Free to Wander

April 2-3, 2009

Whoah, so I haven’t written in a very long time! That tells you how consumed I’ve been teaching full-time, and doing the master’s program at night. Throw in fixing things around the house and it all equates to NO travel!

So, in desperation (ha-ha) I coersed a friend who also is obsessed with the outdoors to at least hike somewhere in the Bay Area during the week. She’s out of work due to the recesssion, but it gives us good excuse to hike without worry! 😀

Decided to take off Thursday morning at 8, had to take this date for the trip as the campground was only available Thursday night. Now this was a ridiculously close trip to home… but, that shouldn’t matter! 😀 The point is, backpacking! Yaee! Drove out to Livermore, and started hiking at the Del Val Staging Area to hike up to Murietta Falls. Now in the past I’ve heard from several friends that this is an intense hike. Ha, and we’re doing it with big packs on our backs! Oh well! 😀 I was sure up for the challenge, mainly because I was in backpacking withdrawal! 🙂 I finally invested in my own pack this past September, and recently got an actual WARM sleeping bag, as well as lighter tent. (Yes, I was still hauling my “3 man” Harrier (Northface) tent from back in 2000. While it was always fun to have  alot of space (and somebody along the line called it the “Taj Majaul” as it was so big for just me!)… so, it was soooo nice to have the lightweight backpacking tent! And, hiking up steep terrain like “Big Burn”, it was sure a good workout!

Another fun part about this trip was the fact that we didn’t have to worry about bears. Thought there may be squirrels, maybe a racoon or two, but we ended up not being bothered by any wildlife. Saw a snake, which was great, and some dead crawdads in the pool at the falls, but that was really the extent of it. Nice! 🙂  (I’m not a fan of running into bears- came close last year on a hike down south, and really don’t want to come that close again! : o

Anyhow, it was freezing toward the top, and I waited probably too long to put my gloves and long sleeve on as I was cold for quite a while. But, all worked out, and I was very happy to set up camp that evening. Totally tired and ready to sleep! And, we were spoiled with a water spicket at the campground and actual pit toilet! So, accomodations were good at Stewart’s Camp. The trip down in the morning was pretty intense, as it was obviously the same trip backward, involving going down all the steep hills we’d come up Thursday! Great wildflower collection, as well as plenty of green hills.

It sure felt good to finish, and we rewarded ourselves with nice juicy cheeseburgers and fries and milkshake at In and Out on the way back home. Fun few days! 🙂

Okay, well, so I’m back from Peru! Now what?

 Well, considering I’m still free to wander for another few weeks before returning to my teaching job at the end of the month, I’m still planning and carrying out trips around California.

Before leaving for Peru, I had decided summer was going to POOF, dissappear if I didn’t plan ahead. So, I signed up for a backpacking trip with the local chapter here of the Sierra Club. I backpacked with group members in April in Stanislas (sp) forest, and had a good time. So, why not try backpacking again! : D

This time, I met up with a gal in her late 20’s in San Francisco (yes, carted my pack on the BART train! It was an adventure!) and then we drove to pick up another trip member a little ways away, and then drove to Tahoe Friday afternoon. Got a little later start than we’d hoped, but nothing was waiting for us, except a great campground at Emerald Bay. Once we arrived, we set up camp, met our other hiking compatriots, and walked to see a great view of the sunset and the lake! Awesome! (If you’ve never been to Lake Tahoe, it is very blue from afar, and very clear up close! It is beautiful.)

