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.