I started hiking as a Boy Scout when I was 11 years old. I am now 68 and retired. When I was in my teens and early 20's, I hiked a lot in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, near Highway 50. I moved to the Northwest in my 30's and began hiking in the Cascades. At age 40 I started technical mountain climbing. I was a climb leader and a scramble leader for the Mountaineers for several years. For the last few years I have not been doing any technical climbing and very few scrambles. I like to hike with friends, but often hike alone.