I'm Alive....sore feet as expected, made it to the OR/WA line on the Columbia River, Sorry for not putting more updates in---access to a computer has been an issue. Saw some amazing sights and met cool people in OR....like 2 miles or so of obsidian fields (volcanic glass). Whole boulders of it! Anyway, There isn't much time, so I probably won't be able to update or upload photos until post-trip. Love you all, and thanks for caring enough to call to see if I was still around :)
Didn't make the mileage schedule---topped out at 35 miles in a day. Been averaging 25-30 with the pack on. Ok, signing out for now---off into the Cascades of WA.
:)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
7/30
At Seavy Pass this morning--gorgeous hidden lakes East of the "windless, pristine" pond on the trail 0.5 miles from the Pass Summitt...Several beautiful small benches on the way up with a great amount of greenery. Incredible views. Smoke seems to have blown over, so no more haze for awhile?
Finally there seemed to be very few .mil aircraft flying over last night for the first time in a couple hundred miles of designated wilderness and Park backcountry. Saw 15 shooting stars-clear clear night. Woke up around 2am-couldn't sleep for some reason, and reveled in watching the night sky play out it's scenes with great pleasure. Several deep canyons to descend and climb today---each 1500 to 2000 ft of climbing/descending at around 7-9k ASL.
Finally there seemed to be very few .mil aircraft flying over last night for the first time in a couple hundred miles of designated wilderness and Park backcountry. Saw 15 shooting stars-clear clear night. Woke up around 2am-couldn't sleep for some reason, and reveled in watching the night sky play out it's scenes with great pleasure. Several deep canyons to descend and climb today---each 1500 to 2000 ft of climbing/descending at around 7-9k ASL.
28 July
Sitting on a 5'x5' square rocktop 75' straight above Miller Lake surveying its glassy surface currently undisturbed by even the slightest hint of a breeze. Reflected perfectly in its mere, is a ridgeline and trees-a lone duck flies by, pinwheels over the lake and cruises off to the North with only the whirring sound of its wings fading in the distance and failing light to belie its presence. Soon I am left once again in perfect silence--the kind where you only hear your own ears, which sounds deafening in a peaceful way, until you are made aware of the chirp of a night bird, and one lonesome, searching quack in the far distance by the previously observed duck.
At the same time I've been in wonderment of the silence and silhouetted ridge, I've been absorbed in watching a beautiful little blacktail doe (sometimes considered a sub-species of the mule deer, but I think it is distinct-could be wrong on this). She is grazing, browsing in the grasses and sedges in the meadow about the shoreline, the small swail up about the direction of my camp, to the borders of the lodgepole, and back again. She stops every so often perfectly still with her hindquarters to the water, looking & listening to the occasional sound which grabs her attention. I watch her in wonder--her grace, and poise.
A sole bat take wing above the lake as the sun sets and light fades--again, there is no breeze. I can see bugs aplenty on the water's surface, but again, no fish. As it darkens fully, the silhouette of the trees and ridgeline are magnificent. The sky is clear of smoke for the first time in days.
My doe has disapeared from my sight--retreating to the safety of the trees..but not too far in I imagine. Amazing how she just melts away into the night air.
It is with a head and belly full of wonder and amazement, I shimmy down from my perch to the luxurious comfort of my sleeping place and waiting bag to cocoon and envelope me in juxtaposition to the rapidly cooling night air. It has been a good day.
At the same time I've been in wonderment of the silence and silhouetted ridge, I've been absorbed in watching a beautiful little blacktail doe (sometimes considered a sub-species of the mule deer, but I think it is distinct-could be wrong on this). She is grazing, browsing in the grasses and sedges in the meadow about the shoreline, the small swail up about the direction of my camp, to the borders of the lodgepole, and back again. She stops every so often perfectly still with her hindquarters to the water, looking & listening to the occasional sound which grabs her attention. I watch her in wonder--her grace, and poise.
A sole bat take wing above the lake as the sun sets and light fades--again, there is no breeze. I can see bugs aplenty on the water's surface, but again, no fish. As it darkens fully, the silhouette of the trees and ridgeline are magnificent. The sky is clear of smoke for the first time in days.
