photos by Carol Georgi

Dr. Nielsen and Dr. Georgi in the lab

This is rocket science.

The Thesis is complete.

Slainte! We passed!

My friend David Georgi leads guided hikes in San Luis Obispo County for the Sierra Club and the Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers. He is an avid Pole Walker and instructor in how to reduce the energy you use hiking by using poles that look similar to ski poles.

He invited me to join him for a hike to Point San Luis Lighthouse.  The lighthouse is on PG&E land housing an atomic power station near Avila Beach, CA. Due to security concerns you can only make the hike on guided tours and all participants have to be registered.

See http://www.sanluislighthouse.org/index.html for details.

The Saturday docent led hike starts at 9:00 am throughout the year. You meet at the Memorial for fishermen lost at sea next to the PG&E Power Station Gate in Avila Beach.

The hike is 1.3 miles one way and of moderate difficulty. Over half of our group was in their 50’s and 60’s. Bring a backpack with water and snacks. There are restrooms at Avila Harbor and at the lighthouse.

David lent me a pair of walking poles so I could try them out and we were off.

Right off we hiked up the hill. The steepest parts have stairs and there are a lot of them. Up and down. And we all quickly were out of breath. Most of us were not in good shape but we made it anyway. It took us an hour to reach the lighthouse.

The views were spectacular. The hillside was covered in native California vegetation with lots of old California Oaks. Our three docents told us about the history of Avila and the lighthouse during frequent breaks so we could catch our breath.

Avila Beach was sunny and in the 70’s when we left, but the lighthouse around the corner of Point San Luis was in the fog. It was in the lower 60’s, cold and windy. Bring a jacket.

Using the poles took a while to get used to but on the return trip from the lighthouse I had stopped thinking about it; it had become automatic. If you know how to do it you should be able to save 10-20% of your energy when hiking. You also fall less when you loose your footing on steep slopes. Four legs are better then two.

The Lighthouse was a work in progress. The Coast Guard stopped maintaining the lighthouse buildings when they went to unmanned automated electric lights in 1974 and the buildings deteriorated dramatically. In 1992, the Port San Luis Harbor District received the 30-acre site from the Federal Government with the requirement that the station be restored and opened to the public.

The Point San Luis Lighthouse Keepers non-profit corporation was formed in 1995 to take on the responsibility of restoring the lighthouse.

The members are all volunteers and dedicated to restoring the lighthouse to its original state in 1890. So far they have spent 8 years and 80,000 hours working on restoring the lighthouse and other buildings. It will probably take another 8 years to complete the work.

The lighthouse is in good shape. All the gross work of new roofs, stairs, removal of old paint and repainting has been done and period furnishing gives a good idea of the life of the lighthouse keepers family.

The original Fresnel lens has been restored and can be seen at the SLO County Library. It should be installed at the lighthouse next year in 2010.

The trip back went fast. It is predominantly down hill. We were back around 1 pm. The whole hike took 4 hours.

For 3 days after the hike I was very stiff in the morning when I woke up and every time I had been sitting down for more than an hour.

Even my shoulders hurt from working the poles.

For more info on pole walking or hiking in the Central Coast, go to David’s link http://www.csub.edu/~dgeorgi/_CurrentBU/sierraclub/index.htm

Last night Ben Duchek, the force behind the Las Vegas World Affairs Council (LVWAC), put together another powerful program to support his vision of connecting Las Vegans interested in foreign affairs with knowledgeable speakers and creating a forum of vibrant and relevant dialogue. The guest commentator was Dr. Phillip C. Saunders, a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies, speaking and answering questions about US-China relations, especially military, and the Far East Theater.

Dr. Saunders effortlessly gave a brilliant overview of current US-China relations without referring to notes. The review was thoughtful and penetrating, illuminating the thought process of Chinese and US officials on everything from trade to cultural exchange with special emphasis on the problem of Taiwan. A provocative question and answer period followed his informal talk. There was a sizeable contingent from Nellis Air Force Base in attendance who posed thoughtful questions revealing an impressive knowledge of Chinese military history, weapons systems and thinking.

While there are many areas of cooperation between China and the US such as trade, education and cultural exchange, and to some extent North Korea, there is sharp division in the military realm with focus on Taiwan. It is a dangerous balancing act with China consistently asserting its territorial claim on the island democracy and the US in staunt support of its independence.

Taiwan itself is an unpredictable factor in the standoff. The Chinese nationalists, who invaded the island in 1949 after defeat by Mao on the mainland, have ruled the island for decades. As they maintain that they are the rightful heirs of China, their position has been that Taiwan is part of China and have not pushed for a declaration of independence.

But the native Taiwanese have slowly taken their place in the government and military and are more supportive of independence, even though polls indicate that 80% of the population favors the status quo. That position probably stems not from their lack of desire of an island once and for all free of China, but more from prudence that open confrontation with China would be bad for business and possibly lead to war. Oddly, the people continue to elect presidents who represent the minority "independence" view.

So what would the US actually do if the Taiwanese government provokes China and declares independence? President Bush has stated we will defend the island. What would the Chinese actually do? Would China risk their incredible economic growth to annex the island militarily? For more in depth analysis see the Institute for National Strategic Studies website ndu.edu.

We met at the new Little Macau Ultra Tavern at 3939 Spring Mountain Rd in a comfortable side room with cozy sofas and warm red carpet. A full cash bar was accompanied by a delightful and tasty buffet of Chinese delicacies. Ben is king of finding just the right spots to host the LVWAC gatherings, just as he is king of finding just the right speakers to satisfy the needs of Las Vegans hungry for more face-to-face exposure to international culture and politics. To find out more about LVWAC visit lvwac.org.

Related Las Vegas World Affairs Council, Terry McAuliffe, Hillary and the LV World Affairs Countil