Eric's Adventure in California

Last week I took a long-planned trip out to California to go backpacking with my brother and father-in-law. We originally planned on going to Yosemite and hiking Tuolomne Meadows to Agnew Meadows. With an impending snow storm we decided to shorten it and start off at Agnew Meadows and hike around the area.

First we stopped at Fossil Falls on the way up, where an old waterfall passed through some fossilized rock. It was pretty neat. When we arrived on Wednesday to get our permit the Ranger said there was a snow storm coming in on Friday afternoon that would dump 6-12 inches of snow. We decided to be out by Friday morning.

Wednesday night we hiked about three miles (I think) up to Shadow Lake. The last stretch was up more rocky terrain beside the stream draining out of Shadow Lake. It was a pretty lake, and we find a nice campsite nestled among the trees. It was chilly, but we stayed warm that night. I stayed awake for a while talking with my brother as we were sharing a tent. By the way, he had a Beta Light and he was able to pick up a floor for it at a store in Bishop (which was very surprising to me). This is a tarp style tent that uses trekking poles as the poles, it was fun sleeping in it. The coolest part was Friday morning when we were getting our things ready and changing we could take down the tent while sitting in our sleeping bags then have more room to get everything done. But I digress.

Thursday morning we woke up to some snow on the ground and temperatures around freezing. My Montbell Super Stretch Down Hugger #2 sleeping bag (old style) kept me warm, which was good considering how much I paid for it (deeply discounted as it was, when I bought it). Hopefully it will truly get me down to 25 degrees.

The snow was just a dusting, but it was absolutely beautiful. It was a cold morning, but we went for a 6 mile (round trip) hike up in elevation to Ediza Lake. That's when I realized one of the things I really miss about the mountains, alpine lakes. They are so clear and pristine and beautiful. It was just gorgeous. After observing that for a time we went back to camp and had lunch.

By then we were getting pretty cold, even though the snow had melted off. So we took another hike up to Rosalie Lake. It was only a couple mile hike (round trip), but we gained about 700 feet in elevation. It was up the John Muir Trail, as was our campsite. I'm kind of glad our trip wasn't too much longer, because Greg and Bart were about to beat me into the ground on this hike. Again, the lake was beautiful. We were all kind of tired and we found a nice sloping region that was somewhat sheltered from the wind and had a nice view of the lake. We all laid (or is it lied, I never know) down on the ground and basked in the intermittent sunlight. As my brother said, it was no more than a tease because the sun was out maybe half the time. The sun would come out and the wind died down and I felt 20 degrees warmer (probably not true, but it felt like it). Then clouds would come in and the wind would pick up and I'd start freezing again. It was still a nice rest though.

About this time we were starting to get suspicious because the only people we saw were at 10 a.m. and they were leaving. We ate dinner and it was so cold that Bart and myself both got in our tents around 5:30 p.m., just to get warmed up from the sleeping bags. Greg didn't want to spend that much time in his bag so he was loitering outside doing this and then. He mentioned that it was starting to snow a little bit. Then he said it's starting to snow STORM and IT WAS TIME TO GO. Bart got out and agreed and I was very thankful for some people who had spent some time in the mountains. I wouldn't have thought to leave, but knowing what was on the way they decided not to risk it. We took down camp quickly as the snow increased. Then we took a few photos and started hiking around 6:30. It quickly became dark and we were hiking out in the snow and dark and using our headlamps to lead the way.

On the way in we happened to take the horse trail and we rectified the error on the way out. We weren't sure where it would take us, however. Finally we saw some signs indicating the trail head and we stumbled out right where our car was, a fortuitous event. The other guys were worried about the gate being closed, but the gate was open for people leaving. We were the last car in the lot and we saw the snow plows coming up the hill the other way. I think we were at least a little bit lucky and it could have turned out much worse.

We drove down the road a while and had a milkshake at Carl's, which was very good. Then we kept driving and camped at Taboose Creek outside of Bishop, which is somewhere between the middle of nowhere and hell. The next morning we took our time and eventually decided to go to Death Valley.

I'd never been there and it was very interesting. We saw the Devil's Cornfield and the Devil's Golf Course, seems like he's got a stranglehold on the real estate of the area. Then we saw the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, Badwater Basin. By the way, it was raining off and on the whole time we were in Death Valley, they tell me that's rare. I saw a German who told me, "we come all the way from Germany to see the desert and it's raining." I replied, "that's because we don't like you foreigners here." Actually I didn't, but it would have been funny. Finally we saw a crater that formed from a natural explosion of some sorts (I don't remember the details). We weren't sure what food we had for dinner and it seemed a few of us just weren't sure whether we wanted to camp another night or go home. Finally we just decided to go home.

