The Mountains were calling, so I went (University Pk, Mt Rixford, and Mt Gould)

I had a nice little break going to a wedding in San Diego, hanging out with friends, mountain biking, a bit of boogie boarding... It was nice. Then on up to LA for more mtn biking and some kayak surfing. Actually I was on a wave ski. It was fun although a bit crowded at San Onofre with heaps of stand up paddle boarders. The waves got better as time went on and I had some pretty good (for me) runs. I also got flipped and swirled in the waves a few times. I did manage a few rolls too, which is always satisfying. With the waveski it wasn't too bad to get flipped and swim though except the one time I tried to roll too many times and got hit by another wave just as I was unhitching the seatbelt. I got a lot of the pacific in my sinuses and it continued to trickle out over the next few days. ugh.

Then I stuck around for another day on the computer and to eat ice cream before heading back to the mountains. I got a permit in Lone Pine and then camped out in the Alabama Hills.

Alabama Hills panorama including Mt Whitney

I headed up to the Onion Valley trailhead and started in towards Kearsarge pass. At the 3rd lake in I cut left and up towards University Peak (13,589 ft) or maybe 13,468 feet or even 13632 ft. Eventually I got sick of carrying my pack and I dumped it and the skis and headed on without the load. I wasn't entirely sure that I'd manage to get up the way I was going, but with a little scrambling and some snow I did manage to summit. At this point it was getting late and cold. I decided to descend another way to avoid downclimbing one dicey move, but this dropped me off at a steep snow field. Someone else had skied right down it most impressively, but I carefully kicked steps down. I think I'd have been a little more aggressive if I had an ice axe, but I didn't, so I went down carefully. There was also some annoying post holing and loose scree and talus, but I did finally get back to my pack around 7:30 pm. I found a small flat spot and made it big enough to lie down on and cooked dinner. It was pretty cold and windy, but I had 2 sleeping pads (I thought I might sleep on snow) and my warm down bag so once I got inside I was warm. It would have been nice to have a lighter pack, but since I didn't have any other Yogaslackers with me for insulation I had to carry it myself. It was windy all night, but the sunset was spectacular and as I said once I was bundled up I wasn't cold.

Sunset from my bivy ledge

The next morning I was treated to a beautiful light show as the alpenglow lit up the cliffs and snow plus a nearly full moon. I packed up and traversed a bit (I had to put on the crampons to cross a short steep hard snowfield) until I got to a spot where I wanted to start skiing. The snow was still hard so I took a break and cooked up breakfast (there was better wind shelter here too). Then the snow was a bit softer (maybe) so  I skied down to below a pass and kicked my way up and over to Kings Canyon National Park.

Morning view from my bivy ledge - Mt Gould is on rt, Mt Rixford the snowy peak b/n the 2 rocky closer peaks, I crossed the snowy pass on the left

There I skied down to Kearsarge Lake where I put the skins on the skis and traversed around, over a ridge, around another mostly frozen lake and to a nice looking flat spot. I took a break here and then left most of my food and sleeping gear and headed up towards an unknown mountain that looked doable (I later found out it was 12,887 ft. Mt Rixford).

Here I am on the icy shore of Kearsarge Lake. University Pk on the left

I skinned up a ways and then stowed the skis and switched boots and slogged up the talus forever. Finally I got to the top of the snowfield I had scoped for skiing. I left the rest of my gear here and hot-footed it up to the summit. It didn't seem that far, but from a distance I could see I went quite a ways w/o my skis. The descent was scary because the slope got much steeper at some point below me so I couldn't see all the way down (also there was a little rocky cliff band I had to thread my way through). But the snow was soft and forgiving and I finally was able to spot a line down the steeper bit. I did unleash some small slush avalanches in the steepest section but I just waited off to the side for them to stop creeping downhill before threading the rocky bits. Unfortunately I wasn't able to drop all the way down to the main valley snowfield where the rest of my stuff was so I had to take the skis off a few times to get there. It was nice to be cooking without a lot of wind and to dry out my sweaty clothes before bed. It was so warm without the wind I didn't even wear all of my clothes that night.

