High Sierra Topix

I am glad you dodged the bullet! I am one of those aging members(57), and I am trying to take care of myself with diet, excercise, and backpacking, but aging is a tough foe.

I'm 47 (in 2013) with health getting better with age. The one thing that was bothering me has cleared up (slight sharp pain in hip once or twice a day maybe from pinched nerve). Someone said keep the stress level down; another person said he'll be angry and stressed till he dies!!! I think the key is keeping the stress level down. *** What seems to preserve my health is (1.) working around public driving a bus and getting exposed to all sorts of stuff -- good immune system; (2.) lots of sleep; (3.) less meat; (4.) hiking; and (5.) more introverted and comfortable being alone much of the time resulting in less stress due to "adult child of alcoholics" ah "syndrome" (my Dad died a week before my 18th birthday leaving me somewhat un-socialized). I would add (6.) steady job for past 10 years with high job satisfaction and the easier my job gets the less work-related issues I drag home with me at the end of the workday. Only a few grey hairs. Over the past 5 years even the yearly cold has either shortened in duration or disappeared completely. *** Mark Sisson has a book called "Primal Blueprint" that I just discovered that is similar to my experiences. We're lucky to have a love for the High Sierras since the author recommends slow, steady exercise, and those mountains keep calling us back every year!!! Lastly, Norman Clyde wrote that it's amazing how much one can do in the mountains with: enough food, and, enough sleep.