Backpacking in Oregon ...

For several months now Mark had been determined to take his boys on a backpack trip in Oregon. Late in the game (in fact, after arrival in Oregon) the decision was made to hike in the Three Sisters Wilderness area out of Sisters, OR -- and, to climb Middle Sister if possible.

Tasha was able to accompany Mark and the boys, so they left early on Friday, Aug. 17th and hiked from the Pole Ck. Trailhead to a campsite at Demaris Lake, and then on to Camp Lake on Saturday night. The climb of Middle Sister was a challenge and a slog over boulders and up scree slopes. But, the group of 5 made it to the summit on Sunday, the 19th.

On the hike the group had the chance to "play in the snow" and slide down some fairly steep slopes with mixed results! At the campsite at Camp Lake -- a high altitude lake surrounded by snowfields even in mid August -- the boys ventured into the water for a swim. With the climb to the summit (10,054 ft.) completed on Sunday, the group returned to their campsite at Camp Lake and then hiked back to the trailhead on Monday, drove to Sisters for hamburgers and shakes, and then drove the 2 hours+ back to Keizer well before dark! - rw

Mark & Boys in Oregon!

Mark, Daniel, Eli and Micah arrived in the early morning hours of Wednesday, August 15th on Southwest Airlines. Rather immediately on arrival they began preparing for a 4-day backpack trip in the Three Sisters Wilderness with 'Auntie Tasha.' (pix below of staging area) After the successful backpack trip (pictures in the next posting), we all spent time unpacking and cleaning up prior to driving to Silverton and Silver Falls Park to see the falls, and do just a bit of hiking.

One of the great accomplishments of the trip to Oregon occurred on the very first day when Micah, age 6, learned to ride a 2-wheeler! (Ever since that first day he has ridden around the neighborhood with great joy and abandon.)

The flight back to the East Coast occurs this Saturday, so we only have a couple days left to visit the Gilbert House in Salem and also make a quick 1-day trip to the Oregon Coast. Much fun has been had by all, and all concerned have greatly appreciated the Marionberry pies that Grandma had made and frozen prior to flying to Malaysia! - rw

The Legacy of John Muir ...

Shortly after 1900, President Theodore Roosevelt invited himself to California and asked John Muir to give him a personal tour of Yosemite. The two men, both deeply concerned about preserving wilderness areas in America, spent many hours together as they camped in Yosemite and marveled at its grandeur. After his visit, Roosevelt established all of Yosemite as a National Park.

The entire range of the Sierra Nevada has John Muir's name on it -- much of it designated as the "John Muir Wilderness." In tramping in the high country of Yosemite, Muir quoted Psalm 26:8 ("O Lord, I love the house in which you dwell, and the place where your glory abides.") Muir felt deeply that the grand vistas of the Sierra Nevada were indeed temples of the Lord.

"Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest! Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God. Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessing of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever." - John Muir

"... And our first pure mountain day, warm, calm, cloudless, -- how immeasurable it seems, how serenely wild! ... new life, new beauty, unfolding, unrolling in glorious exuberant extravagance." - John Muir

"And after ten years in the heart of it, rejoicing and wondering, bathing in its glorious floods of light, seeing the sunbursts of morning among the icy peaks, the noonday radiance on the trees and rocks and snow, the flush of alpenglow, and a thousand dashing waterfalls with their marvelous abundance of irised spray, it still seems to me above all others, the Range of Light." - John Muir

My "Doings" in a Support Role

My first "support-role-task" was to deliver Tasha and her three friends to Florence Lake where they slept one night at a campsite I had reserved and then took the boat across the lake at 8:30 a.m. on July 30th to begin their 110 miles on the John Muir Trail.

After camping three nights at Florence Lake I drove back down into the San Joaquin Valley and up north to Yosemite NP where I drove over Tioga Pass to Hwy. 395, and then up the Mammoth Lakes Rd. to Devil's Postpile (pictured). I was camped there in order to re-supply Tasha and friends with food after hiking over 50 miles in 5 days. They arrived at Reds Meadows right on schedule but wisely decided to take a lay-over day before continuing. On that day we joined a "Ranger Walk" to the Postpile where he took us on top the formation to see the very top of the strange-and-wonderful columns (pictured below).

During my three days and nights camping at Devil's Postpile I did take a 2-mile hike to Rainbow Falls.

While it appears that there's quite a bit of water coming over the falls (Middle Fork, San Joaquin River), a Ranger told is that one year ago in August -- just after a winter with very heavy snowfall (compared to the winter of 2011-12 which was very dry) -- there was actually ten times as much water in the river (300 cubic feet per second, compared to 30 this year). Then, after sending the group off for their 3-day hike to Tuolumne Meadows, I drove over Tioga Pass once again and settled-in at White Wolf Campground after finding that there was "no room in the inn" at Tuolumne Meadows! En route to White Wolf I had the chance to see beautiful Tenaya Lake once again.

