massages and pressed on. We passed a ranger station on our way. The ranger gave us helpful tips about peaks that we could climb on the way and which ones were easy and which ones weren't. The second uphill was the bummer. The day's heat and the elevation combined to make it a very tiring uphill. However we continued trudging on and finally reached the evolution lakes about early afternoon. By this time I had tanned a few shades already to turn char black. Everybody was in a hiking coma brought on by extreme fatigue and was loath to move even to get to their food or water.
My upper body was aching mercilessly from the weight of the backpack. I tried to give myself a massage as best as I could. Somehow we found the energy to setup camp. JB and SM decided to tackle a couple of peaks after setting up the camp while everybody else was lazing around in the sun, taking photos etc. I took a quick nap in my tent before the dinner. The camping site was incredible with majestic ridges rising atleast 2000 feet above us on at least three sides. The lake itself dumped its water into the evolution valley below through a series of waterfalls. It was awesome. I took a quick au' naturale bath in the lake to clean up. Finally around sunset everybody made their dinner. We lazed around a bit and saw a meterorite very close burn up in the sky (and I *mean* close it was maybe a few thousand feet above us).
We started discussing the plans for the next day and the rifts in the leadership started to appear. Due to lack of clarity and forcefulness on SM's part and over eagerness, overbearingness on GL's there were disagreements on what to do the next day or for the rest of the trip. GL is a very nice guy but has a very overbearing and restless personality. He likes to take charge of situations @ the slightest hint of a power vacuum. SM certainly gave him a lot of opportunities that day. Resentment had begun to grow in SM in this apparent dilution of her leadership role and it would soon come to head the next day in a confrontation. But for now we dozed and lazed in our tents for the night blisfully unaware of the next day.
Day 3 of backpacking started early. SM decided that she was being too slow and wanted to leave early (there it has begun already). Well she did - so that she could get a head start on the rest of us ! However seeing her leave, everybody else left early too and I was left all alone drying my clothes that I had washed the previous night. So much for her head start !! Its a funny sight when a guy cant decide whether he should dry his clothes or pack up and leave. SC had to wait up for me, becuase we were sharing a tent and he couldnt get to the tent poles that he was carrying until I broke camp.
To cut a long story short, we broke camp almost half an hour after everybody had already left. The day's hiking was to be about 10 miles and was broken up as - a killer uphill, a long flat and then again a killer uphill. We negotiated the first killer uphill fairly easily. I was very happy with the speed that I was climbing. We were still close to 10k or so in elevation. Unfortunately the same did not hold true in the second half of the day. I was struggling going up on the second hill.
After spending some time for thoughts about the matter I have realized that I have not trained enough for anaerobic exercise. Most of the running in the gym I do is still in the aerobic region - I breathe normally, no side aches etc and at the end of the run the only symptom is muscle fatigue. And while I run long distance (~ 7 miles) this running is still in my aerobic region. While hiking @ higher elevations I tended to go slow but did not tend to get winded. What this tells me is that while hiking I refused either conciously or sub-conciously to push myself into the anaerobic region (especially true @ > than 10 k elevations). Perhaps I am just weak in my anaerobic regimen. I have henceforth decided to break my running @ the gym into two batches alternating each other. Long distances at my normal comfortable pace to increase endurance and build leg muscles and shorter, faster more intense runs to improve breathing and anaerobic response. Hopefully this should improve my hiking ability in the next season.
Coming back to day 3 - well we hiked really fast and soon caught with the group. They were resting on the other side of a stream that had no rock bridges to use to cross it. This was the first and hopefully the last time that I have to take off my shoes and cross in that deathly cold water. Well actually it wasnt that bad and SC and SM were very nice in helping me cross by sharing their poles. After taking a brief break we pressed on. Soon we were @ mcclure meadow. A photo of this meadow is here :
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?Uc=10duzb3h.9knvkex&Uy=nb7zfq&Ux=1&UV=797638531405_690397660103&collid=691464650103&photoid=21861468505
This was an awesome meadow, very peaceful and beautiful and had an awesome camp site next to water. Unfortunately it was too early in the day to have been camping already and we still had the second hill to tackle. We took a brief lunch break at the meadow, exchanged back massages and pressed on. We passed a ranger station on our way. The ranger gave us helpful tips about peaks that we could climb on the way and which ones were easy and which ones weren't. The second uphill was the bummer. The day's heat and the elevation combined to make it a very tiring uphill. However we continued trudging on and finally reached the evolution lakes about early afternoon. By this time I had tanned a few shades already to turn char black. Everybody was in a hiking coma brought on by extreme fatigue and was loath to move even to get to their food or water.
My upper body was aching mercilessly from the weight of the backpack. I tried to give myself a massage as best as I could. Somehow we found the energy to setup camp. JB and SM decided to tackle a couple of peaks after setting up the camp while everybody else was lazing around in the sun, taking photos etc. I took a quick nap in my tent before the dinner. The camping site was incredible with majestic ridges rising atleast 2000 feet above us on at least three sides. The lake itself dumped its water into the evolution valley below through a series of waterfalls. It was awesome. I took a quick au' naturale bath in the lake to clean up. Finally around sunset everybody made their dinner. We lazed around a bit and saw a meterorite very close burn up in the sky (and I *mean* close it was maybe a few thousand feet above us).
We started discussing the plans for the next day and the rifts in the leadership started to appear. Due to lack of clarity and forcefulness on SM's part and over eagerness, overbearingness on GL's there were disagreements on what to do the next day or for the rest of the trip. GL is a very nice guy but has a very overbearing and restless personality. He likes to take charge of situations @ the slightest hint of a power vacuum. SM certainly gave him a lot of opportunities that day. Resentment had begun to grow in SM in this apparent dilution of her leadership role and it would soon come to head the next day in a confrontation. But for now we dozed and lazed in our tents for the night blisfully unaware of the next day.
