2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: A Brief History Of Vietnam (III) – North And South And Colony

 By the beginning of the 14th Century (as you may recall) the land area we refer to as Vietnam was basically split into a Northern Kingdom (Đại Việt) and the Southern Kingdom (the Champa Kingdom).  The two had been somewhat linked in A.D. 1306 by the marriage of a princess of the Northern Kingdom to a prince of Southern Kingdom:

(Source)

Things changed after that milestone.

Between A.D. 1367 and 1390, the Champa Kingdom invaded the Đại Việt and recovered much of their territory, only to be stopped by the death of Champa King in A.D. 1390 in the first battle in Vietnam using gunpowder.  Although the Champa Kingdom continued to expand, mostly West into the Khmer Kingdom, in A.D. 14791 the Cham-Đại Việt war resulted in the effective destruction of the Champa kingdom, their territory reduced to the far Southern provinces. 

(Champa State post A.D. 1471 - Source)

(Historically, the last Champa king was overthrown in A.D. 1832 and the remaining provinces included in the Vietnamese State.)

This southward expansion by the Đại Việt, which extended from the 11th to 18th centuries A.D., was known as  Nam tiến, or "Southward expansion".  It strikes me as interesting - in retrospect - for other historical reasons.

The Northern Kingdom of Đại Việt continued under a series of dynasties:  the Lê Dynasty (1441-1527 A.D.), the Mac Dynasty (1527-1533 A.D.) and the Revival Lê Dynasty (1533-1789 A.D.).  At some point during this period the Emperors of Vietnam lost true ruling power, which was held by the Trịnh Lords in the North and the Nguyễn Lords in the South.  This period was marred by civil war between dynastic elements of the Emperors and the conflict of the effective ruling clans.  The areas that the two clans ruled came to be known by different names:  To the North, The Kingdom of Tonkin or Kingdom of An Nam (Đàng Ngoài); in the South The Kingdom of Cochinchina or Kingdom of Quảng Nam (Đàng Trong).

It was during the 15th Century A.D. that Europeans began to arrive as well: first the Portuguese and Dutch, then the English, then the French (who came to have in the most involvement).

(Vietnam at the end of the 18th Century - Source)

The Tây Sơn Rebellion (1777-1778 resulted in the overthrow of the  Revival Lê Dynsasty and the short term creation of the Tây Sơn Dynasty.  As part of the civil war, the Nguyễn clan ruling members were assassinated - all except one son, Nguyễn Ánh, who escaped to the kingdom of Siam (Modern Thailand) but returned and in 1802 established the Nguyễn Dynasty, which would rule Vietnam until A.D. 1945.  

French missionaries were active in the territory of Vietnam but not necessarily viewed favorably by the Confucian government of Nguyễn Dynasty. In A.D. 1843, French missionaries were detained by the government, and the French navy intervened to free them.  The French government continued slowly move in, until by A.D. 1885 the whole of the country was within the French Protectorate in three parts:  Cochinchina, Annam and Tokin - part of the territory of French Indochina.

(Source)

September 2026 Grab Bag

(Author's note:  It seems a little bit like "cheating" to have a grab bag after a mid-month update and being consumed by the 2026 Mt. Whitney hike for two weeks.  A monthly recurring post is a monthly recurring post though....)

The updating problem with Blogger seems to be slowly resolving itself.

If you look over to the right, you can see that more blogs seem to be updating in a more regular fashion.  What is interesting to me is the fact that not all of them are.  I note that several blogs that I know do daily (or near daily) updates continue to lag; not sure if too many posts is part of what is creating the issue.

I will say that one of the unlooked for "benefits" is while my daily post numbers are down, I suspect they are actual readers instead of bots.  

That said, thanks to all who continue to show up here daily and everywhere that bloggers continue to write.  Beyond the algorithm, we are still clicking away at our keyboards.

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Health monitoring-wise, this has been a busy month.

One thing that happened was I had what has becoming my semi-annual Body Composition test.  This is a free service offered through my employer.  The exciting thing - to me as a data nerd - is that we now have enough data points to start to make trends.

The trend?  I am remarkably consistent in the fat/muscle body ratio.

Over the course of 2.5 year and a weight that has fluctuated as much as 13%, my body continues stay at an average of 40.8% muscle and 20.6% fat.  It changes a bit every six months, but it it is remarkable consistent in that range - to the point my Body Comp guy said "You are remarkable consistent, especially for a man of your age.  Keep doing what you are doing."

