Yosemite and hail (a tail of fun, despite minor disasters)

2010-11-29

So. Jess and I went to plan a trip.
The trip was from October 2'nd to October 10'th

Planning
We wanted to go for 9 days. We had a couple of places in mind: the lost coast or the Sierra. I poked around for weather a bit (looking up local weather patterns, and computing what elevations should be within our gear, and still have a margin of safety), and the conclusion was either was viable. The Sierra would be a bit cold, and we may have to avoid going to high (our gear goes to 10F right now, and we like to have 5-10 degrees of slop in case of freak weather or being wet or sick or whatever), but that could be interesting. We decided we wanted to go near Yosemite, up in the Sierra, and we wanted to be out for about 9 days. So we grabbed a map (topo of the entire Sierra, we'd picked it up a couple of months prior on a whim) and started looking at interesting areas.

We looked at how we might get there, and get back. Figuring we could get a hitch out of Yosemite easily we figured that was a good endpoint. Also, that way we wouldn't have to deal with getting a permit there, which we'd heard could be a bit harder than other places.

After some looking at the area, we figured 100 miles north would be good, if we could get there. Jess did the legwork and found out Amtrack with bus+train could get us out of Yosemite valley in an entirely reasonable amount of time... awesome!

We both posted to a mailing list or two, hoping to find someone going out to where we wanted to get dropped off. I realized I could loosen the constraint and asked for anyone going within 100 miles of Yosemite. Surprisingly, no bites. Okay... We could rent a car, but that's silly for 9 days with only 2 of driving. Eventually someone *did* respond pointing out that permits are easy to get from Yosemite this particular season. Okay then why not just grab the train in to Yosemite? It means doing a loop which is psychologically different, but we decided that was okay.

This was an edge-season trip, a bit colder than we're used to, in an geographical area neither of us are experienced with. So the weekend prior we ran over our gear to make sure we had what was needed. I lost my rain-coat a while back, so I did some quick testing of my experimental tyvek raingear and sealed my hat to make it a rain-hat. We got Jess some waterproof socks, and after I failed to acquire boots that fit, I ran out and bought a pair of exactly what I wore for 800 miles of the AT. We ran about and packed gear and food in the evening the 2 days before. Usually we can pack all our gear in about 30 minutes, but this trip took a lot of thought - we hadn't even needed rain-gear in months.

Extra gear we grabbed (over say... AT gear) included:

• Jess had an extra warm wool sweater-thing
• I had a pair of puffy pants, and silk tights in place of other warm tights
• We both had microspikes (almost crampons)
• We both had wool gloves/mittens
• some of our socks were extra-thick
• sunglasses (in case of snowfields)
• spin-cast fishing gear (because we were psyched about it)
• an extra sleepingpad each for added insulation in cold

Finally I realized I was in kinda bad shape. Jess and I switched, and I began trying to get warm again. I started trying to put on warm clothing. I put on my down vest, tights, and warm pants. The vest got pretty wet (I was wetter than I thought), but I warmed up some. Jess eventually got the wood stove lit using cotton with a lump of chapstick in the middle, and the driest of the wood we'd found. With some tasty warm food in our bellies we went to sleep - hail still pounding on the tarp. I put my down vest on *top* of my sleepingbag, and left on most of the other stuff to dry and dry it out (except socks).

I should mention actually that we've been laughing and having a good time all this time :). Just cause it's raining and your near hypothermic is no reason to get depressed (though I was certainly a bit frustrated, and was getting a bit more snippy than usual).



Discretion is the better part of valor

Come morning most of my gear was dry, my bag was damp but not too bad, but my vest was completely soaked (it had gotten even wetter after falling off my bag in the night, and lying in melting hail. We realized that there was no way (given our skills) that we'd get the fire lit this morning. The hail had been side-blown during the night, coming in the front of our tarp, this would mean wood under logs would be soaked. It was also now below freezing, So the wood would be not only soaked, but frozen solid. Also, my rain gear still didn't work. We decided... maybe continuing was pretty dumb. It didn't look like the weather was going to suddenly clear. So we packed up and hiked to the nearest road (120).

I was changing to try and look a bit more reasonable (I had my silk long-underwear on the outside), when a large truck pulled up, and asked if we needed help. We said well... sortof. Our plan was to hitch down to the nearest place to buy fuel, and if we could find lighter sticks and rain-gear all the better - but we figured I'd be okay if I borrowed Jess' spare wool jacket (we discovered much later it was cotton actually), even if I got wet.

