The Forestdale Divide TYT 2009 - Day 7

There is something magical about spending an extended amount of time wandering through the backcountry. For me, it simplifies life to its most elemental form. What to eat, where to get water and where to sleep. Pretty simple really. The rest is just walking. Sure, sometimes the journey can be a little hard, but that's life. As Easty so perfectly put it, "It's not all Polemonium and Star Thistle".

Today would take us 23 miles as we continue on our trek to Lake Tahoe. I was really enjoying today knowing that everything I needed was right on my back. The Forestdale Divide is near the Kirkwood Ski area. Having snowboarded there before, I began to realize how relatively close to home we were getting. I could 'get my bearings' as to where we were. We passed many lakes today along the way as well as quite a few people.

At one point, Tam and Christi were a bit ahead of Easty and I. They had come upon a small group of hikers and were questioned as to where they were going and where they had spent the night.When they told the group that they had camped the night at Eagle Creek, one of the guys in the group tried to 'correct them', telling them that there is no way they had come that far so early in the day. It was not yet 11AM and they had done almost 11 miles already. "Two girls, no way". After realizing there was no way to convince this guy, they both just said "Have a nice day and you can ask our husbands when you see them." When Easty and I caught up to the girls and they told us the story, we just said "Get use to it." I can't tell you how many times Dave and I have been asked "You came from where???" "With THOSE packs???" Now we just laugh.

At one point today as we were walking along a ridge line overlooking Blue Lake I had a strange disconnected feeling. Here I was looking down on RVs and boats and blue coolers full of cold drinks and thinking that I was invisible to these people. They had absolutely no idea what I was doing or how far we had all walked. It was kind of strange to me. I'm not saying that a swim in the lake and a cold drink wouldn't have been nice but I would much prefer the trail.

Anyhow, after pressing past Lost Lakes and climbing up and over the Divide, we found a couple of small lakes which appeared to be unoccupied. They were very picturesque and inviting after 23 miles of hiking.

We set up our camp among some trees and after a refreshing cleaning up in the lake, we had dinner and shared some good laughs about the day and drifted off under the stars. Another perfect end to a day on the trail.

Goodbye Cows Hello Eagle TYT 2009 - Day 6

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Eagle creek that is. That is our proposed stopping point today. Knowing we have another twenty mile day ahead of us, Easty had us up at the crack of dawn. I got some hot water going for our tea and yerba mate as Tammy took down our shelter. We ate our Probar (Art's Original rocks!!!) and were on the trail nice and early. The theme lately seems to be to get half of our daily miles done before 'breakfast' while the temps are cool. Like I have said before, I really enjoy hiking in the morning. Things are so peaceful. We are getting stronger every day and we ticked off the first 10 miles by 11AM. Laying out our sheet of Tyvek, we have a backcountry brunch consisting of granola with powered soy milk and blueberries, a fruit leather and usually another bar. We passed a couple of beautiful lakes today heading towards Ebbett's Pass. I took a quick photo of Christi and Tammy by Asa Lake.

Next, we passed Noble Lake. Just before lunch we came to a high point where I could look back and see where we had been. It is always such an amazing feeling to me when I can see how far my own two legs have brought me.

Today it was windy ALL DAY. As we began our descent to Ebbett's Pass, we found a sheltered spot just off the trail where we enjoyed some Trader Joe' s peanut butter filled pretzels and a Primal Strip. Just as we came to the pass there was a good view Ebbett's Peak. Someone had climbed it and put up a giant flag pole and flag on top. The moon behind made for a nice photo. (Sorry about the blurriness).

We crossed the road at Ebbett's Pass and hiked the last 7 miles to Eagle Creek. We were at camp by 4PM. This gave us plenty of time to set up camp, wash up in the creek and have an early dinner. We have another big mileage day tomorrow so it's nice to get off our feet.

Cow Bells and Cow Pies TYT 2009 - Day 5

(click on any photo to enlarge)

The scenery on this trip has been so amazing. Today was no exception. We woke this morning to the rising sun lighting up the red rock of Sonora Peak. We haven't seen this type of rock before. It is much different from the grey granite we have been experiencing. It seems volcanic

Today will be our first 20+ mile day. We have all been getting use to walking the trail and are getting stronger so the mileage shouldn't pose any problems. Soon after leaving camp we began climbing up and over Sonora Peak. The morning light was just beautiful. From the pass, we could look back and far off in the distance, see the mountains over which we had crossed only days earlier. Quite astounding how far your own two feet can carry you!

