Lenora got me back to Hwy 50 and I started out the next hiking section at about 9 am. After about a mile got to Echo Lake and read a sign that said that hiking was not allowed between Hwy 50 and the start of Desolation Wilderness. Don’t know about you, but I did like the sound of Desolation Wilderness and I was wondering if the guy that named the wilderness was an optimist or a pessimist. Turns out he was either both or neither as the wilderness has sections that are just beautiful forested land like you would expect around Lake Tahoe but also areas that would take a million years of positive improvement in order to reach the level of desolation. At this point the PCT and the Tahoe Rim Trail are the same and I really expected to see numerous gorgeous views of Lake Tahoe. Such was not the case. Seems I am on the wrong side of the mountains to actually see Lake Tahoe. Here are a few pictures around Echo Lake.

Going past Echo Lake and his lake friends you end up in the desolate part of the Desolation Wilderness. Within this is Lake Aloha and here are a couple pictures of this area. It was at this time that I said to myself, this is not at all the scenery I was expecting when walking past Lake Tahoe. However once past this area it does turn into more of a forest walk and what I was expecting but for awhile I was thinking I was the victim of some cruel joke.

Here are some more pictures of Lakes that I passed today. Just a great day of hiking. Easy and beautiful (for the most part).

I have mentioned or taken pictures of signs that indicated me entering or leaving a wilderness area and/or a national forest and I have wondered from time to time if there was a relationship between the two. Turns out there is no direct relationship. A wilderness can be part of a national forest or parts of multiple national forests. For example the Ansel Williams Wilderness is in both the Inyo National Forest and the Sierra National Forest and it is possible for a wilderness to not be within a national forest at all. A wilderness has a higher level of protection that a national forest. Here are some facts about a wilderness

The United States was the first country in the world to define and designate wilderness areas through law. Subsequently, countries around the world have protected areas modeled after the Wilderness Act. In 1964 our nation’s leaders formally acknowledged the immediate and lasting benefits of wild places to the human spirit and fabric of our nation. That year, in a nearly unanimous vote, Congress enacted landmark legislation that permanently protected some of the most natural and undisturbed places in America. The Wilderness Act is one of the most successful U.S. environmental laws, standing for almost 50 years without a substantial amendment, and, as such, continues to be the guiding piece of legislation for all wilderness areas. The Act describes wilderness as follows:

“…lands designated for preservation and protection in their natural condition…” Section 2(a)

“…an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man…” Section 2(c)

“…an area of undeveloped Federal land retaining its primeval character and influence, without permanent improvement or human habitation…” Section 2(c)

“…generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man’s work substantially unnoticeable…” Section 2(c)

“…has outstanding opportunities for solitude or a primitive and unconfined type of recreation…” Section 2(c)

“…shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreation, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation and historic use.” Section 4(b)

Here is some information about Desolation Wilderness….

The Desolation Wilderness, encompassing 63,475 acres of rugged alpine terrain, is a spectacular area of subalpine and alpine forests, jagged granitic peaks, and glacially formed valleys and lake basins. Here on both sides of the Sierra Nevada, averaging 12.5 miles in length and 8 miles in width, you’ll find elevations ranging from about 6,500 feet to almost 10,000 feet. Mostly lacking in dense vegetation, Desolation is a glacially smoothed expanse west of Lake Tahoe. You’ll discover numerous streams and approximately 130 lakes, some reaching 900 acres in size. Snow often blocks the high passes until mid-July. Long recognized for its mountain splendor, Desolation Valley Primitive Area was established in 1931 and then granted Wilderness status in 1969.
The Pacific Crest Trail traverses about 17 miles of the Wilderness north-south, and at one point crosses Dicks Pass (9,380 feet), the highest pass between here and Canada. 13 named trailheads open onto miles of well-maintained and well-trampled pathways. The trailheads at Wrights, Echo, Eagle Falls, and Fallen Leaf receive the heaviest use. The northwest portion of the area is less frequented and requires some map-reading or GPS skills to explore. Because of its beauty and accessibility, and close proximity to major metropolitan areas, the Desolation is one of the most visited wildernesses for its size in the country.

