TYT 2009 Day 1 Tuolomne Meadows to Miller Pond

(click on any photo to enlarge) And they're off! This is some beautiful country. I was unsure if this hike would measure up to our previous years JMT hikes. The JMT winds through the true High Sierra and visits some of my favorite places on earth. So when we started today I was kind of wishing we were heading South. After about two hours I was set straight. The Northeastern part of Yosemite National Park is crazy beautiful and seldom seen by most people.We came to Tuolomne Falls and Glen Aulin Camp after a few hours of hiking. Glen Aulin is one of the six Yosemite High Sierra Camps. We didn't hang out too long as we had miles to do. After passing Glen Aulin we continued North on the PCT heading up Cold Canyon. The sights were just amazing. Our destination for the day was supposed to be Miller Lake. After 19 miles of hiking we came to what we thought was Miller Lake, found a great campsite and did our evening chores. We ate our dinner and snuggled into our down cocoons for our first night in the backcountry. It was VERY quiet!

TYT 2009 Arrival Day

(click on any photo to enlarge) WOW! Departure day is finally here! Our goal this year is to complete the Tahoe - Yosemite Trail. This trail is roughly 180 miles and connects Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite National Park to Meeks Bay on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. On Saturday, our friend Brian drove us up and over Tioga Pass to Tuolomne Meadows to obtain our Wilderness Permits. Our plan was to stay in the backpackers campground and leave early on Sunday morning. We got our permits and Brian drove away leaving us with just our packs and 10 days of walking ahead of us. We secured a spot in the backpackers campground and walked to the store to get some snacks for our last evening in civilization. When we returned to our camp we found the campground completely packed with all the John Muir Trail hikers that we starting the next day for a Southbound hike to Whitney. We were the only hikers heading North on the Pacific Crest Trail. I knew that if we were going to see any bears, it would be at this campground. Sure enough as I was walking down to the Lyell Fork to take some photos, I saw a blackie walking in the trees on the edge of the campground. She was just waiting for some lazy camper to leave their ice chest unattended for a split second. The Yosemite bear is the crafty-est, smartest bear you will ever meet. We ate our dinner and put all of our food and smelly items in the bear box and settled into our bags for some sleep. At about 1:00am we awoke to the all to familiar sound of campers banging on pots or yelling 'BEAR'! Then you hear the bear go from campsite to campsite to see if anyone was dumb enough to leave anything smelly outside of the bear boxes. Inevitably, the bear finds something and the camper freaks out and starts yelling or banging. It doesn't make for a good nights sleep. Luckily tomorrow night we'll be all alone in the back country. 180 miles in 10 days - what a relaxing vacation!

