What is death, anyway?

Hello everyone, 

Aging is a funny thing, it's good for the knowledge base, and... that's about it. :-) Youth is wasted on the young as we know! Sorry, got carried away. Most recently, I've learned that aging is about modifying your expectations, and it comes down to 2 things: Attitude and Gratitude, no matter how good the circumstances or how difficult they may be. Take my 55 year high school reunion for example, which just happened on Sept. 26th, 2026; does anyone else have those reunions anymore? Well, Rubidoux High School up in Riverside does, and as it turns out, it was fun seeing people who shared my first youthful adventures in controlled academia. But, you have to have a special person like Richard Molina, our 1971 ASB Vice President, and his volunteer committee who take the time and energy, and are willing to organize these great bashes. And, to my surprise, there is no denying the spirit of conversations of reliving those playful, challenging parts of our distant selves, and at the same time sharing the disbelief that some of our classmates have already passed. But seeing old friends, with their collective smiles even though some were struggling to walk, brought back a cascade of youthful, carefree and great memories. The bottom line is that we all made the effort to show up, and many of us danced the night away. 

Richard is in the middle

Snowy (Big Red's replacement)
checking out the rocks

Loraine and I were headed up to the eastern Sierras to see the transition from summer to fall, marked by the shifting of colors of Aspen leaves as they turn from vibrant green to brilliant gold, yellow, and orange. We decided to stop at the Alabama Hills National Scenic Area, just outside of Lone Pine.
The giant granite boulders formations are a unique phenomena (like no other place on earth).  It was the ideal place to film over 500 Westerns, which included all the legends of their generation such as:  John Wayne, Dale Robertson, Roy Rogers (his horse Trigger) and many many more. Loraine and I love watching westerns, on the Death Valley Days channel while eating lunch. We are amazed at the ruthlessness of outlaws, and the struggles for everyone to survive the in hospitable conditions of the western frontiers. But, these legends are all gone now, and their stories remain with us. They are a reminder that life is short, and sometimes real short after a gun fight. :-) Recently, my friend, John Kohler and I were discussing death on one of our many hikes together. He had just read an article by someone who said, "you die twice... once physically, and once when they stop writing about you." I say,  you die 3 times if you haven't paused at some point in your life and really explored your spirituality, and looked inward, and lived your life "true to yourself with a moral bridge."Have you ever imagined if there is true a connection to something larger or greater than yourself?

Miles of trails

The Arch

The story of this blog is to remind myself (and others) that aging is a process, and to honor the journey. But, once we saw the Bristlecone Pine Forest, everything changed, and begged the bigger questions about life and death. Death is inevitable (learned that one on the farm), and life is what you make of it, while your finding peace in your alignment, and alleviating the negative chatter in your head. And, if we can manage this, we can enjoy the amazing rollercoaster adventure on this great blue planet, we call Earth- Gaia, floating through the stars at 60,000 mph. So on that note, Loraine and I went up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine forest to find some secrets of aging.  The Ancient Bristlecone Pines are in the White mountains outside of Big Pine, by Lone Pine Ca., and are close to 10,000'. You will definitely feel the altitude there.

But first, we decided to do a little side trip up to the Whitney Portal to get some altitude acclimation. Since I climbed Mt. Whitney, (14,400') the tallest mountain in continental US, almost 25 years ago, it is still hard to believe we hiked 15 miles up and back, from the Whitney campsite in one day.  

Start of the Recreation
Portal trail along 
the creek 

Not much has changed at the Portal.

The same old Portal store is still there serving the best hamburgers around, 

probably the same cook too, according to the cashier.

Nice pools w/ fish!

Nearby, we chose the 4 mile Whitney Portal Recreation Trail for our warm-up hike.  It's part of the old trail which took you up to Whitney Portal in the 1880s. The  trailhead is by the Portal store and meanders along the Lone Pine creek.  This trail has some captivating boulder scenery and waterfalls. Along the way, we crossed Mesyan campground, which has big campsites bordering the well stocked Lone Pine creek. There is also a 4 mile one way mile hike leading up to Mesyan lake leaving from the campground.

Off to the Bristlecones, after a 25 mile eastern climb through the winding hills of the White Mountains, you get a subtle introduction of what you are about to witness. I kept saying to myself along the drive, "why are we driving up to see some small scraggly old trees." I found out pretty quick, these trees are tall and majestic, captivating trees puncturing the sky with attitude, with their mesmerizing twisting branches. When we arrived at the Visitor's center, we decided to go see the historic movie about the history of the Bristlecones.. a must see by the way.

Bristlecone Pines

One of the fascinating things from the video is when Radiocarbon dating was developed in the 1950s, and they had no way to calibrate the process to see if it was correct. So the scientist took tree core samples -"increment bores" (looks like cork screw) from the Bristlecone Pines and counted the rings and then used this to calibrate the dating history.

Dead trees provide overlapping
tree rings, since they decay slowly
this tree could be close to 12,000 
years old

The second thing was that the dead trees are providing data too. They take a very old tree like the Methuselah tree which is estimated to be 5,700 years old, and find overlapping rings from the dead trees. They added this count of rings to the the core from the dead tree rings. The chronologist then estimate how long ago the Ancient Forest existed. Turns out, it goes all the way back to 12,000 years ago when the last Ice Age was retreating. So even in death, they were giving back to our understanding of the past. 

