White Mountain is arguably the best place in the lower 48 to stargaze (especially if you happen to see in microwave frequencies and are looking for polarization in the cosmic microwave background to test inflation theories).  This is a product of the extremely dry air and relatively high elevation (14,246′) – thus less crap (aka ‘atmosphere’) between you and outer space.

Not only is it awesome, but White Mountain is also the least technically difficult of California’s fourteeners.  It’s a Class 2 4-wheel drive jeep trail to the top (although it’s closed to vehicles).  Hell, this bad ass did it in a wheelchair.  So, with proper precautions and equipment, it’s a great candidate for a night hike.

The approach to the trailhead involves nearly an hour of gravel/dirt road driving.  If you’re doing this at night, there will be nobody on the road.  Be prepared – a failure with your vehicle here is just as serious as a failure with your body later on the trail.

The hike itself is a 15-mile round trip with about 3,000′ total elevation gain/loss.  I’ve marked the trailhead below at the bottom of the map.  The peak itself is marked by Google at the top.  If you switch to satellite mode and zoom in, you can trace the trail from trailhead to peak.

The challenge, of course, is the elevation.  The parking lot sits at about 11,500′.  If you’re coming straight up from sea level, you will most likely be experiencing minor altitude sickness syndromes before you have even parked your car.  If this is the case, you will be dizzy, nauseous, have a pounding headache and be unable to think clearly at the peak.  Don’t do this.  Spend some time acclimating beforehand – camp at the trailhead the night before, at very least.  I spent the preceding week before in Tahoe (6,000′) and was ok to about 13,000′.  If you’re in 6-minute mile physical condition, accent and decent will each take 3-4 hours, depending on how hard you’re pushing it.

To do this hike safely, you must be prepared to spend the night on the mountain should something go wrong.  You must be carrying enough clothing with you so that a sprained ankle does not turn into a life-threatening situation.  For me, in the warmest month of the year (August) this meant:

• thick pants, long johns
• wool socks, running shoes (No, not hiking boots.  Use them if you want to, but they are not necessary here.)
• gloves, beanie, glasses with night lenses (wind protection)
• thin undershirt base layer, medium weight fleece layer, medium weight wind-proof jacket

This was on the light side.  If I did it again, I would add one spare layer to both my top and bottom.

As a rule of thumb, you should be carrying enough food and water to last twice as long as you expect to be out.  For me, this was 112oz of water, three power bars, a package of salami, 6 whole wheat bagels, two things of yogurt and a big one of potato salad.  As you’re hiking, you need to catch your thirst and hunger before it affects your body. This means if you feel weak or thirsty, you’ve already failed. Force yourself to eat and drink constantly.

You also need to be redundant on all mission-critical components:

• spare batteries
• spare headlamp bulb
• spare water container – bring a backup 32oz or so in addition to your primary repository.
• spare trail – have a viable plan ready should you lose the trail. Keep track of landmarks, bring a topo map, compass and/or GPS.
• spare brain – do not do this hike alone!

With the proper precautions, fitness and equipment, you’ll be able to relax and enjoy the hike. When you find yourself thousands of feet above treeline, dozens of miles from anybody outside your party, and can see for hundreds of miles in every direction with the stars peppering the sky like a golden blanket of dust – the Zen factor is extremely high.

Dude: “México.”

Me: uhhhhh….. that’s funny, I thought I made it to Mexico a few weeks ago.

Yeah, it’s definitely confusing at first. In Mexico, Mexico City is usually referred to as just “México”. I was ready for “La Cuidad” or “D. F.”, but noooooo…. Contextual speech processing is difficult when you you’re picking up maybe a third of what’s going on around you.

Anyway, Mexico City is the second largest aggregation of brainy bipeds to happen, well, in the history of our planet. And given that intelligent life looks like a pretty rare occurrence in this whole ‘universe’ thing, Mexico City may be the second largest, most complex self-sustaining (on the timescale of years) physically localized reaction/interaction/resonance of energy/matter to have occurred ever, and perhaps ever will. And that would, in my opinion, make it a ‘big deal’.

The bus from Acapulco to Mexico City passes through some of Mexico’s most beautiful countryside. The toll highway is completely spotless. It’s landscaped for hundreds of miles, there are tunnels galore, and perfect pavement. You won’t find a road this nice in California. I continue to be amazed at how unbalanced Mexico is… why the F is this highway perfect when just yesterday in downtown Acapulco I was walking by people (literally) decaying on the street? Arg. Anyway, it’s hard to get good scenery pictures with an iPhone, but the countryside is so beautiful that I did get one to come out. This is a random hill…

The highway also went by the tallest mountain I’ve seen in my life thus far, Popocatépetl. It’s hard to see in this picture, but Popocatépetl is there in the background, sitting tall at 5,452m (17,887 ft):

¡Y México (D.F.)! Believe it or not, I only got one picture in Mexico City. This is the National Palace from the Zócalo, at night.

No pictures, but the Mexico City metro is pretty awesome. It doesn’t compare to NYC’s though. It’s pretty much like any other metro in the US of A, except one distinction. There’s nobody asking for change. No beggars. Instead of beggars, the ‘bums’ walk up and down the cars trying to sell stuff. Gum, cd’s, tamales… I wonder if that’s because people won’t give change away, or if it’s because people are too embarrassed to beg, or what? Well, for whatever reason, if you go up the Pacific coast to one of the richest cities in the world you’ll find some 5-10 thousand people asking you for change. Say what? Something doesn’t match up here.

The main thing that struck me about Mexico City… I was expecting more of a New York experience. Mexico City is really nothing like New York. There’s many more people in Mexico City, but it doesn’t achieve the densities you find in Manhattan. The streets are definitely paved and functional, and there are occasional skyscrapers, but nothing like the land of 50+ stories you find in Midtown. Apparently Mexico City’s got money now, but that’s a relatively new occurrence, and I guess time’s still needed for the infrastructure to catch up.