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/2
Day2 was awesome ! Almost always throughout this trip we camped between two ridges in a canyon or in a valley. What this meant was that direct sun was pretty late to come to us. However being the road warriors that we were, we were ready to go on even before the sun hit us. Dark clouds were moving in from all directions (no ! I am not being overly dramatic; for some strange reason winds were indeed blowing in different directions and the result was the clouds were moving in from all directions). We luckily finished our hot morning tea and instant oatmeal cereal, packed and were ready to leave. I was absolutely fine in the morning. There were no remnants of sickness from the previous day. We must have walked about half mile when we crossed the 10k ft mark. Bummer ! if only we had walked another half mile the previous day we would have had campfires. Oh well ! we would definitely be below 10k ft on Day2 and we would not be denied our campfire then.
By this time we had entered at least 10 miles in to the wilderness and crossed a pass. Well that meant that we would run into @ max 2 strangers about every 3 miles or so. The canyon was lush and green. Clouds continued to tease us, occassionally sharing with us their goods. The attention was absolutely unwanted. The trail was fully downhill but not very well kept. Small rocks made up a lot of the trail. Travel on a dirt, well maintained trail is easy. Trails made of crushed rocks are harder to negotiate. Also about this time for some paranoid reason I started to think about rattle snakes. Rattle snakes tend to come lay out in the sun in early morning just behind rocks and you need to see beyond the rocks on the trail before you step across them. Damn rattlers !
We reached the junction of JMT and kings canyon by the middle of the day. The juntion is marked by a bridge. As soon as we reached the bridge we saw an elderly couple strutting up along the JMT for an afternoon walk (didnt know there was a camp site nearby). It was cute but sobering sight. The couple exchanged greetings and continued on their way. We decided to take a long lunch break. GL, JB and SC took a swim in the stream. Since the water was cold I passed on the swim but had an accidental fall anyway and got my shoes wet. I had taken off my shirt to dry the sweat and was sitting around tarzan style when GL suggested I protect myself from sunburn. I covered myself in the red jacket and we had a "baywatch" moment going. some of us exchanged massages and soon were ready to leave.
The next few miles were flat to gradual incline along a stream and amazingly I was ahead of the pack. Now we were walking on the JMT and the foot traffic suddenly increased. I was feeling good that I was hitting my groove and expected to get better as the days went by. We reached the bottom of the meadow early in the evening. The amazing feature of our group was that we hiked fairly close to each other. The difference between the leader and the rear of the pack was usually never more than 40 minutes. This meant that we could maintain a fast pace without having to wait for people for a long time.
We setup camp near the stream. There was a firepit already made. While JB, GL and SC went to conquer a peak, BD, SM and I gathered wood for our campfire. SM shared some of here turkish coffee and in the bargain some of her thoughts with me. Strains betwen GL and SM about leadership issues had begun to develop and they would come to a head soon in a few days.
I washed my clothes, we cooked hot dinner and setup a fire. There is something about camping and fire, especially fire when backpacking. Camping just doesnt feel right without it and out in the wilderness fallen, dry wood is for the taking. We sat around the campfire, talked about stuff, exchanged stories and then went to sleep almost convinced that the bears would come visit us that night.
Day2 was awesome ! Almost always throughout this trip we camped between two ridges in a canyon or in a valley. What this meant was that direct sun was pretty late to come to us. However being the road warriors that we were, we were ready to go on even before the sun hit us. Dark clouds were moving in from all directions (no ! I am not being overly dramatic; for some strange reason winds were indeed blowing in different directions and the result was the clouds were moving in from all directions). We luckily finished our hot morning tea and instant oatmeal cereal, packed and were ready to leave. I was absolutely fine in the morning. There were no remnants of sickness from the previous day. We must have walked about half mile when we crossed the 10k ft mark. Bummer ! if only we had walked another half mile the previous day we would have had campfires. Oh well ! we would definitely be below 10k ft on Day2 and we would not be denied our campfire then.
By this time we had entered at least 10 miles in to the wilderness and crossed a pass. Well that meant that we would run into @ max 2 strangers about every 3 miles or so. The canyon was lush and green. Clouds continued to tease us, occassionally sharing with us their goods. The attention was absolutely unwanted. The trail was fully downhill but not very well kept. Small rocks made up a lot of the trail. Travel on a dirt, well maintained trail is easy. Trails made of crushed rocks are harder to negotiate. Also about this time for some paranoid reason I started to think about rattle snakes. Rattle snakes tend to come lay out in the sun in early morning just behind rocks and you need to see beyond the rocks on the trail before you step across them. Damn rattlers !
We reached the junction of JMT and kings canyon by the middle of the day. The juntion is marked by a bridge. As soon as we reached the bridge we saw an elderly couple strutting up along the JMT for an afternoon walk (didnt know there was a camp site nearby). It was cute but sobering sight. The couple exchanged greetings and continued on their way. We decided to take a long lunch break. GL, JB and SC took a swim in the stream. Since the water was cold I passed on the swim but had an accidental fall anyway and got my shoes wet. I had taken off my shirt to dry the sweat and was sitting around tarzan style when GL suggested I protect myself from sunburn. I covered myself in the red jacket and we had a "baywatch" moment going. some of us exchanged massages and soon were ready to leave.
The next few miles were flat to gradual incline along a stream and amazingly I was ahead of the pack. Now we were walking on the JMT and the foot traffic suddenly increased. I was feeling good that I was hitting my groove and expected to get better as the days went by. We reached the bottom of the meadow early in the evening. The amazing feature of our group was that we hiked fairly close to each other. The difference between the leader and the rear of the pack was usually never more than 40 minutes. This meant that we could maintain a fast pace without having to wait for people for a long time.
We setup camp near the stream. There was a firepit already made. While JB, GL and SC went to conquer a peak, BD, SM and I gathered wood for our campfire. SM shared some of here turkish coffee and in the bargain some of her thoughts with me. Strains betwen GL and SM about leadership issues had begun to develop and they would come to a head soon in a few days.