The other thing that happened was my somewhat delayed lipid panel, which then prompted me to make my annual physical appointment.

The good news?  I am in good shape overall. Every other lab come back pretty much precisely in the middle of the range.  Cholesterol came down a bit, but not enough - I am running (currently) a 9.5% chance of heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years.  

That should not surprise me - the men in my family die from strokes or heart attacks.  So medication it is, at least for now.

Other health updates are a steroid shot for my knee (for some early arthritis) and the start of shingles vaccine regimen, which I have been warned by coworkers is a bit rough.

Still, for a guy rolling out of his late 50's no matter how you look at it, things seem to be holding together.  And I have to remind myself that for even the issues I am dealing with, getting old is a privilege many do not get.

A final note:  Yesterday I hit my goal of losing 20 lbs.  A personal goal started in June of this year, but it feels good none the less.

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We seem to have reached the point of my biennial/triennial religious peregrinations.

Longer time readers will recall that this is something that seems to happen periodically: I get to questioning my current church location and involvement.  I am not fully certain why it keeps happening, but it does - whether from me not being satisfied when I should be or me not having yet found the place my soul feels it "belongs" (within the larger Christian faith, of course).

If I try to pinpoint it (in short; likely I will write more on this) I am feeling the disconnect between my professed belief and the supernatural realities that we live in. This is something Francis Schaeffer touches on frequently in the books of his that I have read this year, the idea of saying we are Christian but acting as if the spiritual realm does not really exist as well.

As usual, I am not sure where this goes.  If you are of the mind, prayers are appreciated.

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Next month, the Community Garden has its "Winterization" project, indicating the end of the Community portion of the year (including the earning of one's 8 hours of community service, the requirement for renewing).

My beans (dry and soy) are largely done at this point.  The corn did okay, but I had a setback in that I had a "visitor" that helped themselves to a few cobs.  I have enough to do a re-seeding next year; I will need to figure out a better system.  

The tomatoes, as you can see, continue to bear.

I have some leeks that have made it this far as well.

Planted yesterday:  Two kinds of barley, Emmer wheat, two kinds of garlic, and golden beets.

A Year Of Kindness (XXXVI): Lending Our Strength

(Source)

You may remember that earlier in this series, we discussed the matter of kindness as loaning our strength to another.  Today's quote focuses on the same idea but from a different angle: not making the people to whom we are lending our strength through kindness feel the worse for needing it.

This concept should not really be difficult for me to consider.  If I think about all the times growing up I "helped" an adult with a project or "bought" a gift for my family, it is clear that it was not "me" doing it, it was the adult in the situation.  Yet never once in all my days can I think someone told me "You are not really doing that" or "You are not really buying that".

An element of kindness - perhaps more implicit than I think - is how we make the other person feel when they are receiving it.

We are all familiar with the bad sort of kindness, I should imagine:  the condescension that comes when someone makes a production out of doing a kind deed and the almost inevitable feeling of being the object of that condescension.  We feel small, worthless, perhaps even ashamed for the need.  

Kindness - at least as I see it - is a dance between doing the kind deed and never having the other person feel as if the deed (or thought or word or whatever) is any sort of an inconvenience or a big ask.  I place great value in the fact that we should always allow people their dignity - their honour - no matter what the situation.

Sometimes we find out it is a big ask after the fact of course:  the hours our parents worked so that we could do a thing, the sacrifice of someone offering to do something for us that they sincerely dislike, the person who did not have the time to attend to our issue but did anyway.

In a sense, is this not like Christ?

Yes, I know - there is a great division between us and the Godhead.  But in reading the Gospels, one constantly finds Christ offering kindnesses - healing, food, counsel, personnel management for his rather cranky group of disciples - and yet He never rejects those who sincerely came asking, or those to whom He freely offered His kindness.  We read occasionally of His struggles and His agony, but at the time this was often concealed from the disciples:  the 40 Days of Temptation, the hours spent praying at night alone, His exhaustion from the crowds.  Only at the end of His Life - at the Last Supper, at the Garden of Gethsemane - does He seem to hint to them in real time of what this has - and will - cost Him.

We, as Christians, should not do any less.

Let us offer kindness, but do it in such a way that its receivers feel anything but part of the process and never feel shame for asking for it or receiving it.

The Winds Of September

 Autumn arrived fully this week, almost on cue with the Autumnal Equinox.

