Eating for Hiking: How to Heal

by Helene Lohr Posted on April 9, 2013

Foods to help you heal for hiking

Why is it that some people seem to bounce back and be ready for another day of hiking right away, while others may well be limping around in misery for days afterwards?

UNDERSTANDING HEALING:

Any strenuous activity like hiking is going to cause some damage to the body. This damage causes inflammation that kicks off the cycle of cellular repair, rebuilding your body so you can carry more, hike longer and faster. This is a process exercise scientists refer to as hormesis. It may not make you into the bionic (wo)man- but it can come pretty close! But, what happens when something goes wrong with this healing process?

OBSTACLES TO HEALING

Nutrient deficiency: Your system is short on the right nutrients to repair itself properly so it stays inflamed for an extended period and takes a long time to finish healing.

Nutrient imbalance: Imbalances in certain nutrients can cause your body to be unable to turn the inflammatory process off.

Food sensitivity: Hidden food allergies and sensitivities may be setting off your immune system and unnecessarily kicking off the inflammatory process.

Each of these things can contribute to chronic pain and inflammatory conditions like arthritis, muscle and joint pain, heart disease, diabetes and more, none of which make for good hiking (or much fun in general).

WHAT TO DO?

What you eat day to day off trail can determine how you feel on trail. Here’s a quick overview of foods to help your body control inflammation and repair itself to tackle another tough day.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods:

-Choose wild and grass fed meats: Just as you are what you eat, animals are made up of what they eat. Certain types of fats in your food help calm inflammation (omega 3s) while others will promote it (omega 6s). Having the correct balance of these fats is critical to controlling painful inflammation and healing properly.

Nowadays conventionally raised beef is fed corn high in omega-6 fatty acids. This inflammatory fat becomes part of the meat. In comparison, grass-fed animals have naturally low omega-6 levels and far more anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats. Wild cold water fish such as salmon and sardines, are high in omega 3s used by the body to calm inflammation. Conventionally farmed salmon typically lacks these benefits.

-Eat your Veggies! Yup, you’ve heard it before, but you should “eat the rainbow”. Colorful veggies, plentiful servings of leafy greens and moderate fruit intake provide nutrients and anti-oxidants necessary to reduce inflammation and help you heal quickly.

2. Avoid inflammatory foods These foods are generally highly inflammatory and will cause you far more pain than they’re worth in the long run:

-Avoid highly processed oils. Your corn oil, sunflower oil, ‘vegetable’ oils and yes, even “heart healthy” margarine are usually highly processed with heat, pressure and some pretty nasty industrial solvents. Touted as ‘healthy’ before scientists understood the importance of Omega 3 to 6 balance, they are high in chemically reactive Omega 6 fats easily damaged by the heat used for cooking, making them even more damaging for your body.

-Avoid highly processed ‘foods’. In the words of Jack LaLanne: “If man makes it, don’t eat it”. While this might be a bit extreme, I’d recommend you take a look at the back of your packages with a skeptical eye. Most packaged foods are packed with inflammatory ingredients designed to make them addictive and/or shelf stable. These will only worsen your aches and pains on the trail: HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), trans and hydrogenated fats (linked to heart disease and diabetes), omega 6 oils and more.

3. Address common nutrient deficiencies Veggies and leafy greens are high in critical nutrients and minerals such as magnesium and potassium. Magnesium in particular has strong anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and pain reducing effects, helps the body produce energy and has been shown to be unfortunately deficient in many people eating the Standard American Diet.

4. Discover hidden food sensitivities which may be setting off your immune system and causing inflammation. If you have unexplained chronic joint pain, or an autoimmune condition it’s worth it to try an elimination diet to see if it reduces your symptoms. It’s more common than you think, but can be tricky to figure out, since symptoms can show up in any system of the body from the skin to brain (migraines anyone?) and can be delayed up to 36 hours. The most common sensitivities are to wheat, cow’s milk, soy, and nightshades (tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, potatoes).

None of these steps are a magic bullet. They won’t immediately get rid of your aches, but as your body includes more and more quality building materials you will be in better shape for tackling a long day on the trail.

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Health Rules: Eat in Context

by Helene Lohr Posted on March 10, 2013

Jack LaLanne said: “If man made it, don’t eat it!” Looking at the average state of health in the nation, Jack just might have been right.

Your body is designed to absorb nutrients in the form they commonly appear in food: as a network of intertwined molecules, often providing much of what we need to absorb and use the nutrients as part of the whole package. Modern “food science” treats forgets this critical interdependency and treats these nutrients as individual, interchangeable parts, isolating, concentrating, and otherwise altering substances out of our food until they barely deserve the title of nutrients.