I washed my clothes, we cooked hot dinner and setup a fire. There is something about camping and fire, especially fire when backpacking. Camping just doesnt feel right without it and out in the wilderness fallen, dry wood is for the taking. We sat around the campfire, talked about stuff, exchanged stories and then went to sleep almost convinced that the bears would come visit us that night.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
Backpacking - Sep/1
I was woken up at the ungodly hour of sun-break by SM in my tent. She wanted to leave before any park ranger came and gave us a ticket for sleeping illegaly on federal forest grounds. SM was almost certain that we were legal, but either she gets kicks waking everybody up early in the morning (as I have known in the past and would soon get to know more in the near future that SM loves to wake up *really* early) and getting them hankering and running in their pajamas with the fear of god in their hearts. Hell she was the leader and we were at her feet - "she who must be obeyed". So we did do her bidding. Besides there werent any cute chics around, so our humiliation was not very heart rending.
We reached the ranger station in Bishop in another hours time. We were supposed to meet another person (a last minute wild card). The line in front of the ranger station was already about 15 deep. A funny thing about backpacking that I have noticed again and again is that feminism hasnt reached its gates. Backpacking is heavily dominated by males in perhaps 3:1 ratio and you are more likely to meet older males doing the strenous routes. That thing they say about my generation being full of slackers; maybe there is some truth to it. Another funny thing I have noticed though not as consistently is that there are a lot of really cute women working in the National park/forest service. And this ranger station was no exception. It was entirely manned by women ( 5- 6) and all of the younger ones were very cute.
I was still in my pajama. I looked around for changing rooms and then decided to start acting like a neanderthal man ahead of schedule. I changed in the front lawn of the ranger station in front of all the people and the traffic going past on 395. How many people can claim that they chnaged in full view of a major state highway. JB approved of the idea and seeing no adverse reaction from the crowd decided to become a neanderthal man ahead of schedule too. The sixth person that we had to meet came and joined us there (GL). He was a very extrovert and happening (thats my code for drama) kind of guy. We would soon find out how happening he was.
We did our share of lazing around till the ranger station opened @ 8 am, we picked up our permits, setup car shuttles etc and then finally were ready to head out @ around close to noon. The funny thing about the eastern sierras is that the leeward side of the mountains (east) are very dry, deserty and hot. The west side of the mountain (not the range, just the mountain has alpine forests and trees). There is a marked change in fauna on the two sides of the mountains (and I always thought the geogrpahy teachers were a bunch of clowns :)
We started our hike from North Lake (about an hour later). The day was ungodly hot. We passed many people lazing in the shade, fishing in the creek etc. I was still in my "macho mode" so I didnt mind my discomfort much, but as is usual I would soon in a few days come to the "what was I thinking" mode. There is usually a hiking hierarchy in backpackers, akin to the pecking hierarchy in wolves or the grooming hierarchy in the chimps. We subconciously evaluate each other for strength and then let the fasters ones be the leaders (trail leaders and NOT trip leaders - there is a difference). Among a group of 6, I fell to the sixth position. Not a very auspicious start ! I blamed it on the heat, first day blues (backpacking Day-1 above 10k height is the hardest as you need time to acclimatise your body to this regimen of exercise and climate) heavy backpack. But the truth of the matter is that I was out of shape and if not for the days I had spent @ the gym earlier I would have been really really flustered.
It didnt help that we walked almost 2500 feet in elevation gain and were up @ 11k + feet from 9k+ at the piute pass. I was very disappointed in my performance especially when the lead hikers were at least 20 to 30 minutes ahead of me. We stopped for lunch @ piute pass and I took a quick nap. I have this tendency (and reputation) of soaking in the sun whenever I get a chance. The warm sun feels really really good when your body is so sore after a hike. JB an upcoming water color artist started painting the beautiful alpine lakes in the distance. I would find out that he had a habit of painting small water colors pictures at all the nice spots and some of them were really nice. On our way up we had met a guy who was out to backpack for 5 weeks. He was carrying a double backpack and enough supplies for a 5 week trip. Of course instead of walking around he was goign to stay put @ one lake and fish till the lake ran out of fishes and then move on. Not a bad life !
After our break @ piute pass, we put on our backpacks and started going flat to downhill again. While the terrain was easy I still had after effects of the climb earlier in the afternoon. I was unable to keep up with the group even going downhill and soon began to lag significantly. After the group let me catch up with them once, they began to look for a good place to setup camp. Very few spots usually qualify as good campsites. A water source nearby is absolutely essential. After that a flat ground and shaded covered area are important criteria. It was getting evening and I was getting cold. I usually have a tendency of getting cold when I am running low on blood sugar (I think !) So when I am hungry or very tired, I get cold very easily. We setup camp, pumped water for next day, changed back into our pajamas and cooked or meals. Warm cooked meals at the end of the day is a luxury that is indescribable. Too often many things that we take for granted are sorely missed and then doubly appreciated on a backpacking trip. Everybody should go on a backpacking trip, at least for the humility it inculcates in you. We are really not the supermans that we think we are. Without the everybody conveniences we would be lost souls. yeah I know everybody knows this, but backpacking is a big splash of this sobering thought applied first hand, guranteed to produce results. Mileages may vary but usually you end up shivering in the cold and then comfortably settling down in your sleeping bag psyching yourself to get ready to tackle the next day.
I was woken up at the ungodly hour of sun-break by SM in my tent. She wanted to leave before any park ranger came and gave us a ticket for sleeping illegaly on federal forest grounds. SM was almost certain that we were legal, but either she gets kicks waking everybody up early in the morning (as I have known in the past and would soon get to know more in the near future that SM loves to wake up *really* early) and getting them hankering and running in their pajamas with the fear of god in their hearts. Hell she was the leader and we were at her feet - "she who must be obeyed". So we did do her bidding. Besides there werent any cute chics around, so our humiliation was not very heart rending.
