Mount Clarence King and Gardiner Peak

Originally Jonathan and I planned a longer trip to the Great Western Divide, but a number of factors including the weather changed our plans to a more modest trip. We delayed another day for weather (wisely it appears) and then hiked in over Kearsarge and Glen passes and into 60 Lakes Basin where we set up camp. The next day we climbed Clarence King and then headed over towards Gardiner but walked past the base in Gardiner Basin opting to head back to camp to swim in the lake before it got too cold and climb it the next day. So, the next day we headed back and climbed it including a most excellent summit ridge. J headed back to camp and I traversed along the ridge passing a number of un-named peaks along the way before dropping down and back to camp for another swim. The last day we hiked out up towards Dragon lake and then south cross country and over the ridge west of Gould and back down. There was a lot of frosty dew - especially the first night. I took heaps of pictures of the lovely scenery. As usual there will probably be a more extensive trip report with more pics to come - I'll post a link here to it if I remember.

Jonathan on the summit of Clarence King

Jonathan picked up mylar balloon litter - it made a nice Thomas the Tank Engine doormat

some of the most excellent summit ridge on Mount Gardiner

Milky Way reflected in a lake

here I am relaxing on a summit

Rae Lake and Painted Lady Peak - quite scenic really

A busy few days in the Sierra...

I had a busy few days. Friday I hiked out of S. Lake up past Green Lake and on up to some point overlooking Chocolate Peak among other things.

looking down over Chocolate Peak among other things

Saturday I went backcountry over Piute Pass to the Humphreys Basin and camped by Desolation Lake (still mostly ice covered) with Laura and Matt. Matt's altitudinal woes had us hiking back Sunday instead of an early morning trip out to Four Gables and hiking out. I got a little headlamp bouldering in at the Happys that night with Julie.

happy hour fun

Mt Humphreys as the sun sets

camp below Mt Humphreys

Milky Way over the Glacier Divide

bird nest that Laura spotted hiking across the alpine tundra

Yosemite Toad - Laura's friend

Laura drops in on a big snow wave

Monday I hiked the lakes loop out of Glacier Lodge up the N Fork of Big Pine Creek with Julie - spectacular views. Monday night I bouldered at bro-night.

Julie in front of Second Lake and Temple Crag

Tuesday I rested - except for a little more late evening bouldering.


I'll post more pics and a proper trip report eventually - unless the summer gets crazy busy in which case maybe not.

Around Flagstaff

I have had a number of climbing and other trips around Flagstaff this spring. Among other things I bouldered at Buffalo Park and Super Roof, climbed at Paradise Forks, Sedona, Volunteer Canyon, The Peaks, and the Hobo Jungle,   slacklined at the park, and biked/hiked up Mount Humphreys.


Super Roof is a long horizontal climb along the roof under a ledge. I actually managed to get it with my first try (this year) and then was unable to do it again despite many tries. It is good training though.

Dawn on Super Roof

Dawn on Super Roof

near the end of Super Roof (thanks for taking the pic Dawn)

Dawn - it was a high gravity day.

We took advantage of a cold snap to head down to Sedona to climb "Duck for Cover". It had 3 pitches at I would say 5.11, 5.10, and 5.11. I fell at the end of the long first pitch at the crux "hands" section that involved .75 camalots (very thin for my hands) over a bulge. The last pitch was pretty spicy too.

John W tapes up for "Duck For Cover"

"Duck for Cover" on the leftish side and up the crack on the buttress for the first pitch

One day I biked up to the Arizona Snowbowl and then hiked up to the summit of Mount Humphreys. They are installing pipes and snow making stuff as well as a new run. There is some controversy because among other things they will use reclaimed waste water for the snowmaking. They definitely didn't want anyone getting in their way.

they want to be able to throw the book at protesters at Snow Bowl

new ski run in the upper left plus trenches for reclaimed water lines

trenches for reclaimed water lines for "snow" making

At the summit there was very little wind, which was nice except there were also a lot of bugs that are normally blown away or hunkered down. I didn't spend long up there because of them. As usual the descent went a lot faster than the ascent.

summit fat pill on top of Humphreys

panorama from the summit of Humphreys

fresh leaves on the aspen trees

I climbed at the Peaks and the new area the Hobo Jungle a few times. It is most excellent Dacite climbing, although fairly sharp on the finger tips.

Verm "manning up" at the Peaks (maybe DK took this pic)

Dawn and Darren at the Hobo Jungle

Peregrine Falcon

I taped the sun viewing glasses onto the front of my telephoto to take pics of the transit of Venus. I could barely see it with just the glasses.

transit of Venus

We went out to Volunteer Canyon for 2 days. It was very nice except for the tiny biting bugs and the fact that my sleeping bag wasn't nearly as warm as it is supposed to be. It was definitely some adventure climbing. You would rap in to where you hoped the climb started and then lead your way back out. Many of the climbs were over 100 feet. It was also a bit of an adventure driving out there with some less than stellar "roads".

Dawn, Verm, and Chris check out Volunteer Canyon

the Verm turns the roof on "Tralfamador"

Tralfamador

night time at Volunteer Canyon

Volunteer Canyon panorama from the N rim

That's some of what I've been up to for the last few months.

