Contrary to general belief, scientists have
many passions. These are mine.
Reading philosophy, in
particular concerning what we can know (epistemology), what we
experience (phenomenology) and what is (ontology). I'm also interesed
in the history of ideas, and the relationship between science and
religion (click here for a list of
books I've just read). As I was raised in a devout Roman Catholic
family, this last question continues to occupy quite a bit of my time.
Download this unpublished essay for my
thoughts on these matters.
Hiking. My daughter Gabi, upon
her return from Japan, and I spent two wonderful days hiking around
the Needles, in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada where we came
upon this mothership of all Giant Sequoia trees estimated to be at
least 1,500 years old.
In July of 2007, I spent 7 days on a solitary hike along the
John Muir Trail in the Sierra Nevada. I walked a total of 120
miles, between 8,000 and 12,000 feet. It was pretty minimal in terms
of equipment (no cell phone, no watch, no tent; just a sleeping and a
bivy bag, a foam pad, a small stove, and enough food for one
week). Here you can see where I slept on the first night.
The weather
was perfect. At night, I would contemplate the high alpine sky above
me and the moral compass within me.
I undertook this trip to come to
some sort of conclusion concerning the problem of freedom of action.
I deliberately decided that it is sensible, and perfectly rational, to
believe in a libertarian conception of free will (more on this in the
book I'm currently writing).
Here is the spectacular view
from my sleeping place on the 5. morning. I returned home when I
couldn't take the solitude anymore.
Trail running. Most people don't
realize, but Los Angeles is not only bordered by the Pacific Ocean,
but on the northern edge by the San Gabriel Mountains. While I live
and work in Pasadena at an altitude of 800 feet or so, Mount Wilson -
just behind my house - peaks at 5,710 feet. A bit farther away is
Mount Baldy (San Antonio; 10,064 feet), Mount San Jacinto (10,670
feet) and San Gorgonio (11,499 feet). As a comparison, the tallest
mountain in Germany, the Zugspitze, is 9,718
feet tall.
I run every couple of weeks from my home to the top of Mount Wilson
and back. Sometimes there is snow on top and you can see Catalina
Island - more than 50 miles away - and the Pacific; and all of that
under a deep blue sky dome. Where else but in Southern Cal!
With my good friend and colleague Ralph
Adolphs, we ran and hiked the Cactus to
Clouds trail on 11/11/07. We started in Palm Springs around 600
feet
and ended up 5 hours and 20 minutes later at the San Jacinto cable car
station at 8,600 feet. See us on the non-maintained and not marked
trail in the desert
The weather was
perfect - warm under a blue sky for the first few hours. Later on,
some clouds came up; by the time we reached the top it became quite
cool and windy. We actually only ran the bottom 2/3; when the trail
became to steep and rocky and we became tired, we fast walked.
Running this skyline trail is no mere feat - around 9 miles and 8,000
feet elevation gain - on 2 liters of water, some Gu and cheese and a
small backpack. And no pain except for some minor lactic acid buildup,
aka burn, in my calf muscles.
Running marathons is good
discipline! I ran my first one in 2004 in 3:58:15 in Los Angeles. I liked
the experience so much that I ran my second in 2005 (in 3:44:02), my
third in 2006 (in 3:41:03; see the photo with my wife and
daughter)
and my fourth LA Marathon in 2007 (in 3:41:39). I
probably should've trained more (my training involved running the
previous three weekends with Ralph to
the top of Mt Wilson and thereabouts). This will be the last one I'm
running with a specific time goal. It is much more enjoyable to run
for fun, i.e. 1-2 minutes per mile slower than possible, have a lot
less joint pain and recover faster.
On my first ultra-marathon (50 km distance and 8,000 feet of
elevation) in the San Gabriel Mountains I suffered dearly, as both
legs were fully exposed to poison-oak, an interesting but - on the
whole rather painful - experience. Other running events in 2006
include a 24 hour relay run over 181 miles, KELROF, with members of
Klab, and a jog up from Mount
Baldy Village (4,260 feet) to Mount Baldy (10,064 feet) with Stephen Waydo in 2-3/4
hours up and 2 hours down. From up high, there are some spectacular
views.
Running is fun - in particular in the mountains - but
is not to be taken too seriously. It is also not as profoundly
engaging and addictive as climbing - more on that next.
Climbing mountains, towers and big
walls. I started to climb in 2001 - when our children left for
college, leaving a huge emotional hole in our lives. I miss them more
than words can say...So I climb.
That's me doing a Tyrolean Traverse between Lost Arrow Spire
and the Canyon rim, 2800 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley; this
picture was taken by Katie
Sheehan. You ask me why I climb? Jon Krakauer expresses it
quite well
"By and by, your attention becomes so intensely focused that you no
longer notice the raw knuckles, the cramping thighs, the strain of
maintaining nonstop concentration. A trance-like state settles over
your efforts, the climb becomes a clear-eyed dream. The accrued guilt
and clutter of day-to-day existence, all of it is temporarily
forgotten, crowded from your thoughts by an overpowering clarity of
purpose, and by the seriousness of the task at hand."
I get out as often as my schedule let's me; my regular
climbing partners are Kai Zinn, Grant Horner, Bob Yoho and Reid
Malinbaum, a very cool and motley crew of interesting characters. As
you end up spending a lot of time together when climbing and hiking,
it is important that you share plenty of intellectual interests. This
is Bob on the Vampire in Taquitz, an alpine climbing area two
hours from here.
My first climb was in 2001 Caselton Tower in Utah
In 2004,
I climbed Halfdome
in Yosemite Valley the hard way in three days. I do love the lonely
and exposed peaks in the High Sierra. Grant Horner and I climbed Lone Pine Peak
in 2005 and Bear Creek Spire (see below) in 2006.