We reached the ranger station in Bishop in another hours time. We were supposed to meet another person (a last minute wild card). The line in front of the ranger station was already about 15 deep. A funny thing about backpacking that I have noticed again and again is that feminism hasnt reached its gates. Backpacking is heavily dominated by males in perhaps 3:1 ratio and you are more likely to meet older males doing the strenous routes. That thing they say about my generation being full of slackers; maybe there is some truth to it. Another funny thing I have noticed though not as consistently is that there are a lot of really cute women working in the National park/forest service. And this ranger station was no exception. It was entirely manned by women ( 5- 6) and all of the younger ones were very cute.
I was still in my pajama. I looked around for changing rooms and then decided to start acting like a neanderthal man ahead of schedule. I changed in the front lawn of the ranger station in front of all the people and the traffic going past on 395. How many people can claim that they chnaged in full view of a major state highway. JB approved of the idea and seeing no adverse reaction from the crowd decided to become a neanderthal man ahead of schedule too. The sixth person that we had to meet came and joined us there (GL). He was a very extrovert and happening (thats my code for drama) kind of guy. We would soon find out how happening he was.
We did our share of lazing around till the ranger station opened @ 8 am, we picked up our permits, setup car shuttles etc and then finally were ready to head out @ around close to noon. The funny thing about the eastern sierras is that the leeward side of the mountains (east) are very dry, deserty and hot. The west side of the mountain (not the range, just the mountain has alpine forests and trees). There is a marked change in fauna on the two sides of the mountains (and I always thought the geogrpahy teachers were a bunch of clowns :)
We started our hike from North Lake (about an hour later). The day was ungodly hot. We passed many people lazing in the shade, fishing in the creek etc. I was still in my "macho mode" so I didnt mind my discomfort much, but as is usual I would soon in a few days come to the "what was I thinking" mode. There is usually a hiking hierarchy in backpackers, akin to the pecking hierarchy in wolves or the grooming hierarchy in the chimps. We subconciously evaluate each other for strength and then let the fasters ones be the leaders (trail leaders and NOT trip leaders - there is a difference). Among a group of 6, I fell to the sixth position. Not a very auspicious start ! I blamed it on the heat, first day blues (backpacking Day-1 above 10k height is the hardest as you need time to acclimatise your body to this regimen of exercise and climate) heavy backpack. But the truth of the matter is that I was out of shape and if not for the days I had spent @ the gym earlier I would have been really really flustered.
It didnt help that we walked almost 2500 feet in elevation gain and were up @ 11k + feet from 9k+ at the piute pass. I was very disappointed in my performance especially when the lead hikers were at least 20 to 30 minutes ahead of me. We stopped for lunch @ piute pass and I took a quick nap. I have this tendency (and reputation) of soaking in the sun whenever I get a chance. The warm sun feels really really good when your body is so sore after a hike. JB an upcoming water color artist started painting the beautiful alpine lakes in the distance. I would find out that he had a habit of painting small water colors pictures at all the nice spots and some of them were really nice. On our way up we had met a guy who was out to backpack for 5 weeks. He was carrying a double backpack and enough supplies for a 5 week trip. Of course instead of walking around he was goign to stay put @ one lake and fish till the lake ran out of fishes and then move on. Not a bad life !
After our break @ piute pass, we put on our backpacks and started going flat to downhill again. While the terrain was easy I still had after effects of the climb earlier in the afternoon. I was unable to keep up with the group even going downhill and soon began to lag significantly. After the group let me catch up with them once, they began to look for a good place to setup camp. Very few spots usually qualify as good campsites. A water source nearby is absolutely essential. After that a flat ground and shaded covered area are important criteria. It was getting evening and I was getting cold. I usually have a tendency of getting cold when I am running low on blood sugar (I think !) So when I am hungry or very tired, I get cold very easily. We setup camp, pumped water for next day, changed back into our pajamas and cooked or meals. Warm cooked meals at the end of the day is a luxury that is indescribable. Too often many things that we take for granted are sorely missed and then doubly appreciated on a backpacking trip. Everybody should go on a backpacking trip, at least for the humility it inculcates in you. We are really not the supermans that we think we are. Without the everybody conveniences we would be lost souls. yeah I know everybody knows this, but backpacking is a big splash of this sobering thought applied first hand, guranteed to produce results. Mileages may vary but usually you end up shivering in the cold and then comfortably settling down in your sleeping bag psyching yourself to get ready to tackle the next day.
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Backpacking - Aug/29
I had not yet done all my shopping. Some people are procrastinators, some people are avid planners and I am a hybrid of the two. I tend to plan everything that I will do at the last minute. A basic tenet of work ethic is that "Work grows to occupy the time allotted to it." Two ways to get around this are to allocate smaller time to each task or to let the task grow into the time allotted. The ones who do former become the overachievers of the society, the work-addicted maniacs. The ones who do the latter become "me", the idiots running to meet every deadline and in the process feeling self-important because we are "oh so busy". Oh well I cant speak for everybody else so I AM speaking for myself.
We met up at the dublin BART station. The four of us. I had driven there in my car. SM and JB took the BART and SC came to pick us up. Did they suspect that I had been shopping earlier in the morning or packed my backpack the night before ? Is that really unprofessional of me ? Should I have been ready a few days in advance ? Did I forget to bring something ? I think nobody is unique in their fears (maybe unique in their skills and gifts). All the doubts that we have are usually racking others too. Internalizing them makes them worse;airing them and taking a hit to your ego makes them disappear. But I have a big ego so I decided to internalize them anyway. Funny how it is so difficult to practice what we preach.
Driving out of the bay area on the eve of a long weekend is a tiring exercise. Markets (stock, commodities) are based on differing behavior of participants. Hell the whole field of economics and all our economic activity is based on us assigining varying importance to each asset. If we all value each asset equally @ all times (marginal utility is same) then nobody would be buying or selling anything at all. Why do I bring this up ? Because drving out of bay area is akin to participating in a marketplace with angry participants. Everybody in the bay area tries to leave early in the day to BEAT the long weekend rush and the resulting traffic gridlock and since enough people think in the same way, they create the same gridlock that they are trying to escape earlier and earlier in the day. Okay so maybe I am over-simplifying this a bit. Maybe not all people can leave their work early, but if this was indeed an efficient market (MPT) with every participant free to choose as he pleases then what I describe would certainly happen.