The trees that lined the avenue I drive to for work went yellow almost over night and suddenly a blanket of yellow leaves just seemed appear on the sidewalk and grass surrounding them.  Yesterday a landscape crew was diligently working to remove them, the first of what likely be several trips there until bare branches clutch at the grey sky.

Our last day about 80 F/26 C happened on this past Monday, leaving descending days of in the 70's and 60's predicted for the next 10 days - which will firmly put us into October.  And yesterday evening the rain blew in and then blew in again this morning, driven by the Winds of September, leaving the sort of day that makes one simply want to stay indoors with a book and an orange cat and grey rabbit and a cup of coffee and read.

There is a certain sad elegance to it all, the closing down of Nature's stall for the Winter.

---

The greyness of the sky with the brighter points of leaves reaching their final glory matches the sense of my soul.

This week was a series of conversations - deep conversations that I did not anticipate having with a wide range of people over some rather weighty subjects:  religion, core values, commitment, senses of responsibility to myself and others, the possibility of retirement.  All thoughtful conversations, all conversations that needed to happen at some level.

I had asked God this week for guidance.  What I received was less of the guidance of sunlight Summer Day with a clear and dry path and more of an Autumnal walk, the path present but obscured by falling leaves amid the puddles and and fallen branches, whipped along by a wind that comes from and goes to a place I do not know.

It is not, I suspect, that the guidance is not there.  It are somehow wrapped up in this season of preparation and readiness and the slow shedding of glories.

---

Autumn, of course, brings its own joys:  leaves that burn with colour in the sun before their final bow, rains that fly and swirl and recharge the ground, squirrels working hard on their last preparations, a few remaining brilliant sunsets before grey becomes The Colour Of The Day.  It allows - at least for me - a certain focus as well:  the garden will essentially be done, sword training will likely be all indoors.  The earlier dark and cold makes for a convenient excuse to finish the reading and writing that I have chosen as part of the educational life.

And like the shutting down of trees, I now have the strands of conversation and thought to bear with me into the coming Winter, to be mulled upon and sit in silence with like trees under the battering rain and blowing wind.

 And then, like the flowers and leaves, to burst into life and colourful glory in the Spring.

TB Goes (Back) To School: Reading

One of the largest changes to my schedule since the re-start of my educational career has been setting aside more time for reading.

Our class is focusing on the enduring legacy of Greek and Roman art and culture in modern culture.  To that end, we have to read some amount of the Classics: as we are still in the realm of myth at the moment so we read a lot of Ovid as well as specific writings to the subject at hand, such as plays by Roman and Greek playwrights or additional sections of Classical literature like the Roman poet Catullus.  

We are also assigned anywhere from 2-5 articles a week with the expectation we will read at least one of each sub-heading that we will be studying; so for example if we are studying two different myths, we need to read one article on each myth.

The Classical reading is the most enjoyable.  The articles are a bit more challenging.

Having been "Out of the Game" for well over 30 years, one forgets the way that academic articles are written.  They are quite different from your typical article that (once upon a time) you might have read in a newspaper or magazine and very different that the current on-line writing that is in vogue; for example, the shortest article I have read to date is 9 pages and longest to date is 51 pages.  Yes, that may include pictures of artworks and a great many footnotes, but it can still be a lot.

What this has really meant is adding a layer of diligence and planning to my daily activities.

I have to allocate myself not less than an hour a day for class - not just for reading of course, but for participating in class activities.  And given my schedule for the week and rest of the year, I am finding that I have to read at least one week or more in advance - and more in preparation for class presentations.

It is not a bad development of course; the addition of discipline to one's life is never a bad thing.  

And, if nothing else, I know a lot more about Greek and Roman art than I did a month ago.  After all, most any knowledge is useful knowledge, just useful in more limited situations.

A Year Of Haiku (XXXV): Cotton Candy

 

Autumn's pink cloud strands

stretch across the evening sky

like whipped sugar strings.

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: A Brief History Of Vietnam (II) - The South

Meanwhile, in the South...

Sometime in the 2nd to the 3rd Century A.D., the Chams, a people who it is believed are descendants of Austronesians from Taiwan and Borneo which share a heritage with inhabitants of Polynesia, Micronesia, and other parts of what we consider Southeast Asia (but including Madagascar), formed a series of polities in what we now call South Vietnam.

