This is a multi part reaching high series where we'll compare Everest base camp and Kilimanjaro. Kilimanjaro at Uhuru peak is 19,341 feet (5,895 meters) and Everest base camp is 17,598 feet (5,364 meters). Killy was cold up there, I hiked it in March and we made at the summit. In comparison Everest base camp was chilly but not cold, I hiked it in April of May and there was very little snow. I wasn't going to go up to the summit at 29,032 feet (8,850 meters) as you all know above 26,000 feet you've entered the death zone. Given this, it's not the ascent that kills most, it's the decent. Why? Because you're exhausted and the winds are strong.

Point of interest: the Marolt brothers, friends of ours from Aspen, are famous for summiting Everest more than once without Oxygen. They carry their skis up and wear them down.

From Base Camp Excursion

I went beyond base camp, but not as high as camp two, you need a permit for that and the risk gets higher.

Gorak Shep (Gorakshep) – A settlement that seems at the end of the world, this tiny town is the heartland of the Sherpa people and sits at the base of Kala Patthar.

The morning I headed out was quite cold. Thank God for my handwarmers.

From Institute of Personal and Transpersonal Knowledge, Hayward M. Fox, Ph.D.

This is my neighbor, 81 now. I've been watching this man run for at least 35 years in what we call the hood. He's married to a friend of mine, Noreen, another school teacher. They have two beautiful sons. John is not only a war hero, he's a masterful Rotarian. He endlessly gives to people whose lives may not be perfect but are in need. He's creating magic, not only in our neighborhood, not only with the Rotary, but also with his many long years of work patching up athletes with the University of Arizona where he practiced as an Orthopedic Surgeon. He put our boys back together and our girls too.

Jon was born in March of 1941 at a Buddhist Temple in Kweiyan, China to an American mother and English father who were both teaching in China. The family soon moved to a U.S. Army post in Ramgarth, India. After that, he has lived in the United States of America, Guyana, South America, England, Vietnam, and Manhattan, New York - also in the USA, but kind of its own thing.

Jon went to High School at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M. After High School he received his undergraduate degree in biology from Princeton University, a graduate degree and a subsequent medical degree from the University of New Mexico. He completed his internship and first year of residency in surgery at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. Jon then enlisted in the U.S. Army where he joined the special forces as a combat medic. After completing an extended tour in Vietnam, he returned to New York and completed his residency as an Orthopedic Surgeon and a fellowship in Orthopedic Sports Medicine.

In 1975 Jon married his wife Noreen. They have two sons, Davin born in 1981 and Nolan born in 1984. In 1977 Jon moved with his family to Tucson, where he has had a strong role in the community and athletics in particularly. In 1983 Jon began a lifelong dedication to distance running, starting at age 50 he participated in full and half marathons for 23 years. To this day he is an avid distance runner.

In addition to his duties as a surgeon and educator, Jon has volunteered as a high school team physician, orthopaedic consultant to the Tucson Toros Baseball Club and to major league baseball teams in town for spring training, and with "Meet Me Wednesday" as an adult fitness coach. From 1977 to 2021 Jon was the Wildcat Team Doctor for the University of Arizona where he was responsible for over 500 male and female scholorship athletes in all collegiate sports. He continues to consult with UA Athletics to this day.

Outside of athletics, Jon has been active in the Rotary Club Tucson and Rotary International, twelve step work, volunteered as a reading coach for elementary school children, maintained an active role in his church - St. Philips Episcopal Church, participated in his Home-Owners Association Board. Currently, Jon is dedicated to counseling incarcerated veterans at the Arizona State Prison in Tucson.

I have a tree story. There was a neighbor who wanted a tree chopped down just so guest could have a better view. Luckily this tree still stands and provides shade in beauty in an arid climate. Remember to stand up for your trees. In the desert we need them.

From Arizona Alumni Magazine, By Rosemary Brandt, Chris Richards photos, Spring 2022

To paint a clearer picture of how global climate change will affect Earth’s ecosystems, a team of 80 international research scientists set out to complete an unparalleled experiment: forcing the world’s only enclosed rainforest — housed in the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 — through a four-month-long controlled drought and recovery.

Their findings, published in the journal Science, revealed a roughly 70% drop in the rainforest’s carbon storage — speaking to concerns about forests’ ability to capture and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as climate change progresses. However, an intricate web of water-use strategies and soil interactions was found to support the forest’s stability in the face of extreme drought.

“The forest was, in some ways, surprisingly resilient to the drought,” says Laura Meredith, one of three leads on the project and an assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

The glass-enclosed rainforest at Biosphere 2, which houses 90 plant species, allowed the researchers to simulate a full ecosystem drought.

For more information on trees, I recommend the January/February issue of Smithsonian Magazine - Finding The Oldest Tree.

I also recommend the fabulous book The Hidden Life of Trees. You can find it at your favorite bookseller.

From USA Today, By Doyle Rice, June 17, 2022