I lugged a satellite phone on this trip and stood out in the freezing wind above 11,000 feet for this. I'm going to let you read them if you wish.

One thing you should know. My Sept. 8 blog items -- the ones right in the middle of the backpack didn't make it into the newspaper. I'm going back to my notes and my memory for that one.

For now, let's start with the first two days, Sept. 6 and part of Sept. 7.


6:07 p.m., Sept. 6, 2008: We just passed over the edge of Long Valley Caldera. It's a massive hole -- we're talking nearly 20 miles wide -- where the Earth opened up and spewed magma all over the place.
The eastern Sierra is a vast volcanic panorama, one of my favorite places. The caldera is a great example. The explosive eruption took place 700,000 years ago. Volcanic ash from the blast has been found as far away as Nebraska.

There are bubbling hot tubs hidden in the vast countryside. I've been here when it was 29 degrees outside and snow on the ground, yet there is still steam coming out of the rocks.

We're in Bishop now. And we're here for the granite and ice. Mount Mendel couldn't be more than 15 miles west of here. So our thoughts are turning to the plane crash and the missing victims.

But for a while, it has been a real pleasure to think about the volcanic past of the eastern Sierra.

6:05 a.m., Sept. 7, 2008, 42 degrees, at 9,300 feet at North Lake campground -- I skipped the tent, slept out under the stars. So did Mark Crosse. It was a beautiful glittering show overhead all night long. The temperature was still 50 degrees at 3:45 a.m. It didn't feel very cold to me. I imagine it will be a lot colder farther up. We'll make Lamarck Lake today, in a few hours, maybe less. That's good news. But you can't have a fire above 10,400 feet: No firewood.

2 p.m., Sept. 7, 2008: It's about 2 p.m, and we are at about 11,600 feet.

We decided to change directions and follow Peter Stekel and his climbing partner Michele Hinatsu up to Lamarck Col. We were scheduled to stop at Upper Lamarck Lake -- we've continued on.

Retired Lt. Col. Donald Satterthwait, 85, a Clovis resident who navigated combat missions in World War II, said the three training navigators had small desks lined up behind the co-pilot's seat. The desks were used to spread out maps and instruments.

The Bee's diagram just showed four seats -- two up front and two behind. We got our background on the Beechcraft AT-7 from the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Ariz.

Satterthwait said he trained in Texas. It's possible there were small differences between Texas- and California-based AT-7s. 

For those of you worried about the two Marks, they seem to have recovered from their hiking ordeal and those scary pikas. Mark G. is busy keeping Starbucks in business, one latte at a time.

Now, for some of those questions (and comments) ...

George Stillman wondered if we knew the type of shoes that Steve Fossett was wearing when he vanished last year. Seems a friend of George's found a wing-tip brogue shoe in the Ansel Adams Wilderness area and was curious about any possible connection to Fossett's footwear.

From what I could find, reports are that Fossett was casually dressed in T-shirt, sweatpants and tennis shoes when he took off from a small air strip in Nevada, supposedly headed for Bishop on the east side of the Sierra. Sounds like it's not his shoe.

We've gotten a few calls and emails about another legendary crash dubbed the "Gamblers Special" that killed 35 people in 1969.

One came from Pat Dalbec, whose parents, Patrick and Carol Lee, died in the crash at Mount Whitney, elevation 14,497 feet. Dalbec, 40, who is a Fresno police officer, said he was a baby when the accident happened.

I had never seen a pika in the wild. They are rabbit-like critters, often called rock rabbits or whistling hares. Pikas can't live in warmer temperatures. As the planet warms up, they are forced to live at higher elevations.

The pika in Darwin Canyon was ticked off about my presence. I'm not sure, but I think he attempted a food raid while I was climbing to Mendel Glacier.

Who won this little tiff? Well, I packed up my tent and left Wednesday. Score one for the pika, zero for me.

The eastern Sierra is a vast volcanic panorama, one of my favorite places. The caldera is a great example. The explosive eruption took place 700,000 years ago. Volcanic ash from the blast has been found as far away as Nebraska.

There are bubbling hot tubs hidden in the vast countryside. I've been here when it was 29 degrees outside and snow on the ground, yet there is still steam coming out of the rocks.

We're in Bishop now. And we're here for the granite and ice. Mount Mendel couldn't be more than 15 miles west of here. So our thoughts are turning to the plane crash and the missing victims.

But for a while, it has been a real pleasure to think about the volcanic past of the eastern Sierra.

The short answer is disappointing, Mark. Our online map has dozens of points, but there is no assurance that any of them correspond with the crash you're reseaching. We're sorry.

Mark's research problem is pretty typical. Mark has the National Transportation Safety Board report on the accident, yet it does not contain the coordinates.

The problem illustrates one of our bigger headaches in this project. Nobody is the final authority on air crashes and the details surrounding them. Not the federal government, not the military, not the state and not any local agency that we could find.

For our online map, we have a list from the U.S. Air Force, which readily acknowledges that the sites are only places where wrecks reportedly have not been cleaned up. The military has no idea of the details on most of them.

The NTSB data base is interesting, but it, too, is far from complete. There were a slew of military crashes in the 1940s that are not included. And, as with any data collection, the information has holes as you look at crashes from decades ago.

For searchers in the field, the latitude and longitude coordinates are great starting points. But searchers say you need more than those coordinates for many crashes. A global positioning system, or GPS, unit comes in real handy in the Sierra -- this mountain range is simply a hulk of a natural resource.