This modern industrialization of food has created a situation where we often take in these nutrients out of context. They are eaten without the cofactor nutrients necessary for their absorption, and in huge amounts that never would have occurred in nature. This creates imbalances in the body that contribute to the rise of many modern diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and more.

So, how do we bring our own food consumption back into a more healthful, natural context? Here’s a few guidelines to help you choose your food.

1.”If it has a label it stays off my table”. If it has a box, bag or a label and contains multiple ingredients, minimize/avoid it in your diet. Your body will thank you

2. Put down that processed oil! Man-made and highly processed modern oils are often extracted under high heat and pressure with toxic industrial solvents like hexane, and must be bleached and deodorized in order to become sellable (think of them as ‘rancid’). With high levels of Omega 6 fats, these oils tend to be very inflammatory and have been shown to have strong links with the development of diabetes and heart disease.

Example: Margarine, corn and many canola and vegetable oils are NOT healthy, despite claims to the contrary. Excess omega 6 fats and Trans-fats, particularly oxidized (damaged) ones have been strongly linked with increased risks of chronic pain, inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.

3. Ditch the processed starches. careful with foods that convert quickly to sugar: breads, pastas and foods with “starch” on the label (corn starch, tapioca starch, etc) and foods made with flour. Since theses foods have all been highly processed and ground into small particles (normally the work of your stomach), they don’t take very much work for your body to break down and convert very quickly to sugar. Look at the G.I. (Glycemic index- a rate of how fast foods convert to sugar) of even whole wheat bread- it converts to pure sugar in less time than a snickers bar!

4. Table Salt is not Salt! Despite what the label in the grocery store says, Sodium and salt are not the same thing. What we commonly call ‘table salt’ has become a mix of chemically extracted pure sodium and aluminum anti-caking agents. True high quality sea salts naturally contain a blend of minerals that provide the sodium the body needs while maintaining proper mineral balance. Many new studies on hypertension are pointing towards not excess sodium as the culprit in hypertension (high blood pressure) but too little of other critical minerals: magnesium, calcium and potassium.

5. Remove the ‘added sugars’. Many foods contain HFCS (High fructose corn syrup) or other sweeteners. While small amounts may be just fine, we Americans rarely eat sugar in truly moderate amounts.

Consider: the human body on average keeps only about 8 grams (1tsp) of sugar at any time in your blood stream. The World Health Organization recommends no more than 10% of daily calories from added sugar- and for a 2000 kcal diet, one can of coke already exceeds that.

A typical Coke has 41 grams (10 tsp sugar), and even a “healthy” Yoplait yogurt has a whopping 27 grams (6 3/4 tsp). If you’d like to see how much sugar this is, get out a teaspoon and measure it into a glass for a big surprise!

In normal physiological amounts fructose, sodium and omega 6 fats all have a vital role to play in our health. But the industrial level concentration of these (and other) nutrients is overwhelming to our systems and can greatly interfere with the dynamic homeostasis of our bodies and lead to looming health problems down the road.

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Eat Better for Backpacking

by Helene Lohr Posted on March 10, 2013

Ever find it hard to get back on the trail again after a big meal? Or be hiking along and suddenly bonk? When backpacking, when you eat can be as important as what you eat. In order to keep your body in the best shape to move up the trail you need to eat the right thing at the right time.

Mix it up: Carbs are a popular fuel source while hiking, but it’s important to remember that eating only simple sugars without any backup will cause you to “bonk”.

While you’re busy trudging up the trail your body wants foods that don’t take too much work to process into energy. Simple sugars provide quick burning kindling for your body, but in order to have a steady stream of energy it’s a good idea to back them up with complex carbs and small amounts of slower burning protein and fat. Example: snacking on dried fruit, sweet potato chips, nut butters, coconut butter, nuts and beef jerky throughout the hike.

Give yourself time to digest. Start moving too soon after eating a large meal and you’ll sabotage your refueling. The process of digestion requires a lot of blood flow to your stomach and intestines. This requires a trade off: your body can shunt blood either to the major muscle groups or the stomach and intestines.

If you start hiking aggressively again too soon after a meal your body will not be able to send enough blood to help properly digest your food. Your meal will end up sitting in your stomach like a rock instead of fueling you to greater heights. Not fun.

If you’re planning on a big meal, include time to relax and digest in your hiking schedule. Nutrient dense meals a couple hours before you go to bed will give your body time to assimilate the materials to rebuild your cells and get you ready for another day.

Drink up! Drink water throughout the day. Spacing out your sipping allows you to hydrate more efficiently. Your body absorbs water better in smaller amounts rather than in big gulps. Adding an electrolyte mix to one of your drinking bottles can give you a nice change up to encourage to drink more often. Water bladders like a Camelback or Platypus have also been shown to encourage hydrating more often.