Mt Williamson

(click on any photo to enlarge) The next peak on my quest to climb the California 14ers was Mt Williamson. Mt Williamson is the second highest peak in California and the 5th highest peak in the continental United States. Williamson is only 120 ft lower than Mt Whitney and much more difficult to climb, even by the easiest route, therefore it sees fewer climbers. Williamson also lies within the Bighorn Sheep Zoological Preserve and is closed from July 15 to December 15. Permits to climb the mountain are very hard to get and must be attained months in advance. Luckily my OCD tendencies paid off for once and I applied for and received a permit in February. (Be careful what you wish for, cuz you just might get it) So on Tuesday morning me and my climbing partners Gregor and Funk drove south on 395 to the sprawling metropolis of Independence. Our departure point was the Shepherds Pass Trailhead. We left the car and headed up the canyon for the 11 mile, 6000 ft climb to Shepherds Pass. After about 6 hours we settled in at a campsite just below the pass at about 11,500ft, ate some dinner and tried to get some sleep before our big day on Wednesday. I felt crappy and to top it off I punctured my thermarest and ended up sleeping on the cold, hard ground. I woke up less than chipper and assembled my gear for our early departure. It took us less than an hour to gain the Pass and head toward the Williamson Bowl. The Bowl is a massive basin carved millions of years ago by glaciers and contains five large lakes. Within the Bowl one must climb and descend three 300ft 'humps' and circumnavigate the lakes in order to get to the West Face Route. Once we finally got to the base of the climb, I really started to think I had over estimated my mountaineering capabilities as looking up at the 1000ft vertical chute we were to climb scared the crap out of me. I put my fears aside and started up the chute. About half way up, the chute was choked with snow so we had to move right onto rock in order to continue our upward progress. This is where I had my fight or flight moment. If we had crampons and ice axes I would have felt very comfortable ascending the snow, but the vertical rock ledges we needed to overcome spooked me a bit. Luckily Gregor is a former Guide and a very experienced climber and in typical guide fashion gave me the 'you can do it' speech and led the way. After about four or five moves we were back to climbing rock I was more comfortable with. At the top of the chute there lies a chimney that must be climbed to reach the summit plateau. We stopped at the bottom of the chimney to take our packs off for the one pitch, 30ft vertical crux of the route. As Gregor and Funk were munching on some grub, I asked Gregor if I could lead up the chimney. He smiled and said 'go for it!' I focused on every hand hold and foot hold and after about ten moves I pulled myself up over the top of the wall to see the Owens Valley 10,000ft below me! I let out a loud 'Yahoo!' and Gregor and Funk knew I had made it. From the top of the chimney it is a short talus and boulder hop to the true summit. I was so pumped I almost ran the rest of the way. While standing on the top of the summit I felt strong and confident even though a half an hour earlier I was scared shitless. Such is mountain climbing. Funk and Gregor then arrived with huge grins on their faces and I could tell they felt like I did. We signed the summit register and took the obligatory summit photos and then started the hardest part of any climb, the descent. I led down the chimney and we continued down the chute back into the Bowl. At this point I finally started to feel good. Probably because I knew what to expect on the way back through the 'humps'. After 10 hours we fell into camp and ate dinner while being eaten alive by the dreaded Sierra bloodsuckers. I was tired but happy and slept good even though I had no mattress to protect my hips from the granite ball bearings under my Easty quilt. We awoke to a beautiful sunrise and packed up for the 11 mile hike back to the car. We made it down in about 4 1/2 hours and immediately headed to Amigo's in Bishop for Mexican food and Negra Modelos. We drove home with full bellys, telling stories of previous mountain epics. Sleeping in my own bed was heaven on Thursday night. Note to self - get a new Thermarest! Well- 2 down, 13 to go!! (Coincidentally, Williamson was Gregor's fourteenth 14'er. He has just Starlight to do, which he has attempted three times!) Next is the Tahoe-Yosemite Trail with Christi, Funk and T-Funk for our summer vacation. We'll get dropped off in Tuolomne Meadows and walk north 185 miles to Lake Tahoe. Until then................

Finally!

(click any photo to enlarge) The weather gods shone down on Funk and I yesterday. A 9 hour round trip adventure resulted in us summiting Mount Shasta or the "White Mountain" in English, a 14,179-foot stratovolcano. Shasta is the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range and the fifth highest peak in California. We drove to Mt Shasta City late Tuesday afternoon. It takes roughly 3 1/2 hours to drive the 215 miles. Both of us were focused and confident we would get to the top this trip. The weather was perfect, bright blue skies and mild temperatures. We set our alarms for 2:00am and tried to fall asleep while the sun was still shining at about 8:30pm. I had anxiety laced dreams of not waking up on time and missing the climb so the alarm went off as soon as I really got to sleep. And with a jolt, we're both up and on auto pilot. We sort our gear (3 1/2 liters of fluid each and more science food than anyone should eat) and load it in the car. Within a couple of minutes, Funk had water boiling on his Jet boil for coffee.We're in the car and driving at 2:20am. Bunny Flat is a popular trailhead at the end of Everitt Memorial Highway. This is the trailhead for people going to the Sierra Club Hut at Horse camp. This is the spot where climbers doing any of the Southwest approaches depart. Three weeks ago, when we parked at the trailhead, there were only two cars in the parking lot. This time when we pulled up the lot was full! At 2:30 in the morning! That meant favorable weather and traffic jams at the summit. We shouldered our packs and departed at 3am. The first mile and a half is on dirt and rock. We had our headlamps on and the stars were shining bright. As the sun started to rise on the opposite side of the mountain the above photo is of the shadow that Mt Shasta creates on the western horizon. Helen Lake came quickly (2.5hrs). This is the spot that everyone camps at to do the route in two days. Very few people do Shasta in day, alpine style, like Funk and I were doing. There must have been 15 tents there! Here is the traffic jam heading up the Gulch. This is where we put or crampons on, ate a gel and started the hardest part of he climb from Helen Lake to Red Banks. This is Avalanche Gulch for which the route is named. This is also the route that John Muir took for his epic adventure on Shasta. http://www.yosemite.ca.us/john_muir_writings/snow_storm_on_mount_shasta/
I felt very good and was through the chute at the top of Red Banks in no time. Above Red Banks the climb eases up between 12,500 and 13,000ft. Then comes Misery Hill. This is the last tough section before the summit plateau. The wind started to pick up on the plateau. I could see the line of people circling around the summit pinnacle at the top and knew I was there. It was VERY windy on the summit. No one was signing the summit register because the box lies between the summit gendarme and the actual summit some 50 ft. apart. The wind was so bad that very few people were even going out to the actual summit! I took my pack off and crawled across to the actual summit. It had to be 70 -80 mph winds. I took a quick video and crawled back to my pack.