Again it was a 3-night stay at White Wolf where I had to drive 25 miles back to Tuolumne Meadows to meet-and-re-supply the group when they arrived. When they continued on to Yosemite Valley I followed them up the Cathedral Lakes Trail (note "Cathedral Peak")

and enjoyed the 7-mile round trip hike with about an 1000 ft. elevation gain (definitely a work-out!). But, the upper Cathedral Lake was a delightful place to soak my feet and munch on the snack food that I'd carried in my daypack. The sun was warm, the sky clear, and the view spectacular! It would have been great to spend hours there; however, I headed back down the trail after less than an hour.

From Tuolumne I drove down into Yosemite Valley and hiked up the John Muir Trail a bit less than a mile in order to catch a glimpse of Vernal Falls (which also had much less than normal water coming down the Merced River). Again, the group arrived on schedule (at about 5:00 p.m. on August 9th) after climbing Half Dome and then descending 4800' into the Valley! Each of them had a terrific sense of accomplishment in covering the 110 miles with little more than a few blisters to show for it! (We left the Valley that evening, drove to a motel in Oakdale, and then made it all the way back to Keizer/Portland the next day!) - rw

P.S. - Believe it or not, due to the unusually dry winter, there was actually no water at all coming over famed Yosemite Falls!

The Last Great Adventure!

The "finale" of Tasha's 10-day, 110-mile backpack trip on the John Muir Trail with her three friends was the climb of Half Dome on Thursday, August 9th. I met the group at about 5:00 p.m. at "Happy Isles" in Yosemite Valley.

After visiting the Visitors Center for the last few minutes before it closed at 6:00 p.m., we drove to the Yosemite Lodge area for dinner in the cafeteria, and then drove to Motel 6 in Oakdale where we spent the night before driving all the way back home to Oregon on Friday. Below are a few of the spectacular pictures Tasha took during the trip. - rw

High Sierra Update ...

The country into which Tasha and friends are hiking today (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday) provides some of the most spectacular scenery in the entire Sierra range. (Pictured are The Minarets.) The group arrived right on schedule at Reds Meadows (near Devil's Postpile Nat'l. Monument) on Friday afternoon after hiking slightly over 50 miles in 5 days. They decided that an unplanned lay-over day at Devil's Postpile would be appropriate, however. So, Friday night and Saturday were spent mostly relaxing and driving (me) into Mammoth Lakes City to go out to dinner and visit a laundromat!

Today (Sunday) after the group left my campsite at 6:00 a.m. (I was still in bed!), I found out that no worship services were scheduled in the Monument so I took a 3 mi. hike to Minaret Falls. After I got back from the rather easy hike, I broke camp and drove back to Mammoth Lakes City to get gas, some pizza for lunch, and some groceries for the next leg of the trip. The picture below is of me at Rainbow Falls, a very popular "tourist hike" from Devil's Postpile. - rw

The "end" to some great hiking boots!

On my one lay-over day at Florence Lake -- after getting acclimated for about 36 hours (!) -- I bought a round-trip ticket on the boat across the lake, with a plan to hike as far as I could on the trail to Evolution Valley and still get back for the 5:00 p.m. return boat. However, a strange thing happened on the way to the boat dock! As I made my way down the granite slabs toward the dock I noticed that the sole on my right boot was loose and was flapping. Immediately I realized that I'd need to turn around, head back to camp, put on tennis shoes and take the 10:30 a.m. boat. However, the storekeeper ("Charlie") insisted that she had duct tape and could do a quick "fix" so I could still take the 8:00 a.m. boat. The "fix" was done, I boarded the boat, disembarked on the other side, and began hiking. After less than a mile the duct tape worked loose and I realized I'd need to turn around. So, after enjoying the scenery and taking a few pictures, I returned on the 11:00 a.m. boat and spent the afternoon in camp reading a John Grisham novel! I did take a picture of "the disaster" after getting back to camp ...

On the 11:00 a.m. return, "Charlie," this time the boat operator, asked if the 8 of us wanted to take the time for a brief detour to see the back of the dam (front side pictured).

We all said "yes" to the idea, so she ran the boat up onto a sloping granite slab near one side of the dam, and we all climbed out, walked up the granite slope to one end of the dam and took a look at the other side before the journey back to the dock. (By the way, the scenery shot was taken on the far side of the lake.

O yes, I suppose I should point out that I've never really been eating "high on the hog" while camping! - rw

The Great Sierra Adventure!

On Friday night, July 27th, the group pictured above (L-R: Maggie, Justina, Tasha, Russell) arrived at our place in Keizer shortly after 9:00 p.m. We were so grateful that Kennard Haworth had offered to trade cars with us -- since the Honda Pilot (pictured) had lots of room for all of our gear, without the need of a top rack.

After french toast and bacon on Saturday, cooked by yours truly, we got off in good time on Saturday and drove all the way to Sacramento, staying in a motel that Maggie had reserved. Then, on Sunday we drove south and took the somewhat-scary one-lane road into Florence Lake and found the campsite I had reserved online at Jackass Meadow -- just a mile from the lake.

I cooked pancakes and bacon for the group -- along with cocoa & juice -- on Monday morning, and they all were at the dock in plenty of time for the 8:30 boat across the lake. The plan, of course, was for the four of them to hike 110 miles north on the John Muir Trail, arriving in Yosemite Valley in 10 days! (Late on Sunday afternoon all of them but Justina donned swim gear and plunged into the cold lake water.) -rw