Food isn’t just fuel: Calories aren’t the only thing in food. Your body also the host of nutrients in it to rebuild, cleanse and repair. Most of the dehydrated meals out there are heavy on the white rice and pasta, but pretty thin on nutrient density. Protein and fat are not only used for fuel, they’re also absolutely critical structural components of all of our cells, make up our hormones and neurotransmitters, are part of the process in liver detoxification and a myriad of other processes.

When going dehydrated I like to bring along fat (olive oil, butter or coconut oil), protein (salmon, tuna, chicken, etc) and various dried and fresh veggies and fruits (sundried tomatoes, pine nuts, cranberries, garlic…) and healthful spices (curry, cinnamon, nutmeg, sea salt, pepper) to add in to my dinner.

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Ketosis Against Cancer: A quick start list

by Helene Lohr Posted on February 28, 2013

Ok, so you’ve already got the basic idea of how the double whammy of a high sugar/processed “food” diet and poor insulin sensitivity can contribute to conditions that feed cancer like gasoline on a wildfire. “Research is nice”, you say, but all you really need right now (as you pound your fist on the table) are quick and dirty resources to implement the diet without a lot of study. You really don’t have a lot of time to re-invent the wheel.

Resources to get you started lickity-split

KETOGENIC DIET RESOURCE: A treasure trove of a website that includes recipes, a diet plan, a shopping list and sample menus along with a clean and concise overview of the science that supports the diet (just in case you’re a family member trying to encourage compliance).

PERFECT HEALTH DIET: Not only is it important to try a ketogenic diet, it’s important to focus on making it truly nutrient dense (and tasty) in order to give your other cells and immune system the edge against the cancer cells weakened by your ketogenic diet. I highly recommend the “Perfect Health Diet” approach to nutrient density- although its not strictly a ketogenic diet, the authors understand the therapeutic value and provide ketogenic options and guidelines. They offer surprisingly yummy recipes (one might almost say gourmet) and great, approachable science in their book and thought provoking blog.

(NOTE: some recipes here are higher carb since this is not exclusively dedicated to ketogenic diets)

NOURISHED COOKBOOK: An excellent low carb cookbook that has been deservedly highly recommended by many in the low-carb community. Originally developed to serve as a resource for people with metabolic disorders such as diabetes, it goes even lower carb than many typical low-carb resources.

PRIMAL BLUEPRINT COOKBOOK: A very approachable and. solid Paleo/Primal resource, that offers mostly low carb and nutrient dense recipes. Check out Mark Sisson’s companion website for informative and highly readable articles

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. Use the Big Guns to Support Ketosis: Look into including plenty of coconut oil and MCT oil to promote ketone formation. The addition of  the amino acid Leucine can help intensify the formation of ketones as well. This will help you stay in Ketosis with a potentially slightly higher carb intake. Start slow on this to avoid digestive upset- your body needs to ramp up to this much fat. Grass Fed butter is also a good bet and yummy as well as nutritionally dense. Kerrygold is commonly available, but get the best available in your area.

2. Digestive Aids:  I would highly recommend supplementing both with HCL/Pepsin and a full spectrum digestive enzyme (make sure that Protease is included- this helps mobilize your immune system to recognize cancer cells and has been show to increase survival time and help with digestion to boot. The digestive system can be very compromised after chemotherapy and we want you to get as much nutrition out of your food as possible. Here’s an article on how to figure out the appropriate dose. As with anything, start slowly to assess how your body reacts.

3. Digestive repair: The gut lining is usually very compromised/damaged after extended chemotherapy. Include Glycine and glutamine rich foods and definitely consider supplementation. This can be critical for supplying healing resources to the rest of the body.

3. TEST! At a minimum:
-Check your levels of vitamin D - It acts as an immune system regulator and has been shown to have powerful anti-cancer properties. Supplement and expose to sun often- we’re looking for a higher range than the recommended for the standard population to aggressive combat the cancer. Roughly 60-70 minimum although some advocate even higher.

-Get a baseline of nutrients inside the cells (not blood/serum, intracellular is best benchmark) Spectracell is an excellent test for this and can give you a great baseline for targeted supplementation to make sure his healthy cells have the best support possible. If possible find a doctor that offers this and get it done! It takes a lot of the guess work out of supplementation.

4. Blood sugar regulation is key. Sugar feeds the cancer cells, and insulin promotes their growth. It’s important to address nutrient deficiencies that undermine glucose metabolism. Magnesium (A very common and very critical deficiency- also very important in maintaining acid-alkaline balance), chromium, manganese and B vitamins are all critical for this. If Spectracell reveals deficiencies in these nutrients address ASAP! Also consider adding cinnamon for its blood sugar lowering fx.