Grand Canyon Hell Hike

Spring, when a young man's fancy turns to death marches and hell hikes. That's right - time for the annual Grand Canyon Hell Hike. This year coincided with National Park week, so I haven't had to buy a pass yet.
I drove up the night before to bike out Hermit drive to take sunset pics.

dead tree on the South Rim

view into the canyon from above The Abyss

sunset from Pima Point

I started the next morning (4-24-2012) at 4:30 and hiked quickly down the Bright Angel Trail enjoying the emerging birdsong and flowering tree smells and not enjoying the occasional mule smells. I made pretty rapid time down past Indian Gardens and saw plenty of people hiking up with overnight packs on the leg down to the river. I stopped at the river briefly and then hiked on to Phantom Ranch - or at least that side of the river. I was disappointed that I couldn't find any ripe figs in the trees down there. I started back up the South Kaibab Trail around 9:30 and managed to stay ahead of the mule train following me despite stopping to take photos a number of times. Then I cut west on the Tonto Trail. Things were pretty toasty in the sun but not too bad in the shade (80's?) The prickly pears were starting to flower along with a few other wildflowers.

Obligatory Warning shot on the way down - at Indian Gardens the first time

handstand at the Colorado River

Black Bridge - polarizer for max reflections

Black Bridge - polarizer rotated 90 degrees

cactus blooming on the S Kaibab

I was slowing down by the time I got back to Indian Gardens but after a short break in the shade and some indecision I decided to hike out to Plateau Point anyway. I took more pictures there with the interval setting on the camera and tripod and then headed back.

scrambling up to an overlook at Plateau Point

I made it.

My feet were sore and I was tired when I started back up from Indian Gardens at 3:10 but in about a mile I started decompensating. I felt awful. I am not sure what it was but I am suspecting some sort of electrolyte imbalance. I had plenty of calories and water, but I felt nauseous. I pushed on slowly to the 3 mile hut and sat in the shade and attempted to force down a Gu Roctane - with electrolytes and caffeine and all sorts of "goodness". It didn't taste very good and sort of stuck in my throat despite plenty of water. I moved out of the shade shelter because I feared immanent Roctane regurgitation. It would have been a treat for the squirrels but you aren't supposed to feed them and with an effort I managed to keep it all down. I was also experiencing some leg cramps and weird muscle twinges. Eventually I felt better and made my way slowly up the trail. I was unenthusiastic about drinking or eating but I tried to continue both. Meanwhile I leapfrogged with an older couple that was slowly plodding their way out of the canyon too. I took another break at the 1.5 mile rest area and then pushed on to the rim. I didn't finish 'til about 7:10, so the last 4.8 miles took me 4 hours - hardly my best time, but I did make it out and didn't have to call for a rescue or use my headlamp. It was only 23.7 miles according to my map, but there was a good bit of elevation too. I hope that whatever happened to me doesn't happen again though, as my performance wouldn't get me through Day 7. My pack also wasn't particularly light with all the camera equipment, some insulation, food, water, etc. I was really missing my Inov-8 Roclite boots too. The shoes I had probably weighed twice as much and were half as comfortable.

not feeling so good with 1.5 miles to go

After I got to the rim I tried to eat a ripe banana but that didn't feel like it wanted to stay down either. I had plenty of salt with dinner, but I felt merely tired by then.

Here is my somewhat spotty spot track for the Grand Canyon hike.

Kids in the woods - not a sufferfest

My sister's twins wanted to go camping, so what better time than when "mad uncle Tom" is visiting - someone who actually enjoys camping. So we did some research, looked at the weather, changed our plans, looked at the weather again and again (over a few days) , and changed our plans again. Then we hastily packed up the car and off we went to Wompatuck State Park.


First we set up the tents and then went on a deathmarch (to hear some of the kids complaining you would think that was the case, but it was probably under 2 miles - it definitely wouldn't have made it into the Sierra Challenge). We summited Prospect Hill (I think, it was a little hard to tell where the summit was in the woods - it looked a lot more impressive on the map 'til I realized it was a 10 ft contour interval). There were lots of old stone walls heading through the woods and various dirt paths, old roads, and paved paths. Also there were what looked like drumlins, except sometimes they had vents on top or doors on one end - they were old bunkers from when this was an ammunition facility. When we got to Holly Pond it was a lot brighter. Unfortunately the rocks covered in turtles were pretty far out. Then on back to camp.

trail at Wompatuck State Park

On the shores of Holly Pond

Bunker in the woods

Back in camp we started a fire. First I wasted a lot of time trying to light it with the flint and steel. I got some flames a few times, but everything was pretty damp, so I didn't actually get the fire going. We resorted to a lighter, and that didn't work 'til I shaved a stick down to shavings and used them to get things going. I have spent numerous hours of my life messing with campfires, so I have forgotten how much fun it can be. The twins enjoyed it immensely. For dinner we roasted sausage on sticks, and pepper, and biscuits on the grill. mmmm. Later we had hot chocolate. The fire got more attention before it was time for bed. It was pleasantly cool but not cold at all and the mosquitoes weren't noticeable. This was camping lite.

playing with fire - Wompy the fire demon

Unfortunately some nearby campers had a propane lamp that lit up one side of the tent and my sister had forgotten her pillow, but otherwise sleeping wasn't bad.

The next morning we played with the fire more, cooked eggs, did a little bit of slacklining, and whittled sticks (including a totem for Wompy - the fire demon we had been keeping in the fire pit) before packing up and driving home. A good time was had by all and we cut down on nature deficit disorder in the next generation.