We began descending down the back side of the pass into a canyon through which the East fork of the Carson River flows. Here again was the familiar granite we were accustomed to. I was taking my time working through the maze of rock and taking photos when I came upon a huge piece of granite that was in the shape of a perfect pyramid. So cool.

Later on when I met up with the gang Tammy asked me if I had seen the "Pyramid Rock". I said, "I sure did. I took some pictures of it". We had a little snack and continued down the trail, passing loads of wildflowers in every color imaginable.

Then we heard them. Off in the distance, but getting louder with every step. The ringing in our ears was not tinnitus but cowbells. Apparently, cattle are allowed to graze freely in this area. Each one had its own bell. The ringing of all the different pitched cowbells almost played a tune. The sound reminded me of when I was in Switzerland on a climbing trip. Every day the shepherds would walk their flocks through the streets of Zermatt. All the sheep wearing similar sounding bells. Seeing cows wandering through the woods made me smile.

However, the problem was, that with the cows came cow pies and with cow pies came polluted streams. When you spend any amount of time in the backcountry you rely on these streams for your drinking water. Not wanting to ingest any variety of lovely intestinal parasites we pressed on. We were planning on staying at Golden Canyon Creek for the evening but when we arrived at the creek, cows and cow pies were everywhere. BUMMER! So on we walked. Eventually we came to a pie free bluff where we could set up camp. It felt good to put our feet up after our first 20 mile day of the hike.

I watched the sun set, once again turning the hills a beautiful, peaceful orange color before I drifted off to sleep.

Solitudious TYT 2009 Day 4

(click on any photo to enlarge)

Yes, that's the word I used on the hike to describe this day. What a day it was! We got to spend most of the day above tree line as we traversed along the Sierra crest. The views were phenomenal. I found myself hollering out loud in delight.

We started the morning excited due to the fact that we were meeting a friend at Sorora Pass (todays end point) and he was bringing chips and salsa and some fresh fruit!!! On any multi-day hike it is so wonderful to have something fresh and non-dehydrated. Needless to say, we all had a spring in our step. Today we got rolling around 7AM. I love hiking in the morning, things are so peaceful and quiet.

Tammy and Christy were hard-charging this morning and Easty was hanging back a bit so I hiked solo for about an hour, stopping to take photos and enjoy the silent beauty of the day. We got to meander through more meadows on our way towards Kirkwood Pass.

We all joined back up just as we got above tree line and we could see the trail winding its way up to the pass. I think it is so cool when you can see the trail stretching out before you like a ribbon draped across the landscape.

Once we reached the pass,we could see the PCT continuing along the treeless crest on its way to Sonora Pass nearly 8 miles away. The landscape was such that it seemed we were walking on the surface of the moon and the views spread out before us were awe inspiring. We could see for miles in every direction.

We stopped for a lunch break and were enjoying the views. We were all commenting on how spectacular this particular day was. That's when I said how "Solitudious" I thought it was. Everyone got a good laugh. ( I still think it's a real word or at least it should be!). The landscape, the views and the scale of it all were very humbling.

Soon after lunch we came upon a snow field that we had to cross. It fell away quite steeply and I was wondering how Tammy might do. She just strolled right across it like it was no big deal. I was so proud of her. Easty turned to her and said, "Now you're a thru-hiker." Talking to Tam later about the event she said to me, "I didn't know I was supposed to be scared". Perfect! What a stud.

After getting to spend most of the day above 11,000ft we began the 3 mile descent down to Sonora Pass on Highway 108. A little bit of trivia, this is the highest paved road pass in the Sierra.

Tammy and I got to Sonora Pass to find Christy relaxing in the shade reading a book while Easty was doing a little reconnoitering (man, that's a fun word). Within minutes Kent showed up with our food drop for the next four days, but more importantly, chips, salsa and fresh peaches! And even more importantly, he was going to take our bear canisters (they are only mandatory in Yosemite). Getting rid of the infernal canister meant my pack would instantly become TWO POUNDS LIGHTER!!! Hooray!!!!! We all hung out at the picnic area, re-sorting and repacking our backpacks and inhaling all the snacks that Kent had brought for us (Many blessings Kent!)

