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Half Dome – Our Mt Everest

Well, 99.9% of us will never get to Mt. Everest stands at 29,000ft. It is far off our radar. At 8,842 ft, Half Dome is a challenge enough for us. May is hiking season at Everest. The weather takes a break then. This year the number of climbers (foreigners) is 315; Nepali support staff at base camp and above base camp estimated about 500. This number is somewhat similar to last year. And we think the cables are busy!

Records show that since Sir Edmond Hillary first did it, there have been 5,652 summits of Everest by 3,425 different persons, meaning that 2,220 climbers, mostly Sherpas, have multiple summits. 223 people have died on Everest.

Let’s head up the Mist trail this summer – one step at a time.

 

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “I want to take you higher.” – Sly Stone

MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome

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Water Treatment Discussion and Katadyn Testimonial by Mr Half Dome; Hiker missing

By way of full disclosure, I was given an evaluation HikerPro water filter that you will see in this video. A good follow up to the webinar on gear. Enjoy this 7-minute demonstration. You need to treat the water in Yosemite lest you gulp down some Giardia or Cryptosporidium. this YouTube should help you if you are unfamiliar with water treatment.

In other Park news, a 73-year old Minnesota hiker, Mr. Kenneth Stensby, is now missing after heading out Sunday on a hike up the lower Mist trail. He is staying at the Ahwahnee Hotel and told the staff his plans. His backpack was found at the top of the fall. If you were there Sunday and saw him or his bag, contact the park at (209) 372-0432.

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.” - Ruth E. Renkl

MrHalfDome™ – Rick Deutsch – www.HikeHalfDome.com

One Best Hike: Yosemite’s Half Dome…

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Sequestration and Yosemite National Park

Back on Feb 22, we discussed the effects of “sequestration.” Boy, that’s a word you don’t use very often.  In simple terms it means “automatic spending cuts.” In dictionary terms: (take a deep breath):

Originally a legal term referring generally to the act of valuable property being taken into custody by an agent of the court and locked away for safekeeping, usually to prevent the property from being disposed of or abused before a dispute over its ownership can be resolved.

 At midnight tonight, the ax falls. For the Park Service, it could be underfunded by 8.2% and lose over $200M in earmarked projects.

The Park Service budget represents just 1/14th of 1 percent of the overall federal budget. At the same time, Parks help generate over $30 billion on tourism, hotels, tours, merchandise etc. spending. Overall, it takes 258,000 people each year to generate this. So not only will there be Ranger impacts, surrounding communities will suffer. El Portal, Mariposa, Groveland, Lee Vining….One estimate is that 100 parks could be in “skeleton crew” mode or even shut down.

 

Unrelated thought worth quoting: “If you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull.” - …

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