A shout-out to the 64year old studs of HST

[giantbrookie]

CAMERONM: I ran across my first confirmed 80-something in Miter basin earlier this month. Based on the commentary here, I'd not be surprised to hear that several of these 64-somethings are still going strong 16 years from now. 26 years from now may be a different story?
John: One of my geology pals has complained that it's hard to get geological research published in high impact journals unless it includes comparisons/contrasts with events/findings concerning celestial objects. That requirement seriously limits field work and almost certainly contributes to the decline you described. Still, Craig is a dyed-in-the-wool field guy and I admire him for that bias. Like all of us, he is continually making adjustments for the battering to which he has subjected his knees and back, but he loves getting into the mountains and deserts and still takes students whenever he can. As for Satchel & Nolan, they are legends on a very different field; great poem!
Ed: I've seen some amazing walking sticks (staffs) in Europe, but I'll have to do some experimenting when (and if) I decide to go that route. My suspicion is that I'd be prone to tripping over any extra gear, or that I'd forget to grab it after a rest stop.
Cameron

Yes I think the 64ers are certainly going to do their best to make it to 80 in terms of maintaining our mobility to get to trailless places such as Miter Basin. Some factors beyond our direct control may derail us, but I know I will try and I think the other 64ers will too. I know of a legendary geology professor, Art Sylvester (UCSB), who was still able to outhike young folks well into his 70s; prostate cancer got him this past year, but he was getting out to the field to the very end with use of a cane. The most mobile 80-year-old I ever saw was my old PhD advisor, the great Eldridge Moores. He had actually gone through a 5-year-plus period of dealing with Achilles tendinitis that had him hiking with trekking poles for a bit. But entering into his 80th year his Achilles wasn't barking at him and he he had mobility and agility that would put many youth to shame. Unfortunately, he became a victim of "Struck Down by Zeus", when the cabin he was staying in while leading a field trip caught fire in the wee hours of the morning of Oct 18, 2018 and he played the lead role in an involuntary Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene as other participants of this field trip (including me, as his co-leader) watched in horror. Whereas in his younger years, Eldridge's amazing agility was pretty much genetic (he didn't do much formal athletic training), I know that in his later years he was much more serious about strength and cardio training and was a regular gym goer. Who know how long he would have continued to be so agile and mobile, but Eldridge was pretty amazing at age 80.

Difficulty getting field-based geology published? In geoscience journals, I'd say there is no barrier to publication of field-heavy research, except in subdiscipline specialty fields for which analytical data is paramount (petrology/geochemistry for example), in which case one must have some body of relevant analytical data for it to be appropriate for the journal. For general science journals such as Nature and Science, it isn't that you must have a celestial connection, but one needs analytical data or numerical modeling, or both. The analytical data may (be it in a subdiscipline-specific geoscience journal or general science journal) can span a wide range, including age dates (many different methods and systems), to whole rock geochemical data, to mineral geochemical data, or instrumentally-determined data on mineral orientations. Method development has played big the last decade and a half, too. New methods and technology tend to get more brownie points in higher academia than application (ie problem solving/discovery). The bottom line is that I haven't had too much trouble getting my field-intensive work published in high-visibility geoscience journals. The biggest issues I have had historically are with various "power clans" that want to shut those not in their group out of the game. This made things very difficult when I was younger, but I've become better at "finding a pass" (different journal) to get me to the rear of the barrier, rather than being Guan Yu and taking out the captains guarding the barrier.

[cgundersen]

John,
It may be serendipity, but the last couple times I've logged onto HST and looked at the Campfire, the popup ads at the bottom of the page include products like, "Sisley Paris Supremya At Night Anti-aging fluid (for $940 a vial). There appear to be other ways to avoid aging. And if I'm lucky enough to post another shout out to the 80 year olds of HST (in 16 years), I'll sure relish that one!
Judging from your experience, Craig must have been in a rough patch getting work published (at least in the journals he wanted to target) and felt there was too much extra-terrestrial stuff showing up instead. As for Guan Yu, I'd not heard mention of him since the first Rambo film came out and a pal derisively contrasted the film with Guan's exploits. Well, it was just a movie! Cameron

[Bradg]

Hello everyone

Brad here. Longtime Lurker and a few times poster. I'm a a member of the 64 plus club as well. I've been lucky enough to have had 50 years of Sierra rambling. I started with the Boy Scouts in the early 70's and haven't stopped since. This last winter I I damaged my left hip thigh and knee. The orthopedists' I went to didn't think it was a big deal. But its persisted until I sought out some alternative treatments. I've had platelet rich plasma interjected into the knee and thigh, as well as shockwave therapy to affected leg. It's working! I'm envisioning some shoulder season trips this season. As for the future, I have to give a shout out to my friend Kent. We met in the early 80's in a Sierra Club Basic Mountaineering Training Course. We became friends and spent the last 40 years in the backcountry together. In his 70's he decided that he wanted to complete the John Muir Trail. I wasn't much interested, so he soloed a bit. He must have been at least 79 or 80 when he did the section of the JMT from Cottonwood to Onion Valley. He was a couple days overdue and we began to initiate a search, but he was fine. He didn't know how to use his Inreach very well. He kept himself in shape with stair climbing, yoga weightlifting, and of course hiking Unfortunately Lymphoma took him recently at 83. Otherwise, he was planning another JMT trip for this month. I'm hoping to have as many good years.

2015-11-13_15-43-11_706.jpeg

Here a picture of him at Joshua Tree NP. We did countless one night trips in the JT backcountry over the years. He lived life well.

Thanks for all the great trip reports everyone!