And here some information about a National Forest

National Forest is a classification of federal lands in the United States. National Forests are largely forest and woodland areas owned collectively by the American people through the federal government and managed by the United States Forest Service, part of the United States Department of Agriculture. Land management of these areas focuses on conservation, timber harvesting, livestock grazing, watershed protection, wildlife, and recreation. Unlike national parks and other federal lands managed by the National Park Service, extraction of natural resources from national forests is permitted, and in many cases encouraged. National Forests are categorized by the US as IUCN Category VI protected areas (Managed Resource Protected Area). The National Forest System was created by the Land Revision Act of 1891, which was signed under the presidency of Benjamin Harrison. It was the result of concerted action by Los Angeles-area businessmen and property owners who were concerned by the harm being done to the watershed of the San Gabriel Mountains by ranchers and miners. Abbot Kinney and forester Theodore Lukens were key spokesmen for the effort.
There are conflicts between timber companies and environmentalists over the use of National Forest land. These conflicts center on endangered species protection, logging of old-growth forests, intensive logging, undervalued stumpage fees, mining laws and road-building in National Forests. Additional conflicts arise from concerns that the grasslands, shrublands, and forest understory are grazed by sheep, cattle, and, more recently, rising numbers of elk. In the United States there are 155 National Forests containing almost 190 million acres (297,000 mi²/769 000 km²) of land. These lands comprise 8.5 percent of the total land area of the United States, an area about the size of Texas. Some 87 percent of National Forest land lies west of the Mississippi River; Alaska alone accounts for 12 percent of all National Forest land. There are two distinctly different types of National Forests. Those east of the Great Plains are primarily re-acquired or replanted forests; that is, the land had long been in the private domain but was purchased by the United States government in order to create new National Forests. In these cases, the areas of National Forest noted on most maps do not actually represent the extent of the National Forest, but only the extent of the authorized purchase zone. The actual amount of land acquired in most cases is much smaller. Those national forests west of the Great Plains are originally-owned forests. These are mostly lands reserved in the public domain by the U.S. government, and with the exception of inholdings and donated land, were never in private hands. In these cases, the areas of National Forests noted on maps are generally the true areas of the forest. Many ski resorts operate in National Forests, such as the Loup Loup Ski Bowl within the Okanogan National Forest. The Forest Service also administers National Grasslands.

The day is going to start out with about a 2 mile walk in a meadow and so I get up early in the morning and start hiking at about 5 in the morning. The trail is soft and flat and with the head lamp is easy hiking. Cross a good sized stream and load up with all the water I am going to need to the short 11 mile day. Here are some day break pictures

Out of the meadow there is an easy but continuous ascend to the mountains around Tahoe. Along the way the PCT joins the Tahoe Rim Trail. After a couple miles I reach Showers Lake. Would have been nice to get here last night for camping but it was a bit too far.

My first glimpse of Lake Tahoe. However at this point the trail starts to get nasty. Steep and rocky and my feet start to remember what it was like on the John Muir Trail. By the time I get down from the mountain to Hwy 50 where Lenora picks me up I am beat. If Lenora was not picking me up, I would have gone on to Echo Lake just 1 mile away and that would have been the end of my day. Coming down the steep slope wore me out big time.

It has been a good return to the trail. I am looking forward to the weekend with Lenora and then the next section of the trail to Sierra City. A good part of this hike is around Lake Tahoe and it is suppose to be amazing.