On the Summit of Rixford Pk. University Pk behind me

For my last day I wasn't in that much of a rush, and I ended up talking with a hiker who went by for a while. Then I hiked up to Kearsarge pass (the snow was still hard enough to walk on top). There I talked to some PCT through hikers for a bit and then headed up Mount Gould to the north. For the most part I was just walking up scree and talus although I did follow some steps up a steep snowfield at one point. I was entertained by the "top 100 songs of the 80's" - I'm not sure who decided this list though. I was trying to play name that tune and artist and did fairly well, although less well with the year. Eventually I scrambled to the summit only to see that the next pile of rocks was higher, so I went up that one to the 13,005 foot summit of Mount Gould. Then I continued on across an alpine tundra to a few radio repeaters and a nice view down into the Rae Lakes basin. I tried my cell phone but despite 4 bars it said "emergency calls only".  Then I descended back to Kearsarge Pass where I talked with more PCT through hikers and gave one group the rest of my sunscreen (you would get totally crisped without it between the altitude and the snow and theirs wasn't sweat proof and didn't seem to be working so well). Then the stalling was over and I strapped on the skis and dropped over a steep edge and started traversing along the long diagonal trail down. I managed to get down past the second lake with only a little bit of walking and scrambling. Then I switched back to the comfy Inov-8 boots and hoofed it back to the trailhead. There I cooked up a batch of spaghetti while drying some gear and slowly repacking the truck. I also talked with another group of through hikers that I saw coming out when I was going in. It is definitely the season for them all to be passing through.

It was still pretty warm down in the valley when I finally got there, but I still enjoyed soaking in the hot spring  water once it got dark and cooler.

I put a slightly more complete trip report up here:


University Peak and other Sierra peaks trip report

Random Acts of Acrobatics - Las Vegas Style

Here is a video Ben Fullerton put together of Sam and I playing on the Las Vegas strip one night. If nothing else it amused us. I especially like to reactions and the non-reactions of the people around us.

http://vimeo.com/25238141

Maybe there is an easy way to embed a vimeo link, but I don't see it right now.

Bishop Part II

I've managed a few more adventures in Bishop.

Owens River Packraft...

Loaded packraft from the front

I put in at the Pleasant Valley Campground with my loaded packraft - loaded with not enough insulation and my bicycle. The Owens is pretty narrow, but it is also deep and squiggly. Sometimes it seemed like I was paddling down someones intestines. The current was weird too. I am used to rivers where as long as you go where the water goes you are mostly fine. This wasn't the case here, the current would head across the river to the bank and then go underwater. Then it would come up somewhere else and head sideways for a bit before heading down. Add in a lot of willows overhanging the banks and a few strainers (only a few went all the way across the river though) and it was definitely heads up paddling, especially the first day. The bicycle on the front of the boat didn't really help either, but it does open up some interesting trip possibilities and I could have taken out before the aqueduct had I not made it that far.

I paddled downstream for most of 2.5 days. I don't know how many river miles I went but it sure was a lot more than the straight line distance. I only took one longish break when I flipped in a water control structure and one of my dry bags got caught in the hydraulic. It got maytagged for about 15 minutes and finally got flushed perhaps because it got a hole in it. After I fished it out I stopped to dry things out for a while. Generally the days were warm to hot and the nights were cold. Unfortunately my sleeping pad developed some holes so I was without its padding. Combined with the early mornings, mosquitos, and cold nights I didn't sleep very well. Most of the time I was paddling into a strong headwind. Luckily the river wasn't very straight and usually had reeds and trees on the banks so I could usually pick a lee shore. When I was forced to paddle straight into the wind I just dug down and went as fast as I could. This didn't work in the one lake I had to paddle across. This was just painful.