We had a couple more miles of hiking to do in order to find a camp site for the evening so we said fair well to Kent and good riddance to our bear canisters. After about an hour of hiking we found a spot in some trees with room for a couple of shelters. We dropped our packs, set up camp and were all snoring before the sun went down. What a truly glorious, solitudious day!

A New Day TYT 2009 Day 3

(click on any photo to enlarge)
Today is a new day. After the brutal hike yesterday we all woke up a little tired and stiff. However, knowing that todays milage would be easier, we had a cup of hot tea and a Probar and were on the trail by 6:45. Peeler Lake this morning was beautiful. It was as smooth as glass.

Our early morning walk through the dew covered Kerrick Meadows was sooo peaceful. We found a spring near the trail and filled our water bladders before beginning our climb up and over Buckeye Pass. (This seemed to be our pattern this trip, adding weight to our packs before every climb?) After yesterdays passes, Buckeye seemed like a little bump in the landscape.

I love meadows and today we got to walk by, through and around several of them.

I was in heaven. Strolling through waist high grass and plenty of opportunities for wildflower photos. Just dreamy!!!

Today we rejoin the PCT and continue our journey along the West Fork of the Walker River. Todays 18 miles came and went. We got to camp at Walker Meadows in time to take a bath by the river and wash our clothes.

We are feeling much better about today. We all have a meal together, a little hot chocolate and it was "Lights Out".

The Hard Day TYT 2009 Day 2

Today was a hard day. It wasn't going to be the most miles we would do in a day but it was definitely the most climbing we would do. Our destination this day was Peeler Lake in the Hoover Wilderness 18 miles away. I had read and heard wonderful things about the area we were going to hike through today. The scenery was supposed to be superb. We also had two passes to go over today, both over 10,800 feet, the highest Tammy had ever been.We began the day again filled with excitement.

The hike up Matterhorn Canyon towards Burro Pass lived up to the hype, it was absolutely beautiful. Halfway up the canyon we stopped for a snack break near a stream and watched a Yosemite Search and Rescue team air lift a sick girl we had seen earlier this morning. They are truly Yosemite's finest.

As we continued up the Matterhorn canyon, we could see the Sawtooth range beginning to rise up over us. This is a remarkable collecting of peaks. We could see them off in the distance from Hwy 395 as we drove through Bridgeport CA on our way down to Yosemite a few days earlier. Now however, we were on the 'BACKSIDE" of them. Man, we had come a long way already! Tammy and I eventually made our way up and over Burro Pass, taking in the grand majesty of these granite spires and the far-reaching views.

We joined up with the Eastys for a lunch break in a beautiful high alpine meadow as the Sawtooth Range appeared to almost be falling down on us. The Eastys call this area "The Place". It certainly is.

As we wound our way up, down, around, through and over the next five miles to Mule pass (the second 10,000+ ft pass of the day), Tammy was beginning to wonder what she had signed up for. With some encouragement and a few hugs, she pressed on. I explained to her that EVERYONE was tired, not just her. Christi and Dave were a bit ahead of us and had left us a note at a trail junction with directions to Peeler Lake and some reassuring words. I told Tammy to keep going as I was going to stop and get some water for the both of us. Stopping anywhere in the Hoover Wilderness is a bad idea, a VERY BAD IDEA. In the short time it took to fill our water bladders, I was nearly eaten alive by mosquitoes. Easty had warned me about these bloodsuckers. He wasn't kidding. I rejoined Tammy and we made our snails pace climb up the last mile to Peeler Lake.

The Eastys had found two great campsites at the west end of the lake. They had their shelter set up but had waited for us for dinner. I really appreciated that. Christi helped Tam clean up as Dave and I cooked some dinner and talked about the day. We all ate dinner together and then fell into bed. The hard day was done.

The Journey Begins TYT 2009 Day 1

(click on any photo to enlarge)

We finally get to start walking! Todays hike will take us from Tuolomne Meadows to Miller Pond.

We woke this morning to the hustle and bustle of hikers getting their gear together to begin their hike south on the John Muir Trail. We on the other hand are heading northbound leaving the crowds far behind. This section of Yosemite sees far less people and yet contains some of the most beautiful parts of the entire park. Lucky us!!!!

Today on our hike, we saw Tuolomne Falls, walked our way past one of the Yosemite High Sierra camps, Glen Aulin where we had lunch and a quick foot soak in a nearby stream before continuing North on the PCT through Cold Canyon towards our final destination for the day.