Must be getting back into the swing of things as I slept good last night. Wake up to another beautiful crisp morning. The weather has just been perfect. I come out of the forest pretty quickly and start hiking right against the side of cliffs. Here is a nice view:

Pretty early in the morning I see another clear track of a Mountain Lion. Here it is

Pretty soon however I head up on those cliffs and have great views of lakes and trees below while walking along the barren ridge line. This section has no water and I’m wondering why they did not take us down at least once to the edge of a lake to pick some up. This late in the year some of the creeks that have water earlier are dry now and that is what happened. I was low on water but the applications reported a reliable water source just ahead. When I got there, the creek was dry and ahead I could see the trail out in the open. I figured I really needed water before continuing. The creek where the PCT crossed was dry but I could tell from the vegetation that water had been there fairly recently. I took off my pack and sat down and just watched and before long I could see a section of the vegetation where birds were coming and going regularly. I went down to that point and bingo there was a nice big pool of cold water. I thanked the birds, loaded up with water, and continued on.

Towards late afternoon I make it Carson Pass at Hwy 88. There is a visitor center here and an outhouse. Both of these are equally nice. A visitor center normally has cool stuff like bottled water and junk food which are always welcome. The outhouse just represents a chance to go to the bathroom in a normal way without having to look around and make sure nobody is going to have to watch you take care of business….. Anyway the staff at the visitor center was super nice. They GAVE me two cokes to drink, some potato chips, and one guy went out to his car and brought me a turkey sandwich with pickles!! He said he made two for himself this morning but only ate one. I hung out at the visitor center and talked with the staff about my adventures for an hour or so and then moved on another 2 miles and found a camping spot by a small creek. Only have about 12 miles to go to get to South Lake Tahoe and so expect an easy day tomorrow.

Another night of mainly rest and not much sleep. I’m feeling good so not worried about the lack of sleep as I have plenty of energy and do not believe I will dose off while on a cliff and fall down a mountain. So nothing to worry about. I do have a Kindle with me now and I am ready the Book of Psalms at night. Perhaps that is what is keeping me awake because King David just cracks me up. I chuckle each time King David tells the Lord that he won’t be able to praise His name very well from the grave and so the Lord really ought to save him from his enemies.

Its a beautiful morning and here are some pictures from around my campsite.

Not many lakes that the trail goes close to on this section but here is one of them, Small Sherrold Lake

Pretty rapid change of habitat on this section. From woods, to barren crests, to lush meadows, and some not so lush sagebrush meadows.

Towards end of the day I enter the Mokelumne Wilderness. From a Mokelumne web site I borrowed this: “The Mokelumne Wilderness is a rugged landscape of great scenic beauty. Much of the area is dominated by volcanic ridges and peaks. The prominent feature is disputably the rugged Mokelumne River Canyon. There are many smaller streams flowing through deep granitic canyons but only a few lakes concentrated in the northern portion of this spectacular area.” I’m going to agree.

I get to Lily Pad Lake and am going to camp when I notice some Mountain Lion tracks at the end of the lake. So, I decide to just load up with water and hike another half mile or so. When I see a flat spot in the forest floor I stop and set up camp. Eat a lot of food, prepare snacks to tomorrow and go to sleep.

Psalm 33:12a Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord

In God We Trust

The hardest part for me after being off the trail for awhile is getting to sleep. Last night was no different. I got a lot of rest and it was a pleasant night but sleep was not a big part of it. Rest is what is needed anyway and sleep will come when it is needed. Here are some pictures from the start of the day and I head towards Wolf Creek Pass

In the middle of the afternoon I get to Wolf Creek Pass and this picture shows the view from there

But it is not far from here that the trail decides to take me along the barren ridges rather than down by the trees and lakes. I hate it when the trail does that

But even at these times you will sometimes run across something that takes your breath away. Perhaps that is easy for me but when I came across the Bristle Cone Pine shown below I just had to stop and sit in its shade for awhile.

Towards the end of the day, I met “The Count”. The group that he started with took on a medieval theme and he became “The Count”. He was the only one still going on the California Yoyo, hiking from Warner Springs to the top of California and then turning around and going back. He was on his way back. Why Warner Springs I asked? That is where he lives. Makes sense.

