Camp Sherman man makes epic trek

Camp Sherman resident Tom Landis and his friend Cal French stepped into the sea at Morro Bay, California on May 4, marking the culmination of an epic walking journey across the deserts and mountains of Southern California from the Colorado River to the Pacific.

Cal French, a 74-year-old environmental activist from Paso Robles, California, conceived the journey and invited Tom to accompany him. His rationale for the journey: "To show that someone can walk across the heart of California on public and conservancy land, avoiding roads and highways, over an area that still looks natural," he says. "And it is through this personal connection with the land, during a two-month journey, that we hope to highlight the necessity of preserving and protecting what wildness remains. If the habitats within this great wildness become cordoned off and isolated, they will eventually die of starvation."

Landis, 69, and French were both Sierra Club outing leaders in Southern California, a connection that led to a 30-year friendship.

The intrepid pair, who characterize themselves as "geezers," averaged almost 13 miles per day, lugging their heavy backpacks 530 miles in 42 hiking days. Cal's wife, Letty, met them at intervals to resupply them with food and water.

From the Colorado River, near Needles, California, they traversed the Mojave Desert in 24 days. Ten days into the trip, at Zzyzx, in the middle of the desert, Tom and Cal were met by Tom's wife, Madeleine, who backpacked with them for the next 300 miles. A sprained ankle prevented her from finishing out the last week of the trek.

Once across the desert they ascended the southernmost reaches of the Sierra Nevada to the Pacific Crest Trail and followed that route for 60 miles. They followed mountain trails and rough dirt roads through the Tehachapi Mountains and Transverse Ranges of Southern California, eschewing easy routes, sticking to the wildest terrain.

The hikers saw few people except where they crossed major roads. They saw condors soaring on high thermals, listened to coyotes howling at night, encountered rattlesnakes along their desert route and espied tracks of mountain lions and bear in the mountains. Wildflowers were beautiful and profuse along much of the route, both in the desert and in the mountains.

Weather turned out to be a major factor for the hikers. They encountered rain, high winds, stifling heat and biting cold in the desert. Temperatures ranged from a high of 95 to a low of 26. In the mountains more high winds, subfreezing nights, rain and even an ice storm were mitigated by the occasional pleasant day.

Landis, an avid backpacker better known for his swimming exploits, is proud of his hiking accomplishment, which he characterizes as "an epic grind." There were definitely good days and bad days. There were days when he was wondering, "What am I doing out here? At the start, I didn't think I would finish the whole thing," he says, "but I'm

glad I did."

At 69, Landis is in phenomenal physical shape, though he acknowledges that he takes longer to recover from his strenuous activities.

"I feel really strong," he said. "I feel as strong as I've ever felt -on a one-time basis... I just have to play with the edge of recovery."

Pushing himself in training is how Landis continues to pursue his passions - surfing, backpacking, and competitive swimming -at an elite level.

"There are things I like to do that require physical exertion and they require physical fitness," he says matter-of-factly.

Tom and Madeleine's summer hiking plans have them in California's High Sierra for two months this summer. And in the autumn, Tom plans to start serious swim training as he anticipates "aging up" into the 70-year age category of masters swimming.