Life of Wry

My watch tracked our hike today thusly:

From car to peak (ish):
3.58 miles
1731′ of gain
2:47 (a few trail-finding booboos, stops to snap pics, catch breath, etc)

From peak to car:
3.22 miles (I started it late and we made no booboos on the way down)
all down hill mostly
1:32

All Trails says it’s a 5.4 mile hike, roundtrip, and 1747′ of gain (from 7300ish to 9100ish). I’m confident in our mileage, so maybe they start the counting further up the trail (but a mile and a half??).

So.. a good day. I’m prouda us.

About 2/3 of a mile in, we got a good view of the peak (a ridge with 3 distinct turrets). I’m pointing to the highest of the three. That is our destination. We got to its base. Jim scrambled up about 50 feet or so then determined getting to the tippy top was too exposed and not a smart risk. Smart man. We ran into a young woman (trail runner, hiker, rock climber, obviously in great shape, who also forwent the peak for the same reasons).

At a junction (1.7 miles in), we had options.. continue on the PCT toward Peter Grubb Hut, Basin Peak, others or turn right and head to Castle Peak. There were other options as well.

Lotta wildflowers on the trail:

The trail was steep in parts.. the road part and a little spur trail were steady up, at times as high as 20% grade, then along a ridge on the way to the Castle Peak ridge, it got steeper — some parts 25% — then on the actual ascent to Castle Peak it got really steep: I saw some readings as high as 43%.. lots of 30+%. I never think in terms of percentage grade, but All Trails is great that way!

The three turrets were craggy. I believe I’m standing at the base of the middle turret, looking at the third one..we’ll head over there to check it out. This is looking southeast-ish.

I’m standing below #2 here, looking back at #1. I think that’s a human on #1. We were up there, then downclimbed to get over to #2. Now we’re headed to #3.

This is Jim trying to figure out which is the actual peak (#3): To the right of his head is the long ridge we hiked to get to the ridge we’re on now.

This is Jim climbing up #3, looking for a safe route to the top (didn’t find one).

Then he came down and we hiked back over by #2 and ate lunch. This was our view. That’s Basin Peak in the middle of the shot. Doing both Basin and Castle is a 10-mile loop.

This is down on that ridge (the one right of Jim’s head in a picture above), looking back at the Castle Peak ridge.

And that’s about it. Good workout. First hike at elevation this year.. that added (for me) some challenge!

Here’s how my good friend Matt summarized yesterday’s news (of course, I don’t know Matt, but have been following (and supporting) his daily one-sentence synopses — What the F*ck Just Happened Today — since 2016).

And here’re a few Supreme themed memes (say that 3x fast!):

For starters, there’s this:

Good lord.

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If I had the energy (I don’t), I’d rant about the Supreme Court’s decision today that defines presidential immunity (I just can’t). It’s complicated and will likely lead to evermore challenges, so at this point it’s hard to say how it will impact real life and real presidential immunity. But the one thing that is true: this is a huge victory for the former guy. For one: loads of immunity. For two: the ruling came down so late (months and months after the case went before the Supreme court and on the last possible day of its session) and the process going forward will be so mired in challenges and appeals that, effectively, he’s already achieved the immunity he sought. In other words: the only remaining case that had a chance to be tried before the election, the January 6th case — the one where he faces criminal charges for efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election — will certainly not be. So, people will be voting for president without knowing whether one of the candidates is actually guilty of trying to steal an election (which he is). And, his team is already in the process of challenging cases that were previously settled (like the hush money/election interference case) on the basis he should have gotten immunity. Said Justice Sonya Sotomayor, “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”

Also: Steve Bannan went to prison today. Four months is way too short a sentence.