After hiking about 19 miles we came upon a grassy area surrounding Miller Pond. The pond was going to make a quiet and beautiful campsite for our first night in the backcountry. Man, I love in out here!!

TYT 2009 The Drop-off

(click on any photo to enlarge)Well, the day is finally here. We have all been looking forward to this day for months. The day when we begin our Tahoe- Yosemite thru-hike. The journey will take us about 185 miles from Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park to the shores of Lake Tahoe at Meek's Bay. I am sooooo excited for this trip because Tammy will be going too. Easty, Christi and I have hiked together the past few summers and this year Tammy is going to join us. This will be her first long distance hike and I am so glad to be able to share the experience with her. Now we will all have stories to share. Saturday morning we got a ride south over Tioga Pass to Tuolomne Meadows where we dropped dropped off with our packs and a long trail in front of us. As our ride drove away, Tammy turned to me and said "Well I guess its real now." No turning back. Just our two legs to get us back home. We got our Wilderness Permits and found a campsite in the backpackers camp. We won't start walking until tomorrow so that means that we have a day to wander around Tuolomne. After we got our tents set up and all of our food safely locked in the bear lockers (Yosemite bears are notoriously smart and crafty) we headed off to go do some exploring.

After checking out Lembert Dome and the Tuolomne River we went to the store for some veggie burgers, fries and a cold drink, our last non-dehydrated meal for a while. Man, was it tasty. Filled with anticipation about the next ten days, we headed back to camp for a good nights rest. Our sleep was abruptly interrupted around 1 AM with campers banging pots and yelling "BEAR!!!". It seems that some yahoo left some of their food out instead of putting it in the bear box as instructed and the bear saw this as a good opportunity for some easy foraging. For the most part, black bears have no interest in humans, just their food. Having no door on the front of our tent I was able to watch as the bear walked five feet in front of our tent. She was a beautiful, chocolate brown color with a cinnamon back. She could have cared less about me. I giggled to myself, feeling grateful for the opportunity to see her and fell back to sleep with dreams of the trail filling my head.

One Down, Five To Go

We Got It !!!
(click on the photos to enlarge)

This summer, Dave Eastwood (my climbing compadre),and I are on a mission to climb six of California's 14,000 ft peaks, intermixed with our backpacking trek of the 185 mile Tahoe- Yosemite Trail with our wives. Most of the peaks are down in the southern Sierra but our first is Mount Shasta. Three weeks ago, Dave (Easty, as he will be known from now on) were able to get away from work for a day. We shot up to Shasta City for a midweek shot at the mountain but on that day Mother Nature shook her finger at us and said "Sorry, not today". Easty and I made it to nearly 13'000 feet, just above Red Banks, hiking in whiteout conditions for a lot of the time. It was hard to turn around since we were both feeling really strong. However, with only about 15 feet of visibility, we both knew that it was the smart thing to do.

So, on Tuesday the 23rd , we headed back to Shasta . We had both been watching the weather and it was looking great.

Sure enough, as we got closer to the mountain and could get a good shot of it from the car, we became more and more excited. We knew we had our work cut out for us. Shasta is one big mountain, and STEEP, but we knew that this time we had a real

good chance of standing on the summit. Now, we couldn't drive there fast enough.

We checked into out motel and headed down the street for an early dinner then to the natural foods market for some last minute snacks and then back to the room for an early 'lights out'.

Wednesday morning, the alarm went off at 2 AM. The sky was clear and the air was still. It was perfect for our alpine start. After quick breakfast of pop-tarts and a banana and we were off to the trailhead. Some final gear adjustments and and it was time to start the climb, leaving Bunny Flat at 3 AM. We both kept commenting how quiet it was. The sky was so clear and the stars were brilliant. The Milky Way was spread out overhead as far as we could see. What a great morning. As we made our trek up the mountain, we were amazed how much snow had melted since we were last here, only three weeks ago. Working our way up one of the drainages, it was nice to be carrying such light packs. The heaviest part of our load consisted of four liters of water supplemented with various Hammer products. The Easty 'Palisade' pack (the summit pack that Easty has been developing and making) that I was carrying is so comfortably I forget that I am even wearing it. Making good time we got to Helen Lake and were headed the steep slope of Avalanche Gulch well before the sun was hitting this side of the mountain. Pausing for a minute to look back down on the tents at Helen Lake we took some photos of the enormous shadow that Mount Shasta was casting on the landscape behind us. What a sight!

