January 25, 2010, 8:51 am The election of Scott Brown as the new U.S. senator from Massachusetts has thrown the health care bill off track. Regardless of whether the bill will improve the health care situation in the U.S. (what is in the bill, anyway?), the tactics used to negotiate the bill offends our innate sense of equality and integrity.
Look at all the parochial deals: extra Medicaid spending for Nebraska, exemptions from Medicare Advantage cuts for parts of Florida, special help for some asbestos disease sufferers in Montana, exempting health plans of union members from the “cadillac tax.”
Of course, this is how the Senate leadership crafted 60 votes to get the bill passed, but it bolstered the perception that the measure was pork barrel spending aimed at helping some more than others. And it makes us wonder what other dirty deals they did.
January 14, 2010, 10:09 pm Yesterday we drove a round-about way through Nevada to travel from Bishop to Lake Tahoe. I imagine there is much to explore off the beaten path, but there wasn’t much to see from the highway except at Walker Lake and the Hawthorne Army Ammunition Depot.
Early this morning the low temperature in South Shore was 14° F. Luckily, it didn’t stay that low after sunrise. Looking for an easy place to snowshoe on the way home, we headed up Luther Pass (highway 89) thinking we’d try hiking into Big Meadow, an easy summer hike we’ve done in the past. I missed the trailhead (no cars were parked there) and drove on a bit farther to where a bunch of cars were parked. Luckily, we were able to talk with a couple of cross-country skiers and determined that the trail heading out from there was not one we wanted to try as beginners.  Starting hike at Hope Valley They suggested we continue on to Hope Valley at the junction of highway 89 with highway 88. This turned out to be an excellent suggestion.
We had beautiful weather and blue skies and wonderful views from the valley to the surrounding peaks. We hiked until we began to feel tired and then looped back to our car. We only did about 2.5 miles, but it was enjoyable. I’d like to go back and try some other trails in the immediate area.
Before heading for home, we stopped at Sorensen’s Resort for coffee and chocolate cake. I think this would be very nice lodging for an overnight trip to the area.
Links
—Hope Valley snowshoeing photo gallery
—Everytrail GPS track for Hope Valley snowshoe hike
January 12, 2010, 10:25 pm After breakfast and grabbing a coffee at the Alabama Hills café, we stopped by the White Mountain Ranger Station in Bishop to get an idea of the road condition up towards the Bristlecone Pines where we wanted to do some snowshoeing. It’s a good thing we did. While there is a gate that closes the road for the winter, the road is effectively closed by snow a few miles before the gate and getting to the Bristlecone Pines was impossible, at least for us. So Rock Creek became our objective.
Clouds were building over the Sierras, and by the time we got to the snow park on Rock Creek it was windy and snowing. Never having snowshoed before we were a little clumsy getting our gear on, and the snow and cold wind just made it worse. Fortunately, once we got going we were dressed warm enough.
We chose a blue diamond (intermediate) trail on the east side of the creek that I think was the prettiest. The other choice was to follow the road on the west side of the creek. The trail hadn’t seen much use since the most recent snow, so I was often blazing our own track. I found it tough going in the areas where the snow was powdery. We made it almost 2 miles up the trail before we decided to turn around, although going back downhill and stepping in the tracks we had made was definitely easier. We met a cross-country skier who asked if we had made it to the lodge. I didn’t realize there was a lodge, and when we told him our mileage, he said we must have been within a couple of hundred yards of it. On the way back it stopped snowing and we had some sunshine and blue sky. I didn’t take a camera on this hike.
Returning to Bishop, we again stopped at the Ranger Station and asked about petroglyphs. With a map in hand, we headed north on Fish Slough Road to the first of three petroglyph areas. Sundown was approaching, so after checking out the petroglyphs, I hauled the tripod up on top of a slight rise and tried to get some sunset photos. The clouds really didn’t cooperate.
 Sunset over the Sierras Links
—Fish Slough Road sunset photo gallery
—Everytrail GPS track for Rock Creek snowshoe hike
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Consider this:“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 |