5. Increase Insulin Sensitivity: Nutrients and activities that promote insulin sensitivity and decrease insulin resistance are very importance.

-Regular exercise (walking in the sun for added vitamin D benefit is a great idea.) Walking and other regular movement will also keep your lymph system pumping and cleaning out the cellular debris and garbage produced in your body’s fight with cancer.

-Weight training, min 2x a week. Don’t worry if you don’t have the strength to make it an “intense” workout. Many of the benefits can be reached at much lower levels, especially if you havent done anything in a while. This does not need to be intense, one set per exercise fine, but very good for insulin sensitivity.

- Periodic intermittent fasting can work to promote insulin sensitivity, promote autophagy (cellular garbage clean-up) and actually harden your non-cancer cells against stressors. already fretting about being deprived when your’re already feeling miserable? Don’t worry, you don’t have to suffer through long term starvation to get the benefits. It has been shown to be just as effective if you include sleeping time as part of your fast. So periodically stop eating at 8pm, go to bed at a healthy time, skip breakfast and then eat at noon or a little later- Bam! you have a 16 plus hour fast under your belt with minimal discomfort.

6. Support Detoxification: Supporting your body in cleaning out all the garbage that accumulates while you are sick is critical. You very likely have a lot of buildup of all sorts of toxins after your chemotherapy treatments. The liver is your main detoxification organ and any support you can give it in order to help it perform this 2 stage process is vitally important to your overall health. You can find a good overview of the nutrients needed and common foods to support both stages here. Note: One of my favorites for overall liver support is Milk thistle tea- but double check with your doctor about its use since it may slow down the processing of several medications.

YOUR QUICK LIST:

 

Disclaimer: As with everything, this approach may or may not work for you- although the research is promising for several types of cancer, Ketosis has not been proven as a cancer treatment. Work with a experienced medical and nutritional professional in order to correctly implement a ketogenic diet. I’m not a doctor and this is only friendly advice, not meant to diagnose or treat.

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Bulletproof Yourself: Trifecta of Awesomeness

by Helene Lohr Posted on January 26, 2013

Bulletproof Conference

 

Bulletproof Me!

Hey guys! Just a short and sweet update for today.

I just got back from biohacker extraordinaire Dave Asprey’s inaugural Bulletproof conference. It’s basically Paleo combined with many of the key Principles of Weston A. Price nutrient density (minus the grains!) and a strong dash of the Quantified Self movement thrown in to help you experiment and tailor your diet to your own goals and bioindividuality.

Very cool stuff.

Dave Asprey, Abel James and Ben Greenfield
Dave Asprey, Abel James and Ben Greenfield

A Trifecta of (Healthy) Awesomeness:

I’ll be covering the conference in more detail in following posts, but I was so inspired by the great people I ran into, I thought I’d give them a big blog “shout out” so that you could be exposed to their awesomeness as well. Pay attention now: I’m sharing my ultra “secret” resources here!

 

Dave Asprey: The Bulletproof Executive

Dave Asprey, Bulletproof Executive
Dave Asprey

Dave Asprey has been putting out some very good info on the subject of optimal health for years. He definitely isn’t USDA approved. Maybe that’s why I like him so much.

I first ran into Dave a couple years ago at a Quantified Self conference. Sitting across from Dave at lunch, I felt I’d met a kindred spirit. There was an eerie similarity to our lunch spreads. As others chewed away on their daily dose of conference supplied gluten in the form of hoagies, we savored the delicious goodness of massive amounts of wild salmon and pastured butter that we had both brought to tide us over. (See Balanced Bites article here about why you shouldn’t be afraid of healthy animal fats). Then and there I made a note to check this guy out.

I discovered that getting his dose of healthy fats must really help Dave build a better brain.  His information is cutting edge stuff that flies in the face of the Standard American Diet (SAD) that has doomed far too many ‘people of potential’ to mediocrity. After extensive research he’s arrived at his own version of a Paleo diet that ranks the toxicity of food vs its benefits. Even better; he’s made the information necessary to follow this diet for yourself extremely accessible by creating a handy dandy illustrated chart here. Check it out!

In addition to moonlighting as a nutritional Rock Star, Dave has a very successful career as a Silicon Valley investor, computer security expert, and entrepreneur which allows him to invest in and test out all of the latest and most expensive biohacks himself. To quote his website, he’s “spent 15 years and $250,000 to hack his own biology. He upgraded his brain by >20 IQ points, lowered his biological age, and lost 100 lbs without using calories or exercise”. Don’t you just love it when someone else volunteers to be your guinea pig?

If you’re interested in a direct line to the latest and best biohacks for lifestyle and nutrition I’d recommend checking out Dave’s website here.

