Water pH / quality in Sierra Nevada streams / springs / lak

[Cross Country]

I would like to second what several people said and add this: Are you kidding me?

[OzSwaggie]

I have found this thread very entertaining, thanks to the moderators for not closing it down!

Just a question for COL if you are still around, I'm sorry if I'm asking your to repeat yourself but there has been a lot to read so far so may have missed this. I am wondering about the REASON for your several-week fasting expedition to the Lake Sabrina area... Are you wanting to do a vision quest or purification type thing, or is this an experiment to see if it can be done? Surely you were joking when you said it was to save on weight ? (Of course I realize that your original question was to do with pH and has been answered, but you did introduce all the other information about the sun having antibiotic effects on the blood and sunglasses being harmful which is all a bit intriguing!)

I suspect that many of the folk who are a bit annoyed by your plan come from either being genuinely concerned for your welfare (you have to admit it's a bit of an unconventional approach and you yourself say you have not tried it before...) and/or being concerned about the impact you may have on others (ie, they feel that you are being a little selfish by taking an unnecessary risk that might involve and have a negative impact on others in the area). If your plan works well, and you survive and have a positive experience and achieve whatever your goal is, well and good. But anyone can have an accident. What is Plan B? Ask for food from other hikers who probably have rationed calories for their own needs very carefully (and carried it on their backs for many miles!)? Become weak, hypothermic, fail to think rationally, become lost, have to be rescued?

How determined are you to survive this expedition, COL? 'cos for me there are slight overtones of "Into the Wild" here!

I'm not going to argue with your beliefs, you are welcome to them. One of my beliefs is that humans are cultural beings who can learn from each other and from transmission of knowledge across years and generations. This means we can learn from the discoveries and mistakes of others, and not have to make all the mistakes ourselves.

Based on that belief, I have two suggestions. One has already been made earlier by someone else. Take a Bear Canister and some food. You don' HAVE to eat it. But call it Plan B.

The second is a book recommendation. You have recommended many films and books to forum readers so my suggestion to you (and I mean this kindly and in all seriousness) is the excellent book "Death in Yosemite" by Micheal P. Ghiglieri and Charles R. "Butch" Farabee Jr.

I wish you well with your hiking trip. When are you going?

[rlown]

How determined are you to survive this expedition, COL? 'cos for me there are slight overtones of "Into the Wild" here!

interesting comparison. I just watched that movie again for the 13th time. I still yell at the screen every time he makes a mistake.

I like the Plan B thing, Oz, as then there is one.

[OzSwaggie]

Yes it was on here the other night, which is what brought it to mind I guess. Have you read the book? Also the documentary with Sean Penn and the author Jon Krakauer is interesting. My next door neighbour (who has a 21 y/o son) finds that the movie makes him really angry, like you I guess. I just find it very sad, as it seemed like it was not his intention to die, just that his attempt at self-healing and self-discovery went a bit awry and collided with reality... tragic. Also I suppose for those of us who are adventurous I guess we have all done silly things at times and been lucky so there's probably a bit of "There but for the grace of God go I" as well ...

[RoguePhotonic]

I think Christopher McCandless's mistakes in his journey are irrelevant because he wanted the true pioneer wilderness experience and with that comes the chance of death which so many of them in the past fell victim to. He lived more in his two years on the road then most people do in their whole lives. Some of you may have seen the real photo of him holding his goodbye note to the world when he knew he was going to die. He has a big smile on his face.

He may have died but he did accomplish what he set out to do.

Back in 2008 I was planning to leave society exactly like he did. Disappear one night and never contact anyone I knew ever again. The only thing that stopped me is I began doing all these crazy hikes which kept me around. Now since I feel life has nothing to offer me I don't feel taking to the road would lead me anywhere worth wild.

*We now return to our regularly scheduled thread*

[rlown]

I think Christopher McCandless's mistakes in his journey are irrelevant because he wanted the true pioneer wilderness experience and with that comes the chance of death which so many of them in the past fell victim to. He lived more in his two years on the road then most people do in their whole lives. Some of you may have seen the real photo of him holding his goodbye note to the world when he knew he was going to die. He has a big smile on his face.

He may have died but he did accomplish what he set out to do.

Back in 2008 I was planning to leave society exactly like he did. Disappear one night and never contact anyone I knew ever again. The only thing that stopped me is I began doing all these crazy hikes which kept me around. Now since I feel life has nothing to offer me I don't feel taking to the road would lead me anywhere worth wild.

*We now return to our regularly scheduled thread*

pioneer doesn't mean your stupid.. you supply appropriately. fear of water for Chris on his escape route; There were avenues of escape. You jump in the water at the appropriate place, swim, dry off, and get the heck out of there.

Lots of water to drink there.. Didn't seem to meet his needs.

I don't think Chris planned to die in Alaska, per your observation Rogue.. He only got there.

[RoguePhotonic]

Well his goal was to be as minimal as possible but it's true that he had over confidence after survivng for a month on one bag of rice and what ever he could catch in the Gulf of California.

When you read his original plan to hike 500 miles cross country to the coast you realize how inexperienced he was because that would be hard enough at the best of times let alone surviving off the land as you go.

[OzSwaggie]

Jon Krakauer who wrote the book "Into the Wild" said that he felt that he understood Chris' motivation for not taking a map or basic safety precautions etc ... that he wanted to feel like a pioneer, to feel that he was going where no-one had been before, to imagine that he was "off the map". He was seeking the intensity of that experience, the knowledge that there was no safety net, that it was just him and the wilderness. I can't say I understand that motivation, having never really felt that. I love solitude and being in the wilderness, surrounded by beauty and nature, but I don't want to deliberately feel that I'm placing myself at risk of death, don't need that kind of buzz. I was impressed that Jon Krakauer could; I suppose as a climber who had pioneered first ascents (I think!) that allowed him to understand. I guess that's the art of a writer, using the imagination to try to enter the mind of another.

I'm not really sure that this is where Circus of Life is coming from, as in other respects he/she seems to be researching and preparing well (from other posts). So I'm interested in WHY he/she is forgoing what for most of us is a basic requirement for a hiking trip in the mountains - FOOD!

[sparky]

A funny thing about that, pioneers didn't go off with no safety net....at least the successful ones. They did bring supplies and had vast knowledge of living off the land. He was trying to be something he couldn't possibly be as his view was skewed by his own self loathing. Saying that, I do understand and respect the notion. He didn't survive because he didn't want to survive. When he finally figured out he did want to survive, it was too late....at least that's how the story goes.

[intrek38]

Well back to the original post, I would have to say the the water quality of Sierra is the best I have ever had in my life. Can't wait to get out there again this summer to eat some more.