Blake Miller’s Playground

My wife and I did our first summit of Mt. Whitney.  Rather the popular “one day hike”, we did our more enjoyable “backcountry” trek.   We did it via Horseshoe Meadows, during a 4 day, 4 night trek.

Quickly, All of the pics are on my photo site

Drive up, Sunday, 7/26/09

We arrived to Lone Pine Sunday afternoon and got our permits. We got a pair of walk-in permits (it was easy since we were entering on a loop and less traveled route. The trail crest exit quota was plenty full for walk-ins) We left our car at the Portal and hired Whitney Shuttle to pick us up and bring us to Horseshoe Meadows. Since we knew we wouldn’t have much time on the return, we ordered a round of Burgers and a 6-pack of beer at the portal store. We packed it go to and had it for our “last supper” It was magnificent!

Enjoyed a last supper of phat burgers and fries

Day1 - Horseshoe Meadows to Soldier Lake via Cottonwood Pass, 10.5 miles

After our “last breakfast” made up of McDonalds food, OJ, milks and the like stored overnight in a cooler, we left Horseshoe Meadows at 9:30am.

Heading Out day 1

We took the Cottonwood Pass route (vice New Army Pass) since we had a long day ahead of us and didn’t want to kill ourselves over Army Passes. At Siberian Pass trail junction, turned North to join Rock Creek trail and continued North to Lower Soldier Lake.

Morning hike at Soldier Lake

We arrived at 4:30pm to a deluge of mosquitoes . . and a thunderstorm with hail and about 1.5 hrs of decent rain. We did dinner after the storm passed. At over 10 miles with full packs, this was the longest hiked day and pretty sore.

Day2 - Lower Soldier Lake to Upper Crabtree Lake via Sky Blue, 5miles

We got on the trail again about 9am’ish. We left the trail and went up behind Lower Soldier lake an up the tarn into Mitre Basin. That is a beautiful area, just wide open with extremely scenic views all around. Continued north through the basin, parallel to Rock Creek. Made it to the southern edge of Sky Blue lake and had lunch and a good cold, foot soak.

Mitre Basin en route to Sky Blue Lake

Continued around Sky Blue towards Crabtree Pass. We got a bit sidetracked as we followed a side stream up too far northwest and hit one of the small side lakes. We realized the error and continued back northeast to the unnamed lake. The terrain is moderate, without trail and a few spots of light bouldering and a lot of rock hopping. It’s a continuous climb. We passed around Unnamed lake about 3pm and decided to continue up over Crabtree pass. There was one nice campsite at the lake, but decided to push on per our plan. We got up and over Crabtree to upper Crabtree lake and found a nice campsite at the base of some left over snow - creating some cool pics.

Camp at Upper Crabtree Lake, Crabtree Pass in background

It was a cold, clear afternoon and night. While only 5 miles, we both felt it was one of the longest 5 miles we did . . very slow moving without trail and climbing w/ packs.

Day3 - Summit, complete with Snow, back to Trail Camp

We got an earlier start and got back on foot by 8:30am to what Richins book calls “the least desirable portion of the hike” He wasn’t kidding. Headed up “the sand” for hours, attempting to cross over the pass aside Discovery pinnacle to join the main trail. Our camp was not at the water’s edge, up 1-200 ft from water level - so we started off trying to avoid going down to the bottom and back up. We tried to skirt around the perimeter of the pass, but the bouldering and terrain was larger than thought, so lost about an hour with slow moving. Book said go to bottom of lake and just plug through the sand.

The infamous "sand" face. Don't let pic fool you - it's a 1500ft climb and 0.8 miles. Took us 4 hours.

About 1/2 way up the side, the skies were darkening. It started to mist, then drizzle . .and it picked up a bit harder. The drizzle was continuing and the skies remained dark so we took some cover in a rock formation. The rain turned to hail with snow mixed in. We stayed put for about 1.5 hrs and ended up doing lunch. Fearful of getting stuck on the side, we departed out again after breaking out more clothing. The sleet/rain continued and as we neared the pass, it picked up to full blown snow. Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned on snow hiking so weren’t fully prepared with the right gear. We pushed on and finally reached the tarn about 3:30pm . . pretty damp and fairly cold. We dropped down onto the main trail and made it an actual “trail” that wife was very glad about. That was the longest 2 mile hike we’ve ever endured.