Around the 4th Century A.D., the Champa state began to Indianized, adopting Indian cultural practices and religion (Hinduism) - you may recall that this was similar to the Khmer Kingdom up to the mid-12th Century.  At least one ruler of the Champa state sailed to India in the 5th Century A.D. to bathe in the River Ganges.

(Early Cham States circa 400 A.D. - Source)

The Champa Kingdom was considered among the significant kingdoms in Southeast Asia.  In the 7th Century, Sui China invaded and destroyed the capital.  The Champa Kingdom recovered, and between the 7th and 10th Century A.D. was considered a major naval power; its fleets controlled the spice trade between China, India, and Indonesia - which attracted the attention of Javanese kingdom, who invaded and held the coastland for approximately 25 years in the 8th Century.

The Champa Kingdom and culture was sufficiently individualized that it is considered differentiating from Đại Việt.  There are a number of existing fortress and temple ruins (which, sadly, we did not see).  

The 12th Century A.D. saw an invasion of the Champa Kingdom by the Khmer Empire which saw a brief occupation - but retaliation when in 1177 A.D. the Champas invaded the Khmer Empire and defeated them on the Tonlé Sap (which was commemorated at Bayon Wat, which we visited.  At least one of the bas reliefs I took a picture of recalls this battle.  The Khmer Empire responded by re-invading the Champa Kingdom from 1190-1203 A.D., making the Champa kingdom a dependency for  30 years.

The 12 Century also saw the arrival of Islam, following the trade routes that lead Hinduism and Buddhism there.

Like the Đại Việt, the Champa kingdom faced an invasion by the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty from 1283-1285 A.D..  Joining with the Đại Việt, they engaged in a guerrilla war and eventually repelled the Yuan.  It was following this war that the retired emperor of the Đại Việt, Trần Nhân Tông, arranged for a marriage between his daughter and the prince of the Champa Kingdom.  The marriage, in 1306 A.D., saw the transfer of two provinces from Champa to Đại Việt.  The purpose was to provide peace between the two kingdoms.  Of note, after this marriage from 1307 to 1401 A.D. there is no indigenous literature from the Champa Kingdom, which had a rich history from the 4th Century A.D. to 1307 in Sanskrit.  Additionally, no new construction was started in Champa for any major project.

(Champa Kingdoms prior to 1306 A.D. - Source)

(Champa States post 1306 A.D. - Source

We will end the history of the South here as well, stopping a bit early as we did for the North.  It is around the 14th Century that the two paths directly merge again.

2025 Cambodia And Vietnam: A Brief History Of Vietnam (I) - The North

The country that we now call Vietnam has a long history; somewhat surprisingly, the country as we now know it assumed its more or less final form in the 19th Century.

Humans have lived in the area for a very long time, at least back to the Paleolithic era.  Traditional Vietnamese history traces back to at least 2879 B.C., when the Hồng Bàng kingdom of Hung was established and existed until the year 258 B.C., when it was conquered by the neighboring kingdom of Âu Việt, which was then merged together and formed the kingdon of  Âu Lạc. which existed until 179 B.C. when it consolidated into the Chinese kingdom of Nanye  - which was then incorporated into the empire of China in 111 B.C.  Although there would be occasional revolutions where the Northern Vietnamese had temporary independence, but China ruled (more or less) until the 10th Century A.D.  During this period of time, Chinese culture was deeply impactful on the Đại Việt  (as Northern Vietnamese called themselves).  Confucianism became deeply rooted as did Chinese cultural practices.

(Vietnam, 3rd Century B.C.E. - Source)

(Expansion of Han China, including the conquest of the Nanyue kingdom - Source)

In 939 A.D, independence from China was achieved by Ngô Quyền, a lord of the Đại Việt.  His independence was more successful than his dynasty, which lasted less that 20 years.  The Lý dynasty finally established control by the mid 1050's A.D.; they would rule until 1225 A.D.  It was under the Lý dynasty that Buddhism would come to be established in Đại Việt

(Expansion of the  Lý dynasty - Source)

The Lý dynasty was replaced by the Tran dynasty, which ruled from 1225 A.D. to 1400 A.D. and holds the rather unique distinction of defeating two invasions of the Mongols (Yuan Dynasty).

The Tran dynasty also continued their march South - but we will get to the South tomorrow, where something different was happening.

