California is home to the largest trees on Earth, the giant sequoia.

Standing under these massive organisms, you can’t help but be filled with wonder at how something can be so old and so enormous, yet so graceful.

They’re not the tallest trees in the world (that distinction goes to the coast redwoods in Northern California and Southwestern Oregon) or the widest (that would be the Montezuma cypress in Mexico), but by volume, they are the biggest. And they can be visited at Sequoia National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, roughly five hours north of Southern California in the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

A winding mountain road snakes into the forest, leading to a place of perfect conditions for giant sequoias to thrive. These trees grow on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada between 4,000 and 8,000 feet in elevation.

The trees, also known as Sierra redwoods, once grew throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but today only about 73 groves survive in California, in an area about the size of Cleveland, according to Save the Redwoods League.

The largest by volume, the General Sherman tree, is just over 274 feet tall and 102 feet around, and is estimated to be 2,200 years old, according to the National Park Service.

Visitors wait in line to take the requisite selfie with General Sherman, but other magnificent sights abound at Sequoia National Park. The park boasts 40 giant sequoia groves, ranging from one to tens of thousands of trees per grove. The Giant Forest boasts more large sequoias than any other grove.

Hiking trails range from one- to two-hour hikes to full-day hikes and include not only the trees, but lush meadows, a climbable granite dome and historic sights. Moro Rock is one of many granite domes in the park. A climb up 350 concrete and stone steps, through sometimes narrow passages, can feel unnerving, but once above the trees’ canopy at the top, intrepid hikers are rewarded with stunning 360-degree views of the surrounding mountains and forests.

Crystal Cave, while not as easy to access, takes visitors back in geological time. Tickets must be purchased online in advance, and a slow, bumpy road leads to the parking lot. The park recommends allowing an hour to get to the parking lot from the Foothills Visitor Center entrance.

A steep half-mile trail takes you to a spider web gate, but once there, a naturalist leads a 50-minute tour of this marble cavern. Water runs underfoot and drips from the ceiling, continuing the process that has been going on for millions of years. The tour takes visitors about a half-mile into the three miles of known caverns.

The park has many other attractions, too. Among them:

Visitors can drive through Tunnel Log, which was carved out of a fallen sequoia in 1937. The tunnel is 17 feet wide and 8 feet high.
Tharp’s Log is a fallen sequoia named after Hale Tharp, the first non-Native American settler who in 1861 built a cabin in the trunk of a fallen sequoia. A bed, table and fireplace are all that’s left inside the burned-out tree trunk.
Big Stump Grove is a reminder of the fact that giant sequoias were not always protected. Logging reached its peak in the late 1800s, but the immense job of felling and processing the trees protected many of the more remote sequoias.
The Big Stump Loop Trail takes visitors past the remains of the giants. One of the biggest, known as the Mark Twain tree, was 16 feet in diameter when it was cut down in 1891. A cross-section of it went to the American Museum of Natural History. Today, visitors can climb a small staircase and walk on top of the stump.

Sequoia National Park was established on Sept. 25, 1890, and (after Yellowstone) is America’s second national park. It was established to protect the giant sequoia trees from logging, according to the National Park Service.

Protection of the new park fell to the U.S. Army until 1913, before the start of World War I, and the park appointed its first superintendent. In 1940, Kings Canyon National Park was established, and the two parks have been managed together ever since.

Today, more than 1.5 million people visit the parks each year.

Know before you go

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks

Free shuttles: nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/parktransit.htm

Crystal Cave: 2025 season continues through Sept. 7; $20, reservations at sequoiaparksconservancy.org/crystal-cave

Moro Rock: Accessed off Generals Highway or by shuttle bus

General Sherman tree: Accessed off Generals Highway or by shuttle bus

By Gretchen McKay, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Cooking creates all kinds of wonderful and comforting smells, whether it’s sugar cookies in the oven or a hearty stew on the stovetop. But for me in fall, there’s nothing quite like the smoky-sweet scent of Hatch chiles roasting over an open flame or the grates of a hot grill.

Related Articles

Recipe: Use leftover chicken to make this delicious soup

Recipe: Pumpkin and black bean quesadillas are a fall twist on a classic

Sugarcone cabbage a sweet, fresh take on one of the world’s oldest vegetables

A recipe for Fish Stick Panzanella from ‘The Blue Food Cookbook’ elevates a frozen staple

A new ‘Blue Food’ cookbook champions fish and other seafood for any meal

The aroma is intoxicating, so intense as it wafts through the air that you can almost taste it. And when you actually lay your hands on peppers that have been so blistered by heat that the skin slips off as easily as a too-big pair of mittens? Expect a rush of endorphins.