Abel James: The Fat Burning Man

Abel James, Fat Burning Man
Abel James

At this latest conference I sat across from one of the nicest healthy (and brilliant) badasses I’ve had the pleasure to meet in the form of  Abel James  (AKA the “Fat Burning Man”).  Not only does he have a great website, podcast, books and other resources exploring the best ways to reshape yourself into a healthy, happy and just generally awesome person, it’s pretty darn obvious that he lives up to these ideals.

The main thrust of Abel’s thinking?

YOU are responsible for your own health. Wow. What a concept! Although it seems simple- it’s not often that I see someone live it. Abel makes sure to remind you that he may supply the information, but you are the one who has to take the steps to apply it to your life. There is no magic pill, machine or product that can do that for you.  He encourages you to to take the reins of health into your own hands and stop waiting for your doctor or big Pharma to save you. If you’ve read much of my blog, you know that this kind of thinking is right down my alley.

If you want the inspiration and information to take charge of your own health all in one down-to-earth package (with a radio voice from heaven), check out Abel.

Ben Greenfield Fitness

Ben Greenfield
Ben Greenfield

What to say about Ben? Yeah, he’s really that awesome.

He’s insanely fit and definitely knows his stuff. You may hate him for his ripped abs… that is until you realize he’s freely sharing all his ‘secrets’ for you to partake in the same level of freakish fitness. He’s a research monster that tries out all of the latest biohacks on himself and reports back to his multitude of dedicated followers in a steady stream of informative blog posts and addictive podcasts. I just started catching up on his back episodes and I’m definitely digging it.

If you’re looking for enhancing your athletic performance while still retaining a strong focus on longevity (previously thought an either/or trade-off) and mental performance you’ll check out Ben.

Check them out!

These three barely disguised geeks represent some of the best health and fitness info I’ve found out there after extensive research. Besides, they’re all great researchers and just generally great guys. If you want to be up to date on some of the latest cutting edge info in fitness, mindfulness and nutrition and like it when others offer themselves up to guinea pig themselves for your benefit, you’ll run (not walk) right over to their websites for some serious edification.

NOTE: If you’re like me and do a decent amount of driving you should probably also check out their iTunes podcasts for juicy nuggets of nutritional goodness for your ears:
Dave Asprey

Abel James

Ben Greenfield

After this shameless plug for my favorite resources, stay tuned for an extended blog post in the near future covering my thoughts on all the great health and fitness information I garnered from the conference!

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Ringing in the New Year: Rescue in Pinyon

by Helene Lohr Posted on January 3, 2013
RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon
Lee Arnson and Glenn Henderson confer with the Deputy on scene

 

Change of Plans.

The call out comes late in the afternoon on the last day of 2012. “We have a lost hiker in Pinyon, call the rescue line with your availability.” A call to our call captain fleshes out the details. A man out for an overnight backpack has just been reported missing by his girlfriend in the steep ridges and canyon lands surrounding Martinez Peak.

We had planned to celebrate that night in the high country, ringing in the New Year with a bottle of wine and an inaugural snow camp. Holiday plans foiled again! Well, at least my pack will be ready for a rescue with just some minor editing.

We swing a hard left and pull into our designated base at the local fire station, tires biting into the gravel of the parking lot. The RMRU Rescue truck is already on scene and Glenn is conferring with the deputy. Lee and I join in. We learn that a helicopter in the area last night spotted a small fire along the east face of Martinez.  A quick review of the topographic map and rough coordinates from the copter helps us to form a plan. Since it is unknown if this is our subject, it is decided that we need to cover as much ground as possible. In this type of scenario, it is likely that he will have taken the route of least resistance and headed down into the canyons below, but if not, we need to cover the upper elevations as well.

Lee and I will head up a fire road that wraps up and around the mountain towards the fire’s coordinates.  Freshly arriving RMRU members will be diverted down Sawmill Trail to the search along the canyon floor. Neighboring DSSAR members will be covering the search efforts from the desert side of the mountain.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, Pidgeon Springs Road

Lee and I throw our packs back into the bed of his truck and swing out of the parking lot and onto HWY 74. A sharp left off of the pavement onto gritty dirt takes us to Pigeon Springs road. The going is slow. The road is deeply rutted and the recent cold spell has left a fresh coating of crusty unmelted snow along the north facing switchbacks.  At the mouth of each ravine we stop, turn off the engine and get out of the car to yell out, our voices echoing through the canyons. Our calls hover in the air for a while, but bring only silence as a reply

As we reach our target overlook, we hear from base that Les Walker and Ralph Hoetger are now on trail in the deep maze of canyons below us. Patrick McCurdy, Steve Bryant and Alan Lovegreen are en route and will be arriving soon to add strength to our numbers.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, Lee Getting Ready to yell out
Lee Arnson Getting Ready to yell out

Looking down I have a clear view of the vast labyrinth spread out into the distance. After quieting the engine, we step out onto a thin crust of snow. It crunches beneath my heavy boots as we climb up onto a conveniently placed boulder to yell again. We aim our chests towards a large bare slope several miles in the distance.   I start the count: “1…2…3…” I stretch my lungs full with air and we bellow out in unison: “Hello!”  The sound reverberates through the canyons and disappears.