One commenter, Ron Thiesen, noted that he has climbed Mount Darwin and spotted plane wreckage there. He assumed it was the same 1942 crash that killed four airmen on Mount Mendel, which is right next door to Darwin. He says he realizes now that it is not the 1942 crash.

We agree with Ron. We don't think it's the same crash either. According to Seattle author Peter Stekel, who is writing about the Mendel crash, there was a different crash on Darwin in 1983. Don't know much more than that, at the moment.

Stekel says he may visit Darwin on his trip to the high Sierra next week. Our main target on the trip next week is Mendel Glacier where we're hoping to find more evidence of the crash and perhaps another victim.

I am a sierra hiker and former climber. in the early 1980's i went up Mt. Darwin (a really enjoyable climb) and saw, on the large summit plataeau, the remnants of a plane crash.
when reading the first story several years ago about the ice mummy from the mendel glacier, i assumed the crashes were the same or related. after checking the topos, i realized this was not the case. do you have any information on the darwin crash?

It's a growing hobby that combines a love of outdoors with a love of history. And you've really got to love hiking, climbing and camping to get to some of the old wrecks lingering in the tough Sierra Nevada terrain.

When you think about it, these old crashes are like museum pieces. In some places, you can see big pieces of planes and in others, just bits and pieces -- like a decaying parachute flapping in the breeze.

Now Mark, in a way, is joining that wreckchasing fraternity with his hike up to the 1942 crash on the Mendel glacier. As a history buff, I'm anxious to see what he finds. 

Is there some law against touching the military crash? Am I carbo-loading my diet ahead of time? And am I taking an advance medical directive?

I know of no law against hauling any part of the debris from the 1942 crash out of Kings Canyon National Park, but I have not intention of doing that. It's tough enough just to haul myself up to 12,400 feet.

By the way, it's not legal to take natural stuff -- rocks, pine cones, critters -- out of a national park. I'm not doing any of that, either.

I'm pretty much leaving footprints and taking pictures.

On the diet, I'm just trying to keep everything balanced, John. When I was running half marathons, I would load up on pasta the week before a race. But this is more a test of strength and core body conditioning for me.

On the trail, I'll be taking freeze-dried dinners, oatmeal, tortillas, peanut butter, dried fruit and other similar stuff to eat.

As for this advance medical directive, I don't have a clue. John sent me background information on it. Apparently, you can carry instructions on how you're supposed to be treated if you get hurt and can't communicate. Sounds like a good idea. I'll look into it.

Meantime, I hope to avoid the whole issue of emergency health care.

So in answer to a few more questions: Yes, you need to bring food, medications (for me, motrin, which I take every night on the trail) and whatever diet supplement you might take. I bring Emergen C, a packet of powder with tons of vitamins and electrolytes. Others bring vitamin pills and Gatorade powder. You also need a water filter (don't drink the water without filtering it), light camp stove (hot coffee!) and lots of other stuff.

I usually bring nothing to read. I only carry pencils and a notebook for writing. The sun goes down pretty quick out there, so I may bring my I-pod Shuffle to hear a few downloaded NPR podcasts.

The only authorities I have consulted on this trip: The Inyo National Forest. I paid $10 for a wilderness permit, so I can spend several nights. The forest service allows a maximum of six people per day on this trail -- at least that's what the ranger told me.

I am carrying a satellite phone, which should allow me to contact folks if I need help. Peter Stekel, who is writing a book about this glacier and the mystery crash, will be there, and I believe he carries a GPS unit.

As for returning home to the family, John, I'm hardly noticed. Seriously, when I returned from Mount Whitney 13 years ago and told my kids I had been up to 14,497 feet, they yawned and asked if I was buying dinner that night.

See the questions in the comments on my first blog item. He's basically asking what he would need to do to get ready for a trek like this. John is director of public affairs at Community Medical Centers.

So here goes, John. My first stop was my medical team -- you need a whole team when you're my age. I went to my general practioner for a full physical, checked the data from my cardiologist and asked my orthopedist. I'm good to go, they say.

So now let's talk about trekking with a 40-pound pack from 9,300 feet to about 13,000 feet in elevation. I'll cover the physical stuff in this blog item and follow up tomorrow with the rest of it.

I've been training about four months, mostly using a Nordictrack and running for the aerobic fitness. I keep it between 20 and 25 miles a week. I stopped running about a month ago and moved all my aerobics to the Nordictrack, just so my legs don't take any more pounding before the trek.

I use 15-pound weights for shoulder presses and curls. I like the lighter weights because I can tone and build endurance, which is most important to me on trips like these. I do several hundred repetitions on each exercise each week.

I also have a whole stretching and isometric regime for my legs, back and center of my body. 

Lately, I've been walking three or four miles every other day with a 40-pound load in my pack.

All that said, there's nothing that prepares you for the first day on the trail, unless you've spent time at elevation. I haven't. I expect to breathe rather heavily. A lot. 

Check back tomorrow for the rest of it. And, if you didn't catch the link earlier, check out JT's blog on health care.

I use trekking poles, but I don't want to find myself bumping down a slope filled with hardened sun cups next month. I've got a set of instep crampons -- jagged cleats that you clamp onto your boot.

They're smaller and lighter than regular crampons. They look a lot like the crampons on my snowshoes. I figure I'll carry the extra 11 ounces, just in case.

But if anyone has suggestions, I would appreciate hearing them.