As soon as I came back to the gendarme, Funk was getting ready for the crawl to the summit. I put an extra layer of clothing on and started to descend as I was very cold and shivering. Once we started down Misery Hill I was plenty warm and out of the howling wind. The sketchy-est part of the descent is the 50 degree chute DOWN through Red Banks. Downclimbing backwards with just the toe points of your crampons and your ice axe pic can be a little daunting. We made it through safely and started the long walk down. The descent is really what takes it out of your legs. The climb is only 6 miles but you gain 7200 vertical feet in that 6 miles. Coming down in punchy, mid-morning snow is tedious. By he time you reach dirt your pretty wrecked. We made it back to the car at noon. What a hike! Very happy to have this 14er knocked off the list. Next is Williamson and Tyndall in mid July. The drive home was uneventful. I got home and was exhausted. To say I slept heavy is an understatement. Until next month.........

Almost

(click on any photo to enlarge) My quest for the California 14er's is off to a poor start. Funk and I managed a midweek day off, piled all our gear in to the Rocket and headed for Mt Shasta. I figured to have Shasta knocked off by May but the weather has not cooperated with my plans. Christi and I went to Shasta in late May and it was snowing in town! No climbing for me on that trip. So the first Wed of June was my next appointment with the mountain. After stopping in to see my friend Leif at the Fifth Season for some last minute gear acquisitions, Funk and I found a cheap room for the night. The alarm went off at 3am for our alpine start. The stars were out and I thought we were in for a weather free climb. Needless to say we were excited. We headed out from Bunny Flat at about 4am with our headlamps on in the cool morning air. We made it to Helen Lake in about 2 1/2 hours, not fast but, both of us were taking it easy and feeling great. Just above Helen Lake the clouds started to roll in. Once we were at about 11,500ft we were enshrouded in the brewing storm. Since we were both feeling good we decided to continue on. We reached the small ridge between the Thumb and Red Banks at a little above 12,000ft and the conditions really started to deteriorate. Our visibility was down to about 15ft. It was at this point that we both agreed it was best to descend.

We were very bummed as we both felt better that ever. As we descended it really started to snow. It was at that point I really realized we had made the right decision to turn around. As we descended the clouds subsided and the snow stopped. Looking up the summit was completely covered in storm clouds. We made it back to the car in good time and were on our way back to Reno by 1pm. It poured down rain the whole way home. I'll have one more shot at the end of June, so maybe the storm gods will look down on me favorably, and I might be able to get the Quest under way. Until Then......