Up the sand, and in SNOW . . . yes, snow

At the trail crest, we snacked and rested and within 15-20 minutes the rain and snow stopped and the skies opened up to sun. We decided to dash up to make our summit that afternoon. Everyone else was coming down and discussing the “near white out” of snow. We finally summitted at 4:30pm and with exception of a solo overnighter, we were the last to summit that day (at least we saw no one else going up as we made it back to Trail Camp)

The Peak Sign

The summit was quick as we didn’t have a lot of time, and there was another storm to the east throwing a lot of lightening. We got back to our packs, and continued down to Trail Camp arriving at 7pm.

Signing the summit register

Day 4 - Trail Camp to Portal

After making our goals, we had an easy morning and departed Trail camp about 10:30 to return to the portal. It was uneventful, except still hearing chatter about the “snow storm” the night before from those coming up. We got in about 2:30 to our awaiting car. Didn’t have time for another burger, but got a beer, soaked the feet in the creek and headed back to San Diego that afternoon evening.

Last night at Trail Camp

It was an awesome trip!  I’d do the region again, a different route.

Notes & Lessons learned
• The hikes and ups and climbs are always longer and more difficult than expected.
• Wish we spent more time on the summit - but due to time and weather, we rushed it. I have only my pictures to remind most of the memory.
• Time to reduce some load/weight. Throughout the trip, we identified many areas where we can shed a few pounds.
• Use those new unused pounds in some heavier weather gear, primarily waterproof jackets - not just fleece.
• Amazed at the construction of the Main Trail.

All of the pics are on my photo site

Tags: backpacking, hike, mt. whitney

I went to the doctor’s last week to get my regular checkup.  Things are progressing very nicely, in fact:

• Started P.T. 3 weeks earlier than normal due to my health and age (young)
• Gave me the go-ahead to start running again - nice!
• Got the approval to move forward on my Peru trip in January. 

There's a screw in my neck.

Took another xray however, which is just cool!  Looks nothing more than a few Home Depot wood screws and a little plate.   Unfortunately for our U.S. Healthcare system, these little screws and plate are costing a bit more than $30k . . . according to my latest insurance statement.

Tags: neck, screws, spinal cord

Things are going well with my recovery.  I had a doctor’s appointment earlier in the week (Thanks Elise for driving me) and the prognosis is good.  I’m allowed to take the brace off on occassions, mostly when i’m just laying low at home.  Things are still very tight and a bit sore, but i’m also aloud to move around some, to about 30-40% range of motion.  Turning side to side is good, but leaning left/right is rough.  Guess those titanium plates got things a bit restricted for now

 Picture to left is me and my sweet brace, while setting up for a wedding.  I’m off to watch football games, day off = good!

Since it appears that I’m posting to my blog a bit more frequently, i’ve decided to update the theme.  I work on computers and the internet and designing websites and funky stuff like that almost all day long.  Don’t forget to check the good stuff www.promotiondesign.com

Things have been going very well on the recovery standpoint.  I had a very relaxing week, partially cuz i can’t do anything - can’t drive, can’t workout, can’t run a marathon, can’t lift anything over 5-10lbs.

On about Thursday, i really started feeling better and looking forward to getting back to biz . . . literally and figuratively!   While still very limited, I’m seeing the doctor on Tuesday and will get an update then as to the future and what I’ll be aloud to do and not do.

