Californian Summer
Thursday, October 22, 2009 2:48 PM
Hello! I am once again writing about the things I do. Many times this summer I meant to sit down and write of the fun filled days but I never got around to it. At last, as I begin my next adventure, I am taking the time to give you a brief update.
This summer felt both long and short, as time tends to feel. As soon as I returned from my southern hemisphere adventure I began my eighth summer as a white water rafting on the South Fork of the American River (class III white water). I also trained on and started guiding the Middle Fork of the American River (class IV white water). When I wasn't working I found time to run a few different rivers for fun with other guides. The Stanislaus was pretty and the Merced trip was fun, as was the overnight fun trip on the Middle Fork but the two that deserve short stories are the Mokelumne and the Cherry Creek trips.
Daniel, Vinny and I had a day off, so we decided to go rafting. The Tiger Creek section of the Mokelumne River was somewhere none of us had gone but Daniel was keen try, so Vinny and I tagged along. The usual put-in for this stretch of river is directly below a low, so of course we put-in directly above it. We climbed aboard Daniel's boat, a boat that has been nick named "the death riken" and Daniel gave a prep-talk. He told us that we were going to have to paddle really hard. Okay. Let's go. Vinny and I were sitting across from each other while Daniel was sitting in the back guiding us. Paddling hard, we went into the wave. Just as I am thinking that we made and "that wasn't too bad" I feel the boat stop, then start to move in the wrong direction. Up pops the front of the boat, caused Vinny and I to tumble out the back of the boat. All three of us are in the water. All I am thinking about are the words of a few kayakers who looked at the dam about fifteen minutes before we ran it: "that's a drowning machine." Then my head came back up and I was breathing air! My helmet doesn't exactly fit properly so I was having trouble with seeing, but hey! At least I still had my paddle in hand. I had my feet downstream of me until I hit a hole, which flipped me over so I was going head first down the river. This was the point at which I really knew that I didn't want to be where I was: still in the water! I swam over the shore and felt like a wet cat, clinging to a bit of dry land. Daniel of course, being the rock star rafter that he is, got to shore immediately, watched the boat surf in the hole that I was flipped over in, then proceeded to get the boat back for us to continue. It was an exciting experience, but nothing compared to my day on Cherry Creek.
Cherry Creek was an intense ride. Before going people would ask me if I was scared or excited or what. I wasn't really feeling anything about it because I wasn't thinking about it. That is, until Daniel did his safety talk immediately before putting on. From what he was saying I started to get scared, but I thought, "hey, I can't back out now!" From the moment we put on the water I was really scared, and that feeling didn't go away until more than two hours later when finished the Cherry Creek stretch of river. Taking two really big swims definitely wasn't on the side of helping the feeling subside. Daniel was guiding the raft I was in; along with us were Trevor and Erin. The first big swim I took was in a rapid called Smokey's Hole. We hit a rock sideways and wrapped (the boat wrapped around the rock and was stuck). I was on the downriver side of the boat with Erin sitting across from me. She was immediately swept out of the boat, just as Daniel was calling a "High side!" Which means that everyone should jump to the high side of the boat. As I turned, trying to grab something, I saw Trevor leaping across the boat but I wasn't quick enough so I followed Erin’s lead and got swept out of the boat too. As I was being tumbled over rocks and through waves I realized I still had my paddle in hand. I can't swim as well holding a paddle than not holding a paddle. Just as I thought "Screw the paddle! We have two spares in the boat" I saw an eddy right next to me. I threw the paddle into the eddy and swam in right behind it. Erin was just downstream of me, on the side as well. Daniel and Trevor were standing on the rock that the boat was wrapped around. Skipping the middle part, once we got that situation all taken care of we were ready to continue rafting down the river.
