Alone, I scrambled to the top of Mt. Whitney, by way of the mountaineers route, a gully filled with terrible scree and no discernible path. Winded by the altitude and encumbered by a headache either caused by lack of oxygen or dehydration, I arrived at a notch a few hundred feet from the top. I caught my breath and then began a class-four climb up a steep face of large, broken rock, partially covered in ice.

I arrived at the top of Mt. Whitney, at 14,494 feet—the highest point in the lower 48 states—in just two hours after parting ways with my brother, Matt, and his two clients, who climbed the East Buttress. I spent the next four hours peering over the ledge looking for the sight of them. Finally, they appeared.

The day before, at our base camp five thousand feet below, Matt and I joked that you haven’t lived until you plunged into a 40 degree lake at 10 thousand feet, which we both did. (Imagine being a single beer in a cooler filled to the brim in ice.)

After he and his clients got to the top, I climbed 10 feet over the edge and under some rocks so that I was out of view, and took a dump into a large plastic bag provided by the forest service. The leave-no-trace policy for the park included poop. You haven’t live till you’ve taken a dump at 14 thousand feet, looking out on the mountains and valleys below, packaged it up, and then hauled it back down the mountain with you.

It was also great to get away from the computer for a few days.

I flew back from Baltimore today after day long days with a client. On the plane I read half of Everyware by Adam Greenfield, which I’m finding quite intriguing.

I found myself highlighting lots of text and using post-its jot to down ideas and bookmark pages for potential blog topics.

Also, I kept putting ubiquitous computing in context with an essay I’m writing for Adaptive Path (originally I said it would be about emotion, but I changed it). I’m not going to say what my current topic is because I’m not sure. But I do have 600 words!

For the next few days I’m living in the apartment of one of my coworkers. She and her boyfriend are fortunately house sitting. So I’m kind of house sitting their place, since my lease ended on July 31.

I’ve got two more days at Adaptive Path. Then I’m heading by train and bus to Yosemite, where my sister-in-law will pick me up and take me to Mammoth Lakes to stay with her and my brother, Matt, for a week. Matt’s working this weekend (rock climbing guide), which is why he can’t pick me up.

He and I may do an extended outdoors trip. I told him to plan something.

Then, on August 11, I fly back to Pittsburgh from Reno. On August 12, I’m driving to DC for UX Week, where I’ll hook up with the AP folks again.

I should be back in the burgh for good on August 17 (unless I head to Charlottesville, Virginia, where my youngest brother Jeff will have just moved).