Hiking, Riding and Running

(Click any photo to enlarge) The month of May has gone by quickly and we are one month closer to backpacking season. This time of the year we focus on our training so when we do get to get out for a few days, we're not so wrecked that we can't enjoy it. Christi has been averaging 40 miles a week of hiking and running and I'm up to about 60 miles a week because I include two mountain bike rides per week. The Whites, Thomas and Jones Creek trails are in great shape as we have had a fair amount of late spring rain that keep the creeks flowing and the trails from being dusty. Sundays are the day when I get to do a long hike (15-25 miles) because Christi works until the afternoon. I always have RB as my partner but sometimes I can get Funk to go with me.One Sunday we waited until Christi got off work and T-Funk got to go with us. All four of us ripped out the Whites-Jones Loop as thunder bumpers were brewing. It was a great afternoon. Here is RB hamming it up for the camera as usual.On the last Sunday of May Funk and I wanted to climb Mt Rose as we are planning a Shasta trip in the first week in June. We encountered a crapload of snow at about 9500ft. in the trees which made for slow going. Once we got out of the trees we had an easy hike to the summit. Below is Funk, RB and an Easty Palisade Pack on the summit with storm clouds brewing in the background.The obligatory summit photo with Funk and I.So next we are heading to Shasta to try our first 14er of the year. Hope for good weather!!

Great Life

RB and I had a great ten mile hike on a beautiful spring day. The roar you hear in the background is snowmelt in Thomas Creek. This was one of the first warm days of spring and we were lucky enough to be out enjoying it!

Ski Season Coming to a Close

(click any photo to enlarge) Today was the Mammoth Marathon Ski Race at Tamarack Lodge in Mammoth Lakes. This is the traditional 'last race of the season' for the Far West Region. I have never done any racing after the Gold Rush which is the last Sunday in March. This year I had to take the month of February off so I wasn't burnt out on skiing by the time the 42km Marathon came around on the first Sunday in April. After coming back slowly to training in early March, I was starting to ski well by the end of the month. I entered the Silver Rush which is a shorter (30km) version of the Gold Rush (50km). Race day brought fresh snow and a brutal Sierra storm with high winds. Not the best conditions for a skate race. Two feet of snow fell the night before and it was still snowing when we arrived at 7:00am.At that point I was happy I signed up for the shorter race! I managed to complete the two 15km loops in an amazingly slow time of 2:07! I was 8th Overall and 3rd in my age group. Nothing great but I was happy to finish. After the Silver Rush I continued to ski hard and enjoyed the great spring conditions that the Sierras are known for. I was averaging about 120km per week. Thats not alot for real nordic racers, but for me its a good amount of skiing. So yesterday I drove down to Mammoth and arrived around 12:00 noon. I drove straight to the nordic center and got dressed to go for a quick ski to loosen the legs up. By the time I got out on the trails, it was pretty sloppy. The course was hilly and confusing with all the loops and turns. Since I have never done this race, or skiied on the trails at Tamarack, I got lost easily. After skiing for about an hour and a half I went back down to the parking lot thinking that I had waxed too cold for the warm spring conditions I had encountered. Luckily Roger Chaney was there. Roger is the Rossignol Nordic Rep and the Toko Wax/Clothing Rep. He grabbed the skis I was going to race on the next day and started waxing. Talk about spoiled! I didn't have to do anything. Roger offered to stay and feed me the next day and I was glad to have the company. So I contacted my friends Kurt and Stacy that own the Alpenhof Lodge and booked Roger and I a room. Kurt also made us reservations in their restaurant for dinner. We had a great dinner and some great wine at Petra's, which is the wine bar/restaurant that is attached to the Alpenhof Lodge. We both were out by 10:00pm.The alarm went off at 5:45am and we went to breakfast so I could digest before my 9:00am start time. I was a little spooked about the course as I had a hard time the day before. Not only with the navigational issues, but also the course's lowest point was 8900 ft. I usually do pretty well at altitude but I really didn't know how I was going to feel. It was cold when I was warming up, and at the 9:00am start it was only 16 degrees. My chilled body warmed up very quickly as the first 3km are uphill. On the first loop of three a group of about 10 of us pulled away from the rest of he field. I managed to stay with this group until the start of the third and final lap. In the feed zone, I got gapped off a little and chased hard to regain the lead group. I reeled them in and tried to relax and recover. I lasted about 1km more before I blew. Slowly the group pulled away from me. I just couldn't do anything about it. I managed to hang on and no one caught me from behind.
I ended up 8th overall and 1st in my age group. I finished the 42km in 2:00! Compare that with my Silver Rush 30km time of 2:07. The conditions were cold and fast in Mammoth, just the way I like 'em. I had very fast skis thanks to Roger. The drive home was uneventful and much shorter than the 4 1/2 hour slog home from Cross races in the Bay Area. I did have to stop in Bridgeport and take the obligatory Sawtooth Range photo.I'm sad to see ski season go away just when I was starting to ski well. I still have another 3 months to wait for backpacking so it looks like the bike will get some attention. Cheers.