Then came the rapid name Coffin. When we hit a rock sideways I was happy that I was on the ball this time, holding on and on the high side. Then I realized that the boat wasn't stopping, it was flipping! And I was 'closing the coffin' by holding on! I let go of the boat and fell in the water. When I came up I was underneath the boat, which is a bad place to be. I quickly got out from underneath the upside down boat and saw that (of course) Daniel was already on top of the boat. I held onto the boat for a moment but knew that I wasn't going to be able to pull myself up and Daniel was concentrating on Erin just then so he couldn't help me. I found out later that Erin was recirculating in a hole at that moment. I let go of the boat and caught a rock, which I held onto for a moment. Meanwhile Daniel threw his throw bag to Erin just as she was released from the hole. She held onto the bag but at that point it wasn't helping. She let go of the bag and about the same time that I decided the rock wasn't the best place to be for me. I saw that the shore wasn't too far away and figured that I would go for it. I over estimated the amount of energy I had left. When I was in the current of the river, looking down river and not knowing what was up next, and knowing that I wouldn't be able to make it to the shore, it was terrifying. Thankfully Trevor was already on the shore and he threw his through bag out of me. Erin was there as well so we both grabbed the rope, nearly pulling Trevor off shore. The bit of pendulum swing I got was enough to help me over so I let go of the rope and swam the last couple feet. After climbing onto a dry rock I assumed the fetal position; which is where I was when John's boat passed me. He likes to laugh at that picture and in fact, I do too, now that the situation is over :-)
Oddly enough John, who wasn’t in our boat, was the only one injured. He jumped in to pick up a lost throw bag and hurt his ankle. Once the flipped raft situation was cleaned up we continued down the river. Even though Erin and I were done, the only logical way out was via the raft and river. We walked the next big rapid, Lewis’ Leap, and after that were was only one big rapid left, called Lumsden Falls, which Daniel R-Oned (raft one person). We met up with three more friends at the bottom of Cherry Creek/the top of the Tuolumne River. Then we began an adventurous overnight trip on the Tuolumne.
A couple other highlights of this summer include going to a VNV Nation concert, a day trip to University Falls (a bit of a hike leads you to a beautiful section of the river that includes four natural water slides), picking heaps of fresh blackberries (and making culinary deliciousness with them) and going to Burning Man (an incredible experience that I am not even going to attempt to describe).
Last week I started a California road trip; the details of which will come later…
it begins
Sunday, October 25, 2009 8:11 AM
I am one of the many people that are born and raised in an area that they have never fully explored. You know, it's the case of always have it available, letting it wait until another day to be included on an adventure; until that day however I have been going exploring somewhere abroad. Now is the time at last! After spending the majority of my life in California, I am finally setting out to see many of those places that I have heard of but never bothered to make time for because they were too close at hand. I will be driving my newly purchased (from my brother) Toyota 4Runner around California for five weeks, one of which has already flown by.
The morning of Friday the 16th of October I waited at the San Francisco Airport for the much anticipated arrival of Sarah. We traveled so well together in Australia that we decided to give it another go on another continent. Our first few days were spent in San Francisco doing such things as driving down Lombard St, walking around Pier 39, spending three hours in the Exploratorium (not nearly enough time to see everything, but sensory overload was settling in), walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, walking on Haight St, having a picnic in a park, seeing mock defenestrated furniture and going to a farmer's market. Next we headed south.
On Sunday we took a longish route between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, which included a hike in some redwoods near Felton. Monday morning we drove down Highway One with hot springs in our thoughts. Our destination was Sykes hot springs, located in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park at the end of a ten mile hike along the Pine Ridge Trail. The weather didn't look the brightest but we had high hopes for the day clearing up - it didn't. Just before embarking on the hike, on a day the forecast said "possible showers," it began to sprinkle. Naturally I was fully prepared for a backpacking trip in the rain, not! I took out the black trash bag that I use as a rain guard for my backpack, put it on and I was ready to hike in my cotton t-shirt, long shorts and tennis shoes. Sarah actually has a rain guard for her backpack so she was a bit more prepared there (though I must say that neither of our backpacks got wet on this trip) however, she was wearing a tank top and short shorts. The sprinkle of a rain never became a full on rain but it did get a bit heavier and it didn't let up until we were at the end of the ten mile hike.
At the five mile mark we passed three men eating lunch. We didn't see them again until a good hour and a half after we got into the hot spring, when they finally caught up to us. The next morning one of them told us that when we passed them on the trail they thought we were hopeless. When they didn't catch up to us until the hot spring however, their opinion changed. They thought we were rock stars on a mission, traveling light and fast. Funny how first impressions can be so different from later opinions.