We stopped at In'N'Out Burger, as per my request, on the way home and went back to Simi and stayed the night. I went with Greg to his house on Saturday (after a minor REI detour), and hung out there the rest of the day. Then I came home. It was definitely an adventure, and I feel more like an authentic backpacker now, instead of a wannabe, although it was a brief trip. Click the slideshow above for more pictures.

WPAFB Half Marathon

Five years after I dared the St. George marathon, I returned to long distance running by doing the WPAFB half marathon today. Training was definitely easier for the half than full marathon but I still hit a wall during the race at mile 12. The course had a lot of hills and I think I took them a little too fast and after the last downhill and flat leading to the 12-mile mark, my legs and head just didn't want to continue. I still managed to run, albeit at a very slow pace that could not get faster, and finished with lots of people passing me. Even with that, I still somewhat reached my goal with a time of 1:50 according to my watch. Give me a little bit of recovery time and I'll probably do a half marathon again. Eric and the girls cheered me on around the halfway point which was very nice. Eric took a little "hike" from our house to the race path and I got to see them twice and give the girls high fives which definitely helped me mentally. I have the best cheerleaders!

So now I have another medal (everyone got one for finishing) and a nice t-shirt. Everything says marathon on it so I guess I can say I did the marathon but really it was the half, but hey it's still 13.1 miles!

"Let's have a little fun with electricity"

1 curious three year old girl
+
1 penny
+
1 night light
=

+
Sparks
+
Flipped circuit breaker switch
+
2 relieved but frightened parents

Do NOT try this at home!

Atlas Shrugged (warning, stream of consciousness rant to follow)

So we've mostly used this space just as a place to provide news about our family. We've tried to keep things pretty innocuous, so as to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible, but there are two problems with that. First, I don't think two readers classifies as a wide audience (thanks to you two though, you know who you are...okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit). Second, in the world of blogs innocuous means boring. One thing we like to put here is book reviews. I recently decided to make time to read, since it's good for my mental and emotional well-being and beats watching TV. So I thought I'd jump off the deep end by reading a controversial (mostly) political book and post my impressions. I realize I might offend half our audience...sorry.

So the book I read was Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I'm going to have a hard time writing this review because this book made me think more than any other book I've read (besides the scriptures). I debated not doing a review because I would have to practically write a book to talk about all the issues it made me think about, but I'll give you the Reader's Digest version.

For those not familiar with Ayn Rand, she was the founder of a philosophy called Objectivism. This book was a fictional work, a novel, but it was really a vehicle for her to lay out the philosophy of objectivism. I was interested in the book because I'm getting to the point where I find myself politically aligned mostly with the libertarian party (or perhaps neo-libertarian, but that's neither here nor there). She is considered by some to be one of the guiding influences behind libertarianism (although she didn't like it because it didn't follow ALL of her philosophy). I found myself mostly agreeing with this book when it dealt with the role of government, but mostly disagreeing with her objectivist philosophy as it related to the way people lead their lives.

The setting for the book is some unknown time (maybe mid 1900's) but most of the country (and all of the rest of the world) is basically socialist. The attitude of entitlement is so entrenched in virtually everyone that there are few producers left. There is a handful of industrialists that are good at what they do, but they keep getting punished anytime they succeed by targeted taxes, nationalization of industries, repressive bills and basically what she refers to as a "looters" government. One by one these "prime movers" begin to disappear into thin air. The book is about the mystery of those disappearances. (Spoiler warning) It turns out that the "people of the mind" are all going on strike. It has gotten so bad and they are so vilified (while at the same time being needed for their ability to produce) that they decide to let the world see what happens when they give up. The story follows a strong and capable woman who holds out until the end, finally realizing that that is the only solution. Of course, the world descends into financial ruin, disarray, and death and misery without these people.

It was a fascinating book for the parallels to today. Big oil, pharmaceuticals, Walmart, and generally any big corporation is vilified at every turn (anyone read what Osama said)? There are calls for gas taxes, caps on gas prices, nationalized health care, making Walmart give more health benefits, etc. But nobody stops to think how capitalism actually works. Nobody considers that maybe they are making money because they are doing something right, and what is needed is less regulation to allow competitors in the market. This is a simplification of the issues that have arguments on both sides, but it's generally what the book depicts. (For instance, although a recent government report found there was no price fixing of gas prices in the Katrina aftermath, it is possible that some of the companies engage in fraud via collusion, and it can be argued that the free market has difficulty fixing that situation...although it's by no means a given). This really presents the opposite side, that of someone who works hard and is successful and is rewarded by the market because transactions are still mutually beneficial and voluntary. There is a man who invents a metal that's stronger, lighter, and cheaper than steel. At one point he says what he'll sell it for and makes no bones about the fact that he's going to make a killing (which is like actually admitting to murder in the society set up in the book). But one astute reporter notices that the price is still a steal for the consumers and asks about it. "You noticed that, did you?" came the reply. It's the basic theory behind capitalism, transactions can be mutually beneficial as long as there is no coercion or fraud.