The seasonal delicacy adds a kick of flavor to so many different dishes — everything from stews and sauces to tamales, burritos, enchiladas and chile rellenos — it’s hard to know where to start.

I first encountered the long and skinny green pepper grown in New Mexico’s Hatch Valley during a trip to Santa Fe in 2010 for a food writers conference. After the gathering, my husband and I traveled to Albuquerque to do some hiking and cowboy boot shopping and get our fill of traditional New Mexico cuisine, which is an (often fiery) fusion of Spanish, Native American and Mexican ingredients and techniques.

Mild to spicy red and green chile peppers, including Pueblo, Anaheim and Chimayo chiles, are a defining ingredient in many regional dishes. But Hatch peppers — the term for any chile grown in the Hatch Valley — is by far the most popular variety.

It is the official state vegetable of New Mexico (even though chiles are actually a fruit) and the smoky, mouthwatering smell of them being roasted was designated the state’s official aroma in 2023.

As we wandered around the famed Rail Yards Market, we could see why. Our noses quickly caught a whiff of the pod-type chiles being roasted in large steel cylinder cages rotating over an open flame. It takes only a few minutes to char the tough skin and roast the meat inside to a buttery, rich flavor. But the smoky, pop corn-like aroma lingers and lingers.

We heard them, too. The chiles crackle, pop and then hiss as the skin blackens over the sizzling flame and begins to split as water inside the pepper turns to steam.

A signature flavor

Ranked No. 1 in chile production in the U.S., New Mexico grows about 3/4 of the country’s chile peppers. In 2023 alone, the state produced some 46,750 tons of Hatch and other chile peppers to the tune of around $41 million in sales. The vast majority — 88%— were harvested green.

Planted in April, Hatch chiles are harvested in August through mid- to late October. Many are picked while they are still immature and bright green but plenty are also allowed to turn red on the vine, which makes them spicier due to a higher concentration of capsaicin.

What makes Hatch chiles so special is the area’s unique climate and rich volcanic soil. The Hatch Valley sits so high in the mountains of southern New Mexico that it enjoys hot days, cool nights and lots of sunshine. That imparts the chiles with a distinctive bold and earthy flavor that can’t be replicated.

Both red and green chiles can be turned into salsa or a more blended sauce; whether you opt for red or green alone on top of your enchiladas or breakfast burrito, or go “Christmas” with a mix of both, is personal preference.

Locally, you can find New Mexican cuisine made with Hatch chiles at TacoCat on East Ohio Street on the North Side. Along with Hatch red and green salsas, Chef Chris Acosta’s menu includes green chile chicken and red chile pork tacos and burritos, and he also offers a green chile burger built with braised pork, egg and pickled veggies.

A Pittsburgher since his teens, Acosta grew up in Phoenix, Ariz., and spent summers at Gil’s, the restaurant in a former gas station his grandparents owned in Las Cruces, N.M. Gilbert started working in the fields of Hatch Valley when he was 6 years old so he knew every part of the Hatch chile growing process — from digging up the fields and planting the seeds to helping roast the peppers after harvest.

“That smell to me is wholly intoxicating, of tons of emotion, memory and ancestry, ” he says.

So when the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded and he needed reassurance everything would be OK, the chef asked himself: When was I most content?

“That would be a Sunday morning waking up in my grandma’s house and smelling that Hatch green chile as part of whatever she was cooking on that back cauldron,” he says, “and then her making me huevos con chorizo y papas [eggs with potatoes, chorizo and homemade tortillas]….

“That to me was love. And as we pass on these traditions to Pittsburgh, I think it equates very, very well with pierogies or Primanti Brothers sandwiches. We want to try to make [New Mexican cooking] as iconic as those food offerings here in Pittsburgh.”

Since he couldn’t find anyone local who was making the foods he’d grown up on, he decided to “package that love in between two corn tortillas,” and pass it on to people through New Mexican pop-ups. “Then they would feel that love and hopefully that would change their day,” he says.

The Hatch green chile means New Mexico, Acosta says, and New Mexico means hospitality.

“When you arrive in New Mexico, they ask you if you’re red or green. That’s how devout we are about these chiles…. It’s a part of everything we do. It’s indigenous, it’s deep-rooted. We were doing it before it was America.”