(Tran Conquests through 1337 - Source)

(Southeast Asia, 13th Century - Source)

September 2026 Catch-Up: InterWeb Woes, The Near Abroad, and Training

Thanks again for your patience and comments on the hike series.  To be completely honest, it effectively wrote itself. I just posted some pictures and pulled notes from my journal.  I have created a page with all of the posts if you ever want to "binge read" the entire thing at one sitting like a streaming series.

That said, I have been frustrated by the fact that apparently there is a lag issue with updating new posts over on the right.  It is not just me, it is everywhere.  A brief look online suggests that it is related to some aspect of Google that (apparently) they are either not in a rush to fix or cannot fix.  It appears in some cases that it may be resolving, but not for everyone.

Short version:  Your favourite bloggers are likely still posting, but you will have to go directly to the site.  It is a great idea if you can do it; again, writers always want to be read.

(As a side note, it does bring up in my mind the question of the longer sustainability of this platform, which is almost a relic by today's standards.  Something for me to think about).

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Last week I flew back to New Home for our rescheduled Iaijutsu training.

New Home 2.0 has a fine airport, which is pretty easy to access and is very nice inside as it is finishing up redesign. It also has nice long terminals, which are good for walking if you have not done your aerobic exercise for the days.  We are especially blessed as we can use public transit, which literally goes from our doorstep to the airport for the princely sum of $2.20.

Another blessing is the fact that I can get a direct from New Home 2.0 to New Home.  Having spent four years of non-direct flights from New Home to Old Home, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the fact I do not have to change planes and I save anywhere from 25% to 50% of transit time simply by getting where I need to go in one fell swoop.  The price is not really that much difference.

In this regard, a shout-out to Alaska Airlines, both for their service and the fact that they are one of the few U.S. based airlines that continues to allow rabbits to fly in the main cabin in a carrier.  For that reason alone, you will always be my first choice.

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New Home 2.0 was as it always is in September:  Hot.

Having been away a little over 2.5 years now, subtle changes are showing up, the sorts of things that you say "I think that used to be a..." or "Where did that go?" 

There are whole sections of town that used to have businesses that are either torn down or fenced off to be torn down or have new construction going up.  It is a very odd sensation, to see the old literally making way for the new in real time.

Poppy The Brave is well and sends her greetings.  The house is pretty much the same as it has been, although with training I spent little enough time there.

---

The rescheduled training was, as always, good.

On the one hand (of course), two days is never enough.  There is so much more to learn and be corrected on.  And one joy of the in-person trainings with our Grandmaster is that we get to hear some history or why things are done the way they are done or stories from his past.  This is the sort of thing that one simply cannot get without direct contact.

On the other hand, any training is good training.  And I am grateful for it.

One of the things I tried to apply from my hiking experience was the admonition to "Be Present".  It is a little harder than one might think, especially if (like me) you have a mind prone to wandering.  One of the things I find that helps me the most is simply closing my eyes and listening.  I at least do not have to contend with visual stimulation.

One thing that was different this class was that I - with my former Sensei, my current Sensei, and a senior student in my former dojo, spent a great deal of time either demonstrating or observing the other students.  Part of this may be the fact there were (happily!) a lot of students for three of the four sessions I was at and so there was perhaps a space issue.  Part of, though, was the fact that I seem to have accidentally become a "senior student".  At best, I can observe and know what the correct technique often is, even if I am very unable to do it myself.

We will continue to train hard until this coming January/February, when (hopefully) the next training in Japan will occur.

A Year Of Kindness (XXXV): The Secretly Kind

 

One of the most memorable fictional characters I can think of from high school is Boo Radley in Harper Lee's novel To Kill A Mockingbird.  Radley is a character most do not know about: seldom seen, shy and awkward, he is a silent presence looms as a sort of dark image throughout most of the bok.  By the end of the story, we find out that Radley was also a purveyor of small gifts and ultimately, the saver of a life. 

How often I mistake kindness as something that only comes from a certain kind of people, or do not expect it from certain people.

Kindness knows no personality borders.  There is no "base case" for whether someone can or cannot practice kindness based on their outward demeanor or personality.

Sometimes they simply struggle to relate to people.  Sometimes they can generally interact only one way most of the time.  Everyone is indeed fighting battle, and many times we know nothing about it.

So I have tried to rectify this in myself.  I have tried to remain neutral in terms of "if someone is capable of kindness" based on how they generally act.

Funny story that goes along with that:  people have surprised with their kindness in ways that I never might have imagined based on their general actions and personality.