Humble Pie Ski

(click on any photo to enlarge) So I'm out on my morning training ski after a huge Sierra storm dumped 4+ feet in Tahoe. I have had a nagging injury to my neck/trap area that is making me grouchy and feeling sorry for myself. I had to miss The Great Ski Race for the first time in a long time because I haven't been able to train consistently and it seemed every time I skied hard I would be in pain for three days afterward. Blah Blah Whine Whine. Anyway I'm out on a ski and really have the whole Euer Valley to myself when I come upon Jon Arnow.
Jon had a terrible skiing accident about 4-5 years ago. He slid down an icy couliour and hit a tree at mach speed. He shattered his pelvis and many other things. He came very close to dying a few times as he became septic from his intestinal matter dispersing itself throughout his body. He was paralysed from the neck down at the time. After his first surgery and a lengthy rehab he regained the use of his arms and became mobile via a wheelchair. He stayed that way for a year or two. Recently he had a second surgery to straighten his spine somewhat to try to relieve some of his constant pain. I don't need to tell you that this guy is tough. Prior to his accident he was a stud in just about every sport he tried. An excellent cyclist, runner, mountaineer and one of the best tele skiers I have ever seen. Anyway last fall he came into my shop after I hadn't seen him for a while and he was out of his wheelchair. I about shit myself! He was using canes in both hands but he was walking! It choked me up. For the past few years Jon has taken to skiing in a sled with just arm power and he moves right along. When I say he moves right along I mean he can drop most recreational skiers with ease and can keep up with racers for short periods of time. I told you the guy is a stud. Anyway I have gotten used to seeing him and Mark Wellman (another super stud) out skiing in their sleds and hauling ass all around Tahoe Donner.
So when I came upon this SKIER in Euer Valley I really didn't think much of it. As I casually said "on your left" to pass him, I almost fell over when I recognized Jon was without sled and skiing in the valley. I had to stop as I felt a huge surge of emotion welling up in me. We chatted for a few minutes and took a few photos as he was glad to see someone he knew to take a quick video of him skiing. I happily obliged. After I left Jon to continue on with my ski, I really felt like a whining douchebag. Here I was complaining that my neck hurt and that I couldn't race because I wasn't in top condition. What a line of crap. I saw our friends John and Kim Kennedy and skied with them for the rest of the morning. Funny that my neck didn't bother me for the rest of my ski. A dose of humble pie cured me instantly. Get out and enjoy yourself. Learn from me and don't let you hold yourself back. Cheers, Easty

Winter Update

(Click on any photo to enlarge) Its been a while since I've posted anything on our blog so I thought I would give a quick winter update to let friends and family know what we are doing when its NOT hiking season. Christi is roughly four weeks from her 50km trail run that she has been training for since November. The Way-To-Cool Ultra Marathon is in the Auburn area in mid March. She has done it before and knows what to expect. She has been very diligent in her training this year as she wants to improve on her previous time. The hardest part for me is trying to keep her from doing too much. I think she is ready and will do very well.As for me- I have been skiing as much as possible, which is usually 3 to 4 days a week. I teach clinics on weekends for Rossignol at different XC areas around the Tahoe basin. My real job has slowed down because of the weather so I try to supplement my income by teaching skiing.

When I'm not up on the hill I stave off boredom by dabbling in gear construction. I have become quite adept at making backpacks, arc style quilts and bivy sacks.Above is a prototype pack I made for Funk. As soon as I packed the pack, RB thought we were going hiking. This would be a Ultra Light Pack made for people with base loads of 8 lbs or less. The pack weighs 10 ozs. Below is an Astro Bivy I made for Funk when he did his Tahoe Rim Trail solo trip. The Bivy weighs 4.5 ozs.
Above and below are the arc style quilt I made that has now seen 3 JMTs and numorus other Sierra forays. I have been comfortable down to about 16 degrees with Capilene on. It weighs 24 ozs. Funk now wants me to make him a quilt for our TYT trip this year.