So my last paragrah is supposed to convey the hardship we faced getting out of the bay area on Aug/29 afternoon. You are forgiven if you did not catch on to this central theme in the last paragraph (readers can be dumb sometimes you know :). The drive was uneventful. I slept through most of he first half of it and loaded up on peanut calories when I was not sleeping - I was going to burn it off in the next few days anyway so I wasnt feeling too guilty about it. Most people are just as diligent counting calories while backpacking as in normal life. However you are gravely concerned about not consuming enough calories while backpacking as opposed to consuming too many calories in normal life.
The remaining drive was spent talking. SM has refined "talking in ether" to a fine art. It does not matter whether people are paying attention or not - she can talk about stuff and continue without waiting to get a response back. I think it is an admirable quality. People that can talk to themselves and keep busy with themselves (no I dont mean THAT if you are thinking THAT) usually dont need company around for assurances and justifications. However this does tend to make people anit-social and loners (will explore this subject more some other time as it does pertain to me too)
We crossed yosemite, rented bear cannisters and arrived on highway 395. Yosemite is an awesome place but over-hyped. The reason that people flock to yosemite besides being more centrally located is that it is very commercial and the reason it is commercial is because it is busy. So in short it is has achieved critical mass (as in the e-bay form) and is in a self sustaining, perpetual mode. You are likely to run over more hikers in yosemite in an hour than meet in Kings Canyon in a day. Tioga pass and 395 junction was busy that day with live music concert. We waited for a short time and then continued on to Tom' Place on 395. You are forgiven if you think I meant Tom's cabin or something. No there is an actual town called Tom's Place on 395 and I can only venture to guess that it was setup @ a time when people could walk up and claim land for the asking - "Okay so this is my place now. Move along you bears". For all I know there could have been an Erik's Place and a Jane's Place which apparently didnt survive the vagaries of time or maybe Jane got married to Tom (I know the romantic in me; Whatever !!)
We met BD there who had arrive there a day earlier, grabbed something to eat (more loading on the fat and proteins - Viva Atkins !!) and staked out a place to sleep the night. SM was insistent that we sleep above 10000 feet to acclimatise. I remember checking out Mars, visible over the nearby ridge and wondering what the hoopla was all about. It was supposed to have been closest to earth in about 60,000 years. It just looked like another dot in the sky. Oh well ! I setup my tent and went to sleep dreading the next day !
I had not yet done all my shopping. Some people are procrastinators, some people are avid planners and I am a hybrid of the two. I tend to plan everything that I will do at the last minute. A basic tenet of work ethic is that "Work grows to occupy the time allotted to it." Two ways to get around this are to allocate smaller time to each task or to let the task grow into the time allotted. The ones who do former become the overachievers of the society, the work-addicted maniacs. The ones who do the latter become "me", the idiots running to meet every deadline and in the process feeling self-important because we are "oh so busy". Oh well I cant speak for everybody else so I AM speaking for myself.
We met up at the dublin BART station. The four of us. I had driven there in my car. SM and JB took the BART and SC came to pick us up. Did they suspect that I had been shopping earlier in the morning or packed my backpack the night before ? Is that really unprofessional of me ? Should I have been ready a few days in advance ? Did I forget to bring something ? I think nobody is unique in their fears (maybe unique in their skills and gifts). All the doubts that we have are usually racking others too. Internalizing them makes them worse;airing them and taking a hit to your ego makes them disappear. But I have a big ego so I decided to internalize them anyway. Funny how it is so difficult to practice what we preach.
Driving out of the bay area on the eve of a long weekend is a tiring exercise. Markets (stock, commodities) are based on differing behavior of participants. Hell the whole field of economics and all our economic activity is based on us assigining varying importance to each asset. If we all value each asset equally @ all times (marginal utility is same) then nobody would be buying or selling anything at all. Why do I bring this up ? Because drving out of bay area is akin to participating in a marketplace with angry participants. Everybody in the bay area tries to leave early in the day to BEAT the long weekend rush and the resulting traffic gridlock and since enough people think in the same way, they create the same gridlock that they are trying to escape earlier and earlier in the day. Okay so maybe I am over-simplifying this a bit. Maybe not all people can leave their work early, but if this was indeed an efficient market (MPT) with every participant free to choose as he pleases then what I describe would certainly happen.
So my last paragrah is supposed to convey the hardship we faced getting out of the bay area on Aug/29 afternoon. You are forgiven if you did not catch on to this central theme in the last paragraph (readers can be dumb sometimes you know :). The drive was uneventful. I slept through most of he first half of it and loaded up on peanut calories when I was not sleeping - I was going to burn it off in the next few days anyway so I wasnt feeling too guilty about it. Most people are just as diligent counting calories while backpacking as in normal life. However you are gravely concerned about not consuming enough calories while backpacking as opposed to consuming too many calories in normal life.
The remaining drive was spent talking. SM has refined "talking in ether" to a fine art. It does not matter whether people are paying attention or not - she can talk about stuff and continue without waiting to get a response back. I think it is an admirable quality. People that can talk to themselves and keep busy with themselves (no I dont mean THAT if you are thinking THAT) usually dont need company around for assurances and justifications. However this does tend to make people anit-social and loners (will explore this subject more some other time as it does pertain to me too)
We crossed yosemite, rented bear cannisters and arrived on highway 395. Yosemite is an awesome place but over-hyped. The reason that people flock to yosemite besides being more centrally located is that it is very commercial and the reason it is commercial is because it is busy. So in short it is has achieved critical mass (as in the e-bay form) and is in a self sustaining, perpetual mode. You are likely to run over more hikers in yosemite in an hour than meet in Kings Canyon in a day. Tioga pass and 395 junction was busy that day with live music concert. We waited for a short time and then continued on to Tom' Place on 395. You are forgiven if you think I meant Tom's cabin or something. No there is an actual town called Tom's Place on 395 and I can only venture to guess that it was setup @ a time when people could walk up and claim land for the asking - "Okay so this is my place now. Move along you bears". For all I know there could have been an Erik's Place and a Jane's Place which apparently didnt survive the vagaries of time or maybe Jane got married to Tom (I know the romantic in me; Whatever !!)