My doe has disapeared from my sight--retreating to the safety of the trees..but not too far in I imagine. Amazing how she just melts away into the night air.
It is with a head and belly full of wonder and amazement, I shimmy down from my perch to the luxurious comfort of my sleeping place and waiting bag to cocoon and envelope me in juxtaposition to the rapidly cooling night air. It has been a good day.
Tuolumne on North
Didn't get out of Tuolumne Meadows until around 3pm on the 27th of July...Traveled down the trail, and crossed the Tuolumne river at a series of glorious, cascading waterfalls. I couldn't resist the opportunity to take a quick swim in the paradise like pools as were a number of others--from hikers to stock users. Awesome...stayed in the water for what seemed like an eternity, until I tore myself away out of necessity to reach my destination well ahead of night fall-Would love to go back and hike the 'Grand Canyon' of the Tuolumne sometime along with a number of other High Sierra routes (Palisdes in part) . At Glen Aulin, sat around the fire some folks had going at the group fire pit (only the 2nd or 3rd fire I'd been around the whole trip), with some great folks from the Ventura area that were backpacking. I think I talked their ears off regaling them with various stories from the trail etc...They seemed interested--maybe it was just politeness :) Very nice people. Traded some black tea for a thermarest patch with a lady from the Bay area.
***RANT ON***
I hiked to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp (Please avoid if possible--it's bear central, and I found out why, even though I personnally had no problems), which is a place the concessionaires seem to use to abuse the wilderness with excessive amounts of stock and people who appear as if they just stepped out of their Mercedes or Lexus and haven't so much as perspired a drop getting there. All with the sanction of the Park- though none of the park staff I spoke with (6) had a single good thing to say about the concessionaires, and readily admitted to the destructive nature of the camps. I observed the clients running around noisily dropping food on the ground regardless of the hour, while wafting their perfumes through the air, without an apparent clue or care as to any courtesy for other users. Never mind the bellowing horn the concessionaires blow several times a day as a sort of meal call bell. Anyway, Left later in the morning the next day disgusted, but soon left it behind to never hopefully return.
**Rant Off**
I stopped for lunch mid-afternoon and enjoyed some home made chicken tortilla soup a backpacking family had pawned off on me (gladly so) as they had waaaaay too much food to carry out, and dad wanted to lighten his load.....best meal I've had so far on the trail. :) So good. Camped up above Miller Lake...told there are no fish there.
***RANT ON***
I hiked to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp (Please avoid if possible--it's bear central, and I found out why, even though I personnally had no problems), which is a place the concessionaires seem to use to abuse the wilderness with excessive amounts of stock and people who appear as if they just stepped out of their Mercedes or Lexus and haven't so much as perspired a drop getting there. All with the sanction of the Park- though none of the park staff I spoke with (6) had a single good thing to say about the concessionaires, and readily admitted to the destructive nature of the camps. I observed the clients running around noisily dropping food on the ground regardless of the hour, while wafting their perfumes through the air, without an apparent clue or care as to any courtesy for other users. Never mind the bellowing horn the concessionaires blow several times a day as a sort of meal call bell. Anyway, Left later in the morning the next day disgusted, but soon left it behind to never hopefully return.
**Rant Off**
I stopped for lunch mid-afternoon and enjoyed some home made chicken tortilla soup a backpacking family had pawned off on me (gladly so) as they had waaaaay too much food to carry out, and dad wanted to lighten his load.....best meal I've had so far on the trail. :) So good. Camped up above Miller Lake...told there are no fish there.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Yosemite...
So this observation is one that struck me hard---Yosemite Valley is L.A. in the woods. Period. Soooooo many people. I was glad to see El Cap, Half Dome, etc...but what struck me most were the traffic jams, literal hordes of people dressed in clean flashy city clothes, the ice cream :), and the heat. It may sound as if I am not getting a favorable impression of the Park--not so! I understood taking the bus down here that though I had to see what I hadn't before, that Y in the summer is a crowed (understatement) place>>>it's a fascinating social phenomenon---just not one I am prepared to endure for more than an afternoon at this point in time. :) I haven't camped around so many other people in one place since the fam reunion in Newport OR. I had a group of (good) guys invade my campsite as the place was otherwise full to capacity....bachelor party...no sleep. I felt like I was part of the poker game that went on until two in the morning...missed out on campground bears though (bummer) I guess they are like dogs here.Well Northward again tomorrow from Tuolumne...
