Lloyd Lofthouse

I love hiking. My biggest challenges (for hiking) have been the week long hikes in the High Sierras (including the back country of Yosemite) sometimes reaching higher than 11,000 feet near the John Muir Trail. Heavy backpacks weighing as much as sixty pounds are a burden when climbing for miles with thousands of feet of elevation gain but when the pack comes off, you feel like you are on the moon and can fly.

Your fantastic photos brought all the memories back. Alas, I haven’t been on one of those memorable hikes since two of my hiking buddies died a few years back—both from different types of cancer. We had some great times in the high country slogging through hip deep snow at eleven thousand feet or sitting around campfires late at night swapping dirty jokes and laughing.