Other than that things are the same up here, we're finally getting some much needed snow although it means we may not get into the high country until late July! Next on the docket is Mt Shasta in April. I will be taking my friend Jeff and it will be his first 14er! Wish us Luck.

Desolation Wilderness Overnight Trip Day 1

(Click any Photo to Enlarge) Christi and I managed to get Wednesday and Thursday off together so we sent RB to doggie day care and packed our crap for a quick overnight in Desolation Wilderness. Christi talked me into going as she has stayed 'hiking' fit since we came home from our last trip. I ,on the other hand, have switched back to my bike so I wanted to stay home and ride for our two days off together. She won out (as usual) and we drove to Emerald Bay to get our Wilderness Permit. Our trailhead choice on this trip was Eagle Falls instead of our usual Bay View as we wanted a little change of pace. The trail from the trailhead to the intersection of the Bayview/Velma Lakes Trail was very well traveled. Mostly day hikers headed to Eagle Lake or adventurous dayhikers trying to get to the Velmas. Once we were on our way to Dick's Lake, we had the trail to ourselves. We arrived at the PCT intersection at about 3:00pm.
We crossed the old dam at the outlet of Dick's Lake and walked around to the non-trail side of the lake. I knew we would have this side of the lake to ourselves. After a little searching we finally found a site that looked out over the lake and was hidden from view of the trail.
Since we arrived at our camp site relatively early, we went for a hike/scramble up to the top of a prominent point that overlooked the lake. After navigating around the pines and manzanita we entered a large boulder field. Christi doesn't really dig this kind of 'off trail' fun like I do.
Luckily she tolerates my excursions and we continued up toward some light Class 2 scrambling. I really enjoy this typical Sierra type of climbing. There are a lot of peaks in the Sierra that can be climbed with just Class 2/3 climbing. Since our plan was to climb Dick's Peak (9875ft.) the next morning, I wanted Christi to get comfortable with a little granite ledge work. Our afternoon was spent route finding and working on hand and foot holds. Before we knew it we were on top of the granite outcropping the protrudes out over the western shore of Dick's Lake.
This was the view from the top looking north toward Fontanellis Lake and the feeder tarns above it.
We headed down back to camp to cook dinner. The weather was fantastic with lows in the 40's and highs in the 70's. As the sun receded behind the mountains this is the view we had out of our tent window. Needless to say we slept well.

Desolation Wilderness Overnight Day 2

(Click on any Photo to Enlarge) We woke to clear skies on a chilly morning. The above photo was our tent view of Dick's Peak bathed in morning sunlight. Our departure time was the usual 7:00am. We loaded our water and snacks into the summit pack and headed up the PCT to Dick's Pass. It took us a little less than a hour to get to the pass. Dick's Pass from the North is pretty easy. The use trail that starts the climb to Dick's Peak is 2 switchbacks down the South side of the Pass.
The photo above is from the Pass looking toward the route up the ridge line.
We left the PCT and started our ascent. The first part of the climb is really a use trail on talus and scree. Route finding is a non-issue on this climb. As we continued up we came to the loose Class 2 chute that is the crux (if you will) of the whole climb. The chute is just below the false summit. This is where Christi started giving me the 'Glare' that says she wasn't happy about the route. I assured her we were close to the top and that the hardest part was behind us. She continued upward and made it to the ridge that separates the false summit from the actual summit. From there it is an easy scramble to the top. Before we knew it we were standing on top of Dick's Peak enjoying a fantastic morning view. This would be Christi's first summit register entry. I think I was more excited than she was. We signed the register and took the obligatory photos.
Christi really didn't want to descend the chute so we chose a different route down to our campsite. From the col between the false summit and the peak, we left the ridge route and headed North down the face of Dick's Peak.
This is just a scree field that is easy to go down but a lot of work to go up. Christi was much happier with the descent route. After 20 minutes of scree surfing we came to the highest tarn that eventually feeds Fontanellis Lake.
Following the drainage to the next tarn then turning East to head back to Dick's Lake. We were back at the campsite at 10:15am. We lounged around and had breakfast in the sun. At about noon we decided to head down to the the car at Emerald Bay. The walk out was uneventful and the 7 miles was covered in 2 1/2 hours. Another great trip. Next is Banner Peak for my birthday!