Sometimes, we are our own worst enemy to people practicing kindness to others.

2026 Mt. Whitney Hike: Postscript: The Path Ahead

 Friends - Thanks again for coming along with me on my 2026 Hike to Mt. Whitney.

I offer that thanks sincerely.  I have become - since I started writing up my travels as part of this blog - a better writer and a better traveler overall.  Knowing that I will be writing about my travels makes me attentive to them in a way that I might not have always been. It is not quite "I have to explain my time away" as much as "Let me tell you what I learned while I was away."

For this, I am grateful.

I am also immensely grateful to our guide Rainbow Bright's initial admonition to "Be Present".  Making an active effort to focus on being in the moment where I was - and choosing to think about a different aspect of hiking every day - made this hike different in a way I have not experienced on other hikes.  Arguably, I have come away different in a way that has not happened in other hikes.

But - perhaps obviously, based on my mediations - I need to activate those musings in active awareness.

Having climbed Mt. Whitney for the second time (and endured less than ideal weather conditions), I need to remind myself of the importance of endurance (Vincit qui patitur: He who endures, conquers).  I am not capable of everything, but I am capable of far more than I think I can do.

The only thing that can impede our will, says Epictetus, is our will itself.

Also, having climbed Mt. Whitney for the second time (and endured less than ideal weather conditions), I need to incorporate that sense of being fearless in the face of people into my daily work and personal life as well.  People with their opinions and their feelings cannot hurt me; if nothing else, they do not have the possibility of casting me down from the mountain.

Am I a through hiker, someone who enjoys weeks or months on the trail?  Not really; this trip confirms that.  8 days is a long time (for me) to be out.  I love the outdoors and I love what I have seen; I likely will love it just as much with shorter excursions (but hopefully in the years to come, more of them).

Where to next year?  That is undetermined at this point. We have left the choice to The Fiancé as he was unable to come this year - although to be honest, if we had a hike with Rainbow Bright and Garbage Woman again, that would be amazing.  They are great and thoughtful guides; the fact they can keep me alive on the trail is equally appreciated.

I remain your most Humble and Obedient Servant,

Toridhealhbheach Beucail

2026 Mt. Whitney Hike: Day 8: Going Home

The end, of course, is not really the end.

Arrival at the Trail End is of course a reason for celebration:  This is a long, hard trip by anyone's estimation.  The van which dropped us off meets us there with soda, beer, water, and White Claws.  We also have salty and sweet (Potato Chips and Oreo Double Stuffed Cookies).  There is also the accompanying high fives, backslaps, and photos.

I forgo the alcohol, but load myself up with Oreos.  It is an excuse, I know - but justifiable in my mind.

From there, we repack the van and take the hour drive down to the nearest town, Lone Pine.  The descent is dramatic; the smell of 11 hikers after a week on the trail is probably only a little less so for our driver.

Arrival at Lone Pine is started by a shower at a local hostel.  There are not many ways at all that I can identify with folks that work long days or weeks in the field - the military, fire fighters, etc. - but one place I have a small intersection is the amazing sense that getting a shower after days of not having one feels.  The dirt sloughs off my body and my feet look marginally better (but not great).

After the shower, off to the final meal of the trip:  pizza and beer.

There is a fine art to discussing the first post-meal hike.

It is generally frowned upon to start discussing it within the first day of the hike.  When to start discussing is it a matter of delicate sensibility and conjecture and based to some extent on the hike.  For example, for this hike Day 4 is probably an acceptable time to start talking about "What I am going to have when I get back".  My go to meal is a burger and fries, and a vanilla milkshake figures prominently into the picture.

However, pizza and beer are also acceptable.  I eat five pieces, which is extravagant for me.

After lunch is consumed, the long drive comes to get back to the original drop off point.  For this hike it is almost 4.5 hours, since we need to drive South past the edge of the Sierras to the Tehachapi Pass and then head North towards our drop-off point.  Conversation tends to fall to minimum now as we are full and tired.  We are also in cell-phone range, so individuals are checking in and uploading things.  Up in front (I am in the far back, The Brit gamely wedged between myself and The Outdoorsman), there is a lively game going on.  I apparently take a nap, or perhaps more than one.

Midway during the drive, we stop for a fuel and snack break.  I get my milkshake.

