Sacramento, CA

There is no elevation gain, the shuttle driver said. But Misty Trail along Mercer river started to climb shortly after it started and it went up and up. We were going to get to as far as the Vernal Fall Bridge for about a mile. Another two tenth of mile and I would've made it. But it became steeper and I turned around, again. So we only made to the Yosemite fall when we planned to hit all three -- we missed the Bridalveil fall too: the return traffic in the afternoon was too heavy and I didn't want to make a side trip while getting out of the park.

We started out the day by driving to Yosemite Lodge and parking the car there. I originally planned to park at the Vistor's Center, but the lot was under construction and we couldn't park there.  From Yosemite Lodge, we took the shuttle to Half Dome/CurryVillage. We marbled at the granite cliffs there and then circled back to Yosemite Fall, marking the Misty Trail to come back to after Yosemite Fall. In between we went out to El Capitan Crossing and took a shot of rock climbers. They weren't visible in naked eyes, but zoom lens caught them, barely.

On the way to Sacramento, the car's navigation took us through Jackson across Route 88 that I took about a million times before going to skiing at Kirkwood. And it was just like returning from skiing too, with the sky turned dark pink and the silhouette of Oak trees dotting the horizon. A scenery I've forgotten for 9 years. Will I be able to return to skiing this winter? I can only dream about it. We got to Sacramento after 8PM.  We had dinner at a Korean restaurant and were home at Rodeway Inn in West Sacramento after 10 PM.

Mamoth Lakes, CA, Day 2

I attempted another 2 mile, 400 feet elevation hike in Tuolumne Grove. And I again aborted after about 1 km. I felt ambitious at the top and then wasn't confident enough when my legs felt shaky. Upshot was that we just wasted 1 hour there and didn't make it back to Mono Lake before the sun went down. And I may not be able to hike tomorrow.

The plan was to do the driving route from Mono Lake to Fish Camp and back today. Then do the Yosemite Valley tomorrow. I figured we'd get to the Fish Camp supercharger around 1 PM and then be back at Mono Lake around 5 PM. In reality, it was well past 7 PM when we made it back. The sun already set and there was no point in walking the access trail. I just took a few shots at the water's edge and then came back.

In retrospect, we should've stayed in Yosemite Lodge after doing the driving route. It was a lot of work coming back to Mammoth Lake and we'll have to drive back tomorrow morning bright and early. Staying in Yosemite Valley would've saved us total 5 hours and 200 miles. Plus not having to worry about parking. That would've been well worth the extra $150.

Mammoth Lakes, CA

The circle is now complete and it sure feels like coming home. We started with Death Valley, Beatty and Las Vegas and we closed the loop by coming back to Las Vegas, Beatty and finally Mammoth Lake via Death Valley. Nothing was forgotten, the memories only slept. And they all came rushing back. The bench across the street from the Stovepipe Well general store that I laid down to get some relief from fatigue was still there. The restroom line in the General Store. I remembered them like yesterday.

I didn't have to lie down and rest this time. I obviously am in a better shape than when I started. I lied down several times while recharging when we started. None on the return trip. So the Tesla Treatment must have worked. And yes, I recovered from the latest crash yesterday afternoon. I gulped down a large coffee and the sick fatigue lifted shortly. Dunno if it was coffee or it was time to recover after 3 days though.

Death Valley was about as hot as it was in April. Only hazier. (I didn't notice it first, but wife said so). Then we got to Mammoth Lakes and it was winter. And it is only about 100 miles away from Death Valley.

West is my home, no doubt. As much as I liked NYC I still felt like an outsider there. As we got closer to the West it felt more and more home. And now in CA, I'm in my own water. If I'm not settling back in SF, maybe I should find a small town in CA, say Lone Pine, and take refugee there. At least till the housing price settled back in the Bay Area.

Mesquite, NV, Day 5

Day 3 of the crash and I'm reduced to taking elevators to and from the room. I took a dip in the pool in the afternoon and then I was unable to take shower. I just collapsed on the bed after lunch. It's night and day. I descended 600 feet and then came back up in Bryce Canyon, and was just fine. Now, just walking up a few flights puts me in the doghouse.