While canned and jarred chiles are fairly easy to find in most larger grocery stores, fresh Hatch chiles — which are low in calories and significantly higher in vitamin C than oranges — can be hard to find in Pittsburgh.

Freshly roasted chiles are tougher since Reyna Foods in the Strip District won’t be roasting them in a cage this year on Penn Avenue, as it has in the past. (The grocery still has a small selection of frozen Hatch chiles from 2024.)

Cooks who don’t mind a drive will find the peppers over the next few weeks at two specialty markets: Fresh Market in Mt. Lebanon ($2.49/pound) and Whole Foods ($4.99 for a 2-pound bag containing 11-13 peppers).

Or follow in the footsteps of my oldest sister, Kathy, who orders a bushel or two of fresh chiles along with bags of flash-frozen, chopped chiles, direct from the Hatch Valley.

My family is of German heritage, but Kathy lived in Denver for nearly 25 years before boomeranging back to Pittsburgh in 2001. She has been roasting and eating Hatch green chiles since her bartending days in the late 1970s, she says, because “they’re awesome.”

Nothing, in fact, is better in her opinion than digging into a bean burrito smothered in green sauce or wolfing down a Denver “Mexican” burger — a hamburger patty wrapped in a flour tortilla spread with refried beans and topped with green pork chile.

So since moving back East, she’s had the peppers shipped to her house in Emsworth each fall, first by friends, then by her son and for the last few years, through Hatch Chile Store.

This year, I asked for her to order me some, too, so I wouldn’t have to beg for a Tupperware container of her famed green chile sauce but could instead make it myself. Which is how on a recent Tuesday, I found myself spending the better part of an afternoon helping her roast two huge boxes of mild and medium chiles — 50 pounds in total — on a grill on her deck.

We had originally planned on canning the roasted peppers like you would tomatoes in a hot water bath for easy storage. Then I learned because chile peppers are a low-acid food, they have to be processed in a pressure canner so as to reach the high temperatures required to kill Clostridium botulinum spores. A pressure canner is the one kitchen appliance missing in my pantry because it’s scary.

So we took the easy way out and decided to freeze them instead.

How to roast

If you buy frozen Hatch chiles, there’s a good chance they will already be cooked, seeded and chopped. If you buy fresh, you’ll need to roast them not just to enhance their flavor, but to blister and loosen the pepper’s tough skin so they can be peeled.

Chances are you don’t have a large, rotating metal drum for charring chiles like you see in the Southwest. Me neither! But no worries — there are multiple ways to roast fresh chiles at home.

You can spear them as you would a marshmallow on a long-handled fork and heat them over a fire, or you can lay them directly on a gas stovetop, rotating them as the skin blisters. You also can place the pods on a baking sheet and stick them under the broiler, turning them frequently, until they’re blistered and blackened.

But the easiest method might be my sister’s method — fire up your charcoal or gas grill until it’s fairly hot, and place the peppers directly on the clean grill grates. Then, using tongs, carefully flip them regularly so the flames/heat hits all sides and they are evenly roasted.

However you proceed, the chiles should be placed in a plastic ziplock bag after they’re roasted to steam for a few minutes; once cooled, the skins should slip right off. If you plan on freezing them, don’t worry about peeling — the pods will easily peel when you’re ready to cook.

Also, be sure to wash each pod thoroughly to remove dirt or debris and pat them dry with a paper towel before beginning to ensure the skin blisters properly.

It wasn’t cheap to get our chiles from New Mexico, but considering how many bags we ended up with, it wasn’t all that expensive either: It cost $70 per bushel, plus $60 for shipping at hatch-green-chile.com. Another plus: we got to choose our heat level — one mild and one medium (but you also can order hot and extra-hot).

The Hatch Chile Store also sells the chiles already roasted and frozen, whole or chopped. They run from $11.25 to $15 per pound, depending on volume.

Hatch chiles also are available from Young Guns Chile in Hatch, N.M., at www.yghatchchile.com.

Hatch green chiles should be roasted within a few days of purchase. When packed into airtight containers or freezer bags in usable portions and placed in the freezer, they will retain their signature smoky flavor for several months.

They can be used in everything from sauces, appetizers and main courses like tacos and enchiladas to soups, stews and even baked goods.

Below, we offer four recipes that make the most of New Mexico’s signature green chile sauce.

Vegetarian Hatch Green Chile Sauce

PG tested

You can use either mild or hot chiles to make this flavorful condiment; if the heat catches your mouth on fire, reach not for water but for something sweet like honey or a bite of sour cream.