Now comes my first criticism, the book definitely suffers from the straw man argument. None of the industrialists were attempting illegal means to further their companies (at least initially, before the absurdly repressive laws). None of the socialists were good people. They were all depicted at people that were truly, deeply evil and hid behind platitudes of "helping the poor." Most of the time they didn't realize, or wouldn't admit, how evil they were. But they were all depicted as having a nihilistic tendency towards self-destruction. I think it's possible for some socialists to be well intentioned (although looking at modern history you have to be pretty dense to think it can actually work).

Also the protagonists were sometimes jerks. Objectivism holds that there exists a mind-independent reality that is knowable only through rational means. And that each person should act only in his rational self-interest. That basically makes for the "heros" only caring for themselves, and having that portrayed as a virtue. In my opinion she has a really hard time making brotherly and romantic love fit the theory.

As I said, however, I did agree with the political premises. The libertarian line of thought is that it is government's job only to defend our freedoms, by preventing fraud and force. Anything above and beyond that is an infringement on our rights. That's the theory, implementation is tricky. But usurping patents, nationalizing industries, preventing anyone from diversifying into other industries, and torturing a capable person to make him agree to be the "dictator of the economy," and other draconian measures depicted in this book don't generally fit into that role.

There was a fascinating section that showed what happened when a motor company decided to follow the socialist "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" model. At first most voted for it thinking they'd cut in on the salary of the guy above him. In reality the people below them cut in on their salary. The capable people left initially. Those that were left were forced to work overtime because they weren't producing according to their "ability." So everyone tried to be incompetent to not have to work extra (you got paid for your needs anyway, not what you did). It became clear that there basically had to be a small committee deciding what "needs" were valid. Everyone began to hate their neighbor when his wife got pregnant (higher needs for the neighbor meant less salary for them), or when family came to live with them. The people escaped their increasing squalor through drink, people got in fights with each other, and...well...you get the idea. I haven't read much about communist Russia, but this story seemed plausible.

I will say that she wrote an engaging story. It was over 1100 pages long, with big pages and small print, and I finished it in about three weeks. I found it fascinating. I think I agree with her philosophy in part. I believe that we are intended to work for our own joy, but I think part of the way to do that is through serving others. She had a very anti-religion attitude because it was not based on reason (it can't be proved) and because it preaches self-sacrifice (the ultimate evil, according to Rand). I obviously don't agree with that. But it did give me a newfound appreciation for the witness of the Holy Spirit as "evidence" of what to have faith in. (Neal Boortz always compares religion to believing in unicorns and tooth fairies, in my mind the difference is, of course, the witness of the Holy Ghost, which is unique from just emotions or just thoughts, kind of like a sixth sense). But I really had to think and search and pray in response to this book. One of the main taglines of the book is "check your premises, contradictions don't exist." I definitely did have to "check my premises" multiple times. It was a thought provoking read. In keeping with the theme I'm now reading Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Camping

This past weekend we did a one night camping jaunt kind of at the last minute out at Hueston Woods, a state park about an hour away. The girls were so excited to go camping! Elizabeth loved playing in the dirt and sleeping in the tent with mommy and daddy. She loved the campfire and roasting marshmallows with daddy. This time she didn't burn her hand like at Mammoth Caves.

Saturday we went on a little hike and the girls were great troopers. Elizabeth found a walking stick and walked the whole way while Rachel fell asleep in the backpack carrier. After a lunch of PB&J (we get gourmet while camping as you can tell) we rented a paddle boat and went out on Acton Lake. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of that but the girls really liked being out on the lake. Rachel was very docile for a whole hour which is so unlike her. We went to the nature center afterwards for a presentation on raptors (birds of prey) and then saw them feed the cougar (not with the birds but the remains of a cow not fit for human consumption).

One of the resident raptors a red tailed hawk

It was a long Saturday but a very needed respite from the humdrum of daily life. Hopefully we'll get out again before it gets too cold and explore another state park. I found it interesting that Hueston Woods was surrounded by corn field after corn field. Next time you drink your soda (or pop for those not from California), know that all that high fructose corn syrup is processed from corn right here in the great fields in Ohio!