 Another two hours or so and we get back to the drop-off point.  Here we grab our things, go through the somewhat odd and awkward phase of saying goodbye to our soon-erstwhile hiking colleagues, and saying goodbye to our guides (not nearly as awkward).  We wish each other well, knowing that - unless it is on another hike - we will likely not see each other again.

And then, another drive of about 3 hours to get back to The Outdoorsman's house.  He drives for the first part until we take a break for dinner (burger and fries, so I get both my meals); after which The Brit takes over.  Conversation ebbs and flows; we are starting to talk about the world again, mostly finance and work and upcoming events.  The time flies quickly:  something like 18 hours after we were close to being on top of the world, we are back into our ordinary lives.

The adventure, not quite abruptly but with a certain natural rhythm, ends.

2026 Mt. Whitney Hike: Day 8, High Desert Camp To Golden Trout Wilderness: Why I Hike

Day 8
Distance:  11.13 Miles
Elevation Gain:  895 ft.

Day 8 is an early rise at 0400 as we have a full day of hiking to cover as well as to get back home.  On the trail time is 0500; breakfast is a combination of snacks and breakfast bars, things that are left that do not require clean-up.

The traverse is a slow uphill in the granite and pine forests we have been walking through for the past day.  Headlamps bobbing in the dark, we make our way through the slowly lightening dawn.

(This is the only point where we see an actual sign for the Pacific Crest Trail)

Despite the threat of rain, it did not manifest on the previous night or in the morning.  That said, the wind is cold and brisk as we move purposely through the decreasing darkness.  For all of us in some way, home is calling.

Our inclines are easy this morning, long stretches of relatively straight trails that wend themselves along the edge of ridges, looking down on outer valleys and meadows below.

Our goal is Chicken Spring Lake, the halfway point.  We stop here for a pack off-rest; this is our last snack and rest before the final push.

While we are at our rest stop, we meet a man hiking West and North.  We get to talking with him about where he is going and our own trip.  When he hears the extent of our trip, he is amazed.  "You all are animals" he says in wonderment.

I do not know I am animal.  But my chest swells with pride none the less.

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Why do I hike?

In my recent post on The Age Of Novelty, I lamented the fact that we as a Western Society seem too much invested in experiences for the sake of experiences.  We collect them as trophies or medals.  And then they immediately fade into the background to be replaced by others, stones that fall into a pond without a ripple.

I have been here.  I have done this.  I, too, have treated experiences as trophies, things to be gathered and then collect dust on the shelves of my mind.

I need to be different.

What I have found in this hike is something I had not anticipated initially:  learning things about myself.  Learning about the various aspects of hiking that I have discussed.  Enduring.  Confronting my fear of people, something that is coming up again and again in other venues.  

And if I am honest, I have learned something on every hike.  In 2021 in the Grand Canyon, I learned that I could hike and not fail.  In 2022 I did this same hike to Mt. Whitney and learned I could do a thing that seemed beyond the pale.  In 2023 I attempted to climb Mt. Goddard, fell sick with altitude sickness, and learned that one can still make progress up the trail, even in 50 step increments.  And in 2025 on Thunder River in the Grand Canyon, I walked away with Plato's thought on mortality echoing in my mind and guiding my actions: "At my age, I should not resent the fact that I have to die".

This, then, is why hike.  Not just for the experience and views - although those are beautiful and breathtaking.  I hike because the things I take away make me a different - and hopefully better person.

I hike to change my life.

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As part of the final descent, we are broken out into individual hikers with a set space between us.  Our guides refer to this as a "Space Walk", a way for each of us to process our hike and its impending end.  I, at least, appreciate this offer.

I remember this part of the hike vividly from 2022: the long switchbacks downhill which change from granite and pines to different pines and meadows.  Rocks and gravel slowly transfer back into dirt.  The descent is quiet:  I am far behind the person in front of me and the person behind me is far enough away that I can be lost in my thoughts.

As I descend, I step aside more and more for ascending hikers (like driving, uphill always has the right of way).  We greet each other passing.  They look so clean and energetic; the smell of laundry soap and personal hygiene objects is particularly noticeable after so many days on the trail.

The last part of the hike is flat, a long dirt walk through pines.  The day is heating up.  I remember this as being far longer than I thought it should be.  But this is part of the journey as well: things take the amount of time that they take.

On and on I go, dirt and gravel crunching, pine trees falling behind me, eyes straining ahead.  Finally, after what seems like far too long, I catch a glint of something.  A manmade object, a windshield and part of a hood.

I am back.