Mesquite, NV, Day 4

It happened again; I settled in and I crashed. The day after we arrived here I took a day off to rest. And I was feeling fine the next day. My pace was over 100 steps/min and I was walking up and down the stairs. The day after, I wallowed in fatigue. Today, I'm feeling even worse and my pace dropped to 90.

The Navajo Loop hike in Bryce Canyon took me 600 feet down and back up. My fitbit even congratulated me for climbing 50 stories. The activities in the second day here was nothing compared to that. Yet it triggered crash. This just about confirms my suspicion that travelling raises the threshold and it collapses back when I settle in.

Does it collapse to a lower level than before the travel started? So far the answer seems to be yes. I struggled for almost 2 months after the Thanksgiving trip to Southern California last year. It wasn't as bad in NYC after the cross-country trip, but I still racked up 2 crashes in June. That's higher than 1 a month that I averaged before the trip.

We'll be back on the road on Sunday, so I won't have enough time in Mesquite to observe the settling effect. But I'm predicting that the threshold will go back up and I'll do just fine in Yosemite.  Then I'll observe the settling effect when I get to Central Valley or Bay Area.

Mesquite, NV

It must've been about 25 years since I've been to Zion national park and it has changed. The Scenic Drive used to run right through the Great Arch that formed semi-tunnel over the road. Now the road is way below it. Though it could be my memory that is faulty.  But I'm pretty sure the Virgin River was clear and I have a photo somewhere to prove it. Now it is cloudy.

Actually, I may have thrown away the photo album. I just couldn't handle packing when I was moving to Korea in 2010, and I left most of my belongings in a pile and just left. The apartment cleaned them up and charged me $50.

The lots were all full when we got to the Vistor's Center. But they had EV charging stations and I took advantage even though I had enough to get to St. George. I paid $5 and parked the car there all day. And I didn't have to stop at St. George to charge either.

We first went all the way to Temple Sinawava and hiked The Narrows. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel, so we had to do the important ones first. We  didn't go all the way up, but we did manage to go quite a bit up before turning around. I figure it was almost 2 miles round trip. After it, I was done. We took shuttle back to the Vistor's Center skipping the Emerald Pool and Zion Lodge.

So, that was hiking 2 days in a row. And I'm up writing the blog the next day. How is that even possible?

Panguitch, UT

Another moron pulled into 2B when my car was charging in 2A. A and B share the circuit and the charging power gets halved when both are in use. You'd think all Tesla driver know that. Yet I ran into these morons 2 days in a row. He moved his car when I pointed that out and he started chatting. He's apparently a Trump voter from Southern California. He railed all over about North Korea and China when he learned that I was originally from Korea.  Giving him a lesson about geopolitics  and the mainstream view was of no use -- he got more agitated. His Taiwanese wife probably doesn't care about politics or disrespect; just happy that she has made it to the West, like many Asian brides. The West is a status symbol to them.

Bryce Canyon is about 2 hours drive from Richfield and we got there around noon. I plugged the car in at Ruby's campground and we took shuttle to various points in Bryce Canyon. We got back after 6 PM, had buffet dinner at Best Western Ruby's Inn, and the car was good to go.

We did hike down Navajo trail as I planned. It's yet another sign of improvement that I'm less apprehensive about taking chance than when I started this trip. The loop was less than 2 miles, and we made it shorter by turning around at near the bottom. My legs were wobbly and I wasn't confident I could make the loop. It was my first hiking in 9 years. Nothing like 10 miles and 3000 feet elevation like I used to, but it did drop 600 feet. That's way more than a CFS patient should be able to handle.

The resting day in Salinas was a struggle. It's the same pattern: I travel, and the activity level goes up and yet I don't crash; I stop, and I pay the price. It's as if the stimulation of travelling temporarily lifts exertion threshold and then returns to normal when the stimulation is gone. The crash in Fancy Gap was probably the same thing. I thought it was caused by romping up and down the creek, but that  shouldn't have been enough to cause a crash. The crash probably happened even if I rested as soon as I arrived there, just like I now struggle when I rest from the trip.