Thousand Islands Lake, Mammoth Jun 29 - Jul 4

This was one of the most beautiful backpack trips I have ever been on. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, and the lakes were half frozen (halfway through summer!)

We hiked to Thousand Islands Lake and set up base camp. From there we did several day hikes to other lakes in the area, had some good fellowship with the group, and even had a bear ramble near our camp.

Glacier Point, Yosemite Feb. 13-16

This was a new experience for me. Hiking in snowshoes and pitching a tent in snow took a little getting used to. There was well over six feet of snow everywhere, and we did not see the ground once. The days were nice, and it got down to about 8 degrees at night.

The two main challenges I faced were freezing of water, and freezing of boots. Your water bottles would freeze at night, and it took some work to get a drink in the morning. A couple of folks had the water freeze in the tube of their Camelbaks. We discovered burying the water bottles in a couple of feet of snow at night kept them from freezing. Go figure.

As for the boots, they froze solid even though I kept them in the tent with me. I could not get my feet in them until they thawed somewhat. I even tore the rear loop off of one trying to pull it on. I had to put my feet in them as far as I could for about 15 minutes, and they would thaw enough to finally force my feet in.





The sights were beyond description. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are a few thousand worth...


This was a great trip and tried a lot of new things. I stayed very warm and saw a beatiful view of Yosemite in the winter. Snowshoeing is something I will be doing again!

John's Meadow Nov. 6-7

Went up to John's Meadow with the LA Meetup backpacker group this weekend. This is my second hike with the group, and both have been a lot of fun. It was a pretty short hike (about three miles) so I decided to try out all of my luxury items.


I brought a fry pan and made pancakes (thanks to Megan for letting me use her Strawberry Shortcake plate), lots of goodies for cooking, and even a bottle (bagged) of wine to share. Good times!


It did get rather cold at night, forecast was for 30 degrees and some of the items that had water in them did freeze. It was rather amusing watching every one move slowly across the camp, following the sun as they went. As soon as it slipped behind the mountain, the beanies and down jackets came out.


One of the group was on her first backpack, and did not know it would get so cold. Several folks loaned her some of there extra items, and she ended up being okay (would have been a long night for her otherwise...she slept in most of what was given to her).




All in all it was a nice weekend diversion, and with a great group of people.

Hoegee Oct. 17-18

Finally got out again and went to Hoegee with my son's Boyscout Troop. Five of us in all; three Scouts and two dads. It was a nice leisurely walk right after a couple of days of rain. Perfect weather and did not get to cold at night (I slept outside my bag!). We did have one rather noteworthy event though...

We set up camp and had lunch, and then we all decided to take a little nap. About an hour later I got up and checked to see if anyone wanted to walk up to Sturtevant Camp. The only taker was my son, so we headed off. It was a nice walk and warmed up quite a bit. We got to the camp and walked around a bit, and then decided we needed to get back...that is when the action started.

We got about two miles back down the trail, walking a comfortable pace, and came around the bend of the trail. Right there, about 10 to 15 yards away, sitting smack in the middle of the trail was a bear! A big bear! About a 200 pound bear!!! It had it's back to us, and must of not heard us coming as it was looking off the other direction. I froze in my tracks and just stared at it for a moment. My mind was racing...should I yell to scare it off...grab the camera...could I out run my son (just kidding)...

As I am standing there fervently pondering what to do, I hear my son blurt out, "HOLY CRUD!" Well, that got the bears attention. It reared up and turned looking straight at us. Now I am thinking the same thing my son just yelled, and then the bear turns and starts to run down the side of the hill away from us. I make a grab for my camera, and before I can get it out, he is gone. My son and I stood there for a moment and decided not only was it pretty cool we saw a bear, but also that it did not eat us!

We headed back to camp, making lots of noise this time, and shared our adventure with the rest of the gang over the dinner they were just finishing cooking as we walked up.

This one will be remembered for some time...just wish I would of had my camera ready.

What next?

In the past, after I went on a backpack trip, I got it out of my system and felt I needed some recovery time before I even thought about another trip. This has changed with my most recent hikes.

My last two local over night trips have really went well. I have lost about 25 pounds and felt really good. I have also been focusing on reducing pack weight, exercising more, and notice the difference.

So the last two trips have left me looking immeadiatly forward to the next one. I have some car camping coming up over the next couple of weeks, but am spinning my wheels for the next backpack. We will see what I come up with.

Bridge to Nowhere - July 25-26

This was my third trip up the beautiful East Fork of the San Gabriel river. The first when I was about 12 years old with my Boy Scout troop and the second the summer of 2003 with my oldest son.



This time I took my youngest son with me, and he managed the many aspects of the trail flawlessly. We started at 7:30 and hiked the 4 1/2 miles to the bridge in about 3 hours. We watched as the bungee jumpers got set up, and headed around the corner to look for a place to pitch our tent. We could hear the screams of the jumpers echo up the canyon walls a short time later.

There were also a lot of gold prospectors in the area. I did not realize how many folks are into this. I spoke to one gent for a short time, and he said he pulls about 3/4 of a gram out on average per day...the farther up you go, the better your chances he said.

This visit was the best of the bunch (but I do have fond memories of sliding down the river as a Scout). It was very warm, hoovering near 100 degrees during the day, but the hike was good and I even managed to make it both ways without getting my feet wet! For those who have not been there, this is no small feat. You cross the stream about 15 times each way.

Also on this trip, we got within 10 yards of a big horn sheep. It came done the canyon wall while we were resting in the shade. Truly an amazing sight! I have heard people mention sightings, but was a little skeptical until this trip!

All in all, even though it was very hot, it was a wonderful short overnight trip...and yes, I did slide down the river again!