To make a chile sauce with meat, brown 1/2 pound ground pork or beef over medium heat in a skillet until all of the pink is gone, and add to the pot with the rest of the ingredients.

4 cups vegetable broth or water

2 cups chopped, roasted Hatch green chile

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 teaspoons minced white onion

1 clove garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

Additional salt and white pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients except cornstarch in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Reduce the mixture for 10-15 minutes. Add cornstarch mixture.

Reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for 5-10 minutes. The sauce should be thickened but quite pourable, with no taste of raw cornstarch.

The sauce keeps up to 5 days in the refrigerator, and freezes well. When reheating, add a little extra water if needed.

Makes about 5 cups.

— “The Rancho de Chimayo Cookbook: The Traditional Cooking of New Mexico” by Cheryl and Bill Jamison (Lyons Press, $24.95)

Hatch Green Chile with Pork

PG tested

This hearty, comforting dish is great for topping cheeseburgers for an extra kick of smoky flavor, smothering enchiladas and burritos and, of course, eating right out of the bowl with a warm tortilla for dipping. For a more assertive taste, substitute ground beef for the pork.

2 pounds ground pork

1/2 cup chopped onions, optional

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 14.5-ounces can roasted diced tomatoes

2 pounds chopped, roasted Hatch chiles (about 12 whole)

4 cups water

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Shredded Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese or crumbled queso fresco, for garnish

Chopped cilantro, for garnish

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, cook ground pork until it is no longer pink, about 7-8 minutes.

Add onions (if using) and garlic, and saute until the vegetables are soft. Push meat and veggies to the side, and use a fork to mix the flour into the grease in the pan, whisking well to combine.

Add diced tomatoes, chopped green chiles and 4 cups water. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.

Simmer chili uncovered for 30-60 minutes, or until thickened to your liking.

Ladle hot stew into bowls. Garnish with shredded cheese and cilantro if desired, and serve with warm flour tortillas for dipping.

Serves 8-10.

— Kathy Trent, Emsworth

Denver’s Famous “Mexican” Hamburger

PG tested

This wonderfully messy chile burger features a grilled burger smothered in refried beans, wrapped in a flour tortilla, and topped with pork green chile.

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper, or seasoned salt (your choice) to taste

1 pound ground beef

1 1/2 cups warmed refried beans

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

4 cups green chile sauce

4 10-inch flour tortillas

Shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes, for garnish

Crushed chicharrones, for garnish, optional

Preheat oven’s broiler.

Stir garlic powder, salt and pepper into ground beef. Shape into 4 1/4 -pound patties. Set aside until ready to fry.

Heat a cast-iron skillet until hot. Add patties without crowding. Season again and cook for approximately 2 1/2 minutes on each side.

Heat tortillas in a moist paper towel for 45 seconds, then place individually on oven-proof plates. Divide refried beans among the four tortillas.

Top with a burger and add a couple spoonfuls of green chile and shredded cheese. Fold over tortilla.

Cover with 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese. Place under broiler to melt cheese.

Remove and spoon green chile around entire plate. Take out and garnish with lettuce, tomatoes and crushed chicharrones.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

Huevos Rancheros

PG tested

This vegetarian Mexican breakfast is a hearty regional favorite any time of the day — even dinner. It comes together in minutes and can be served with refried beans and/or Spanish rice to make it a complete meal. So easy!

Vegetable or canola oil, for frying

6 5-inch corn tortillas

12 eggs

2 or 3 cups vegetarian green chile sauce (recipe follows)

Shredded lettuce and chopped tomato, for garnish

Refried beans or Spanish rice, optional sides

Optional garnishes: fresh cilantro leaves, thinly sliced jalapeno pepper and crumbled Cotija cheese

Arrange several layers of paper towels near the stove.

Add oil to a depth of 1/2 inch in a large skillet, and heat until it ripples.

With tongs, dip a tortilla into the hot oil and cook it until it is softened and pliable, a matter of seconds.

Remove tortilla immediately and drain it on the paper towels. (If you don’t act quickly, the tortilla will become crisp.)

Repeat with the rest of the tortillas, then pour out of the skillet all but enough oil to generously coat its surface. Reserve the extra oil.

Arrange each tortilla on a plate and set aside.

Place the skillet back on the stove and heat over low heat. Fry the eggs, 2 at a time, turning once the whites have set and the yolk has thickened.