Before we went on the Methuselah 41/2 mile loop trail,  ranger Dana, told us some more interesting facts about questions we had, "like, why does it take so long for the dead trees to decay?"  She explained, "it's incredibly DRY up here and they grow slowly over a short growing season and lay down very dense wood, making it more resistant to disease."  She also mentioned it was so dry when she came up in February, that when she sat on the snow  her pants didn't even get wet.  At nearly 10,000' The Great Basin Bristlecone Pines live in very harsh dry conditions, and is in the rain shadow of the Sierras that outcompete many other species, simply because they can tolerate these extreme conditions.  

climate change 
affecting the trees

Away from all direct impacts of civilization, the pines are left alone to thrive, except for the latest human intervention. Bark beetles have found their way up the ridge and are starting to decimate some of the trees. I am sure they have experienced bark beetles before, but in this case, it has sped up the impact...once again by climate change, according to ranger Dana.  

As you walk the Methuselah trail, you begin to see the wonder of it all. A sense of awe starts to creep in as you stare up and down one of these giant sentinels of the past. Realizing that even though the conditions are extremely harsh, they thrive.... and they do it with grace and dignity.

Loraine staring &
connecting with BP

The first thing you notice is how their twisting branches reach into the sky with awe inspiring glory.  And, even though they can survive without 90% of their bark, the wood seems to glow and become richer in a variety of colors. One can't help but be impressed by these gentle giants of the mountains. I want to age just like them!  Somehow absorbing some of the their strength, not just survive, but to thrive in the toughest challenges we all face. 

The colorful wood

Bishop and beyond: Next we headed to a cabin above 9000' along the Bishop creek. The original idea of the trip was to witness some of the fall imagery of the dying Aspen leaves.  Another great example of the beauty in death. As the seasons change, and it gets colder, the Aspen trees stop secreting chlorophyll, green in color, and now all the secondary pigments, the yellow, orange and reds have their chance to show off before the tree severes them off the branch.  We were concerned the current heat wave of 100+ was going to delay fall up here, and we would miss the change in fall colors. But we lucked out. Once we reached 9000' plus, there was an emergence brilliant color change in the macrame of the Aspen. The cascading colors seemed to sprint up the canyon walls, all linked together by one Mother tree in their grove. Pretty wild to think they have this huge underground network connecting them to each other and one mama tree. 

Drive up Bishop creek

We stayed in very unique area called Parcher's Resort and Rainbow Pack Horse station. Both have a history which goes back to the 1920s. I have a feeling this is where my grandfather, Bub, took my grandma - Cupi, and my mom (Charlotte), on their first packing trip in the 1930s. What an adventure it must have been for them... maybe not Cupi (who never wanted to anything like that again), and my mom who got lost on her pack horse.

Willow Campground

Brillant Aspens right out the 
door

   

The Bishop creek runs right by the cabin with plenty of fishing holes up and down the road with a variety of trailheads leading to different hikes in the mountains, usually ending close to a lake. Most of these trails are about a 7 mile round trip.  When we were done hiking, we just hung out in the cabin, sitting on our patio, taking in the fresh air, enjoying the fall colors of the aspen leaves dancing in the breeze, and at nightfall, warming up next to our campfire.

So, back on the road heading home, slipping through the tireless desert with the iconic Creosote bushes waving in the wind along the way. It too has an interconnected root system-  and the King Clone Ring, located in the Mojave desert, is estimated to be roughly 11,700 years old - which means it was also growing at the end of the last ice age.

Creosote Bush

As we skirted the desert, I  began contemplating the meaning of life, or maybe it's more accurate to say, "finding meaning in my life." Let's see, we all experience the changing seasons in our lives, and I have come to realize the end, we call death, is really nothing to fear, it's just another change of consciousness, although, if we don't let our ego get in the way, this could be it.  For some, it will be their personal religious connection with God, for others, God is already in us, and all around us in the beauty of Gaia with family, and friends.  Speaking of family, or someone you have mentored, aren't your kids your window to immortality? They have 1/2 of your DNA and you get to mold and guide them through their life. Or, maybe we are making this concept of a God too complicated, maybe God = Love. 

So if I was to put a pulse on the definition of death, it would be not having live life to the fullest, or never finding your passion. What I mean by this, is taking every opportunity to have a new experience, even making a fool of myself on occasions, taking chances to push my envelope, and taking a chance on the powerful intoxication of love.  Not sure if this will resonate to anyone, but for me I just want to try to age with curiosity and motion, and "kick the bucket," with a strong sense of satisfaction, maintaining a lasting feeling of well-being and inner calm, and a wide smile on my face.  Knowing, I gave it my best shot, had a lot of fun and adventure, found delight... even in the little things. And left the world a better place for the next generation, laughing, experiencing joy, and found opportunities for interpersonal growth and self-betterment, especially when challenged in the hard times. I want to stand proud like the Great Bristlecone Pine, and leave this life with a flurry of color like the Aspen leaves.  And, on that note I will leave you with a rendition of " Somebody to Love" by Queen, which I'm sure will bring a smile. :-)