Well, the ranger informed us they were closing the road, so no-one else would be passing by. Also, he said it was supposed to keep hailing until the next Sunday (our entire trip). Lastly, he said that they were pulling all the rangers out of the backcountry because of the storm, it took everyone by surprise and the weather is changing really fast, very unpredictable. We looked at each other and considered. We almost turned down the hitch to stay in (since we couldn't get back), but the guy convinced us.

Turned out the ranger was responsible for the water system's around the park that feed waterfountains, spigots, bathrooms, etc. He does a lot of his work in september and early october when the rivers are still low, so he can get to the middle where the feeders to the systems are. This was the first significant precipitation of the year. He was pulling out from some repair work he'd been doing, the truck was full of tack for mules and a horse, as well as tons of water-processing gear (pumps and stuff). He told us stories about getting stuck and having to abandon mules because they won't walk on slick rocks, and get spooked by thunder, and we chatted about park politics and such. Well, there was no point in stopping just down the road, since we couldn't hitch back. He was heading to the valley, so we went with him all the way back.

Regroup

Back in the valley we dropped by the wilderness center so they'd know we were okay. We figured if they were pulling rangers they might also be counting up who was out there, and if it got worse thinking about how to get them out, so letting them know we were out and safe might be useful. We found a small tourist-oriented gearshop and bought some raingear (pants for Jess, full suit for me), fuel, and those magic light-wet sticks for starting fires. Then we wandered over to camp four. We did a bit of fishing in the river, messed about on the slacklines, and talked to the climbers (Jess and I both do a lot of indoor, still getting into outdoor, but camp four tends to collect the traveler's of all types anyway - lots of fun to talk to). We weren't sure what we were going to do, but were thinking we might just head out again the next day.

The next day we went back to the wilderness center with a newly planned route, ready to try again. We figured 5 days, heading south this time. The girl there put in 5 days, from the 5'th to the 10'th (that sound right to you?). We spent a LOT of milage wandering the valley and failing to find the trailhead. I got a bit frustrated (stupidly), but eventually we found it and started up the hill... YAY! It was actually sunny today too!

I was wearing my down-vest over my new rain-coat - drying it out with body-heat. By partway up the valley it was starting to actually get fluffy again (just a bit). By the time I took it off due to overheating it was actually adding warmth again. YAY! Beautiful views all day



We *still* got hailed on :P. But that was fine.  On the way up we heard rumors of a mountain lion. Instead though we saw a mother bear and her 2 cubs. Pretty cool!
At the top of the hill it turns out there's an outlook you can drive to with a view of half-dome. We grabbed some food and met some neat people. Got a few nice pictures. After a bit we saw rain coming in again and decided to hightail it to lower ground.




We didn't see anyone else after this. We walked down to the south. On the way we saw our second bear. This one was hiding in the bushes. Sadly, about this time (just as we get out of the area everyone goes to) our batteries for the camera died, so we don't have any more photos. Here's one of the last ones we got:



We camped by a pretty stream in a coniferous forest that night. Jess lit up the fire while I went fishing. I lost a lure, despite fording the river once to get it back... oh well. We had a hard time keeping the fire going, but we were learning, and we did manage to cook our dinner on it. Generally a pleasant evening.

Next morning we saw some boyscouts go by, but otherwise didn't see anyone. We set off towards our first lake for the trip. We weren't sure yet if we were going to go over the ~1300' pass, or just over the ~9200' pass. The milage that day took us a LONG time. we were climbing to 9200 from about 6000 (we'd dropped about 1200 since the overlook). Turns out climbing greater than 3000' for 2 days, one days rest (while cold) and then doing it again, all with a good amount of weight, is pretty hard. Well, it was getting dark, but I really wanted to make it to the lake. Jess was starting to have problems with her leg. It's snowing on us. We hadn't seen any landmarks at all for miles, and were beginning to think we might've taken a wrong turn. After dark, FINALLY we come apon the trail intersection we were looking for. I get ready to dive off into the woods to search for the lake, but with some effort Jess convinces me that that's a really stupid idea, I concede sulkily and we find a spot in the snow and set up camp. Once again, a pretty nice evening.