The two day back packing trip was great. The trail was challenging, especially in the rain. The next day it was sunny however, so it was almost like hiking a completely different trail instead of the same one twice. The hot springs were a much appreciated reward at the end of the first day and then again after a long night on a very uncomfortable ground (we didn't pick the best place to sleep, next time I'll be more selective). And oh was the whole thing beautiful! Big Sur burnt last year leaving many of the trees with black scars, creating a wonderful contrast in the scenery. Also this was Sarah's first encounter with a squirrel. I'm not sure which is cuter, the squirrel or the way she squeals with excitement when she sees squirrels, probably the later.
Tuesday evening we drove back up to Santa Cruz, where we stayed for the next two nights. Climbing Tree Nine was a fun experience. Though I have climbed it twice before and have greatly improved on my fear of heights, I still get a little tingle in my spine when I do things like that. Tree Nine is a very tall tree at the top of the UCSC campus; it is a popular climbing spot and on a clear day you can see across the bay all the way to Monterey. When we reached the top we found that people had littered it with personal items such as a bra, socks, boxers, a necklace, a few bracelets, shoe laces, a weed tin and bits of string. It was quite ugly, especially compared to how I remembered the way it looked the first time I was up there, with none of that miscellaneous human debris.
Thursday evening we left Santa Cruz, but not before we stocked up on almond butter. I had a bit left over from the summer; Sarah tasted it and likes it as much as peanut butter, if not more (we ate a LOT of peanut butter in Australia). On the drive up to El Dorado Hills we picked up Eden. Now we are three.
Friday and Saturday included two beautiful hikes in El Dorado County. I had been to University Falls and Horsetail Falls but Sarah and Eden hadn't. My visits have only been during the summer, which has the up side of hot days so you want to swim, but visiting these places in autumn has the up side of some amazing colors. University Falls is about an hour hike each way that leads you to a section of the river that holds four natural water slides, each falling into a little swimming hole. For the top three you slide down the angled rock all the way but the last one gives you a little free fall. The last one has both the scariest aspect as well as the safest. It is the safest because of the free fall, there is no way you could hit your head on the rock. It is the scariest because it has the illusion that you could miss the pool at the bottom and over the edge to your pain (if not your death). It also scary because in order to get out you need to use a rope, otherwise you may slip on the rock and fall where you don't want to go. Unfortunately we didn't go swimming this time; the shadows were long, the air was chill and the water was cold. I will be back another day.
This morning I ate a bit of my homemade blackberry ginger pie for breakfast and now we are going rafting on the South Fork American River.
One last note: it was mentioned that I failed to share an important event of the Cherry Creek experience. With all the mayhem we lost a few paddles in the river. One of them was recovered in an awesome way. We were rafting down the river when I spotted the t-grip handle of the paddle sticking straight out of the water. The blade had jammed itself into a rock at the bottom of the river. We pulled over and Daniel lassoed the paddle back to our “safekeeping.”
hiking and hot springs
Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:44 AM
November 5, 2009
On Monday October 26th we headed to South Lake Tahoe. By the time we got to the trailhead for Mt. Tallac it was mid afternoon. We didn’t know how long the hike would take, yet we decided to pack light and not bring anything. When my brother John hikes, he likes to always bring a headlamp and a lighter – just in case. I will often follow that example with the addition of a snack. I did think about bringing a headlamp, but I couldn’t be bothered, I just wanted to start walking. The hike was beautiful; we skirted along Fallen Leaf Lake then climbed Mt. Tallac. Sarah and I were hiking at a more accelerated rate than Eden so we got to the top shortly before sunset. I knew that Lake Tahoe was large but sitting up there looking out over the lake put the grandness into better perspective for me. It is very beautiful up there; it is also quite cold! As soon as the sun starting to set, the winds picked up. Sarah and I hurried down from the top, met up with Eden along the way and headed back. We hiked in the dark for while as it had gotten dark long before we reached the car. When we finally got back to the car we were ravenously hungry. I wanted to just eat what I could grab quickest but I knew that if I took a couple minutes to make something it would be all the better (as it always is). Whole wheat bread, tahini, hard boiled egg, mushroom and tomato were combined to create an egg sandwich that never tasted so good!
We set up camp not too far from the trailhead. We erected the tent, ready to be slept in with all three of our sleeping pads, sleeping bags and pillows. Then we sat in the warmth of the car until it was time to go to sleep. One thing about camping in the winter is that when the sun goes down there isn’t a whole lot to do, and it is cold. But you can’t sleep for a whole twelve hours! So we sat in the car listening to the howl of the wind! One particularly strong gust made me think to turn on the headlights to check on the tent. At that moment the tent was flying by the car. I was shocked; all I could think was “Oh. There goes t the tent.” Sarah was having a delirious moment and actually thought the tent flying by the car was another car driving by us, about to hit our tent. Eden however was out of his seat immediately to capture the run-away tent. I don’t even know how he got out of his seat so fast; one moment there, next moment gone.