All who leave comments...
If you leave a comment, and would like me to be able to return the favor, please leave your email or means of getting in touch, as I have no way to return your kind words--and they have been many....Thanks! :)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Photos of log books...
I included some pics of the log book pages from VVR and the BP sheep so you could get a taste of some of the things folks write in these books businesses and agencies keep along the trail...it's pretty neet, and a way of communicating at times.
Mileage Strategies past T-Meadows
Well, I'm in a crunch of sorts, and not sure if it will pan out, but I've come up with a mileage strategy to work up to once I make it to the Tahoe area...something to work up to if possible. I'm leaving the bulk of the high Sierra, and will be picking up mileage back to the 25 miles a day range, and hopefully beyond. Here's the strategy: 40, 40, 20, 30, 30, 20, zero. I don't know if my feet can take it, as I think they are the primary limfac in this plan...I'll weigh in with my progress in a few weeks to let you know how it's going...even a slightly less ambitious mileage program that I settle into would be great.
Lots O Mtn photos on Flickr---with captions
Did it---finally got somewhere I could upload the rest of the Eastern High Sierra photos I had...apologies for not editing or rotating a few...it was, as I've previously lamented, an arduous task what with varying speeds and fees of coffee shop internet access. Please check them out, the titles are often silly, and meant to be that way...but I think they give a little peek into the majestic grandeur of the the E. Sierra.
Well, off to soak in another epsom salt bath and get more K+ in me before hitting the trail again tomorrow with a FULL load.
Well, off to soak in another epsom salt bath and get more K+ in me before hitting the trail again tomorrow with a FULL load.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The JMT/PCT Wonders
I love the Cascades, I love the Rockies. The High Eastern Sierra is something altogether even more special I think....wow. Can't get over being awed with every turn, pass, falls, and new peak in view. Big stuff, So many high routes to explore...I feel like I have just whetted my appetite with a sampler platter.
The Suffering of the thru-hiking is real, but is certainly mitigated, and one feels refreshed just being in these mountains.
Seeing a lot of JMT (John Muir Trail) travelers-what a great trail! It's a great thing to do...a manageable 211 miles, and you get all of the best stuff. I think I would still want to do it from South to North though--more dramatic approaches to the passes, although a lot of people (most?) seem to go N to S and end up with the Whitney climb. Resupply appears to be at one of two places--Muir Trail Ranch, or VVR (Vermillion Valley Ranch). I went to both to check them out. The VVR experience is definitely more of one, Though MTR had a better hiker box selection of goodies (food other hikers don't want, or have too much of). MTR was near the Blayney (sp?) Hot Springs which was a fun wide river crossing and a simple 200 meter walk to a meadow and then plop in the springs....with the best swimming lake ever---reminded me of little Cavanaugh or Winters lakes back home in WA growing up---warm on the top 3 feet, enough so, you could spend all day swimming around and jumping off the cliffs or log. Great day.
Selden Pass was intimate--lots of exploring to be done, lakes, lots of fish, and NOT the easiest---Muir Pass was in my opinion the easiest. Muir was the biggest, but not steep, and certainly less difficult than the climbing from the MTR area...steep steep steep!
Met a number of very cool people.
Other hikers and my self have had some real issues with the mule pack trains along the JMT through the National Forest/John Muir Wilderness sections--not so much in the National Parks, because I suppose they know "homey don't play that"---and the parks have actually allocated funding for trail maintenance. It's a health hazard, disgusting, and even without the growing body of scientific evidence pointing to stock as the primary fecal coliform contaminator of our streams and lakes, stock have gotten a free pass for far too long, and need to at minimum, rake their offal to the edges of the trail to give it a chance to "fix" to the soil bacteria and be less of an eye and nose sore....the issue of passing stock destroying upwards of 10,000 dollars of trail work in one day, is another one entirely....a difficult issue. I'm not anti-equine, just for equity-especially on the JMT/PCT. Long involved discussion.