Thanks again to everyone who’s been here - friends, family and especially Linnea

A few weeks ago, I started feeling a bit “off” including tingling/numbness in my fingers/hands (started in my left, but went to both hands.)� After trying to go on a run/jog a few weeks ago, realized I couldn’t do that very well either.� Some other weird stuff started going on -� typing is a bit difficult, and I’m very “wobbly” in the lower half.� I can’t walk on my toes or heels with any coordination (as found by one of the doctors - I didn�t find that one myself)

One thing went to another and I spent 6.5 hrs in the emergency room last Sunday (1+ week ago) and got an MRI done of my neck/back.� Turns out that I have a badly degenerated vertebrate around C3-4, narrowing of my spinal column along with�a herniated disc that is compressing my spinal cord (this is probably causing the issues in my legs.)� The exiting nerves at C4 are also compressed, causing the numbness in my hands.� There is also some signs of some damage to the spinal cord itself (but that won’t be known more until later on.)�

I saw a few doctors throughout the week and ended on Friday by seeing a Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in Spinal Cord stuff.��After about 10 minutes and more exams, he simply said “Surgery”� . . . to open up / clean out the spinal column that the cord goes through to get the pressure off.� He’ll also remove the disc, and fuse the vertebrate together, throw in a few plates and screws, etc.� He’s not sure about long term effects as his first concern is to get the pressure off the spinal cord.

I’ll be out of commission for at least 2 weeks, and then slowly getting back to things over a few weeks.� I’ll be home from hospital by Thursday.� Will be limited for a few months.� Future outcome is positive (though there has been some pressure on the spinal cord for some time that is unsure if anything permanent / lasting will result)� More to come after recovery.

UPDATE: 9/18/08

Got home late Wednesday night (9/17/08)�my recovery was pretty well, so they kicked my out after the one night stay.� I think the fact that I was texting later that night, and my Mom flipped when I called her that afternoon, lent some indication.� By 2pm Wednesday, I was doing laps around the hospital with my PT guy.� I finally had my first liquids (including water) at 3pm and was out by 5pm.� Slept well last night, finally.� Ate a full feast of Lasagna at 10pm, slept some more (before my ice cream)�just laying low at home here.

Surgery went well.� I met with Doc Wednesday before i was discharged.� I guess it was pretty bad in the one area where the disc was herniated - some ligament damage too around the spine/disc.� He was confident that some sort of injury started it all, but also said it could have been from 10-15-20 yrs ago - back in High School football, wrestling or college hammer-throwing days.� I surely haven’t been a loaf my life either, so just years of abuse likely had it simmering away in there all along (If I had an MRI years ago, it would have likely appeared back then.)� I’m still tingly in the hands/fingers, but hard to tell if it’s better, nor if the lower leg stuff is still around - haven’t been up and about enough and still a bit out of whack and on meds.

The most pain so far - the nurse taking the IV tape off my wrist - I think that crap was laced with super glue.� I felt like the 40yr old virgin scene.� And my throat today - between the intubation tube, and also them having to shove aside some throat stuff to get to the back of my neck probably has some things tweaked up.� The Starbucks doesn’t go down so smooth :(� I was pretty uncomfortable this morning after the drugs wore off, but got that fixed back up with a dose

In that funky brace you see when I’m out of bed, but I can take it off occasionally.� Just have to keep my neck immobilized which is pretty easy.� The last pic shows the area of the neck they went in.� They used internal, dissolvable stitches that will disappear after a few days.� I’ve got lots of help from friends and colleagues for some scheduled weddings, and I’ll be slowly getting back to work after a definite few days off, mostly from home for now.� Can’t drive for 2 weeks, but can connect remotely on the computer for email and some slight work, etc.

See The Pictures HERE

Friday and Saturday were pretty rough - not sure if the hospital meds finally wore off or if it was just the climax of the whole recovery.

UPDATE: 9/21/08

Lots of meds and lots of rest have been in store for me . . . .

I’ve been resting up as much as possible over the weekend.� I had a wedding and a lighting gig on Saturday night that i had alot of help for.� Linnea, Robert, Danny and a DJ assistant Brett Neiman�- all were a part of getting me through Saturday.� Sunday was spent sleeping, watching footbal and nascar, and sleeping some more.� I’m still in the brace when i’m out of bed, but otherwise doing okay.� The pain is much less right now, but still have to take meds as when those wear out, the pain is pretty hefty!� I can’t drive, so at home relaxing� . . .which is hard to do

Linnea has been my rock through all of this - between taking some time off of work, to buying me anti-constipation meds at the grocery (one of the side effects of the pain meds ), to driving my cranky ass around town for me - she’s been here since day one and I take this opportunity to thank her!� So, Lenny . . . Thank You

Lenny is out of town with family, so I’m home alone.  Since we won’t be doing our annual Yosemite trip, i’ve still got the itch to do a hike.  It’s been a few years since i’ve done a Solo overnight, so I planned out a decent one to the local Mt San Jacinto peak/wilderness.

