Inyo Search and Rescue, a volunteer run organization, is who has our back when we got hiking in the High Sierra. I support them financially by donating and filing for an employer match each year.
Their Facebook page is full of stories where they explain each rescue they do. Very rarely, we see the other side of the story, in this great post, Skanda explains the rescue from his point of view.
As you may be aware, I do a handful of art shows each year showcasing the photographs I take from the High Sierra. I have two art shows coming up in Mountain View and Santa Clara the next two weekends. I meet so many great people at the art shows, people who laid the trail, people connected to Ansel Adams’ and SAR volunteers. David Pedersen, who drove us from Onion Valley to South Lake, and a current resident of Bishop, was a SAR volunteer.
As more and more of us take to the trails, the load on SAR teams is going up, particularly on Mt. Whitney. Yesterday, while hiking Mission Peak, I ran into a gentleman who is preparing for a Mt. Whitney overnight hike. When I asked him where is going to camp overnight, he said he didn’t know and he is with a group, and he is not taking the regular route. When I pressed him more, I figured he is going to take the mountaineer’s route. I have a knot in my stomach when I hear news like this.
My request to the readers of this newsletter: Please donate to Inyo SAR at https://inyosar.com/. Hopefully we will never need their help.
On my part, I hope to break even on my photography business this year and I am thinking of setting aside a portion of my profits for Inyo SAR going forward. I started writing a printable book about the John Muir Trail. A very early draft in progress can be found online here: https://www.anands.photography/book/john-muir-trail, it is pre-alpha stage right now and it will take a few months of rigorous writing to complete. I hope to make it print on demand for those of you who need a print version, and donate all proceeds to Inyo SAR.
If you have any suggestions on how to better help Inyo SAR, please let me know.