With the photo posting, I am about computered out---a full day spent. So apologies for a lame posting. Check out the photos on my flickr site
Onward and upward to N. CA and beyond...hopefully the 100+mile fire closed section of the PCT in N cali is opened up to hiking by the time I mosey up there.
The Suffering of the thru-hiking is real, but is certainly mitigated, and one feels refreshed just being in these mountains.
Seeing a lot of JMT (John Muir Trail) travelers-what a great trail! It's a great thing to do...a manageable 211 miles, and you get all of the best stuff. I think I would still want to do it from South to North though--more dramatic approaches to the passes, although a lot of people (most?) seem to go N to S and end up with the Whitney climb. Resupply appears to be at one of two places--Muir Trail Ranch, or VVR (Vermillion Valley Ranch). I went to both to check them out. The VVR experience is definitely more of one, Though MTR had a better hiker box selection of goodies (food other hikers don't want, or have too much of). MTR was near the Blayney (sp?) Hot Springs which was a fun wide river crossing and a simple 200 meter walk to a meadow and then plop in the springs....with the best swimming lake ever---reminded me of little Cavanaugh or Winters lakes back home in WA growing up---warm on the top 3 feet, enough so, you could spend all day swimming around and jumping off the cliffs or log. Great day.
Selden Pass was intimate--lots of exploring to be done, lakes, lots of fish, and NOT the easiest---Muir Pass was in my opinion the easiest. Muir was the biggest, but not steep, and certainly less difficult than the climbing from the MTR area...steep steep steep!
Met a number of very cool people.
Other hikers and my self have had some real issues with the mule pack trains along the JMT through the National Forest/John Muir Wilderness sections--not so much in the National Parks, because I suppose they know "homey don't play that"---and the parks have actually allocated funding for trail maintenance. It's a health hazard, disgusting, and even without the growing body of scientific evidence pointing to stock as the primary fecal coliform contaminator of our streams and lakes, stock have gotten a free pass for far too long, and need to at minimum, rake their offal to the edges of the trail to give it a chance to "fix" to the soil bacteria and be less of an eye and nose sore....the issue of passing stock destroying upwards of 10,000 dollars of trail work in one day, is another one entirely....a difficult issue. I'm not anti-equine, just for equity-especially on the JMT/PCT. Long involved discussion.
With the photo posting, I am about computered out---a full day spent. So apologies for a lame posting. Check out the photos on my flickr site
Onward and upward to N. CA and beyond...hopefully the 100+mile fire closed section of the PCT in N cali is opened up to hiking by the time I mosey up there.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Mile 906
New batch O photos uploaded to my flickr with descriptions....takes an enormous amount of time to do...hopefully I'll get more done tomorrow with some substantive posts...I have mustard all over my hiking shirt from the burger at Red's Meadow's because I was evidently VERY eager to eat real food along with my PCT friends.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Epic
Traveled through the initial parts of the High Sierra with great wonder and relief to finally be in "real" mountains...familiar subalpine with frequent creeks and lakes. The refreshing scents of pine wafting on the warm breeze wafting up from lower, more sweltering elevations. The mountains are certainly home to me....though one cannot always stay there as the act of me writing this post attests---we have to live in the valley, but you have to climb the mountain to find your way back home-to express the simple Truth spoken and written by countless people before me for thousands of years.
Hiking beyond the Whitney Portal junction and merging the PCT with the JMT(John Muir Trail), I began to see more what appeared to be like terrain I was familiar with in Colorado. In fact, there is a 'notch' in a ridge at 13k ASL that is eerily way too similar to a 'notch' I've guided clients over on trips in CO (for those that know, I'm referring to the Waterloo Gulch crossing into the South Fork Clear Creek drainage). Bizarre. Anywho, I had run into a couple of cool dudes the night before that I ended up hiking with for a couple of days. We approached Forester Pass (13,200), hiking a typical alpine meander through and around various snowfields following a cairn or rock duck now and again. I kept looking up at this familiar notch, and knowing that the nearly vertical chute several hundred meters to the West of it was, according to the map, our pass....but there was just no way this positively nasty couloir and legitimate mountaineering route(as opposed to backpacking trail) could be the way for us to go...I was confused, but I pressed on scanning the vertical rock face ahead for any signs of human activity...there was none I could detect from my current position. Once at the base of this thing, we began ascending an endless series of switchbacks that are, in places, literally cut out of the face that appears nearly flawless from a less lofter perch. up, up, up we went, and I more in awe of the feat of human engineering and growing sense in my wonderful imagination that this scene could have easily come straight out of Tolkien's Sillmarillion--The Fall of Gondolin, or the Hidden Way....something fantastical and almost so incredible it was hard to believe it was actually real, though it definitely was VERY real. It was like a puzzle unfolding it's solutions to its problems with each successive series of steps and scrambles up some of the more occluded slopes(I could definitely see why, in a heavy snow year, or early season climb why one would wish to have an ice axe on this pass)...I'll post pics of the area in a couple of weeks when I am able to upload to the flickr page.