 Anyway, this is bear country. We enjoyed the posh ammenities at Emerald Bay for the night- great bathroom, and a nice bear proof dumpster. That’s always nice, as opposed to treeing everything (hanging it in a tree) for the night. We hiked only about 4 miles Saturday, to Gilmore Lake, taking the Glen Alpine trail. (Hey, this was the guy that ended up bottling the water up there, and we still subscribe to water services years later with companies like this! Amazing!) Anyway, beautiful trail, beautiful scenery. And, of course, trying to save space and not squish my camera, I left it in the trunk of my car. Photos will be posted later if I figure out a way to post photos people e-mail me. 🙂

Not too far from Gilmore Lake, we ran into two parties who were warning us about two bears who had kept them awake the night before, trying to mess with their packs (to find food). And, the bears I guess were still hanging out. One hiker (not in our group but the group talking to us about the bears) said he’d gone down to the lake to get water and filter it, and when he came back, his pack had been opened and contents had been pulled out. Anyway, we Sierra Club members needed to make a decision about either hiking to the next camp area (miles away) or braving it and camping at Gilmore. I figured the bears could be at either location, as they too roam and don’t stay put in one spot. So either way, we’d have the same situation. 

So, collectively as a group, we decided to brave it, and camp there anyway that night. All we had to do was hang our food and toothpaste, anything that had a scent that was “food” to bears. 😀

The lake was gorgeous! 4 of us went to Mt. Tallac, about 4 miles more to see some great views. If you ever want to see a vast collection of wildflowers, this was the spot! WOW! The hills were just covered with them! It was amazing!! Anyway, after backpacking all day though, I got tired, as did another one of our group. And we turned back and headed for camp again. So, we ALMOST made it to the top of Mt. Tallac. Someplace I’d heard about from my friend Jaime in the Bay Area for months! So, now I’ve finally seen it. Yaee! : )  The most hillarious part about this whole journey toward Tallac was that I was thinking the whole time “Wow, Jaime sure was right- it IS beautiful here!” …. and then, I’m not kidding, here comes Jaime walking DOWN the trail toward me! I was so surprised! He was with a group of his buddies, and we ended up both taking a double-take when we saw each other! It was sooo funny! Anyway, we talked as we walked down the trail about this funny encounter, and I filled him in on the journey to Peru and Macchu Picchu recently. 

By the time I returned to camp, it was time for dinner, and for me, bed as soon as possible! I was sooo tired! But, it had been a great day.

And, thankfully, we had no bear friends come visit during the night. All was well. : D

 Sunday, August 3, 2008

Today we packed out of camp fairly early. Got up at 5:45, and were ready to go about 7:30. One of our group members decided to walk back the same way we’d come Saturday, 4 miles back to Emerald Bay. The rest of us carried on with the origional plan, and hiked 9 miles up to Dick’s Pass, then passed by about 3 other lakes on our way back to Emerald Bay.

We met a couple who was walking the ENTIRE Tahoe Rim Trail! And, in only 5 days! They were hiking with their dog, and the man had gone ahead of time and stashed bear cans in trees in several sites. (Don’t ask me how- I’m hoping he could have driven to these ahead of time instead of hiking to them? I forgot to ask the woman how they did this.) Anyway, they were covering like 20 miles a DAY! Yikes! I asked her if she hiked a lot normally, and she said “no”…. holy shamoly! She said she only did this type of thing once a year or so… man… I’d LOVE to be in that great of shape 20 miles a day five days in a row wouldn’t just make me melt! Wow… some people are AMAZING!

Anyway, we arrived back at Emerald Bay about 4:00 after a lunch stop and a few other rest breaks. Awesome weather and views again! It was great!

One thing I’m really enjoying about these trips I’m starting with Sierra Club is that a.) you get a guided trip b.) you meet many people who aren’t afraid to get dirty for a few days and they just enjoy the outdoors and being around all this beautiful scenery and c.) you just never know who you’ll meet. I met some great people, and we all had a great time! It sure beats staying inside watching movies all weekend. (Like I could do that- ha! Not that one isn’t bad every once in a while… but you know what I mean- hiking and being outdoors is just, well, super! 🙂 )

Anyway, backpacking trip #2 complete! I think I need to invest in my own gear now… I think I’m officially hooked! 🙂

Camping and cooking are getting easier these days. Just about all us backpackers had those nifty bagged freeze-dried meals from REI that you just add hot water to, and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Poof! Insta-dinner! : ) Fabulous!

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