I thought I would do more miles today but it was not to be. Once I get tired, I get so slow that it just does not make sense to continue. So I set up camp and proceed to eat a lot of food and get ready for the next day. I decide to prepare all my snacks for the next day. Turns out to be a good decision and one I will continue.

A month off the trail, so as I get ready to renew the journey I have a lot of apprehension. The section of the trail that I did last was the hardest I had done. Partially probably because it was indeed hard but also because my health was a bit of a worry and there was some pressure to get it completed and make it to Sonoma pass to begin the trip back to see the doctor. But the apprehension faded quickly as a started the hike away from Sonoma Pass and towards South Lake Tahoe. After taking 30 days off I was pretty sure I was not going to see any PCT hikers. Everyone that I knew was way ahead of me in Oregon by now. That turned out to be true. I did not see any north bound PCT hikers all the way to South Lake Tahoe. However, I did see 3 south bound PCT hikers and a couple of hikers that were doing the section of the PCT from Interstate 80 to south Kennedy Meadows. Had to laugh because nobody really wants to do the 700 miles between Kennedy Meadows and the Mexican border. The desert scares everyone!! Today I did see 4 couples that were doing the very popular South Lake Tahoe to Tuolumne Meadows sections. Not sure why this section is so popular but perhaps simply because the start and the end point are both easy to get to and its a leisurely 2 week hike.

It did not take me long to realize I had lost my trail legs and any other trail body part that I had acquired. After about 4 hours my lower back was screaming at me and I had to stop often to give it a rest. After awhile my brain kicked in however and I asked myself why my lower back never hurt before even at the beginning. HUM… maybe something was not right. Turns out I did not have the backpack adjusted correctly and the weight was not resting on my hips as it should. Rather, the pack was too far away from my back and was slanted and pushing into my lower back. After adjusting the straps so that the pack was angled properly and tight to my back then the lower back pain went away. However, a couple hours after that my hips were aching, tired, and weak, and so I knew everything was as it should be :). That issue would resolve itself by the next day as my legs and hips got back into trail shape.

It was a fairly hot day and so just after noon I stopped to add some electrolyte tablets to my water bottle. I added the two tablets into the bottle, sealed it up, and proceeded to eat a snack. After about 5 minutes I started to feel these little drops of water falling on my head. Rain??? How could it be raining?? I looked up and not a cloud in the sky. Then I realized the tablets dissolving in the water bottle caused enough pressure that the water was being forced out of the drinking tube. I had created a water fountain that was showering me with water. I find a lot to laugh about on the trail and it is generally something stupid I have done. Now everything was really back to normal.

Went to cardiologist on Monday and of course he wanted to run more tests. The primary test needed was another stress test with an echocardiogram both before the stress and after the stress to try and isolate the disturbing images from the hospital. When he first said this on Monday he indicated is generally took 2 weeks to schedule the test and my heart fell. Then he realized I probably wanted to get back on the trail and so he said he would see what he could do. Turns out what he could do was pretty amazing as he managed to get me a slot in the schedule the very next day. So I went in on Tuesday and they did the echocardiogram and then had me get on the tread mill. 13 minutes later after ramping up the tread mill my heart rate was at 160 and he had me get off and they did the echocardiogram again. So, as it turns out they were NOT able to see the issues that were present in the hospital. The reason for that was not really explained other than 1 comment about how the quality of the images were better on his machine than they were on the hospital machine. At any rate, although there are more tests that need to be run, I have been told that I can continue on the trail. The further tests that are necessary to get a complete picture and complete satisfaction can be run when I am finished with the trail for this year and so I am scheduled to go back in November.

So I am free to go back and that is what we are going to do. Will travel back to Sonora Pass on Sunday and will start hiking again on Monday. YAY!!

I was complimented on my stress test results as he indicated that high school athletes have not faired as well. So that gives me great confidence.