Top each tortilla with two eggs, arranged side by side. Continue until all the eggs are fried, adding a bit of the reserved oil when the skillet becomes dry.

Pour 1/3 or 1/2 cup of green chile sauce over each serving. Garnish plates with lettuce and tomato and other desired toppings.

Serve with scoops of refried beans and Spanish rice, if desired.

Serves 6.

— adapted from “The Rancho de Chimayo Cookbook: The Traditional Cooking of New Mexico”

Smothered Burrito

PG tested

4 7- to 8-inch flour tortillas

4 cups refried beans, warmed

2 cups grated cheddar cheese, plus a little extra for filling, if desired

2 cups green chile sauce (vegetarian or with meat)

1 large tomato, diced

Shredded or chopped lettuce, for garnish

Wrap tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave them for 30-60 seconds to warm. Or, stack tortillas and wrap tightly in foil, and heat in 300-degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

Set oven to broil.

Assemble burritos: Place a warmed tortilla on a heatproof plate. Spoon about 1 cup refried beans down the center. If you like, add a little cheese.

Roll up the tortilla snugly around the filling, and place it seam side down on the plate. Repeat with remaining tortillas and beans.

Top each burrito with 1/2 cup of the chile sauce and 1/2 cup of cheese. Melt the cheese under the broiler, 1-2 minutes.

Remove from oven and garnish with lettuce and tomatoes.

Serves 4.

— Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette

©2025 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Scripps Research announced a new clinical trial Thursday that will assess the effectiveness of using drugs approved for diabetes treatment and weight loss to treat long COVID, the debilitating chronic condition diagnosed in an estimated 20 million Americans and about 400 million people worldwide.

Developed to help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar levels, these GLP-1 medications have generated billions of dollars in revenue for their ability to slow the pace of digestion and reduce appetite, helping millions worldwide lose weight.

But, as always happens with big pharma blockbusters, the research community is busy exploring other possible applications for this class of compounds, with clinical trials underway or forming in cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and obstructive sleep apnea.

And growing evidence of its anti-inflammation properties, notes Scripps computational biologist and study co-principal investigator Julia Vogel, has driven increasing interest in using GLP-1 drugs to treat at least some of long COVID’s myriad symptoms, which range from brain fog and difficulty breathing to fatigue and joint pain.

The trial, which seeks to enroll 1,000 long COVID patients nationwide, will explore how self-administration of tirzepatide, Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 agonist marketed as Mounjaro for diabetes treatment and Zepbound for weight loss, affects symptoms over a 12-month period.

“GLP-1 drugs have been found to do so many different things,” Vogel said. “They’ve helped with all kinds of immune conditions, in part by reducing inflammation, and we know that is an issue in long COVID.”

Desperate for therapies that work, the long COVID community has already begun experimenting with “microdosing” GLP-1 drugs, with a post made one year ago on the social news site Reddit entitled “Ozempic for Long Covid?” reporting anecdotal evidence of the drug helping some improve their symptoms. And the formal scientific community has taken note, with a formal discussion of GLP-1’s possibilities for long COVID occurring during a panel discussion at a scientific meeting on Sept. 12 and still available on YouTube.

“We’ve heard anecdotal reports of people who literally, on their first shot, just feel like their symptoms are just clearing like they didn’t even realize that they had so much anxiety until it was just gone,” Vogel said.

Given that there is currently no drug to treat long COVID despite more than $1 billion in spending on research by the federal government, the possibility that GLP-1 drugs are beneficial in this domain is extremely appealing. However, anecdotal evidence will never convince health insurance companies to cover such prescriptions, nor doctors to broadly write prescriptions without proof of efficacy. Those are the goals of the new Scripps Research study.

Dr. Eric Topol, the study’s co-principal investigator and a well-known Scripps vice president, noted that no trials to date, and there have been very few so far, have met the level of rigor that will be employed for the Long COVID Treatment Trial.

“There has still not been a large, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of a candidate drug,” Topol said. “That is what we have started this week with tirzepatide.”

Trial protocols call for half of the 1,000 participants to receive a placebo, inert doses that have no effect, rather than the active drug, creating a control group that is critical to obtaining scientifically valid results.

Scripps Research, he noted, has written many papers on long COVID since the pandemic. A paper that a team of researchers published in January 2023 titled “Long COVID: major findings, mechanisms and recommendations” that details how this lingering illness affects many different systems of the body has been particularly well received, with nearly 2 million views.