It rained that night. In my half asleep delirium I was laying there worrying about getting stuck when we would try to drive away the next morning; however I was also very reluctant to get out of my warm sleeping bag. When the sun finally breached the horizon we were ready to join it. Ice clung to our tent and it was so cold we could hardly use our fingers. I was happy to have my fingerless-gloves/mittens but I also realized that I need better cold weather clothing. After breaking camp and briefly visiting the lakeside we enjoyed the warmth and bottomless coffee in Sprouts.
Next up on our agenda was Yosemite. It is a bit of a drive from Tahoe so driving took up the rest of the day. Camping in Yosemite was chilly but not as cold as Tahoe. We hiked on the Mist Trail that day, Half Dome was already closed for the season. In the evening Eden was picked up by a friend then Sarah and I left the park. And then we were two.
The next week in brief: I spent Halloween in San Francisco dressed as a cupcake. I made this costume from scratch and it was a lot of fun! I even handed out mini cupcakes to random people I encountered. I went to an REI used gear sale and found a rockin' pair of waterproof boots for $15. I am super stoked on these boots and every so often during the past two weeks I look down and think something along the lines of "man these shoes rock!" One day I spent cooking a bunch of food. I baked a pumpkin in the oven, made pumpkin soup and pumpkin butter with the flesh and roasted pumpkin seeds; hummus, eggplant pizzas, fried green tomatoes, dehydrated pears and pear rhubarb crumble. That night we had a dinner party with so many laughs that I don’t know how I ate as much as I did between the laughing fits.
I finally used the last of my toothpaste. This may seem a menial detail to be writing about however I thought it was funny enough to share. I have disliked the taste of this toothpaste since the first time I used it. I wasn't just going to throw it out though, it was good enough for the purpose it served. I used that toothpaste all summer and the taste never got better. At last, the final use! I was so excited to be rid of it! Then, in the last moment before I threw the empty tube away, a tiny piece of it flicked into my eye. What a way to go out!
My car broke. Thankfully the timing was just right, well almost. My brothers John and Daniel, Sarah and I had just driven three hours to Bridgeport when we found out about the problem with the car. We were already there so we took a dip in the Travertine Hot Springs before heading back to El Dorado Hills that night. The next day (Thursday the 5th of November) John fixed the wheel bearing and we drove back to Bridgeport. Another evening spent in a hot spring and we were happy :-)
at last
Friday, November 27, 2009 12:25 AM
During our time spent on the east side of the Sierras we visited the obsidian at Mono Lake, explored the ghost town known as Bodie, broke into the Devil’s Postpile, attempted to hike White Mountain and soaked in hot springs. The White Mountain adventure had a few interesting twists. The road was closed due to a recent snow storm. My car has four wheel drive and tires fit for snow driving, so naturally John felt we could go all the way to the trailhead anyway. We got stuck. Well, momentarily. A bit of digging and strategic placement of rocks got us out in no time; but we decided not to risk it by continuing to the trailhead. Instead, we drove back to the first bit of snow that was tricky to cross, parked the car and walked. The landscape there is barren; it looks like an alien planet, especially with the occasional patches of snow. We know we wouldn’t have time to hike all the way to the top when we started. What I didn’t count on however was getting elevation sickness. This was my first high elevation expedition so I didn’t know what to expect, even with John’s prior mention of it. At first I had a slight headache and a very mild nauseous feeling. Sarah recommended I eat something. So I did. Instantly I regretted it. Thankfully I was already sitting down. I didn’t throw up, but I came close, complete with dry heaving. Funny thing about elevation sickness is that when you descend you immediately begin to feel better. Once I found it in me to get up and start walking again, this time in the direction I had come from, I felt better. Daniel didn’t have it so easy. He felt fine until we got to the car, then the ill feeling hit him. Weird.
