Went to Lake Siskiyou yesterday to swim with Friends

 I had brought my boogie board which allows me more easily into the water over rock covered underwater places at age 77. I also use a boogie board in Hawaii on whichever islands I am on for snorkeling so I don't drown at 77 years old. I attach the leash usually to my left wrist so it can't get away from me. also, in some ways a boogie board can also double as a walking stick if you hold the nose of the board in one hand and use it to stay balanced trying to climb over tree roots and rocks to get to the beaches of Lake Siskiyou there. Then when I walk out I usually wear Crocs (rubber sandals) so my feet aren't injured on any of the rocks walking into the water as to get even waist deep it is about 25 to 50 feet out from the beaches my friends and I like to swim from. Many people swim without floatation devices like I use but mostly they are in their teens to maybe 40 years old and not 77 like me.

Beautiful Day! And we went late enough in the day to where I didn't get sunburned like I thought I might. If you come to Mt. Shasta you really have to protect your eyes with good sunglasses (that is likely the most important) and then next wear sunblock to avoid serious sunburns over your face and arms and whatever other parts of your body you are going to expose to the sun this time of year.

And if you are climbing the mountain to the top and to summit you have to take many more precautions than this for eyes and skin and feet and your general metabolism.

A friend of mine tried to talk to an older man climbing Mt. Shasta out of climbing to the top because he sensed something was wrong and wound up this last week or so being the last person to see this man alive.

The problem is many people don't fully assess their abilities on that particular day right and then they die usually of exposure or falling rocks or them rolling down the mountain themselves from 12,000 feet or more.

Even this time of year you might need an Ice Axe and crampons for part of this climb if you go through any snow fields at all.