Next morning, Jess is having trouble walking. We never do find the first lake, but that's okay. We definitely do NOT want to go higher than we are now, given that it's snowing and we already pushed our luck once this trip. So we set off the other direction. Jess is having problems lifting her leg, eventually I prevail apon her to let me take some weight... then more weight. I also gave her my hiking poles. So, now I'm carrying all of the food, and a bit of her gear. 2 full bear-canisters strapped to my pack (a pretty hilarious sight, to bad I the camera was dead). I'm still out-hiking her a bit. She's moving along though. We're near the farthest planned point in our trip, so backtracking doesn't have much point. So we push forward, looking for routes that might reduce our hill climbing (hill climbing requiring her to lift her leg). Throughout the day (and the evening prior) we'd been following just one set of footprints in the snow, eventually we caught up with the actual guy who made those prints and talked to him a bit. He had a huge pack, lots of weight. We set off again and see no prints for some time. Eventually though we do run across another set of footprints, and not long after meet that guy going the other way - he was doing a 30 mile dayhike. Those are all of the prints we see all day.

We get to another lake fairly early that night. We set up camp. I go fishing and catch 2 fish with only 8 casts... awesome! I hadn't cleaned a fish before actually, but I'd seen Brian do it on our dinky lakes trip. After a bit more torturing of my poor prey than I'd like, I figure out how to do it (and how to reduce the torture next time... tip, start by severing the spinal column just behind the head. That column contains the blood supply to the brain and the nerves, so your fishy friend will die fast, painlessly, and without twitching.)

We sleep FAR from where I cleaned the fish, being afraid of bears. In the morning we discover we camped fairly near someone else (who'd tented earlier in the evening, and come in from the opposite direction). He gave us some tips on how best to get out without stressing Jess' leg. We also talked a bit about how things go wrong on trips. He had had accidentally slept on his byte-valve and drained 2 liters of water into his bivy the night prior and had been drying all his gear since sunup. Oops! We'd begun to wonder if it was only us that always had problems, apparently not.

That morning we were getting nervous about getting out. We've got too much food. WAY too much food. Jess is having trouble walking. We start considering burying some of the food. It's not very friendly to the ecosystem - but it's better than calling SAR to get Jess out because she can't walk... or to get me out due to a knee injury from carrying too much weight down hill. While we're considering this, we're trying to count days... suddenly we realize we're off by a day! We STILL have too much food, but no-where near as much too much. YAY! We could hang out here and let Jess leg heal - but it's not clear that it won't be *worse* tomorrow. So we decide we should just make our way out slowly, splitting the mileage as evenly as we can across the days - but getting in the day before we have to leave so we don't have to worry about speed while descending. We pack up and head out.

The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful. Beautiful views, Jess limping along (lifting her leg with her hands at times), but doing fine. I'm hauling my huge pack, but also not having problems. We saw one more bear, just a cub this time. My knees held up through the entire descent, no problem. We came down via the waterfalls and half-dome trail. MAN that was a lot of people... oh well, pretty anyway :).

We slept at the "backpackers camp" which took us a LONG time to find. There are *no* signs for it in the valley. You have to go to the wilderness center, and even their directions can be tricky. None of the normal campers have any clue it even exists... That's all pretty cool actually, but it does mean you have to work a bit to find it. We had it marked our our map (not one of the valley, one of all of yosemite) and found it that way.

Overall it was an awesome trip. Yes we had some disasters, but we had a great time anyway, we recovered well from the problems, we bailed when we needed to and we were never in any real danger. This trip had been a bit of an experiment in edge seasons, and we learned a lot. We also learned a lot about starting fires in wet weather, and such. Jess' leg problems appear to have been a simple overuse injury (tendon damage, which heals fine, but slowly). She hadn't done that long uphills before, and certainly not with that kind of weight, we assume that was the problem - so we'll be more careful about that in the future.

more photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/smalladventures/sets/72157625184424068/

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Flying without ID

2010-11-29

I lost my last piece of valid ID the weekend before thanksgiving, and so got stuck flying without ID to and from Texas to see my grandparents. I was nervous before hand, so I shoved every piece of offical and unoffical documentation I had in my luggage. I had photocopies of the lost ids, my social security card, my birth certificate, expired passports and miltary ids... basically everything.

When I went to get on the flight at SFO in San Francisco they looked at my checkcard which has a very fuzzy picture on it from high school and my miltary id which expired 14 years ago. They guy checking ID said it was better than just a driver's license and I didn't get any extra screening.

On the way back from Texas I ran into a little bit more trouble. The lady checking IDs told me I really should have returned the expired ID to the government and requested my health insurance card in addition to the check card and military ID. After that I was pulled aside for additional special screening. Talking with the lady doing the screening however I found out I'd gotten the new enhanced pat down due to wearing a floor length skirt, and not due to any issues with ID. As a note the lady doing the pat down was suprisingly profesional and seemed somwhat embarsed to have to do this to people. Quite a neat lady in general.