Voice Contact?

Suddenly, out of the silence, there comes a faint call. A man’s voice! We call again, and again… Holding our breath till bursting in the hopes that we will hear a return call… And each time, we barely make out the edge of a voice, far away. After the third call, there is again only silence in response to our yells. Maybe the wind has shifted, maybe our subject has grown tired, or maybe this is not even the man we are looking for. A quick call in to base confirms that none of the other rescuers have recently yelled out. They did hear our calls, and one also reports hearing the same lone voice calling back.

Next, the critical question: where did the voice come from?

Pinyon is a unique terrain for sound. As sound bounces across the land, the varying contours and vegetation will shape it differently. In our usual high country terrain heavy tree coverage on the reflecting slopes muffles the sound and spreads it out, the thousands of pine needles reflecting sound vibrations in thousands of directions. In Pinon’s mix of steep slopes, sparse brush, packed desert gravel and rock faces, sound can travel for astonishing distances as it hits and bounces sharply back like a ball off of a pool table.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, a maze of canyons
Pinyon: A maze of interlocking steep canyons and near barren slopes

Looking at the shape and angle of the slope from which the call is reflecting suggests to me that it is probably echoing to us from several miles to the South and East. This puts it roughly in line with the coordinates of the fire from the previous night. Still, we can’t be certain that this is our man. We also can’t be certain of the exact location of the voice. It’s not much to go on. After more discussion it is suggested by base that Lee and I join the Horsethief Creek crew and explore the lower canyons.

A New Discovery

While Lee is on the radio discussing our next step, something catches my eye that is not marked on the topographic map. A trail peals off of our dirt road, heading to the east slightly below the elevation of the reported coordinates from last night. It is heading the correct direction to take us at least part of the way there.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, Trail forking off of Pidgeon Springs Road
The unmarked trail peels off of Pidgeon Springs road.

I show my discovery to Lee. We have cell service, so we take a minute to research it on Google Earth. Bingo! There is a clear cut clear trail for an ample section of the hike. This presents us with a new option: the rest of the team is taking the low road, why not have us on the high road? If the subject was the source of the fire last night then we might be the best positioned to find him if we continue contouring the mountain towards the southeast at constant elevation.

We call in our plan for approval. “Base, this is team one… We’ve got an idea.” Lee quickly explains our plan and we receive the go-ahead to explore this new trail. Swinging myself out of the truck I feel the familiar bite of cold on my cheeks. It’s already in teens and falling fast. Lee and I cross check our gear and make sure that we have adequate food, water and extra warm clothing for what promises to be a frigid night.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, sun low in the West
Trailhead already in Shadow.

We take our first steps down the trail as the sun looms low in west. Already in deep shadow behind the sharp ridge lines ourselves, the desert in the distance glows in contrast with a warm light. The excitement of discovering and exploring an unmarked trail fuels us and we make good time forward despite the cold. The rough brush has been cut back by pruning shears and trail ducks perched on boulders help guide the way. As we move through the unfamiliar terrain, we mark turnings in the trail by dragging deep cuts in the wet earth with our feet, knowing that we will likely have to find our way back in the black of night.

RMRU Search and Rescue, Helene Lohr
Helene ready to head down the trail

As we travel onwards, we discover unexpected benefits of our new trail. Traversing high up on the surface of the mountain, we are in a unique position to overlook the steep canyons and deep valleys below. The rescuers within the deep ravines are effectively isolated, their voices limited by the canyon walls. Their calls can only echo along their canyon or straight up into the night air- only carrying so far. Our position allows our voices to carry down into all the ravines stretching out below us.

We’re also in perfect position for radio relay. Our standard radio relay at Tewanet overlook has already lost contact with the team members in the deepest canyons, so we take over their duties. A new reliable location for relay is good information for future missions and we take special note. Even if we don’t find the subject, we’ve discovered a potential asset for the team on future Pinyon searches

“We’ve got him!”

