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John Muir Trail: ‘We Can’t Do That?’

Reg Spittle 11 Comments



“We can’t do that!”

Those were my words when Sue said we should walk across Spain on a famed pilgrimage.

The Camino de Santiago and distance trails in seven countries have taught me to question my first reaction to a backpacking challenge.

Two years ago, Sue and I tackled the John Muir Trail in California’s Sierra Nevada. Mules helped carry our stuff, but our legs carried us 246 miles from Horseshoe Meadow southeast of Mount Whitney to Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. One of the most memorable days was the trek to the Mount Whitney summit; the bottom photo shows me on the switchbacks above Guitar Lake during my climb to the highest point in the continental USA. The other photos show us at Muir Hut and near Cathedral Peak.

We slept in a small Nemo tent, filtered our water, and went without showers or toilets for 30 days. It was all part of the adventure that kept us above 10,000 feet much of the way on a trail through astounding scenery.

Sue and I are preparing for our seventh distance trek, which begins September 1. If we are able to complete the 42 days on the trail, it will be our longest trek yet. This time, we plan to carry everything we need, but our packs won’t contain a tent or sleeping bags.

Stay tuned.

Matt Haig Pens a Comical, Moving Story About an Alien on Earth

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Is there intelligent life out there? Are we being watched? Do aliens live amongst us?

In The Humans, Matt Haig answers “yes” to these questions in an intriguing story that explores the best and worst parts of human nature.

The story begins when an alien is sent to Earth to kill Cambridge University mathematics professor Andrew Martin and erase all evidence of his recent discovery, which threatens the Universe. He quickly kills the mathematician, takes his place in Martin’s human form, then moves into his home to carry out the killings of Martin’s wife and 15-year-old son.

His task is not as simple as it seems. His naiveté about proper human behavior, like wearing clothes, leads to hysterical situations in this dark comedy. He has been taught that humans are fallible, not that smart, and lack the powers his kind have back on his planet. And they don’t live forever. While bumbling through his new life, Martin finds a way into the heart of his “son” Gulliver, who had been alienated from his selfish and detached real dad.

The Humans is as moving as it is playful and, in the end, I was drawn to its sentimentality and uplifting theme.

In a note at the end of book, Haig explains that he came up with the story idea in 2000 while in the grips of a panic disorder. Although he wrote other books in the meantime, The Humans is a story he ultimately wanted to tell so he could relate the “weird and often frightening beauty of being human.”

Matt Haig has rocketed to literary success through his children’s books, a memoir (Reasons to Stay Alive), and other novels. His latest novel, How to Stop Time, is being made into a motion picture by actor/producer Benedict Cumberbatch. I will soon post my review of that book.

The Humans is one of the best books I have read in 2023.