In conclusion: Flying without valid government issued ID is not an issue, though the standards are inconsistant. Skirts are much more of an issue.

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Building a Wickiup

2010-11-22

Well, In particular Jess got me a Kukri - and I really wanted to play with it (I.E. hack at something). What better test it than to build a pole Wickiup! The plan was simple. We'd go up to Mendocino National Forest, possibly try several areas until we found a good stop to build one, and then start building. We've been wanting a consistent area to go to to try and learn, so we have the option to spend more time doing bush-crafty things and less time "backpacking".

The wickiup we planned to build is a small temporary structure, we're not removing wood from the forest (just moving it around), and we figured we'd only use deadwood to do it. A quick scan of the regulations we could find and based on reading other's experienced, it seems fine to just do it - so we did.

We rented a compact car as usual and did a few drifts on our way up (aveo has nice clearance, never hit the bumper). We had an idea for a spot, so we drove there and slept by the road that night (it's fall, so it was dark by the time we left home, much less got to our spot). We set up a tarp to ward off the dew and went to sleep.

It was a cold and damp night. We got the wind direction wrong and it came from where the camera is for the photo. You may note that in that direction the tarp will catch the dew and carefully direct it onto us. We had also figured on sleeping in unestablished camps, so we had no sleepingpads. As a result we woke up very early, cold, damp, stiff, and a bit cranky.

After some quick oatmeal cooked on the wood-stove we got moving up the river valley we'd selected. We picked a side of the river based on the pine forests on that side - thinking it would be easier to build there. After walking down it a bit we realized this was a poor choice. The early morning sun was on the other side (meaning much more warm and pleasant mornings) and the road ran too close on this side. So we walked back to the road and circled around again. We walked back in on the other side, intentionally skirting the line between the meadow and the forest. This, we reasoned, should be the line between the cold-damp air affected by humidity from the river, and the dryer and thus warmer air farther away. A few excursions into the woods proved this theory out. We needed timber from the forest, which grows in the humidity of the river - but we wanted to build our structure in the dry air. The closer to the line we built though, the less work, and the less distance to the river to collect water.

We soon found a nice spot, but kept scouting for a bit anyway. We found a better one, then a better one. Then we found something that was just beautiful. A gorgeous view of the valley, a dry spot to build, just above a nice damp forest filled with lots of small pine, large standard oak, and huge manzanita, live oak, and madrone (we'd never seen a madrone grove before, pretty cool). There was only one problem. Between the forest and the spot we wanted to build was what amounted to a cliff.

Oh well, we picked an exact spot, and headed down to the forest to start pulling out logs. We were looking for ~12 foot logs, for ~10 foot diameter shelter. We knew 14' would make 12' diameter shelter, so a bit of loose geometry says ~11.7' gives 10'. We wanted extra solid ones at the start - meaning not rotten, and large. This proved difficult. We eventually found some and hauled them up though. We didn't end up with convenient forks, so decided to cheat. We used a piece of nylon twine we'd brought (we could've made it, but that'd slow down the project) and lashed the 3 logs in a bundle at one end with a straight double-constrictor knot, finished with an overhand. We then stood it up and seperated the legs - it took some futzing to get the largest one in the right spot and such, but Jess figured it out and it all worked. The photo has the other logs we'd gathered in the process of finding our base added in as well.


Now, all we needed was a LOT more logs, longer at first, then as the top filled in we could fill in the bottom with shorter ones. So we set to work. After about half a day of limbing, hauling, and carefully standing up logs, we were exhausted. I could barely unbend my pinky - it turns out my pinky does a LOT of work to keep the kukri in my hand. Jess had been using a hatchet I found on the A.T. that had never been sharpened except with what I could do on a rock in an hour or so (not much... I've only sharpened an axe a few times, and it started scalloped by the previous user). By this time jess' shoulder was shot. I'd also ripped the skin off my palm earlier that week, so the new skin kept cracking, splitting and tearing. So after a bit of lunch, a trip to the river to check it out and replenish water, and a bit more log hauling, we decided to quit for the day.

Instead, we dug a nice fire pit in our shelter (a little forwards of the center). We had a nice fire going quickly using a sparker, and started roasting a gigantic pine-cone that came from a tree right next to the shelter.