A couple of hours into the dark hike, our radios crackle with encouraging news: “The copter thinks they’ve found him”! The darkness has revealed a new fire on the Southeast face of the mountain. Hovering nearby, the aviation crew communicates with the man by loudspeaker and confirms his identity. Great news! Unfortunately, this is New Years Eve and a helicopter crew that can hoist at night in the mountains is not available

Discussion ensues. If necessary, our ground team will be sent the many arduous miles cross country to secure the subject’s safety.  After aviation confers again with the subject, this is deemed not necessary. Now that his location has been established and we know that he has enough supplies and warmth to spend one more night, the call is made to extract him in the safety of morning light.

RMRU Search and Rescue: Pinyon, getting ready to head back
Getting ready to head home.

 Happy New Years!

As I follow Lee down the trail homewards the excitement of the search starts to wear off and I begin to feel all the small aches and pains of the day. My throat burns from yelling and my sore ankle is flaring sharply every time I take a misstep on the rocky trail. That doesn’t really matter though, because there’s still just enough time to get home before midnight and crack open that bottle of wine.

As the first day of the New Year dawns Alan Lovegreen is flown in to a nearby landing zone and helps an exhausted, dehydrated, cold and extremely relieved subject into the helicopter to be welcomed home by his happy family.

(As a side note: our calculations on the distance, direction and source of the calls was correct. The subject had indeed heard our calls from miles to the North and West and was hoarse from yelling back.)

 

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(In)convenient

by Helene Lohr Posted on January 2, 2013

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“Oh you poor girl… that must be so inconvenient.”

Convenience is something that we often shape our lives around. We take on so many things, we fill our days so much that we give ourselves a free pass when it comes to “the little conveniences” of life. It’s so easy to give in and just grab a quick dinner at the fast food joint, to pop something in the microwave, to order in for a sizzling hot cheesy pizza.

Two years ago, when I got my lab results back, I finally had to stop giving myself the free pass to all these “little conveniences”. Celiac (an immune reaction to a protein in wheat), in all of it’s inconveniences, has made me really think about my food, and my life, in a new way. I’ve gained a new appreciation for the quality of my food, where it comes from and how my body will use or be abused by it. Believe me, when an unknown food may make you sick for hours, days, or even weeks you learn to examine every bite with the care of a monk painting a holy script on a grain of rice.

Celiac is a unique gift. It has made me conscious of the many ways we view food- as pure fuel, as sumptuous pleasure and, in extreme cases, as a matter of life and death. I’ve learned to see food that is safe to eat not as a simple convenience, but as a goal to be striven for and invested in daily. Good tasting food that will nourish and not poison is not necessarily a given (for anyone).

Learning the rules for a celiac to healthy (not just safe) eating is a spotty process full of mistakes, setbacks and not a little bit of pain along the way. Trusting food made by others, with multiple ingredients is sketchy at best (beware potlucks!). “If it has a label it stays off my table” has been a good rule of thumb for me, a rule that has taken me solidly out of the realm of processed “convenience” foods. Yes, there are boxed gluten-free foods- but after examining the labels I can firmly say that gluten-free does not necessarily mean healthy!

I cook mostly at home, or eat at a few trusted local restaurants where they know my needs. I almost always use whole food ingredients: tomatoes, peppers, greens, local pastured meats and eggs. I’ve even branched out and experimented with new foods I would have never considered before; tacos de lengua (tongue), liver, sweetbreads, herring, kombucha, new vegetables and greens… The list goes on.

Meals take longer to prepare now, are more “inconvenient”, but something interesting has been happening over the past two years. With less exercise and eating as much as I want I’ve lost over 25 lbs and increased my muscle mass dramatically. I’m never sick, rarely tired and my moods have evened out. My friends have all commented on the changes. I have a lot more mental and emotional clarity about what I want and the determination and patience to do what it takes to get there. I get more done in much less time.

Looking back to 2 decades ago I’m astonished. I’m far stronger, healthier, happier, and hopefully (I think) wiser than my twenty year old self. Yes, if you want to know, I think I could kick my twenty year old self’s butt in a race, hands down.

So is my lifestyle inconvenient? You be the judge.

Posted in Health, Nutrition | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Gambling with Gear

by Helene Lohr Posted on December 19, 2012

Gambling with your Backpacking gear: Should you really bring all your 10 essentials?

It’s the night before your big backpacking trip.

You’ve been a good camper and packed all of your 10+ essentials, checked the seals on your water bladder and made sure you have enough chocolate Goo packets to feed a small nation. While test-hefting the final weight of your pack your mind can’t help but wrap itself around the memory of those steep switchbacks halfway up the trail, recalling the sweat rolling down your brow and the burning of your quads accompanied by constant mental curses.

Not even 10 seconds later you start pulling things out of your pack to lighten the load. What can go? …What about that medical kit? You haven’t used that at all the last few trips. Hastily, glancing around the room as if you were on the lookout for the backpacking police, you grab a couple bandaids out of the kit, then stuff it quickly back into the gear closet.