After reviewing options, i elected to do the Devil’s Slide Trail leaving Humber Park to the summit, planning to stay at Round Valley, summit the next day and then come back down. I arrived late on Thursday afternoon in Idylwild, got my permits (Ranger said only 1 other group of 3 out there - nice weekday trek ) and headed out . . . though to a very late start (had to hit REI on way up, due to missing hiking poles and some other small gear) - Late = good for the weather (it was still sunny/hot even at 4pm) but BAD for thinking i could make the 6.1 miles before dark. (Yea . . right.)

The first portion of Devil’s slide trail is pretty strenuous (Humber Park to Saddle Jct.), especially with a pretty full pack (I came with mostly my duo stuff since i don’t have alot of solo stuff . . . yet - tent, cook stuffs, etc. . . (guess what’s on my xmas list this year?)) In fact, it wasn’t until i got up to the top of the first trail that i realized that it was probably similar to Marion.

Later calculations proved right - according to my maps, Marion is 2.8 miles at 1840 ft climb, for a elevation of 657 ft/mile. THe first part of Devil’s slide trail is 2.5 miles to 1620 ft or 648 ft/mile. So, the first 2.5-3 miles are pretty close. I think there is only one (1) short trek (maybe 100 yds) of level or descent - everything else is UP! Made me then wonder where the name “Devil’s Slide Trail” came from.

Due to the slow pace, and lack of daylight I stopped at the Strawberry Trail Junction at 9000 ft. Just east of the junction, behind some large rock/tree, is a great open ridge that overlooks Palm Springs, along with a few camp sites. No water, but the spot was great.

I stayed there for the night. Was worried about water as there is none nearby, and i wasn’t sure if Wellman was still running, so i conserved a bit for the night/breakfast. I started with 3L and left the next morning (after the hike, dinner and breakfast) with about 18oz. I figured if i didn’t find any at Wellman, i’d just cut things short and get back down. But, I had a warm dinner and hot coffee the next mornig thanks to my new JetBoil personal cook system - that thing ROCKS!

The night was cool, as it was just 1 day from the full moon. There was even some sprinkles on a few occassions. Morning came and had breakfast, and packed up. Was a beautiful sunrise.

I packed a day pack for the continuation to the summitt, and left my main pack stashed in the area. Wellman ‘was’ still running, so I refilled my 3L worth and was relieved. Made it to the peak about 11am and weather was gorgeous. Had lunch and returned, came back down, got my pack and finished back down.

It was when i put my pack back on that I SWORE for new, lighter gear for future solo trips . . it seemed double what I started with I actaully swore myself when lifting that thing back on. Overall, a great trip and i plan to return to SJP someday soon, via other trails too.

I’m an engineer by education, and the majority of my “career” to date.  I’ve gotten off that corporate ladder to take a trip on the solo path for a bit.  I’m sure i’ll get back on some day, but something definitely different than my past . . .

 (I’m in that picture if you wanna play were’s waldo)

Because right now, i don’t care to be part of setting World Records by having the “Largest Pizza” ordered and delivered to a Shipyard.  I first saw it this morning on 6am news . . they were already interviewing some of the 100+ Papa John’s employees getting ready for the 11:30 Lunch Whistle.  Hope you at least enjoyed a pie!

Have a Pizza - Set a Record!

Boy, I miss that Whistle.

=================== UPDATE 6/11/06

My friend, Andy works at General Dynamics across to the East Coast.  He sent this article taken from Papa John’s themselves.  It’s actually a kool feat . . . still doesn’t make me want to return

Papa John’s Delivers a Record 13,500 Pizzas to San Diego’s NASSCO Shipyard; Application to Be Submitted to Guinness World Records for Official Authentication as “World’s Largest Pizza Order”

SAN DIEGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–June 8, 2006–Utilizing military-like precision, Papa John’s broke the world record for the largest pizza order and delivery today in San Diego. Papa John’s delivered 13,500 pizzas promptly at 11 a.m., June 8 at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard.