We met BD there who had arrive there a day earlier, grabbed something to eat (more loading on the fat and proteins - Viva Atkins !!) and staked out a place to sleep the night. SM was insistent that we sleep above 10000 feet to acclimatise. I remember checking out Mars, visible over the nearby ridge and wondering what the hoopla was all about. It was supposed to have been closest to earth in about 60,000 years. It just looked like another dot in the sky. Oh well ! I setup my tent and went to sleep dreading the next day !
Monday, September 08, 2003
9 day backpacking trip Aug/29- Sep/7
Yeah I am back and I survived. So I am goign to write down my thoughts about this trip before I forget them too soon.
If you have never been on a 9 day backpacking trip, you dont know what you are missing and its just as good becuase you are not mising anything except a lot of grief. I seriously cannot imagine why people go on such long trips. I met a few people that were doing 30 day long trips in the wilderness. Whats wrong you folks ?? More about that later. Everybody has their own reasons for doing trips. Some truly bloom in the wilderness and enjoy it immensely when they are far away from the city life. Most however go with an agenda - conquering something, achieveing something or crossing that item from your to-do list. I suspect most of the people in my group were there with an agenda in mind and it mostly was crossing the item from the to-do list. If you plan on walking 10 miles everyday and seeing a new area or a new mountain without taking time to enjoy it, then you are probably a TYPE-A hyper person with a big list of to-do. Of course the people in most hurry to cross the items from the to-do list are the older people (I am talking 50s and 60s) and amazingly they are the most frequent people you meet doing the longer trails (think JMT) though I suspect that I am stereotyping here.
My reason for going on this trip was to test my endurance for a 9 day trip and also it was something cool and different. How many people do you know who spend a week in Hawaii and how many do you know who spend a week in the sierras living in the mountains in a tent. I was grossly disappointed in my endurance levels on this trip. I have analysed my performance on the trip and do have some pointers about it which I intend to illustrate later.
A question I had in mind was "why is it that we find certian things attractive". ie certain natural spots are calming, serene or beautiful. What in us makes us think that they are serene and calming. Is this a learned behaviour ? By looking at others we learn to emulate that such locations are considered serene and automatically tend to relax or is it a deeper inate primal behaviour. We find green lush forests just equaly calming as barren, hostile deserts, each in its own way. So the life supporting qualities of the landscape really are not what what we gravitate towards. If that were the case most of us should find our kitchen the most attractive spot. Perhaps many of us indeed do. And why is it that you long to go back to the chaos of city life after spending a few days in the mountains.
SC's photos from the trip are here :
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=10duzb3h.9knvkex&x=1&y=nb7zfq
The full trip was :
Trail desc:
From North Lake TH 9345'
to Piute Pass 11423': 5m, elv +2078'
to Hutchinson Meadow 9490': 7.1m, elv -1933'
to Aspen Meadow 8050': 5.3m, elv -1440'
to Franklin Meadow 8425': 3.8m, elv +375'
to McClure Meadow 9660': 3.5m, elv +1235'
to Muir Pass 11955': 9.5m, elv +2295'
to Leconte Canyon 9000': 7m, elv -2955'
to Grouse Meadow 9000': 3.3m, elv 0'
to Palisade Lakes 11000': 7m, elv +2000'
to Mather Pass 12100': 3.2m, elv +1100'
to Taboose Pass 11360': 10.1m, elv -740'
to Taboose Pass TH 5700': 8m, elv -5660'
73 mi
Yeah I am back and I survived. So I am goign to write down my thoughts about this trip before I forget them too soon.
If you have never been on a 9 day backpacking trip, you dont know what you are missing and its just as good becuase you are not mising anything except a lot of grief. I seriously cannot imagine why people go on such long trips. I met a few people that were doing 30 day long trips in the wilderness. Whats wrong you folks ?? More about that later. Everybody has their own reasons for doing trips. Some truly bloom in the wilderness and enjoy it immensely when they are far away from the city life. Most however go with an agenda - conquering something, achieveing something or crossing that item from your to-do list. I suspect most of the people in my group were there with an agenda in mind and it mostly was crossing the item from the to-do list. If you plan on walking 10 miles everyday and seeing a new area or a new mountain without taking time to enjoy it, then you are probably a TYPE-A hyper person with a big list of to-do. Of course the people in most hurry to cross the items from the to-do list are the older people (I am talking 50s and 60s) and amazingly they are the most frequent people you meet doing the longer trails (think JMT) though I suspect that I am stereotyping here.
My reason for going on this trip was to test my endurance for a 9 day trip and also it was something cool and different. How many people do you know who spend a week in Hawaii and how many do you know who spend a week in the sierras living in the mountains in a tent. I was grossly disappointed in my endurance levels on this trip. I have analysed my performance on the trip and do have some pointers about it which I intend to illustrate later.
A question I had in mind was "why is it that we find certian things attractive". ie certain natural spots are calming, serene or beautiful. What in us makes us think that they are serene and calming. Is this a learned behaviour ? By looking at others we learn to emulate that such locations are considered serene and automatically tend to relax or is it a deeper inate primal behaviour. We find green lush forests just equaly calming as barren, hostile deserts, each in its own way. So the life supporting qualities of the landscape really are not what what we gravitate towards. If that were the case most of us should find our kitchen the most attractive spot. Perhaps many of us indeed do. And why is it that you long to go back to the chaos of city life after spending a few days in the mountains.