We made a bit of dinner (the pine-nuts were huge and delicious), then started thinking about sleeping accommodations. Our shelter was on a bit of a slope, so we started trying to dig it out and flatten out a platform by digging in one end, and moving the resulting dirt to the other end. We carefully did this a bit away from the fire, but with enough space to sleep 2. We also made sure to leave room for firewood near the fire, and for a space to enter the shelter. After a while we had something relatively flat (close enough for now anyway). Then we realized our sleepingbags would get all dirty; plus, we needed something cushy to keep us off the ground - otherwise we'd be cold like the night before.

Jess had the idea of gathering "straw" I.E. old grass, and laying that in as a bed. So we spent a while gathering some nice grass, and piling it up carefully as our bed. Jess put 4 sticks upright a bit from the fire to help keep us from pushing the bedding into the fire - that would suck. I wrapped the tarp around the shelter on the windward side to reduce dew. Then we curled up for a pleasant evening.

Update: Here's some more pictures of the wikiup further along

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MYOG: External Framepack Mod

2010-10-17

MYOG is usually "make your own gear".
Well, this is "modify your own gear". A while ago I posted about some awesome backpacks we got cheaply. I've been using one of those packs ever since, and I've found one really annoying "flaw".

Modifications

Here's the backpack. I've been using the one on the right.

The "flaw" is those two pipes that stick up above my shoulders. I usually use the pack my strapping 3 bags to it, each between one set of horizantal bars. My sleepingbag in a stuffsack on the bottom, my ursack full of food in the middle, and a drysack with my gear in it on the top (sometimes those to are swapped). I also have 2 water-bottle holders lashed on, and I often tie my hatchet to the frame or clip on a knife.

Anyway, I never use those two pipes, and when bushwhacking in heavy brush, they catch on low branches constantly, and keep me from ducking fallen logs.


Well The pack on the left has bars going across between those posts (see above) - these bars hit my head, and at least vaguely annoy almost anyone who uses the pack. The pack on the left is also quite common, the one on the right is rare (I believe older, and made for a shorter period of time). So, I figured why not remove the top from the annoying pack entirely, and save the rarer pack that's more comfy for use by others. So, I moved the sack back onto the frame on the right (where it came from originally), and also swapped all of the other pieces as well, since I liked the padding and such on the frame I'd been using. In particular it has padding on the lower cloth panel, this padding keeps the panel from bunching and makes it far more comfortable.

I then hacksawed the top segment off the pack with the cross-bars on the top. I pulled the caps off and stuck them into the stubs I'd left level with the wields (to avoid weakening the pack). And... voila! an awesome pack that won't catch on trees anymore!





Success

I would not call this a completely unmitigated success, but I do really like the back. I've now used this on a couple of short trips, as well as one longer trip with a lot more weight (up in Yosemite) recently.



Advantages:

• Easy to carry extra gear (like an extra bear-canister), adjusts to varying loads well.
• Very good balance (holds gear close to back) and weight distribution
• Still low/small enough for bushwhacking
• Lighter than anything else with full-frame support
• Can hack it to be whatever you like, add pockets, gear, etc.
• Cheap ($2.50 plus straps)
• Simple, easy to hack, easy to build, easy to replace, easy to repair
• Easier to see what you are carrying
• Anything you want can be easy to get to
• It's cool! (literally, good ventilation)

I've now used it bushwhacking (old frame, before I took the bars off the top), except those bars it worked really well. The only problem I ran into was that I tore the drysack (which was on the top at the time) catching it on a tree-branch. Note that this was bushwhacking down a 45 degree drainage through dense manzanita and live oak (I.E. unless your crazy, you won't do this).

I've also carried upwards of 50 lbs in the pack (Jess hurt her leg, so I was carrying all the food, 2 bear canisters full). The original hipbelt, which I'm still using, caused some problems. The latch slipped with that much weight (though a hair-tie helped hold it), and the belt cut into my hip enough to start putting my legs to sleep. Not too badly, but I wouldn't plan to use the pack with that much weight, without a new hipbelt. I'll probably pick up a better hipbelt at some point (you can ask REI to order you a belt for one of their standard packs, I did this once to get a women's belt for Jess, for her old external).

When carrying that much weight, it would've been nice to have the 2 verticals still there, so I could put the second bear-canister up there (rather than slung on the back). That would've let me stand more upright - but that's not my usual usage, so I'm okay with leaning over a bit in the extreme case.

