On The Fly

“We’ve planned a 50 mile wilderness hike over six days in the Sierra’s every year for the past 30 years,” said the lean stranger with a warm smiling expression and a fully loaded backpack over his shoulders. "You guys inspire me to keep climbing! May I ask, how old you are?” “Sure, I’m 78. . . ” Unbelievable , I thought to myself, pausing to reflect, at how physically demanding the past few days of climbing switchbacks, scaling boulders, squatting lakeside to filter water, and simply doing the daily chores it takes to wilderness backpack in the Eastern Sierra’s. “How in the world do they carry enough food for six days, their packs look smaller than ours? We must be doing something wrong.” I commented to my companions. My muscles were strong, breathing easy, but for some reason I had been physically exhausted this trip. I suspect it all started with a beer! It was day three of our 2016 Sierra adventure. Finally accumulated to the elevation of over 11,000 ...