Limestone for COVID-19 Recovery

Limestone for COVID-19 Recovery (Near Las Vegas, NV)
Traction and Ison, Lucky Strike and Lone Joshua Tree, Seldom Seen and its Ridges.

I've methodically approached exercise since I came off supplemental oxygen in late January. COVID wracked my body; I lost 17 lbs, and I was lean to start. I'm still about 6 lbs low, mainly from weight lost off my legs. Ironically I was able to regain upper body strength rather quickly, with about 15 minutes per week of exercises. My lungs were hit hard by COVID, and I tasted blood during exercise for several weeks, and gasped a lot, even when spirometry put me at 128% of normal lung capacity.

I have done harder things lately, but the gentle limestone ridges helped most in my recovery; no super-early starts (in fact, I often start hikes after 10 AM), some scrambling, but a lot of careful walking.

Pics by Harlan W S & Jen C
Feb.-March 2021

Prologue: Blue Diamond Hill, limestone nearer home, for tests when I am recovering. 2x speed.The route up the front is steep, but since I climbed it using my hands just for balance, I guess you'd call it class 2. (ha ha). Click for 2x speed video.	Overview map of limestone ridges. Traction hike started off Cold Cr Road; Lucky Strike, we drove a bit up HC Lucky Strike Mine Road; for Seldom Seen I drove about 5 miles on HC powerline Rd from Lee Canyon. It is much easier to reach Seldom Seen from Lee Canyon Rd.	1) Ison and Traction. Jen arranged this nice trip. It was the socialization I needed, and I enjoyed looking for dog-capable ways for Gunner.
First up was Ison; Susan really wanted to try this peak as well, and Jen wisely decided we should do it 1st, rather than challenge Gunner at the the end of the day.	On top of Ison, View NE. I went a bit ahead to cairn the most doggable passes between cliff bands.	Willow peak in distance to SW
Jen (R) and Susan (L), who had guided Gunner.	Traction in the distance to ~S.
Jen's pic of me, as I look for the most doggable way down Ison		The S side of an intermediate lump on the ridge.
	The S side of another lump. I 1st went down the face, then went to right (E) side, and we found a doggable chute	Mummy (L), Charleston and Sisters (R)
On Traction	Gunner snuggles up to Barb, who had food. Jen at L, Dvora at R	Judy with Willow (L) and Wheeler (R) in back.
	It was very windy and cold
View back at the ledges. It doesn't look tough, but the doggable route was very convoluted. I enjoyed stretching my skills.		Ison in back of Dvora.
2) Lucky Strike (2x for me); this time we explored a peaklet Barb called "Lonely Joshua Tree"	The route up looks improbable; it's actually a class 2 chute that is initially hidden from view.	Barb at the top of chute
	The edge is actually better footing than the steep talus on sides, but is optional.	Sheep Mts in back
	The ladies make a comment on the wind. Lucky Strike in back (to N).
	Now we are on Lonely Joshua Tree; views were a bit disappointing. We considered dropping down the ridge at R... more on that later!
...this is the ridge from top of LJT... I'm glad we didn't try it.	A gentler view of the ascent route	3) Seldom Seen Peak. I had a 10:30AM start, and it was extremely windy, enough to knock me down on the ridge.
I started at R (W), and came down L. Seldom Seen is on skyline at L.	Over this little peaklet to start	The nice ridge never has more than 190' prominence relative to Seldom Seen, but has lots of drops of 50- 190' along the crest.
Packrat midden. This is an old one. They line the middens with vegetable matter, which is cemented with their dried urine.	View of Seldom Seen at L, SSE from the ridge.	Mummy in back.
Seldom Seen at L	Mummy at L, then Sisters, Macks at R; from summit Seldom Seen
	The wind was so incredible, I didn't dare try for another shot that included my head!	There was rain in the distance all around, and I headed down early to escape the brutal wind. One can see a nice feral horse path.
As always, a mylar balloon.	Heading down the Bajada, N to car.