I did see a lot of wildlife though, deer, beaver, some sort of weasel or otter? and lots and lots of birds - maybe 30 or so different kinds. Especially waterfowl and flycatchers and little warblers and lots of raptors.

interesting clouds

cloud detail

I took out at the start of the Los Angeles Aquedect about 10 miles south of Big Pine. Then I assembled the bike and strapped everything on it and headed back. For the first 5 miles on 395 I had a glorious tail wind and cruised along at around 20 mph, then it swung around to around 10 oclock (front left) and my pace went way down. If I believed that God micromanaged things I'd think he hated me, or maybe she is my personal trainer and thought my legs needed a bit of work after sitting for 2.5 days. I stopped off at the Keough hot ditch for a soak on the way back. I think the total biking distance was around 37 miles. The river had to be 2 or 3 times that.

Water intake for the LA Aqueduct

waterfall near where I was camping

I met up with Julie and got to catch up a bit and check out her cool house and garden. Then I did more bouldering at the Buttermilks and a bike - hike - ski - climb ascent of Basin Mountain - via the E couloir. This took longer than I thought it would, but I just checked and it is 13240 ft / 4036 m tall and I was starting around 6,600 ft, so that explains some of it. The weather wasn't very auspicious when I started with low clouds and a bit of snow, but the clouds rose as I did and I even got a fair amount of sun. The fresh snow was nice for skiing.

Basin Mt from a distance. I went up the middle and then up left on the snow and up the left skyline

Here I am on top

ski tracks on the descent - sure beats walking

Bishop part I, 2011

I headed to Bishop. On the way I stopped near Cadiz to search for trilobites. As my sister says "Everything is better with trilobites". Unfortunately I only found busted pieces of them - mostly head segments - at least that was what I could identify. Still, it was fun poking around amongst the rocks and definitely better than not finding anything. Then I headed on passing through the Alabama Hills for some pics of Mt Whitney etc.

In Bishop I headed up to the Buttermilks to get schooled by the boulders. I am weak and my skin is soft. I am working on it. I think I can safely say that I am projecting some of my old warm ups though... Well, maybe they weren't quite warm ups back when I had some power.

Once my fingertips were worn down I took a break in town with electricity and internet and did some running and hot spring soaking. Then back out for some wearing down of the skin closer to the base of my fingers at the Happy Boulders. The first day there I managed to do a "Happy Half Hundred" - 50 problems - mostly pretty easy, but a fair number were high enough that falling at the top really wasn't an option. Actually I think I might have done 51 or 52 problems. In between climbing I sat in the shade and read a book.

Petroglyphs on the volcanic tableland

The next day I headed up Pine Creek to ski or hike. It turned out to be hiking up to the Gable Lakes. Mostly I was on a rocky trail but by the end I lost the trail in the snow. I could have used the skis up there. I don't really know what to compare it to but it seems like there is an awful lot of snow in the high country. There was a lot of mining stuff up Pine Creek. I think this was the major tungsten supply for the US during WWII.

I admire the Gable Lakes basin

Mining stuff in Pine Creek

After another day of bouldering at the Happys (this day was too hot) followed by a run and a soak I watched the Mule Days parade.  Not surprisingly there were a lot of mules, a few horses, and some of the local school marching groups. There were no motorized things in the parade until the street sweepers at the very end.

Steamer fire engine in the Mule Days parade

Tomorrow it might be cold and rainy. I can deal with the cold, but I could do without the rain, and the nearly constant wind is a little frustrating at times. Maybe next week I'll do a pack raft trip on the Owens River.

