Mt Starr King
22 July 2017
Fuck me I just deleted most of this goddamn post. All I had to do was hit the ‘Update’ button a few times and everything would have come up roses. All those stupid words are lost now……like tears, in rain……yeah that was shamelessly lifted from a great movie moment as I’m sure all you film buffs will know……Well anyway here goes take two, it’s got to be better the second time round, right?!
These days I find myself growing lazier and lazier in putting these sad little reports together. However, I consider a byproduct of this laziness to be the most distinguishable hallmark of this website — indeed, the quality and aesthetic of which I am most proud — namely, the difficulty on the reader’s part in following such shoddily written prose and a totally complete lack of any discernible useful information — which results in an elevation of THE FEELING AND INTIMATION of it all, I mean the profound sense of joy and freedom in the pursuit of adventure, in a world where everything is so planned and nothing is ever supposed to go wrong, and so on……well you have to give me some credit, I tried to get it on the paper but I just couldn’t quite catch it. Just like Wayne Rogers (credited only as ‘Gambler’) in Cool Hand Luke:
What I mean to say is that I believe a pursuit as stupid and meaningless as mountain climbing cannot be understood in the context of statistics, elevations, GPS tracks, and federal government-sanctioned place names. In fact it cannot be understood at all: look up any Youtube video of climbers getting asked why they climb; all of them, completely dumbstruck, offering up slanted, stuttered responses.
Let’s get back to the issue at hand:
In a cheap bid to hold your interest in spite of this generally apathetic approach to writing I might start appending to the reports some items of culture or general stimulus, not related to mountaineering, but just things that I’ve remembered, taken note of, and used to fend off the constant nagging depression of every day life (slings and arrows if you were following along in freshman English class).
This model of Dignity as a way to grow closer to other people, and thereby live a more meaningful life, was published in the On Wisconsin alumni magazine probably between the years 2013 and 2016, if I had to guess. Sadly I wasn’t able to find the original article while googling around the web, but some years ago I copied down the following advice:
Acceptance of Identity Approach people as neither inferior nor superior to you.
Recognition Validate others for who they are. Give them credit and be generous with praise.
Acknowledgment Validate and respond to people’s concerns and what they have been through.
Inclusion Make others feel that they belong.
Safety Make people feel comfortable, both physically and psychologically.
Fairness Treat people justly, with equality, and in an evenhanded way.
Independence Empower people to act on their own behalf so that they feel in control of their lives.
Understanding Don’t rush to judgment; seek a deeper understanding of others’ perspectives.
Benefit of the Doubt Treat people as though they have a good reason why they do what they do.
Accountability Apologize when you have wronged others and change the hurtful behavior.
I’m not exactly sure the author of the above model but find it useful both as a reminder of how I need to treat other people, and how I would like to be treated myself!
Now……when you least expect it — an actual beta dump! Real practical, actionable information you might use to climb Mt Starr King! Tori and I had a wonderful time in the Yosemite backcountry, strolling up and down the Panorama Trail (we crossed the Illilouette at the bridge along this trail for enhanced safety), bivy camping between the two lower bumps of the mountain, listening to bats! at dusk, and visiting Nevada Falls and drinking up all the splendor of this wonderful place called Yosemite. Hope you enjoy some pictures and the following beta:
Get yourself over to the Mountain Project BETAZONE, or not……you wild beautiful thing, you crazy handful of nuthin!