Once through the tiny cleft in this lofty and precipitous ridge of knife-like granite pinnacles and gendarmes, we descended on fairly significant snow fields softened by the afternoon sun---not ideal conditions to do so, but it went well, and saw, curiously enough, large cat tracks in the snow. There were a lot of sun cups, and in places small sections of Nieve Penitentes (grown up sun cups)....bathed briefly in Bubbs creek (Crazy COLD, but refreshing--one of my traveling companions is an experienced cold water swimmer, and lounged in the cascade of a falls like it was a hot springs for probably ten minutes with no sign that it might have been frigid--amazing). East Vidette Peak to the West rises on a vertical smooth granite slab for a sheer 1500 feet minimum with an almost impenetrable North ridge....I almost tripped several times gaping at it's sweeping East face.
Hiked 20 miles even that day to the East end of Bullfrog lake...was wiped out. Hiked out Kearsarge Pass the next morning to resupply in Independence.
Hiking beyond the Whitney Portal junction and merging the PCT with the JMT(John Muir Trail), I began to see more what appeared to be like terrain I was familiar with in Colorado. In fact, there is a 'notch' in a ridge at 13k ASL that is eerily way too similar to a 'notch' I've guided clients over on trips in CO (for those that know, I'm referring to the Waterloo Gulch crossing into the South Fork Clear Creek drainage). Bizarre. Anywho, I had run into a couple of cool dudes the night before that I ended up hiking with for a couple of days. We approached Forester Pass (13,200), hiking a typical alpine meander through and around various snowfields following a cairn or rock duck now and again. I kept looking up at this familiar notch, and knowing that the nearly vertical chute several hundred meters to the West of it was, according to the map, our pass....but there was just no way this positively nasty couloir and legitimate mountaineering route(as opposed to backpacking trail) could be the way for us to go...I was confused, but I pressed on scanning the vertical rock face ahead for any signs of human activity...there was none I could detect from my current position. Once at the base of this thing, we began ascending an endless series of switchbacks that are, in places, literally cut out of the face that appears nearly flawless from a less lofter perch. up, up, up we went, and I more in awe of the feat of human engineering and growing sense in my wonderful imagination that this scene could have easily come straight out of Tolkien's Sillmarillion--The Fall of Gondolin, or the Hidden Way....something fantastical and almost so incredible it was hard to believe it was actually real, though it definitely was VERY real. It was like a puzzle unfolding it's solutions to its problems with each successive series of steps and scrambles up some of the more occluded slopes(I could definitely see why, in a heavy snow year, or early season climb why one would wish to have an ice axe on this pass)...I'll post pics of the area in a couple of weeks when I am able to upload to the flickr page.
Once through the tiny cleft in this lofty and precipitous ridge of knife-like granite pinnacles and gendarmes, we descended on fairly significant snow fields softened by the afternoon sun---not ideal conditions to do so, but it went well, and saw, curiously enough, large cat tracks in the snow. There were a lot of sun cups, and in places small sections of Nieve Penitentes (grown up sun cups)....bathed briefly in Bubbs creek (Crazy COLD, but refreshing--one of my traveling companions is an experienced cold water swimmer, and lounged in the cascade of a falls like it was a hot springs for probably ten minutes with no sign that it might have been frigid--amazing). East Vidette Peak to the West rises on a vertical smooth granite slab for a sheer 1500 feet minimum with an almost impenetrable North ridge....I almost tripped several times gaping at it's sweeping East face.