After a couple days back in the Placerville area Sarah and I hit the road again. Two peas in a pod. After driving fifteen minutes away from my mom’s house I realized I forgot my sleeping bag. How absentminded could I be? That is one thing that I NEED to have! I tell Sarah what I did and she says right back that she forgot hers as well. Ha! Two peas indeed :-)
That day (November 10) we drove to Kings Canyon National Park. After getting a map and information at the visitor’s center we went back to the car. Here is the critical moment where Sarah smiled at a stranger parked next to us, or so we say – about the smile being critical that is. We got in the car, discussed where we should camp, realized we needed more information and got back out of the car to into the building again. The guy parked next to us offered his knowledge of the park. We soon learned that his name is Steven, he likes to explore caves and he would like to take us flying in his four-seater airplane. Oh, he also told us the answer to our question about camp sites.
The next day we hiked, saw two bears, raided the Bear Boxes (a fantastic experience that has come to be the opposite of my car being stolen a few years back) and went on a cave tour while wearing faerie wings. Steven invited us to stay at his house for the night so we offered to cook dinner. Seemed like a good deal for each of us. In the morning we drove to the nearby airport.
As soon as we got in the plane Steven started my flying lesson by explaining that you steer with your feet. Quite a strange change for me. I assisted with the take off then flew the plane by myself for a bit before Steven took over so we could get a better look at Kings Canyon from not so far above. On the way back he took me through a couple drills with sharp diving turns by first showing me how to do it, then letting me do it myself. The pressure built up in my head and it felt like my face was trying to fall off! The small boxes on the seat next to Sarah were floating momentarily in the air. It was awesome! Landing seems to be a bit tricky; I didn’t quite get it so he had to do that part without me. It was my first time in a small airplane and it rocked my socks :-)
The second half of the eleventh of November was spent driving. Sarah was taking a turn driving through Sequoia National Park when it started snowing. What a way to experience your first snow! We took a break so she could hug a sequoia tree while watching the snowflakes float down to the ground. The forecast was ugly for the following day so we decided to leave Sequoia on our to-do list and continue driving south. Hot springs were our destination that night; unfortunately the ones we chose were no longer in existence.
Death Valley National Park was next. Death Valley is an awesome place. It was an amazing feel to it that I can’t quite explain. I just liked being there. There is a place they call The Racetrack that is a playa similar in a way to the location of Burning Man. On this flat turf you find rocks with paths leading up them that could only have gotten there by the rock scraping across the ground. Apparently no one knows exactly how the rocks move, though one speculation is it happens when it is cold and icy with a wind. We hiked around the rim of the Ubehebe Crate, played on sand dunes while wearing wings and slept near the Devil’s Golf course. I learned that not only does California hold the highest point in the United States, but also the lowest: Badwater Basin. The name Badwater comes from when a prospector was exploring with his mule, finding water in a desert should cause one to rejoice, but not this time. The water is so salty that his mule refused to drink it. He noted on his map “bad water” and the name stuck.
On the way to Joshua Tree National Park we stopped at the Kelso Sand Dunes, also known as the singing sand dunes. Complete with our faerie wings we hiked to the top, where we relaxed and enjoyed the view while playing with the sand. When you create a big enough disturbance in the sand it hums as it cascades down the dune. The best sounds I got were when I was near-running down the dune. Upon leaving the dunes we went on an unfruitful wild goose chase for some hot springs, eventually finding just outside the park for the night.
Monday the 16th of November we visited Joshua Tree. I think I would have appreciated it more if I had not just been in Death Valley. I have heard so many wonderful things about Joshua Tree that I feel like I need to visit it again someday. That being said, I did enjoy the view from atop Ryan Mountain.
That evening we finally found a usable hot spring! This one even had a sort of shower built into it. Granted, the spring was located immediately adjacent to a busy highway and had a lot of human traffic of its own. We opted to use the shower and skip the tub. Once we felt refreshed and rejuvenated we made the couple hour drive to San Diego (are you familiar with the movie Anchorman?). The next couple days were spent in the company of my brother Daniel, his girlfriend Melissa and our friend Mikie. We celebrated Melissa’s 21st birthday with a trip not just to the bars after midnight the night before, but also a trip to the nude beach during the day. Then we topped it off with a delicious lasagna dinner and lemon cake created by Daniel.
San Diego is where Sarah and I parted ways. “Adieu adieu, parting is such sweet sorrow.” It has been a grand California adventure with Sarah for a travel partner. I will miss her heaps.