It's not perfect, but it works well. This is definitely an option to keep in mind if you want to go light, but have back problems. The frame is extremely comfortable, the straps are all replaceable, so if they aren't comfy you're not doing it right. It's not for everyone or every situation - but it it's another option that is surprisingly unexplored.

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Backpacking trip: Sierra, Dinkey Lakes Region

2010-10-17

Summary

On this trip we learned:

• GPS and a HAM randio can be useful in the back-country
  
• We learn once again that you can get a tiny car down a lot of 4x4 only roads.
  
• Wood stoves are awesome.
  
• Fishing in the Sierras is awesome, enough that I plan to buy and carry fishing gear.
  
• Slingshots are an awesome idea for opportunistic small game hunting.
  
• Esbit is aweful and basically useless.
  
• Gooseberry/currents are delicious.
  
• Bushwhacking in the Sierra is *easy*!
  
• Heavy boots are rarely needed, 5-fingers win again.
  
• Good friends you can learn from - priceless :P (And sometimes they even catch you tasty fishes!)
  

In addition we came back with plans to make new shoes moccasin style shoes from Vibram soul sheeting material, and complete our tyvec rain-gear experiments.


(Jess Felix and Lizza picking blueberries)

Details

How it happened

It was a 3-day weekend coming up, but I was going to be working on labor-day. Jess had planned to go on a bike-trip, and I was probably going to tag along for the first day and then head home.  On thursday though a friend of ours, Lizza, contacted me asking if we wanted to go backpacking in the King's Canyon Area. On the same day, I ended up (maybe) with labor-day off.

So, this was thursday, the plan was to meet up friday evening - 4 hours drive away. We had Thursday night to pack. Neither of us had been to this area, and we weren't sure when it rained up in the Sierra. Lizza sent us some data on temperatures that basically said it could drop to near freezing.

We got distracted Thursday night, and weren't packed at all come friday morning.

In the morning I got an email from a coworker which meant I had labor day off - so, the trip was on. In about 20 minutes we threw our standard gear in our packs. We both started backpacking on the east coast so our "standard gear" includes rain-gear, wool sweater, down vest, warm tights, wind pants (or similar), warm hat, extra socks, insulating sleeping mats, and 10F sleeping-bags. Scrounging a bit in the kitchen we got most of what we needed for food, with a very short list left to acquire (Gatorade and lunches).

We still had some logistics to figure out. I called Lizza and got details. We were meeting at a GPS point, at the intersection of a hard to identify tiny side-road off of a small back road. She has an HT radio for hang-gliding, and I have an HT because I'm a nerd with a HAM license. So, we figured out a frequency we could meet on if needed. I installed a bit of GPS software on my smartphone, and made sure to pack gear to power both the radio and phone off the cigarette lighter. I have a real GPS, which I should really learn to use for such purposes, but the phone was less effort this time.

I worked from home so I would have a bit more time to organize things and pick up a rental car (working from home saves me 2 hours commute time). I ran the numbers on zipcar, and several rental agencies. Zipcar is expensive in the summer, so they would've cost ~50% more in this case. We ended up with a Toyota yaris sedan from Hertz.

I still started working before my normal time. Then in the afternoon I quit a bit early as well and ran out to grab the food. Then I walked down to the rental place, got the car, drove back, got the gear, and drove down to pick up Jess. There I picked her up... and were off!

Getting There

Drive was uneventful. We stopped for food on the way. As a result Lizza, Brian and Felix beat us there. We found the point easily and they were waiting (it appeared that they hadn't been waiting long). We repacked and after some discussion concluded we should drive as far in as we could on the dirt (4wd only) roads... Note that I had a toyota yaris (a tiny economy car with poor entrance angle). By this time it was dark.

Well, we drove in, and I didn't trash the car. I dropped the frame on a rock once after taking a larger one under the right wheel. Brian managed to get one wheel of his Honda element off the ground on a steep drop, but it was no biggy. We got in pretty late.

We then pulled out our packs and humped off into the woods. We slept at a nice place just a couple of miles in. That night it hit 26F according to a thermometer Lizza and Brian had brought. There was also significant condensation. Jess and my down bags are a little water resistant on the outside, my toes got cool because I hadn't been careful to put my heals on my sleepingpad, but I slept fine. Both our bags had significant frost on them come morning. Brian's bag was holofill stuff, but wasn't water resistant at all, and wasn't nearly so warm. He had spent a cold night. Lizza had a -30F bag and was happy (she likes to be very warm).

Hiking!