I keep on meaning to mention that I have a new opportunity for you to feel good. A couple that I have been hiking with are hiking for a good cause and they are trying to raise a modest amount of money. The web site to check out is: Us and it hikes. Once you are there click on “The Cause” and you can read about their passion. I was personally moved because they are trying to raise money to help troubled kids. If you like the cause you can click on “Donate” and then again on the Donate in the middle of the page. You should be taken the the Project Canoe donation site. Please make sure you choose “Us and It Pacific Crest Tail Hike” as the fund for your donation. In case you do not notice this is a Canadian charity and the dollars you donate are Canadian dollars.

Since the Doctor could not get the results from the hospital, Lenora and I decided to take things into our own hands and went up to the hospital and got the results ourselves and then took them to the Doctor. Then he called me back and said that he already had all those results so I was just very confused. While on Friday he either wanted results from the Hospital OR I would go see a cardiologist by Monday when he called back he had decided for sure he wanted me to go see a cardiologist and so we got an appointment to see one the next Monday (August 17th). I asked him what had changed IF he already had all those results and he just indicted that I had been discharged from the hospital before anyone had reviewed the echocardiogram and he would be more comfortable if I saw the specialist before I went back into the wilderness far away from help. OK…. just very frustrating and we just seem to have 1 week delay after another. So, I will post the results after seeing the cardiologist and hopefully it will be good news and I will be on the trail.

Seeing all the results from the hospital was very interesting and disturbing. The diagnosis points that they used were

1. Obesity
2. Smoker
3. Chest pains
4. Shortness of breath
5. High blood pressure

Basically they got it all wrong except for number 5. I am NOT obese, I am not a smoker, I did not have chest pains, and I do not have shortness of breath unless I am climbing a 12000+ mountain!! Yes, I did smoke lightly for 2 years 45 years ago. Yes I have had chest pains rarely that I told them was probably heart burn. Yes, I do have shortness for breath when climbing a steep incline on a mountain! So they took everything out of context.

But the most egregious error that was made, and the one that has me very angry is this:

General: well-appearing, well-nourished, no acute distress, pleasant
At some other point they said I was alert.

I have never in my life been accused of being pleasant or alert!!!! I am sure that I can find many people that will vouch for me on this and will probably appeal.

More when I know more…

I was hoping to be on the trail today. However, my Doctor called me on Friday and changed his advise and indicated I should not go back on trail until the ambiguous results from the Hospital can be explained. Frustrating, as he seems unable to get the results from the Hospital and the Doctor with the ambiguous statements is out of the country and out of touch. So I wait…..

When we got home and listened to our messages on the home phone we had one from the “old” doctor indicating that we needed to go for a blood test and schedule a physical. So this just confirmed my decision to change doctors. I don’t think the staff for the doctor has any idea what they are doing and I’m sure the doctor has no idea what the staff is doing to her practice.

So we go to Doctor Delgado and explain what is going on. My blood pressure is out of control. It goes from very high to very low (it was low, very low, at the end of the last hiking section). There is no chest pain but I am out of breath very quickly when climbing hills. I have hiked 1000 miles and my stamina has not increased in that amount of time and in fact seems to have decreased. I do have chest pains from time to time but I believe that is heart burn and a simple glass of water seems to cure that and I have no pain on the trail. In general, my blood pressure is out of control and I just feel like something is wrong. After the general type of things that happen with a physical and finding nothing wrong they give me an EKG. Lenora and I are just talking while this is going on and the technician says “hum……”, I think I will do that again, please relax and no talking. She runs the EKG again, has a frown on her face, and indicates Dr. Delgado will be back with us soon. Obviously not good. Dr. Delgado does return in about 5 minutes and indicates the EKG is not normal and he tells me to go directly to the emergency room. I kind of hesitate and repeat his instructions with a question… You want me to go directly to the emergency room? Yes he says. By the way, my blood pressure at the Doctors was within normal range.