SC's photos from the trip are here :
http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=10duzb3h.9knvkex&x=1&y=nb7zfq
The full trip was :
Trail desc:
From North Lake TH 9345'
to Piute Pass 11423': 5m, elv +2078'
to Hutchinson Meadow 9490': 7.1m, elv -1933'
to Aspen Meadow 8050': 5.3m, elv -1440'
to Franklin Meadow 8425': 3.8m, elv +375'
to McClure Meadow 9660': 3.5m, elv +1235'
to Muir Pass 11955': 9.5m, elv +2295'
to Leconte Canyon 9000': 7m, elv -2955'
to Grouse Meadow 9000': 3.3m, elv 0'
to Palisade Lakes 11000': 7m, elv +2000'
to Mather Pass 12100': 3.2m, elv +1100'
to Taboose Pass 11360': 10.1m, elv -740'
to Taboose Pass TH 5700': 8m, elv -5660'
73 mi
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Shakespeare in the park
shakespeare in the park is a cheap, unconventional and boring entertainment. Recently I had the opportunity to view the playing of "love's labour lost" at a cupertino park. Despite viewing the play with an open mind, I was disappointed with its entertainment value.
The set of the play was indeed nicely done and the cast probably poured their hearts out into practicing for the play and yet it was a failing attempt to catch a culture that has been bygone for a few centuries now and yet which we try to hold onto. The play deals with a young prince of navar (sp?) and his courtier friends that fall in love with a princess from france and her traveling entourage of friends and then their resulting courtship dance. For the longest time into the play all that I could understand was that the actors were speaking english, but most of the logic of their words was lost on me. The play used a mixture of contemporary dress codes with old world costumes, a mix of evening gowns and nightie pajamas with the soldiers wardrobe of a 18th century noble. But despite all these experimentations, the director still decided to use the old world english for dialogues complete with flourishes and sentence structures that probably made no sense to anyone except the speaker (at least the speaker I hope !). And every idea needed 100 sentences to convery its meaning. Its a wonder how people didnt fall asleep in conversations back then. None of these people would have survived in the modern world of high tech and fast life.
My favorite actor of the play was a person named "hector". I still dont know who exactly he was, but a safe guess would be an italian noble. Hector's accent and vocabulary was oh so wicked, a jibe and a tease to the prim and proper english aristocracy and elite and thier stiff upper lip. "Posterior of the day" was Hector's vocabulary equivalent of an afternoon and that was enough to send the crowds laughing out loud. There was also this funny policeman who never said anything but walked through the scenes with a funny walk and a never fading grin. He looked more lost than actually acting.
Lots of drinking, dancing, amorous insinuations, deathly news and then nothing- JUST the end. Nothing had changed by the end of the play compared to its starting. The prince and his courtiers and the princess and her friends were still all single. The policeman still couldnt walk straight (and he wasnt even drunk). The only thing that was different was that hector in midst of all this mayhem and chaos had had a chance for a tryst with his girl friend and was expecting a "little hector".
For all the time that I spent there (almost 3.5 hours) I couldnt understand what had hit me. I kept grappling for the sentences that just whizzed above my head @ breakneck speed. I probably caught about one of every 8 - 10 sentence that was spoken. As I left I remember thinking to myself "Its good they keep this free or there wouldnt be this many people here on a sunday night"
shakespeare in the park is a cheap, unconventional and boring entertainment. Recently I had the opportunity to view the playing of "love's labour lost" at a cupertino park. Despite viewing the play with an open mind, I was disappointed with its entertainment value.
The set of the play was indeed nicely done and the cast probably poured their hearts out into practicing for the play and yet it was a failing attempt to catch a culture that has been bygone for a few centuries now and yet which we try to hold onto. The play deals with a young prince of navar (sp?) and his courtier friends that fall in love with a princess from france and her traveling entourage of friends and then their resulting courtship dance. For the longest time into the play all that I could understand was that the actors were speaking english, but most of the logic of their words was lost on me. The play used a mixture of contemporary dress codes with old world costumes, a mix of evening gowns and nightie pajamas with the soldiers wardrobe of a 18th century noble. But despite all these experimentations, the director still decided to use the old world english for dialogues complete with flourishes and sentence structures that probably made no sense to anyone except the speaker (at least the speaker I hope !). And every idea needed 100 sentences to convery its meaning. Its a wonder how people didnt fall asleep in conversations back then. None of these people would have survived in the modern world of high tech and fast life.
My favorite actor of the play was a person named "hector". I still dont know who exactly he was, but a safe guess would be an italian noble. Hector's accent and vocabulary was oh so wicked, a jibe and a tease to the prim and proper english aristocracy and elite and thier stiff upper lip. "Posterior of the day" was Hector's vocabulary equivalent of an afternoon and that was enough to send the crowds laughing out loud. There was also this funny policeman who never said anything but walked through the scenes with a funny walk and a never fading grin. He looked more lost than actually acting.
Lots of drinking, dancing, amorous insinuations, deathly news and then nothing- JUST the end. Nothing had changed by the end of the play compared to its starting. The prince and his courtiers and the princess and her friends were still all single. The policeman still couldnt walk straight (and he wasnt even drunk). The only thing that was different was that hector in midst of all this mayhem and chaos had had a chance for a tryst with his girl friend and was expecting a "little hector".
For all the time that I spent there (almost 3.5 hours) I couldnt understand what had hit me. I kept grappling for the sentences that just whizzed above my head @ breakneck speed. I probably caught about one of every 8 - 10 sentence that was spoken. As I left I remember thinking to myself "Its good they keep this free or there wouldnt be this many people here on a sunday night"
Monday, August 11, 2003
OPEN MINDEDNESS
I live in the bay area. And Bay area, as anybody who reads the newspapers knows, is liberal to the point of having its own unique culture. I have considered myself open minded if not an extreme liberal. However lately I have been questioning my open mindedness and those of many others in the bay area. Personally I have been open minded to various experiences and various cultures, differences and views. The variety has never bothered me at all. In fact I blame my open mindedness to my being lazy. Case in point, I never make an extra effort to convert people in mature debates to my point of view; I am just interested in knowing their stand.