More than 6,000 NASSCO employees, subcontractors and Navy sailors at the shipyard were on hand to accept the pizza delivery from Papa John’s, a reward for completing construction of the Navy’s newest dry cargo/ammunition ship, the USNS Lewis and Clark. The crew has spent the last 2 1/2 years building the auxiliary ship, which measures 689 feet long, 106 feet wide, travels up to 20 knots and has a displacement of 41,000 metric tons.

The current Guinness World Record for “World’s Largest Pizza Order” was set in August 1998 with an order placed by the VF Corporation of Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.A. for 13,386 pizzas at 180 locations across the United States.

Not only did the 13,500-pizza order from NASSCO exceed the current “World’s Largest Pizza Order,” but all of today’s Papa John’s pizzas were delivered to a single location, with a single delivery time. Papa John’s plans to submit an application - supplemented with photographs, video, and independent witness statements - to Guinness World Records for official authentication as the new record holder.

“Our staff eagerly stepped up to the challenge to complete this order in the tight timeframe provided by the military, ” says Maggie Scivicque, director of sales and marketing in San Diego. “What excites us the most is that NASSCO received bids from all the large pizza chains and picked Papa John’s because of their confidence level in our team to handle the order, as well as the quality pizza their employees would love.”

The NASSCO employees enjoyed custom 6-inch Papa’s Perfect Pan pizzas, created by Papa John’s specifically for this occasion. To meet the 11 a.m. delivery time, Papa John’s utilized the resources of 15 San Diego area restaurants beginning at 6 a.m. with each making approximately 56 pizzas per minute throughout the morning. That’s nearly one pizza per second!

A ship like the USNS Lewis and Clark has never before been seen on water, and a pizza delivery like this has never been recorded, according to Guinness World Records. Putting this massive pizza delivery in perspective, consider that:

• Lined up end-to-end, the 13,500 six-inch pizzas would span almost 10 times the length of the USNS Lewis and Clark.
• The 2,725 pounds of cheese is more than the combined weight of the offensive and defensive lines of the San Diego Chargers football team.
• The 36,000 slices of pepperoni, if stacked, would stand 23 times as tall as the USNS Lewis and Clark.

“It’s very hard work building a ship, let alone a first of its kind,” says Karl Johnson, spokesperson for NASSCO. “The ship returned from its final sea trials on Wednesday, and to recognize all of the millions of hours our team put into building this new ship, we thought it would be a popular decision to feed them all a lot of pizza. You can bet there will be folks out there who will eat theirs, mine, and look for another!”

More than 100 Papa John’s team members were needed to prepare the 13,500 sausage, pepperoni, and cheese pizzas. At 10:30 a.m., 20 specialty vans equipped with heaters and filled with Papa John’s pizzas converged at NASSCO to create a caravan - led by red, white, and blue Jeep Liberty vehicles - into the Shipyard.

Once there, the vans split into two teams and entered the shipyard from two different gates to deliver the pizzas in one-half hour, the maximum amount of time the vans were allowed into the shipyard, according to military security.

NASSCO is the largest manufacturing employer in San Diego. Additional information on NASSCO can be found at www.nassco.com.

Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John’s (NASDAQ:PZZA) is the world’s third largest pizza company. For seven years running, consumers have rated Papa John’s No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national QSR chains in the highly regarded American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John’s at www.papajohns.com.

Lenny and I took a little day hike, both in preparation for our big Yosemite trip in August, and to get out on the Memorial Day weekend.   Lenny blew right up the 3.5 mile, 2500′ climb.  My fat ass wasn’t so rabbit like.  Felt like I hadn’t walked/hiked/run more than 2 miles in 3 months.  Oh wait, I haven’t walked/hiked/run more than 2 miles in 3 months….. Damn calf injury.

See all of the Mt Woodson Hike pictures.

Lenny and I are planning a little backpacking trip to Yosemite this summer.  If you call a 30 mile hike over 4 days fun, that’s us :)  Here’s tentative schedule!