Day 1

Due to the nature of the trip Jess and I had packed independently of Brian, Lizza and Felix, and with little communication. Jess and I were, effectively, along for the ride, as Brian and Lizza had planned the trip. So, come morning, we all made our own breakfast.

Lizza and Brian had made their own wood stoves! (apparently inspired by hearing about mine). So the 4 of us all fired up our wood stoves to make breakfast. I'll have to go into details another time, but their home-grown single-walled designs worked pretty well for having never been tested. There were minor airflow issues. Mine drafts a bit better than either of theirs, but they definitely worked. We also lit all 3 stoves with a spark from a "light-my-fire" sparker, using cattail fluff Jess had from our last trip. That was pretty exciting since Lizza and Brian had never done that before. We used a bit of dry grass from the edges of tufts as tinder, and the tips of dead pine-boughs as the next stage.

After breakfast we packed up and headed off. Due to planning time frame Jess and I lacked a map except for one of the *entire* sierra's (not very helpful), but Brian and Lizza had one. We headed for a lake. Beautiful! Incredible views, clear lakes. We were already at >9000 ft in elevation. We could feel the altitude in our breathing. We found a patch of blueberries and snacked. Brian had a tiny rod and reel that he pulled out. In a short time he'd caught 2 fish about 10 inches long, while the rest of us lazed around on the beach. Then we packed up and wandered off to another lake.

On the way we lost Felix for a bit. Brian pulled out a slingshot and was practicing his aim to kill time... this seemed like an awesome idea to me - it would be great for hunting squirrels and such. I tried throwing rocks, but my accuracy wasn't nearly as good.

We camped at another lake that evening. Brian went off to fish while the rest of us went swimming and gathered wood. As there was no fire-wood by the lake, Lizza and I ran off up the hill - which turned out to be HARD at 9000 ft! I'm used to bounding up a hill for several hundred meters without any issue, and being able to regain my breath in a few seconds - not so much at 9000 ft. Jess is always a slower uphill hiker (but able to kick almost anyone's butt on a good downhill). Her limitation is cardiovascular+lungs. Up there when you work hard you can hear your heart beating in your ears. She'd been noticing the altitude strongly all day, where it only came up for me when I tried to burst.

Brian caught 2 more fish. We lit up a fire. All the wood was from various pine'ish trees. So it was going to burn fast and we needed a lot. We again lit the fire with a spark using cattail fluff and had it going in no-time. We cooked dinner, including the 4 fish. Dinner was amazing as everyone cooked up what they had and we just shared it around - nothing like a 5-course meal including fresh-fish, at 9000 feet on the edge of an alpine lake in the middle of nowhere.

For dinner we had several things. Fish, which had been slit on the sides and salt and various types of pepper rubbed in. They were then stuck on a 2-tined metal thing that fits on the end of a stick and roasted over the fire. Jess and I cooked vegetarian split pea soup with couscous added. It was actually very tasty, just slightly bland. Lizza, Brian, and Felix had brought some backpackers pantry which was pretty good.

Lizza had carried in some Esbit tablets. Esbit is a burnable tablet for cooking, it's supposedly light to carry and easy to use. She had 2 types. Lizza tried to boil a liter and after 8 gave up (this is at 9000 feet, BTW). Our conclusion is that Esbit is heavier than alcohol per pot of water boiled, and more annoying. It even required a better windscreen than the alcohol did. We were stumped as to how or why anyone would ever use it.

Day 2

Next morning Jess and I got up late'ish. Due to the dew problems on the first morning, we'd slept under a diamond pitched tarp, but there was no dew this morning. I had woken up at dawn, glanced around, and seeing no-one up gone back to sleep. I did this a few times. It turns out Brian had snuck off to fish, and Lizza had snuck off for a morning walk.

Out of curiousity I tried the Esbit, and managed to boil 3 cups of water, but it required 5 Esbit tablets. This was on the bottom of my flipped-over pepsi-can stove, inside my woodstove (so it had perfect airflow). The apparent uselessness of Esbit stood.

We cooked up breakfast. Brian ate the 2 fish he'd caught before we got up. Lizza and Felix had relit the fire already so we cooked everything on it. Jess and I had oatmeal again. We extinguished the fire, and picked a route past a couple more lakes that involved a couple of miles of bushwhacking. The bushwhacking was glorious. The difference between this and even east-coast bushwhacking was night and day. You just walk, it's almost as easy as being on a trail. Compared to Mendocino National Forest (where going 100m could take you half an hour) it was like a dream. During our bushwhack we found what Lizza called Gooseberries. Jess looked them up later and says they're probably more like currents - but it looks like gooseberries and currents might be kind of like plants of the rhubis genus, in that there are arbitrary gradations in-between, and all interbreed. Apparently gooseberries are the more prickly ones, and the berries are oblong. In any case, they were delicious so we picked a pile and stored them away for later.