However does open mindedness mean only tolerance to views directly opposite to your own beliefs or does it mean an active effort to encourage, cultivate and explore the opposing views. There is a distinction of being passively accepting on one hand and actively seeking diversity on the other hand. I remember a date with a girl (incidentally nothing happened on the date; we were too uncomfortable with each other; case in point the conversation on hand - who talks about open mindedness on first dates anyway ;) and we had a strong disagreement on the SF gay pride parade. My view was that there is nothing to be proud of your sexuality (heterosexual or homosexual). It is just a part of you, you should accept it, perhaps act on it in the private confines and move on. You dont need to have parades to proclaim whether you bat left handed or right handed ;) However her belabored point was (*after* spending time articulating how close minded I was) that diversity and especially the differences that are still fragile and "wet behind the ears" need a firm hand of support and should be celebrated. These differences are what give meaning and color to our "majority" preferences. Agreed !! Looking at this from her perspective I do agree that some differences do need an active encouragement than mere passive tolerance. However this is to the point till the "rebel idea" becomes sufficiently mainstream. Beyond that I feel such "celebrations" would merely highlight one choice at the expense of the other.
Anyhow, so this does make me wonder if I am really as open minded as I thought I was. I remember listening to a comment on NPR from a mother that went something like this : "It is always nice to have gays in your family and I am glad that my son is gay. It adds wealth to your family. Not the money wealth but a richness of culture" . Well I dont remember the quote verbatim but the spirit of the thought makes me wonder if I would actually ever be able to think like that. I have tolerated gay people before, I had a roommate who was gay and who was awesome, but I have never actively tried to search for gay friends. I guess I still need to grow in my journey to becoming open minded.
Finally my observation of people that do not date outside their culture, do not have friends outside their social strata, culture or ethinicty. Are these people to be considered open minded and should we show them leniency by allowing them to hide behind their "personal preferences" or do these people also have a journey to cover with me on the path to being open minded. The funny thing is almost all the people I know in the bay area would consider themselves open minded and yet they have certain personal preferences that they would never compromise. May it be the highly educated person wanting to date or be friends with only other higly educated persons (its funny how many lawyers on friendster just have other lawyer friends) or the upwordly mobile white yuppie woman who wants to date only other white yuppie guys. My white male german friend says he would like to date only white women, because they appear more familiar to him. Should I consider him close minded ? when I tell him I like blondes with blue eyes, he is farly accepting of my taste and yet my preferences make me close minded too.
Do personal preferences themselves signify close mindedness ? I submit that they do only as long as these preferences make one exclude all the other less preferred subjects. To deny newer experiences based only on personal preferences would be indeed sad. However ultimately it stands to reason that open mindedness should signify accepting other peoples short comings, prejudices and preferences without creating new ones within you. It is indeed a hard path to walk.
I live in the bay area. And Bay area, as anybody who reads the newspapers knows, is liberal to the point of having its own unique culture. I have considered myself open minded if not an extreme liberal. However lately I have been questioning my open mindedness and those of many others in the bay area. Personally I have been open minded to various experiences and various cultures, differences and views. The variety has never bothered me at all. In fact I blame my open mindedness to my being lazy. Case in point, I never make an extra effort to convert people in mature debates to my point of view; I am just interested in knowing their stand.
However does open mindedness mean only tolerance to views directly opposite to your own beliefs or does it mean an active effort to encourage, cultivate and explore the opposing views. There is a distinction of being passively accepting on one hand and actively seeking diversity on the other hand. I remember a date with a girl (incidentally nothing happened on the date; we were too uncomfortable with each other; case in point the conversation on hand - who talks about open mindedness on first dates anyway ;) and we had a strong disagreement on the SF gay pride parade. My view was that there is nothing to be proud of your sexuality (heterosexual or homosexual). It is just a part of you, you should accept it, perhaps act on it in the private confines and move on. You dont need to have parades to proclaim whether you bat left handed or right handed ;) However her belabored point was (*after* spending time articulating how close minded I was) that diversity and especially the differences that are still fragile and "wet behind the ears" need a firm hand of support and should be celebrated. These differences are what give meaning and color to our "majority" preferences. Agreed !! Looking at this from her perspective I do agree that some differences do need an active encouragement than mere passive tolerance. However this is to the point till the "rebel idea" becomes sufficiently mainstream. Beyond that I feel such "celebrations" would merely highlight one choice at the expense of the other.
Anyhow, so this does make me wonder if I am really as open minded as I thought I was. I remember listening to a comment on NPR from a mother that went something like this : "It is always nice to have gays in your family and I am glad that my son is gay. It adds wealth to your family. Not the money wealth but a richness of culture" . Well I dont remember the quote verbatim but the spirit of the thought makes me wonder if I would actually ever be able to think like that. I have tolerated gay people before, I had a roommate who was gay and who was awesome, but I have never actively tried to search for gay friends. I guess I still need to grow in my journey to becoming open minded.
Finally my observation of people that do not date outside their culture, do not have friends outside their social strata, culture or ethinicty. Are these people to be considered open minded and should we show them leniency by allowing them to hide behind their "personal preferences" or do these people also have a journey to cover with me on the path to being open minded. The funny thing is almost all the people I know in the bay area would consider themselves open minded and yet they have certain personal preferences that they would never compromise. May it be the highly educated person wanting to date or be friends with only other higly educated persons (its funny how many lawyers on friendster just have other lawyer friends) or the upwordly mobile white yuppie woman who wants to date only other white yuppie guys. My white male german friend says he would like to date only white women, because they appear more familiar to him. Should I consider him close minded ? when I tell him I like blondes with blue eyes, he is farly accepting of my taste and yet my preferences make me close minded too.
Do personal preferences themselves signify close mindedness ? I submit that they do only as long as these preferences make one exclude all the other less preferred subjects. To deny newer experiences based only on personal preferences would be indeed sad. However ultimately it stands to reason that open mindedness should signify accepting other peoples short comings, prejudices and preferences without creating new ones within you. It is indeed a hard path to walk.