Hiked 20 miles even that day to the East end of Bullfrog lake...was wiped out. Hiked out Kearsarge Pass the next morning to resupply in Independence.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
High Sierra pics from today
Saw a huge smoke plume go up this morning back towards KM where I came from--hope the other hikers were able to get on the trail and not get stuck there longer. Glad I was able to beat feet and make a dash for it with a few others. Wind has kicked up significantly, walking through mainly alternating foxtail and lodgepole pine stands amongst the growing granite domes of the Sierra as I hike North. Gorgeous.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Blister improvement
So, with the changes in insoles, sock liners, and more frequent shoes off rests, I was still having the recurring problem of the massive all encompassing blisters on my little toes. Well, I think I've found a solution that works for me with what I have. Desitin. Yep, plain old diaper rash type of stuff...just a little dab between the toes to decrease the friction. Seems to be working so far. I just posted a current pic for posterity
High Sierra
Well, right now I'm at 10,500 ft ASL overlooking a dry lakebed at least a mile below...and cell service is available on this ridge crest. Saw my first sequoia tree today up high--beautiful. It seems the predominant species up here are the lodgepole and foxtail in this spot-the lodgepole grow a lot bigger here than in CO. One nice thing the past two days has been the change in frequency of water crossings...creeks everywhere--yeehaa! Was passed today by the legendary PCT hiker Scott Williamson (done it 11 times) and a fella named Joe who is trying to break his own 'unsupported' record of somewhere around 80 days....the supported record holder is Dave Horton in 66 days (he had two teams of people meeting him and massaging his feet each night). Both incredible feets, but very different approaches to the trail.
So...the pack is heavier with the addition of the dreaded 'bear vault'...a necessary burden in CA I understand (big fines for not having it). Alright, I'd better get a move-on, daylight is burning fast
So...the pack is heavier with the addition of the dreaded 'bear vault'...a necessary burden in CA I understand (big fines for not having it). Alright, I'd better get a move-on, daylight is burning fast
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Mileage Summary
So...at 700 miles up the trail now...heading out for the high Sierra tomorrow. Mileage summary is woefully in need of updating....excited to have water sources in more frequent intervals than 20 to 35 miles....The weather will be cooler as the altitude increases which is a welcome change. The trail is closed North of Kennedy Meadows still because of the Clover Fire. Hitching a ride up and around the fire so I can get moving again. For now, that is all. :)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Wind farm from a Sci Fi novel
Our little band, while back in the Tehachapi Mtns were fortunate to be 'slack packing' a good deal of distance. One of the sections was an 8 mile stretch between Willow Springs road and hwy 58---dripping in moonlight. Also there was a great bulk of wind generators (part of a 6,000 generator farm....6,000! (most are 250kw, but a growing number, and the bulk of those were in this short section, are the new, bigger 1 and even 2MW generators....the one's with the 60 foot blades). I joked that these actually generate the wind we feel across the country, not power.
So, it was a surreal experience---hiking directly beneath some of these gigantic windmills...the shadows of the blades in the moonwash would swish past every half second or so creating an effect of being on another planet or fantastical reality of a science fiction novel....so amazing, and weird. The wind was such, that we were constantly being buffetted about, and would have fallen if not for our trekking poles. Standing immediately beneath on of the big generators, I could see that the blades were flexing as much as 10 feet or more back---impressive in the force of the wind, and the strength of whatever composites these things are made of. Vestas is one large French owned company that manufactures much of these parts and has indeed just opened up a new plant near Ft. Collins, CO
So, it was a surreal experience---hiking directly beneath some of these gigantic windmills...the shadows of the blades in the moonwash would swish past every half second or so creating an effect of being on another planet or fantastical reality of a science fiction novel....so amazing, and weird. The wind was such, that we were constantly being buffetted about, and would have fallen if not for our trekking poles. Standing immediately beneath on of the big generators, I could see that the blades were flexing as much as 10 feet or more back---impressive in the force of the wind, and the strength of whatever composites these things are made of. Vestas is one large French owned company that manufactures much of these parts and has indeed just opened up a new plant near Ft. Collins, CO
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