We missed our goal slightly on the bushwhack. Jess Brian and I were all sighting regularly with our compasses, Brian leading. We only missed by a short distance though, hitting a smaller (but very pretty lake). We figured it out based on topology and went the right direction. One HUGE difference between backpacking in the Sierra's and backpacking on the east coast or in low rolling hills is that you always know where you are in the Sierra. There are tons of landmarks, i.e. mountaintops and ridges of very specific and identifiable shape and size, such that you can just triangulate your position any time you need to. This was a totally new experience for both Jess and I who were used to dead-reckoning for long segments of a bushwhack.

At the lake we'd been heading for Brian caught several more fish while the rest of us mucked about, snacking and such. I was starting to burn a bit so I slathered on some mud, Jess as well (Brian and Lizza had brought long-sleeved clothing and sunscreen). Eventually we set off again, this time down a trail, heading for yet another lake nearer where we started, to make our trip out the next day a bit easier.

Well... we missed completely. We were flying, hiking at a really good pace. I was really enjoying stretching out my legs and took off in front in big strides, bounding down the rocks. As dusk was just starting to hit we reached a sign. Brian looked it up and found that we'd gone a *lot* farther than intended and in slightly the wrong direction. We'd lost the trail a bit once or twice and refound it. So, we probably missed an intersection during one of those. Jess and I sat down and ate food while Brian figured out what to do, and Felix got eaten by mosquitos (he was the only one). Brian suggested a lake that was only a mile bushwhack away. We thought that was fine. Everyone set off again.

Jess took a sighting and found a rocky mountain top only 1 degree off from our destination. We beelined for that, I just walked in the straightest line I could out front, towards that mountaintop - double-checking with the compass occasionally. We hit a high ridge-line eventually that ran up towards the mountain. Skirting this to the right we came up over and dropped down into a high valley, The lake had to be to our left (nearly behind the mountain), so we set off that way, following a mostly dry stream bed... and sure enough, there it was.

Brian had left his fishing pole at the previous lake by accident (sad), but we had 4 fish already. That night we ate Thai peanut couscous with vegetables, beans and rice, more fresh fish, fettucini alfredo, an indian dish, rice pealoff, and to finish it all off brownie's with the berries we'd picked. Now THAT is some amazing fare. We all ate till we were stuffed. Anyone who tells you backpacking food isn't any good isn't doing it right. My Thai peanut couscous was very popular - I'd purchased the spice-packet a while back. I'd forgotten to grab tortillas for the beans and rice Jess mixed up, they were tasty. Just a bit over salted 'cause Jess was dehydrated when making them. The other 3 dishes were backpackers pantry. The Indian dish had chickpeas that didn't rehydrate very well, so it wasn't so popular. The other 2 were delicious and disappeared fast. I also ate a whole fish, and half of Jess' fish - the fish from the first lake we ate the day prior had been the best (best fish I've ever eaten), but these were still pretty awesome.



We bunked down that night using a diamond pitch again. Again there was no dew at all. Brian and Lizza used a shaped tarp with 2 center support poles. It looked kinda nice, but kinda bad for snuggling.

Day 3

Next morning we all went for a swim in the chilly lake and then hiked back to the cars... Beautiful trip. We had seen a fair number of other people up there, but they were all friendly. And there was no-one else at the last lake we went to. Generally there were 1 to 2 other groups at each lake.

Brian was very low on gas, so we followed him at first. We came up on a couple of four-wheelers re-inflating their tires for normal roads and reorganizing gear. Brian asked if he could borrow some gas and the guy gave him 5 gallons - said to pass the favor on when it came up. Sometimes, people are just awesome. We'd been talking about how to siphon gas off the Toyota into his car, or about driving out and coming back with gas.

Our two groups parted ways at the end of the ruddy little back-road, saying we'd have to do something similar again soon.

One last note. Jess carried her heavy as hell boots the entire trip, wearing the 5-fingers the whole time. She had them in case of cold weather - and it DID get cold, but only at night. We really need a 5-finger style shoe that works with insulating socks. In other words... moccasins. We're going to try making our own as soon as we can get our hands on Vibram souls - our huaraches experiments have taught us that leather wears out too fast on pavement.