Vogel herself suffers long COVID fatigue so severe that the former distance runner was forced to begin using a wheelchair and leave San Diego, rejoining her extended family on the East Coast. It was seeing one of their own so severely affected by the condition, Topol said, that spurred a strong dedication to long COVID research.

“Julia was hit in early 2020, and her suffering and course led to our work to learn about the condition and seek a treatment,” Topol said in an email Thursday.

GLP-1 drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy from Novo Nordisk, are designed to be self-administered, with patients giving themselves shots once per week. This fact allowed the Scripps team to create a “digital” trial that mails supplies to participants rather than requiring them to travel to clinical sites as many trials do.

Participants, who must have medical documentation of long COVID, will receive four doses of tirzepatide in the mail, starting with lower concentrations of the active ingredient and increasing over six months to find each participant’s “optimal dose,” Vogel said.

“We ask them to report their weight and any side effects every week and then each month, before their next shipment, there’s a discussion with one of the study physicians about, ‘okay, are you still having any side effects?’” Vogel said. “If they’re still having any side effects, (the dose) does not go up.

“If they’re feeling better and they’re interested in going up, then they can, or they can just choose to stay where they are.”

Participants must regularly record their fatigue level using a special smartphone application so that researchers can understand how the drug affects this key measurement.

“We’re also going to be sending everyone a wearable (electronic monitor) so they will have this passive monitoring of their daily step count, their heart rate, heart rate variability, sleep, etc.,” Vogel said.

Fifty participants will be asked to go one step further, using a special device that can collect blood samples from the upper arm with the press of a button. These collections will allow deeper analysis of biomarkers and other factors that can be correlated with self-reported fatigue assessments and wearable data to provide a fuller picture of the biological effects of the drug.

In addition to a long COVID diagnosis, participants must be at least 18 years of age with internet access, a “fatigue severity scale score” of at least 36 and be willing to follow study protocols. Pregnant women are excluded due to the unknown potential risks of the drug to unborn babies. Those already taking tirzepatide, or any other GLP-1 drug, are also excluded, according to protocols posted on clinicaltrials.gov, as are those with certain medical conditions or medical histories that researchers have determined could confound results. Participants must also not be in the “underweight” category with a body mass index less than 18.5.

As co-principal investigator, Vogel is also barred from participating.

Is this bittersweet, given all that she has been through since she first started experiencing life-altering symptoms?

“I would not meet the eligibility criteria because I’m underweight, so I don’t mind at all,” Vogel said in an email Thursday. “My main feeling today is excitement about the potential to help people who are coping with the same illness that I am.

“Even if the drug does not decrease the symptom burden as we hope, we will learn a lot about its effects on people with Long COVID, and if it does help, I’ll be beyond thrilled.”

Lilly contributed the doses to the trial, which is funded by the Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid, a nonprofit organization created in 2023 by philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt.

More information on the trial is available at longcovid.scripps.edu.

By DAMIAN J. TROISE, Associated Press Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are holding relatively steady in morning trading on Wall Street Wednesday as more U.S. companies turn in their latest quarterly reports.

Related Articles

Young homebuyers lose more ground in housing market as states struggle to help

Pizza Hut’s parent company says it’s considering selling the chain

Trump administration and private investors sign off on $1.4 billion deal with rare earth startups

St. Paul-based home health care company to close, laying off 400 employees

Chrysler recalls 320,000 Jeep plug-in hybrids due to faulty battery that can catch fire

The S&P 500 rose 0.1%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 65 points, or 0.1%, as of 9:48 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%.

Companies from a broad spectrum of industries reported their latest financial results and gave updated forecasts.

Taser maker Axon Enterprise slumped 17.3% after forecasting weaker profits than analysts were expecting. Live Nation Entertainment fell 6.4% after its latest results fell short of analysts’ forecasts.

On the winning side, McDonald’s rose 3.1% after reporting that its sales benefited from the return of its popular Snack Wraps in the third quarter.

The latest round of earnings offers Wall Street a source of information on consumers, businesses and the economy that is otherwise lacking amid the government shutdown. Important monthly updates on inflation and employment have ceased, leaving investors, economists and the Federal Reserve without a fuller picture of the economy.

There are still several informative private economic updates that Wall Street can review.

A monthly report from ADP showed that private payrolls rose more than expected in October. The report offers a partial glimpse into the job market, which has been generally weakening and raising broader concerns about economic growth.

Treasury yields edged higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.12% from 4.09% late Tuesday.

European markets were mostly lower and Asian markets closed mostly lower.