We’re all guilty of it. Gambling on gear.  Lightening your load of important gear in order to make it up the trail with less sweat. Its the old trade off of hassle vs. safety.

Here’s some tips on how to make a trip safe without literally breaking your back. 

Traveling in a group? Split up some of the burden. Everyone should have some of their own key items, but if you will be staying together its not necessary that all members of your group come loaded to the gills with gear. For Search and Rescue, each team typically divvies up our gear so that one of us carries the tent, stove and cooking gear, another the heavy call out rope and technical gear. Caveat: Make sure you still keep enough gear with each backpacker to keep them safe and warm if they do get separated from the group.

Invest in lighter weight solutions, especially on key items. That titanium cookset, lightweight down jacket, and the ultralight sleeping pad may initially cost more than their heavier counterparts, but you’ll be more likely to bring them than the bulkier version and the weight they free up in your pack can be used for other critical gear- like your first aid kit.

Knowledge weighs nothing. Depending on what you want to do and where you want to go, its a very good bet to stock up on related training. Your best gear in the backcountry are your skills.

  • Wilderness First Aid Courses teach you the basics of how bodies work and break. You’ll learn when you need to evac asap, and when you can still stay and play. You’ll learn how to improv with your gear and backcountry materials. You get lots of critical hands-on experience to help you stay calm when things hit the fan. For an excellent local resource, look into the Wilderness Outings course taught in Idyllwild.
  • Backpacking skills courses.  You can take anything from a basic day clinic like those offered by REI to a multi-day backpacking and snow travel course like NOLS or Sierra Club’s Wilderness Travel Course (WTC) and beyond. Whatever you want to do, the training is out there to help you do it safely.

Improvise wisely. Think critically about what you can and can’t Macgyver in the backcountry. Try to stop severe bleeding with pressure from your dirty clothes (that you need for warmth) while shivering in a snowstorm? All of the sudden you might be pining for that pile of sterile compresses nestled back home in your gear closet. Bottom line: think it through before you discard a piece of gear from your pack.

Bring multipurpose items: Multipurpose gear means more functionality for less weight. I like to keep a stock of multi-purpose gear like bungees, plastic bags and duct tape, just to name a few. Example: 2 durable contractor garbage bags can form a pack liner in rain, an improvised rain jacket or even be joined end to end around my sleeping bag as a makeshift waterproof bivy for weather emergencies.

Still feel like grumbling about the time and expense of investing in good gear and training for the off chance of an emergency?  Just remember, it is a gamble every time you go out unprepared. Sooner or later, if you spend enough time in the Wilderness, something happens to everyone. The only question will be if you win or lose your bet.

 

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Storage Survival Steps for Your Gear

by Helene Lohr Posted on December 17, 2012

For most hikers, winter spells the end of the hiking season until the Spring thaw brings us back out from our caves. But wait, before you hunker down by the fireplace with a good book, take just a little time out to make sure you put away your gear properly so that it’ll be there for you for many seasons to come.

Here are 5 quick steps you can take to prolong the lifespan of your valuable outdoor gear. Don’t wait until Spring to tackle these changes—grab this list and go to your gear closet now.

1. Re-waterproof your raingear at the start of every hiking season to keep it from letting the environment in at inconvenient times. The standard waterproof coating will degrade over time, allowing more condensation buildup, and eventually just soaking right through even after a light rain. Look for something like NikWax.

2. Store your sleeping bag uncompressed! You can keep it in a breathable cotton, mesh, or canvas stuff sacks placed on shelves, hung in the closet or just layer out in the spare room across the bed. Storing your bag compressed, although a space saver, will eventually ruin the insulating capacity of your sleeping bag. The pressure crushes down feathers and breaks synthetic fibers, reducing their ability to trap air and thus keep you warm.

3. Dry it out. Hang your expensive sleeping bags and tents to dry inside-out after every trip. Cutting down on any moisture will decrease the growth of mildew during storage.

4. Combat mold. Uncap water bottles and open up hydration bladders when not in use. Free air flow will prevent moisture from being trapped inside and developing a nasty case of mold. Take it from me, forgetting your water bladder for several weeks after a trip in the depths of your backpack in generally not a great idea. If you really want to combat mold, try storing your hydration bladders and tubes in your refrigerator. The cold air will slow down the mold that infiltrates hard-to-clean nooks of the bladders and tubes.

5. Preserve your power. Keep your battery-powered goodies and any extra batteries in a cool, dry spot. Extreme heat (much more than cold) will drain batteries quicker tan a vampire convention at a blood bank. There’s nothing like fumbling in the dark for “fresh” batteries to replace your headlamp, only to discover that they aren’t so fresh after all

 

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