Lenora and I go out and get in the car and go directly to the Emergency room. Dr. Delgado has called ahead to let the emergency room know what it is all about. The emergency room is a mad house, and it is a really busy day for them. Even so, it does not take long for them to call my name and the nurse gives me another EKG to verify the results. The results are verified… I have an abnormal EKG. Apparently there are a lot of reasons for an abnormal EKG and so this is not necessarily a big red flag that gets your priority raised. I am sent back to the emergency waiting room with the following message “We are really busy today and the person waiting the longest out there has been here for over 6 hours. We are really sorry but you can expect it to take that long”. It is what it is. I have nothing to do anyway. I am calm and really have no anxiety at all. Whatever it is will be taken care of eventually and both the Doctor and the emergency nurse said the EKG, although abnormal, indicated I was in no immediate danger. While I was waiting, my blood pressure was taken about 4 times and each time it was taken the numbers were going up. It was as if I was under stress but I really was not. During the next 4 hours I also had my blood drawn for the express purpose of checking for enzymes to see if I had already had a cardiac event. Every time my blood pressure was taken or anything else was done I was asked how severe my chest pain was. Each time, I responded that I did not have chest pain and that my pain level was 0. There was no pain. I eventually, after about only 5 hours, was taken back to a room and hooked up to machines to monitor my heart rate, oxygen level, and blood pressure. Each time the blood pressure was taken, the numbers generally increased but also times when the numbers where normal and sometimes when they were low normal only to go higher. Simply out of control. They decided to admit me to the hospital so that they could run more tests. The only problem was that they were so busy there was no room at the inn. The cardiac unit had no free rooms. So they upgraded my bed to a regular hospital bed and I stayed in the emergency unit. By the time this decision was made it was about 1 am and this started about 3 pm. Lenora finally goes home to take care of the cats and to get some sleep. The first thing they do is give me a chest xray and indicate it is the cheapest and easiest diagnostic tool. I sleep pretty good at the hospital given that they are taking blood every couple hours to check that there has been no change and to do a full blood analysis. In the morning I have a stress test. The stress test they are given me has 3 parts. A 14 minute scan of my heart where I have to remain perfectly still. This may be difficult for some people but remaining perfectly still for 14 minutes is totally in my wheel house. After the image they give you a stress test. I figured a tread mill but they were going to give me a chemical stress test. Why not the tread mill I asked. Because we don’t want to increase your chest pain and we did not think you could handle it they say. I repeated that I have no pain in my chest and that I just finished 1000 miles on the PCT and I think I can handle the tread mill. Great they say because that is how we prefer to do it. Once you reach your target heart rate on the tread mill they give you a shot of something that is suppose to enlarge your heart a bit and then they do another scan of the heart. Using this information they can tell if there are any restrictions or blockages. I fully expected that a blockage would be found as that made sense to me. The treadmill experience was rather funny because the doctor that needed to give me the shot came in at the start. After watching me for awhile he dryly said that we were going to be here for awhile because my heart rate was not going up. The tread mill keep increasing in speed and elevation until it reached about 12 percent and I had to run to keep up with it. Once I started to run it did not take long to reach the 132 target heart rate. The shot was given, the second scan was done. There were no problems found. They did one final test which was a echocardiogram. This is an ultrasound of the heart where they observe its operation and take all sorts of measurements and pictures of the the heart at work. This was fascinating to watch. A cardiac doctor talked to Lenora and I and indicted nothing was wrong with my heart and that my blood work looked good. They were going to discharge me and send all the results to my Doctor and I should schedule another appointment with him. We had already scheduled a follow up with the Doctor for next Monday. The cardiac Doctor also said I should hike slower, rest more during the hike, and eat more to slow down the weight loss. This whole process took 23 hours and I was back home. So the EKG was a false alarm and could have been caused by the high blood pressure and weight loss that occurred too quickly OR I may normally have an abnormal EKG. Never having had one before there was no way of knowing

So my blood pressure is still really out of control with wild fluctuations and I still feel that something is wrong. We will see what happens when I see the Doctor again on Monday and he has had a chance to review all the results from the hospital. It will be up to him when I return to the trail.