[cgundersen]

Brad: Is it just me, or does he bear considerable resemblance to Mick Jagger (another octogenarian)? Cameron

[SSSdave]

At age 70+ and 135# I managed notorious Shepherd Pass on a 10-day 2019 backpack lugging 62 pounds.

https://www.davidsenesac.com/2019_Trip_ ... 019-7.html

But now at 74.8 such trips are no longer in my future. Early August just did 5 strenuous days in the Ritter Range and did not enjoy the effort while carrying 57# though it was my first backpack in 2023. But am here to report that now 4 weeks later, my body is still benefiting from the strength gained during that effort. Five decades of backpacking carrying heavy loads has created neural plasticity structures within my body that each summer despite months between are readily revived with new trips. Much more so than some young adult that has yet to develop such.

That is also the reason, each ski season as a senior, despite months between the cold winter snow season, I often on first mogul runs each winter am able to descend long recreational bump fields making such look easy because such is so wired into my brain and muscles. The difference is, until I have completed a few skiing days or during summer a couple backpacking trips, my staying power at levels my brain attempts is brief before washing out.

[giantbrookie]

At age 70+ and 135# I managed notorious Shepherd Pass on a 10-day 2019 backpack lugging 62 pounds.
https://www.davidsenesac.com/2019_Trip_ ... 019-7.html
But now at 74.8 such trips are no longer in my future. Early August just did 5 strenuous days in the Ritter Range and did not enjoy the effort while carrying 57# though it was my first backpack in 2023. But am here to report that now 4 weeks later, my body is still benefiting from the strength gained during that effort. Five decades of backpacking carrying heavy loads has created neural plasticity structures within my body that each summer despite months between are readily revived with new trips. Much more so than some young adult that has yet to develop such.
.

Ah, now this serves as inspiration for me and the other 64-year-olds. I'll train my best to be able to do what you're doing 10-11 years from now! In the meantime I will endeavor to lighten my load a bit because I found lugging that 50+ lb pack up the switchbacks of Hetch Hetchy to be no fun. At the same time, I also continue to find new easier-to-reach fishing targets that I can fish even with a significant reduction of mobility. This also includes finding non-sketchy coastal fishing spots (non-sketchy means no dicey class 3+ and casting spots that are protected from the waves); I notched a saltwater PB (PB cabezon of 20.5") for myself yesterday along the Sonoma Coast.

[cgundersen]

Dave, I know you've justified those huge loads, because you are carrying serious camera gear, but have you found ways to cut out weight in other areas? I'll be curious what you and John start ditching, because I keep debating what to leave behind and wind up with pretty much the same cache of gear every year. The one advantage of aging is we'll probably start forgetting stuff and that will lighten the load. Oh, and in my book, 74 is just a more-experienced 64 year old. Darn impressive! Cameron

[Bradg]

Cameron: Kent would have loved the comparison, but I may have had to explain to him who Mick Jagger was! He did keep himself in the backcountry into his 80's by becoming the consummate ultralighter. He kept his base weight between 12 and 15 lbs. Thankfully, some of that rubbed off on me. Though a fly rod, Kindle and chair seem to be worth the extra weight.

[michaelzim]

A shout-out to new ultra-light gear for keeping going!

Back in 2020 I was still "old school" (and old) and lugged my huge 6.5 pound backpack, with 5.5 pound tent, big SLR camera, full water bottles, and.....You get the idea. My starting trail-head pack weight was 54 pounds. I knew no better as had 'always' carried that much since age 35 and figured it was just how it was.
Then I found I could not make it over a fairly simple pass after a tortuously exhausting 2-day bushwhack. I was "bushed" big time. And realized that something had to change.
Now, 3 years later (end even older) I find myself heading out on 7-9 day trips, with bearcan, and more or less ALL THE SAME GEAR stuff I had before but at almost half the weight! I have not really dumped any categories except water carry but just have 'modern' lighter versions of them and thinned out a few things like my repair kit, medical kit, unused clothing, and a short list of "what if" items.

My pack is as comfortable and weighs 4.5 pounds less than my 'original'.
My tent is a spacious 2-person and weighs 4 pounds less than my 'original'.
My sleeping bag is a 20 degree very adequate temperature rating and weighs 2 pounds less than my 'original'.
Oh and I eat a lot less too so have dropped food down considerably.
Etc., etc.

I'm not quite sure how it all came to be but my Excel chart does not lie and my scale backs it up before I head out.
My summer starting pack weight (including 1.5 pounds of water) is 28 pounds...For snow and colder weather you can add 8 pounds to that what with ice axe, spikes, heavier sleeping bag, electronics, bigger pack, etc.

Below 30 pounds of carry is a "magic" number for me. I weigh in at about 145 pounds so that is 20% of my body weight. It almost feels like I have a day-pack on and has allowed me to continue backpacking...Absolutely no bones about it.
I highly recommend new ultra-light gear to chew up some of those retirement savings!

Best ~ Michaelzim

[SSSdave]

Wow a big cabezon John, well done. IMO one of our Pacific shore most delicious fish with big white flaky flesh.

As for gear, I have reduced weight this last decade after moving on from view camera work, however take maybe 2 pounds worth of small repair and functional stuff I rarely use that I could dispense with. Also tend to bring much enjoyable food including greasy stuff like cheese, sweets, and candy. On the Kern trip left out fishing gear as it was one of many trips where I'm simply too busy working a detailed list of photo subjects. Also didn't bring fishing gear on last month's Ritter trip. But after seeing those huge rainbows in 1000 Island, I see a future base camping trip there with my brother J, probably camping 2/3 of the way west on the south side where few ever manage to visit.