Grand Canyon archaeology exhibit plus

On 5/10/11 I took a drive up to the Grand Canyon to take some pics and to check out the opening of a new exhibit in the Kolb Studio on the recent archaeology that they had done in the canyon. Dawn Kish took most of the photos for the exhibit which is pretty cool and you should check it out if you can.
Here are some links to the show...


http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/art-exhibits.htm

http://www.nps.gov/features/grca/001/archeology/index.html

Grand Canyon Archaeology exhibit near the end of the opening

I was originally thinking about running down to the bottom of the canyon and back, but I got lazy (and the sleet and snow on the drive up worried me and I wasn't sure how long it would take). I ended up driving to desert view and checking out the watchtower there (pretty cool even if we weren't allowed onto the roof) and taking a heap of pictures there and from the overlooks on the way back to the GC village. The stormy weather over the north rim was pretty cool, but the clouds just sort of thickened up towards the sunset so that was a bit disappointing.Still, if you want to get a nice sunset you need to get out when there is a chance, but it doesn't always pan out.

Watchtower at Desert View

Bike ride - Walnut Canyon and Fisher Point

on 5-8-11 it was rather windy, but I opted for a bike ride anyway. I went through Flagstaff to the SE side and then went down a dirt forest service road to Walnut Canyon. That took about an hour. Then I hiked around the island loop trail there and took some pics. There sure were a lot of little cliff dwellings in that area.

Walnut Canyon overlook

there were little walls and rooms all over the place

Walnut Canyon dwellings

On the way back I cut down a chunk of the Arizona Trail on the N rim of Walnut Canyon to Fisher Point, then down to the base of the Fisher Point where I had biked from the other side a number of times in years past and then back to Flagstaff.

View from Fisher Point (trail ends up in meadow below)

Trail Junction below Fisher Point

There was one section that looked like a bunch of salvage logging after a fire near the end and a number of other areas where there had been some serious forest thinning. The front suspension helped a lot on the washboard and rocky sections, but I took one little canyon near the end too fast and really slammed my back wheel into a rock. This dented in the rim a bit. Luckily I didn't get a flat, but the tire was so far out of true that I had to unfasten the back brakes. Once I hit the pavement I could feel the dip in the rim with every revolution. :(  I guess that is my project for tomorrow.  I don't know how far I went in total, maybe 25 miles or so with more than half of that on dirt road or trail.

new 2011 Alpacka packraft test drive

I got a new toy, a 2011 Alpacka packraft. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be any running white water around here right now, but I took it out on Lake Mary for a little test drive.

My new 2011 Alpacka packraft

 There are 3 big obvious differences between this new raft and my old (2004?) model.

1. The spray skirt is fastened on top with a zipper and has a big side velcro opening. I am not entirely sold on the velcro, but the only real advantage of my old sprayskirt fastening system is that it wouldn't break when it ripped off - which it did in almost every big hole I hit. You could also completely remove it for lighter warmer flatter water. This one zips off for that though.

2. Next up is the large pointy stern on this boat. This looks a bit odd, and takes more air to fill up, but I think it provides a bit better tracking and also helps trim the boat without a pack on the front. The downside might be that it could spin a bit slower in whitewater, but that is probably way offset by the advantage of not flipping over backwards nearly as easily.

3. The inflation valve is in the back which allows for 4 lash points in the front instead of the 3 on my old boat. This should make strapping a pack on the front much easier, especially if I am rigging it so that I can wear the pack with the boat up in the air for mid-length portages.

the front of the raft with Mount Humphreys in the distance

There are a number of smaller improvements like a back-rest and having the inflation bag actually thread into the valve. The new raft also seems to have larger tube diameter all around and is slightly skinnier. I can still sit cross legged, but it is a bit tighter, and the sleeping pad is a little harder to wedge into the floor.

It seems like a vast improvement over my already awesome older boat and I look forward to paddling the new boat in whitewater and doing some longer trips in it. (and for now I still have my old boat too, so if anyone wants to try out a packraft trip with me, lets go. (I only have one paddle though, so you need to supply that or else one of us is stuck with the hand paddles)).

bald eagle off in the distance

I also checked out the birds out there including osprey, ducks, grebe, vultures, ravens, great blue herons, and bald eagles. Another interesting sight was a tree full of APS workers learning how to trim trees.

tree full of trimmers learning the ropes