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Download this unpublished essay for my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. Hiking in the magical
Needles, in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada, we came upon this
mothership of all Giant Sequoia trees estimated to be at least 1,500
years old.
In July of 2007, I went on a 7 days 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. In June 2010, I bought one of these nifty watches with a GPS
receiver and a heart-rate meter. Pretty amazing technology. Here you
see my data for a typical Mt. Wilson run. I drove to the top of Allen
Avenue in the first ten minutes (time is in units of sec), parked and
ran down to the bottom of Eaton Canyon (see the first kink) and then,
in another 2 hrs and 10 min to the top of the mountain. Not
surprisingly, I took less time to descend back to Pasadena (it's 8.5
miles one way). My heart-rate averaged around 140, maxing at 160
bpm.
Sometimes there is snow on top of Mt. Wilson 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.
Ralph and I typically run every couple of weeks for 3-5 hours
in the mountains. On 4/26/09 we blasted our way from Manker Flats at
6,100 feet to the Ski Hut at 8,200' in 54 min. Then on to the Devil's
backbone by scrambling up behind the Sierra Hut. It was sooooo
beautiful, with clear spring air, perfect blue skies, spectacular
views of the Los Angeles basis and pounding hearts. Oh Lord, when the
times come, let me be on a trail such as this one, high above good and
evil, and not return.
Around 9,500 feet we hit the ridge and the winds became so fierce and
frigid that we had to turn back, seeking the lee side of the mountain
and descending to the ski restaurant at the Mt. Baldy Notch for our,
by now, tradiitional beer and beans and a run back to the car.
Ralph - what
is the mantra: take a wind shell!
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)
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.
After a three year hiatus, I participated in the Death Valley
Marathon in February of 2010 on a lark. Without training, it took me
an abysmal 4:20:26 to finish. The race itself was easy, on gravel
roads that were utterly flat, under grey skies (and a sprinkling of
rain; and that in Death Valley!). We ran through Bad Waters, the
lowest elevation in the Americas. The vast views of the desert and
the distant mountains were spectacular. Only about 200 people
participated. I ran with my good friend Shihab Shamma and
without a wristwatch, something I can recommend.
It definitely enhances the race experience and the next day you feel
like a young hero.
After spending three months in East Asian - primary in Seoul, South
Korea - where everywhere you go, there is a crowd, including the top
of mountains, I yearned for big, open spaces. Thus, I signed up for
the second time this year for the Death Valley Marathon. On December
4. 2009, three people from the laboratory and myself ran the race:
Xiaodi Hou (his first Marathon), Fatma Imamoglu (her first Half-Marathon)
and McKell Carter.
The race course started in Nevada around 3,600 feet, took us up to
5,200 feet and the, down through Titus Canyon, to almost sealevel. An
intense experience. And I discovered the Zen of Marathon running. Take
off the watch (or any other timing device), take a camera along and
have some fun.
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.
