Yes I think the 64ers are certainly going to do their best to make it to 80 in terms of maintaining our mobility to get to trailless places such as Miter Basin. Some factors beyond our direct control may derail us, but I know I will try and I think the other 64ers will too. I know of a legendary geology professor, Art Sylvester (UCSB), who was still able to outhike young folks well into his 70s; prostate cancer got him this past year, but he was getting out to the field to the very end with use of a cane. The most mobile 80-year-old I ever saw was my old PhD advisor, the great Eldridge Moores. He had actually gone through a 5-year-plus period of dealing with Achilles tendinitis that had him hiking with trekking poles for a bit. But entering into his 80th year his Achilles wasn't barking at him and he he had mobility and agility that would put many youth to shame. Unfortunately, he became a victim of "Struck Down by Zeus", when the cabin he was staying in while leading a field trip caught fire in the wee hours of the morning of Oct 18, 2018 and he played the lead role in an involuntary Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene as other participants of this field trip (including me, as his co-leader) watched in horror. Whereas in his younger years, Eldridge's amazing agility was pretty much genetic (he didn't do much formal athletic training), I know that in his later years he was much more serious about strength and cardio training and was a regular gym goer. Who know how long he would have continued to be so agile and mobile, but Eldridge was pretty amazing at age 80.cgundersen wrote: ↑Wed Aug 30, 2023 8:35 am CAMERONM: I ran across my first confirmed 80-something in Miter basin earlier this month. Based on the commentary here, I'd not be surprised to hear that several of these 64-somethings are still going strong 16 years from now. 26 years from now may be a different story?
John: One of my geology pals has complained that it's hard to get geological research published in high impact journals unless it includes comparisons/contrasts with events/findings concerning celestial objects. That requirement seriously limits field work and almost certainly contributes to the decline you described. Still, Craig is a dyed-in-the-wool field guy and I admire him for that bias. Like all of us, he is continually making adjustments for the battering to which he has subjected his knees and back, but he loves getting into the mountains and deserts and still takes students whenever he can. As for Satchel & Nolan, they are legends on a very different field; great poem!
Ed: I've seen some amazing walking sticks (staffs) in Europe, but I'll have to do some experimenting when (and if) I decide to go that route. My suspicion is that I'd be prone to tripping over any extra gear, or that I'd forget to grab it after a rest stop.
Cameron
Difficulty getting field-based geology published? In geoscience journals, I'd say there is no barrier to publication of field-heavy research, except in subdiscipline specialty fields for which analytical data is paramount (petrology/geochemistry for example), in which case one must have some body of relevant analytical data for it to be appropriate for the journal. For general science journals such as Nature and Science, it isn't that you must have a celestial connection, but one needs analytical data or numerical modeling, or both. The analytical data may (be it in a subdiscipline-specific geoscience journal or general science journal) can span a wide range, including age dates (many different methods and systems), to whole rock geochemical data, to mineral geochemical data, or instrumentally-determined data on mineral orientations. Method development has played big the last decade and a half, too. New methods and technology tend to get more brownie points in higher academia than application (ie problem solving/discovery). The bottom line is that I haven't had too much trouble getting my field-intensive work published in high-visibility geoscience journals. The biggest issues I have had historically are with various "power clans" that want to shut those not in their group out of the game. This made things very difficult when I was younger, but I've become better at "finding a pass" (different journal) to get me to the rear of the barrier, rather than being Guan Yu and taking out the captains guarding the barrier.