Easty and I continued to climb our way up the steep slope

s through one of the chimneys of Red Banks. After gaining the upper slopes above Red

Banks we were greeted by the warming rays of the sun. At nearly 13'000 ft, the air was quite cold and the warmth of the sun was much welcomed. Easty was so excited to get to the top he practically flew up "Misery Hill" and was on his way across the summit plateau toward the southwest face of the summit pinnacle. The wind had, for the first time, began to blow.

Walking across the summit snowfield, I stopped for a minute to look towards the now visible crater of Shastina and the Whitney Glacier (the longest glacier in California). I also caught a glimpse of some bubbling sulfur vents, reminding me that Shasta is indeed a volcano.

I continued my ascent up the final portion of the climb to join Easty who is now on the summit

pinnacle. As I round the summit's northwest side I am blasted by a fierce, howling wind that was threatening to knock me off my feet ( it was upwards of 70 mph). Easty had taken his self portrait and had found a slightly protected area behind a small rock outcropping just below the summit. Not wanting to literally be blown off the mountain, I got down on my hands and knees and crawled with my ice axe to the tiny summit for my self portrait. Its 8:35. Car to summit in 5 1/2 hours, not to shabby for 7,000 ft of elevation gain.

No lingering and taking in the views today. Way to sketchy in this wind. However, we did it. One summit under our belts. We began our long decent down Shasta, back to Bunny Flat and our car.

After nine long, hard hours of climbing we were safely back in "The Rocket" (Eastys black VW GTI ) headed for home. What a trip.

Next stop : the Sierra's (here we come Mt. Williamson)

Northern California Westy Trip

Tammy & I recently took our much loved road trip to the coast of Northern California and some of our favorite places along Highway 1. What a great time we had. The weather was super and people were almost non existent. Perfect! Our first couple of days were spent at Russian Gulch State Park just outside of Mendocino. The abalone divers were out in  full force on Saturday and the campground was full but once Sunday  came and everyone had to head back home for work on Monday we had the place to ourselves.

Moxie and Lola (our two Chihuahuas) were great travelers. They sure enjoyed all the new smells. Moxie in particular loved running on the sandy beaches. After browsing through some of the shops in Mendocino and having some good food at the Mendo Cafe, we were off to Manchester Beach SP. I love this beach. We got to the campground on Monday late afternoon. The weather here was a bit more typical of Northern California, a little cloudy with a cool ocean breeze. We hit the store in the town of Manchester for some fresh veggies and a pack of mint Newman-O's and then back to camp where we made Indian food and got in some good reading before hitting the sack. The next morning we had a little breakfast and then the four of us walked down to the beach to watch the waves and look for shells. We had the entire beach to ourselves for the two hours that we were down there. We didn't see one other person. After a nice relaxing morning, we packed up and headed to Salt Point SP. We spent a lot of time here walking along the high bluffs that looked over the crashing sea. Here we saw Harbor Seals and lots of deer in the grassy meadows. Moxie and Lola enjoyed their time here immensely. We said "goodbye" to the ocean and headed inland to our next campground, Samuel P. Taylor SP down near Point Reyes. We got a great campsite right on the creek. In fact, one of the campers who stays in this campground on a regular basis asked me how I was able to get this site. I guess reserving it three months in advance paid off. During the two days that we were here we got about ten miles of walking in with the dogs. Not bad for only having  three inch legs. Needless to say, we all slept quite well each night. Now, other than wanting to see the ocean and spend some time in Mendocino, we planned our road trip around a stop at Cafe Gratitude in Berkeley. Tam and I stumbled upon this place earlier this year and promised ourselves the we would come back. The restaurant in a raw food vegan sanctuary. All the dishes have names like 'I am Grateful', 'I am Blessed', 'I am Sensational'. When your food is brought to you the waiter/waitress serves it to you by saying "You are Blessed", "You are Sensational". A very special place. We always leave Cafe Gratitude feeling so wonderful not only because of the positive affirmations but because we just fed our bodies with organic, living food. On our drive from the Bay area back to home we both were feeling so great after such a wonderful week spent together.  

Are you ready ?

Well, here we go. I have decided to enter the bloggers world. I figured that this might be a good way to let y'all know what I'm up to. I try to keep up with the phone calls but sometimes I like to show pictures or send links and a blog just looks cooler than an email. Anyhoo, be on the lookout for a lot of variety since my interests vary greatly. Hope you enjoy.