High Sierra Topix

Another thing to note about hiking ability and pace. You had a chance to acclimatize and build strength. I take it that your father was coming straight up from low altitude and hitting the trail and this puts him in a bad imposition.

Also consider that max heartrate is 220-Age roughly and that makes a huge difference when you can sustain an extra 20-30 BPM or so. Your body was already in the process of making more red blood cells and you can pound harder. Your poor dad is sucking wind and his frequent stops are strictly due to the fact that he simply can't get enough oxygen and his heart is racing. Add in the thinning air at 11,000 or so and then it's even worse over 12,000 or so. Alot of people note a big change over 12,500 ft. you slow your pace and that's all you can do.

Being 40 and weighing over 220 makes me a lousy cardio guy. I am way slower than I was 20 years ago when I first hit the trails of the West. I also hike with folks who live at altitude and I can never keep up, they just have the extra blood and their physical activities at altitude make them way more fit than I. I always get there though!

We are hardest on the people close to us, this I know. No judgement here, just things to keep in mind. I hiked with a guy who burned it up the trail. I say that you don't HIKE with him, you just CAMP with him.

Now that's a report! Thanks for taking the time to write your trip up and post all those nice pics.

The difference in the can vs foil deal is I was conscious of what I was doing this one time. Him and the foil is just a normal every night activity.

The comparison with attitude is debatable. It's one thing to plan something thinking you will have the mental position to move forward with it vs bragging about doing something but when it comes time to actually do so it's like "I didn't actually think I would be here, I was just bull shitting".

Another thing to note about hiking ability and pace. You had a chance to acclimatize and build strength. I take it that your father was coming straight up from low altitude and hitting the trail and this puts him in a bad imposition.

Well he started at 5000 feet and would not be hiking up to 10,000 for 2 or 3 days. Although this is a factor the area was prime for it. The fact is with his hiking pace besides alcohol and substance abuse is he did not do a single thing to prepare for the hike. He literally had not taken a single hike since he joined me the September before.

The trouble with this subject of my dad is most of you either being fathers or just sons have some romantic attitude towards family and the mer notion of a nice backpacking trip father and son. Well the fact is I am not close with my dad or any other member of my family. And if you really want to know the truth I only still know any of my family at all because I am a victim of circumstance. The first chance I ever get in life to cut off all contact and never speak to any of them again I am doing so. Do I "hate" my dad? Absolutely! So sure this may make me be harder on him then I might be with a random stranger I am hiking with but it's the simple facts. As I said once before I am being extremely nice in planning a section he can come out with me on because getting away from him for 3 months is a major plus of the backcountry so he could at least try not to cause too much crap while out.

I think it's great if any of you have real families you are close to but not everyone has that.

I also don't mean to rant or make any drama but when I write I trail report that is more then pure statistics and gives insight into my life then what am I supposed to say?

I'd say don't defend your writing or your relationships. Heck, this isn't a Phil Donohue show. You've been pretty good so far in your writings through the planning and exectution of your trip. It's pretty easy to all be critics when reading stuff on a public forum.

Looking forward to your next installment.

Sorry if I don't know the whole gist Rogue, I am familiar with the odd dynamics of being estranged from one's father or at odds with them. It's not fun and you have my sympathies.

I am looking forward to your next installment though. This is excellent stuff.

Outrageous trip Rogue!!! Lots of iternary changes as would be expected any year, yet alone this last one with the epic snow pack. Great pics as always. Life is what we make it and our pasts are what they are. Cant change it. Your TRs have the mood of a Smiths or Morrissey inspired album. Some will like and some wont. To each their own.

It is pretty simple. Learn from experience. Your Dad was not up to the trip you planned. You now know that taking him on your more difficult adventures is not something to do in the future. If you want to go out with him, it will have to be an easier trip. And if he really upsets you a lot, just do not do trips together. Parent-child relationships change dramatically over one's lifetime. Nothing says you have to be chumy with parents all the time.

I have been on much of the sections of your first 20 days. I have always been interested in what it is like south of Shotgun Pass. Last time I went over the pass by Loneley Lake there was a huge cornice on it! Although a "class 1" pass, it can be difficult early season. The most terrible mosquiotes I have ever encountered were coming down off that pass into Deadman Canyon in late June. No lie- actual clouds of skeets. Sorry you could not get into Gardnier Basin, but given circumstances, best you did not do it. You will have to put that in your next years trip! I was very surprised to hear that crossing Middle Fork Keweah River was feasible. That has also been on my list of "to do" trips for early season. I think crossings are more of a matter of hitting either before peak runoff or after- it is the week or so during peak runoff that is critical, not the factor of being early season. And each year is different from the previous.

Are you going to post more photos on another web site? Your photos are good and I would like to see more.

Thanks for taking the time to write this up! I had a lot of fun following along with your route on the topo. Looking forward to the next installments.

Looking forward to part two of the mega trip report and continued envy! Congrats on completing a fantastic adventure and I am so glad you returned in good health.

To end it simple with my dad it is true that in the future I will not let him come if it's not super easy. I thought I had planned it easy enough but as I said he was more out of shape then I had ever seen him.

As for photos I have all of them on my FlickR but I only have weeks one and two finished completely. Week 3 is almost done. All the other weeks I just added one photo to get the set built. They can be found here:

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