Remembering the Bataan Death March--Honoring those Dead and Living

Looks like my friend Les Poitras and I will be going to New Mexico in March to participate in the Bataan Death March Memorial Hike, a 26-plus mile hike across the desert to honor the memory of the original Bataan Death March participants.

More details as they develop. Suffice it to say, Les and I have some serious training to do.

The Death March Memorial Hike website is http://www.bataanmarch.com/.



Men on the Bataan Death March, one of the most infamous mass war crimes against American soldiers in the Pacific in World War Two. Survivors will be at the march this March, and my plan is to conduct some interviews for my book Untold Valor: The Pacific

Labor Day Hike in the Wyoming Tetons

Table Rock is on the western side of the Teton Range, on far right. This was shot about nine or ten on the way up, facing the sun. Grand Teton is in the center right.

Looking down about two thousand feet below the summit--the flat farmlands of the Teton Valley below. The towns of Alta, Wyoming and Driggs, Idaho are just behind the mountain at center, about ten miles away.

Table Rock at center, above a rock field and a small but dazzling meadow of yellow grasses. Grand Teton just visible to the left of Table Rock. The summit is about fifty yards long and ten yards across. The last mile feels like it is straight up.

Today I went for a hike up Table Rock in the Grand Tetons. This 11,100 foot peak is accessed from the western side of the Tetons. It has a vertical gain of over 4,000 feet and when you get up to 11,000 feet I imagine people from the East or West coast are sucking serious air. The hike was over about 13.5 miles round-trip.

A small glacial lake several thousand feet below the summit. I think is is Solitude Lake.

I left Ammon, Idaho at 5:30 in the morning, started climbing a little after seven in the morning, summited about eleven or so, sat on top long enough to rest up, and went back down. Beautiful day, maybe a hundred people on the trail that I saw altogether in seven or eight hours. The oldest looked about eighty and the youngest less than one. And for the first time in three hikes, I did not see a bear, and this was just fine by me.

Even gimpy-kneed old guys can still make it to the top if they take their time.


Looking east, you can see the Jackson Hole Valley below the Tetons. This is from the summit.

A last look through the trees about four miles below. You can still see Table Rock in the center.

Table Rock looks like a giant doorknob. It is a little lower than the Grand Teton but so close you can see climbers on it. Below the summit I saw glacial lakes and craggy rocks. A good way to spend Labor Day. It took me almost as long to figure out my photo program after I got back, despite the fact that I've used it before. I must be losing my grip in my old age.

This flower had bloomed and was sending out parachute-like seeds into the sky.

A Few More Yellowstone Pictures

The map above shows our approximate hiking route in red.

My friend Roger had a much better digital than I did on our hike across the Central Yellowstone Plateau on Wednesday. He has a 12X Optical Zoom versus my 4X Digital Zoom, and consequently his pictures are better. Here is a second set of Yellowstone photos, taken by Roger Gottlob, fellow educator and future professional photographer, for your viewing pleasure.A black wolf trots nonchalently across a meadow on the eastern side of Mary Mountain. We watched him for about five minutes. He saw us, but was unconcerned by our presence. This wolf was about the size of an over-sized German Shepherd.

At the isolated patrol cabin, Mary's Lake. Heather Gottlob, Roger Gottlob, me.

A landscape shot in the Hayden Valley, showing the massive herd of buffalo we encountered on the way down. We had to detour to the left around a ridge to get past them.

Some people follow directions when asked to pose for a photo. Some do not.

On a ridge overlooking the Hayden Valley, the hiker is back in the good graces of his patient photographer.

A young Grizzly noses for grubs in a meadow at the extreme west end of the Hayden Valley. This grizzly was completely unfazed by human beings. Still, we kept a healthy distance.

Hiking Central Yellowstone Park Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning at five a.m. my friend Roger and his daughter are going to pick me up to drive to Yellowstone Park. We will be hiking the 21-mile Mary Mountain Trail across the center of Yellowstone Park. One of Roger's friends will pick us up at the far end and take us back to Roger's car.

Should be a fun, but long and probably somewhat tiring hike. It will be the first big test of my knee since surgery in March. I've logged about 200 miles jogging since then but no hikes of this distance.

I'll take lots of photos and post the best ones on this blog on Wednesday, assuming we don't become bear bait.

Here is a brief description of the trail from the Park website:

"MARY MOUNTAIN TRAIL

Trailhead: North of Alum Creek pullout, 4 miles south of Canyon Junction

Distance: 21 miles one way

Level of Difficulty: Moderately strenuous if you do the entire hike in one day

Mary Mountain has two trailheads: the eastern trail (noted above) climbs gradually up over Mary Mountain and the park's Central Plateau to the Nez Perce trailhead between Madison and Old Faithful. Elk and bison can sometimes be seen in the distant meadows. The trail through Hayden Valley is often difficult to follow as bison regularly knock down the trail markers. The western trailhead is a few hundred feet north of the Nez Perce Creek pullout. Mary Mountain makes for a long day hike, and you will need to have a vehicle awaiting you at the opposite trailhead. For shorter day hikes, the trail affords good opportunity to walk as far as you wish and then turn back. Be aware that Mary Mountain trail traverses grizzly territory, so look for posted signs concerning grizzly activity.

Photo Above: Bison traverse a meadow near the western end of the Mary Mountain trail. (Photo by Bruce Gourley)