It was hard to go to sleep last night because my legs were uncomfortable. But tiredness took over and I slept solid until 7am. We arose, continued our laundry and went down to the main building to officially check-in and pick up our resupply box which had the pancake mix in it.
So, The Echo Lakes Chalet is a green building that provides many services. They have a postoffice and small grocery store with great ice cream. They have boats, canoes, and kayaks for day rentals and they offer water taxi rides across the lake. Many hikers enjoy the water taxi because it saves you about 2-3 miles of walking along the lake, especially for day hikers that want to get to Desolation Wilderness quickly. It also services many of the cottages around the lake which do not have any road access. The chalet also has 8 chaletlees which are small cabins that each have their own kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom and a huge walk around porch to sit in the sun on. We got good at sitting that day. We planned for lunch to be deli sandwiches from the store, followed by ice cream. We sat and watched the fisherpeople.
Inside our cabin, we put two bar stools in the kitchen so we could sit as we made dinner and continued the laundry. Dinner was fabulous. A box of cheap red wine accompanied our veggie chili with pan fried corn bread (no oven) and fritos. We sat outside to eat and enjoyed the lake. We talked about coming back with Jen and Craig, two friend from church and PSR, or other friends from far away that might come visit us some day.
Looking ahead to tomorrow, 48 miles to the car. 4 days to go. We haven't been able to get an updated report about the snow. We don't know if it is safe to go across Dick's Pass yet. If not, I hope that we are smart enough to turn around and come back. The climb will be steep, 1000 ft in 1 mile. Right now my body feels pretty good, the feet only hurt when I put on the shoes. I will have to tape up my blisters before will leave tomorrow.
The only bad thing so far about rest and resupply is that the pack gets heavier with the new food. We tried to pare down the extra food and mail it home. One more night in a bed and then it is back out into the wilderness.
Monday, July 11, 2005
Sunday, July 10, 2005
TRT Day 5 Hell Day
We woke up at 6am and left our campsite by 7am. It really doesn't take an hour to pack but we lay in bed too long thinking about getting up before actually doing it. This was our earliest morning yet. We knew we had a really bug day and a great reward ahead of us. Thankfully, we had actually camped farther down the trail then we had thought, only 2 miles from the Big Meadows trailhead. We crossed Hwy 89 and continued for another mile or so for BF.
My spirits were way down after BF. I had a bad cliff bar (cookies and cream) and then my stomach just could not handle the oatmeal. My knees had been giving me trouble, even with the help of the hiking poles. The terrain was flat for once, but I just could not get going fast. Grant was somewhat annoyed with me. Frustration, pain, lack of energy caused me to through down my bag, take off my shoes, eat GORP, and start crying. (it is amazing, all these emotions and basically, I was just hungry). It is in these moments that Grant shows how amazing his love is. So patient and giving. He carried my backpack on his front for the next 30 mins on a very flat section of the Pacific Crest Trail (the TRT piggy-backs on the PCT for the west side of the lake)
We crossed many streams/headwaters of the Truckee River. There was no more taking off the shoes for the crossings, there were just so many of them that I just told myself that I was going to get wet and dirty... I would have a shower that night.
We ate lunch at Showers Lake, which really did sound like a shower because of the wind and the snow melt trickling down the rock walls which made a C shape around one side of the lake. This is where the trail started to get tricky...
Snow patches became more frequent. At times, the snow was so thick that we lost the trail. This is when your other senses come into play. Did you notice that there were signs on the trees? Did you notice that there seems to be rectangles carved out of the trees every now and then? Oh look, there, where the log has been cut. Look I see footprints. Plus we had the map and compass. We had steep downhills by a waterfall, a very serious steep snow crossing that ended with a "I just need to hold you, I am so glad that we didn't fall to our death" embrace. Bursts of energy came out of no where that kept us bookin' as fast as we could. We got real good at boot skiing.
As we got closer to the next trailhead, there were several trail crossings and signs that rallied us on. We came up on Echo Summit Trailhead to find a search and rescue squad in full force. They were organizing the troops of volunteers looking for a older mountain biker with some mental problems who had disappeared the previous day or so. We didn't ask anyone anything. We just used the outhouse, sat down on a rock, ate a snack and watched for a few moments. Only 1.5 miles to the Chalet. Can I say it again? Only 1.5 miles to a building where I can sleep in a bed, clean up, and rest for the next 24 hours.
At 8:15pm (after 13 hours on the trail) we landed at Echo Chalet. Showers, Dinner (the best quesadillas ever!), Washing ALL of our clothes, (which meant sleeping naked), Body Massages (and other activities) to Celebrate our HARDEST day on the trail.
My spirits were way down after BF. I had a bad cliff bar (cookies and cream) and then my stomach just could not handle the oatmeal. My knees had been giving me trouble, even with the help of the hiking poles. The terrain was flat for once, but I just could not get going fast. Grant was somewhat annoyed with me. Frustration, pain, lack of energy caused me to through down my bag, take off my shoes, eat GORP, and start crying. (it is amazing, all these emotions and basically, I was just hungry). It is in these moments that Grant shows how amazing his love is. So patient and giving. He carried my backpack on his front for the next 30 mins on a very flat section of the Pacific Crest Trail (the TRT piggy-backs on the PCT for the west side of the lake)
We crossed many streams/headwaters of the Truckee River. There was no more taking off the shoes for the crossings, there were just so many of them that I just told myself that I was going to get wet and dirty... I would have a shower that night.
We ate lunch at Showers Lake, which really did sound like a shower because of the wind and the snow melt trickling down the rock walls which made a C shape around one side of the lake. This is where the trail started to get tricky...
Snow patches became more frequent. At times, the snow was so thick that we lost the trail. This is when your other senses come into play. Did you notice that there were signs on the trees? Did you notice that there seems to be rectangles carved out of the trees every now and then? Oh look, there, where the log has been cut. Look I see footprints. Plus we had the map and compass. We had steep downhills by a waterfall, a very serious steep snow crossing that ended with a "I just need to hold you, I am so glad that we didn't fall to our death" embrace. Bursts of energy came out of no where that kept us bookin' as fast as we could. We got real good at boot skiing.
As we got closer to the next trailhead, there were several trail crossings and signs that rallied us on. We came up on Echo Summit Trailhead to find a search and rescue squad in full force. They were organizing the troops of volunteers looking for a older mountain biker with some mental problems who had disappeared the previous day or so. We didn't ask anyone anything. We just used the outhouse, sat down on a rock, ate a snack and watched for a few moments. Only 1.5 miles to the Chalet. Can I say it again? Only 1.5 miles to a building where I can sleep in a bed, clean up, and rest for the next 24 hours.
At 8:15pm (after 13 hours on the trail) we landed at Echo Chalet. Showers, Dinner (the best quesadillas ever!), Washing ALL of our clothes, (which meant sleeping naked), Body Massages (and other activities) to Celebrate our HARDEST day on the trail.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
TRT Day 4 Lakes and Meadows of Flowers
We got up and out by 8am, climbed up to monument pass and had BF at 9:15. I hate multi-grain mix. It is supposed to be full of great protein. I cannot eat it. It choke down a few bites. I ask Grant to please not make as much. I hate the stuff. We eat it every other day. The other days we eat old fashioned oatmeal. Just as disgusting and intolerable for me. Next trip I will be very clear about bringing my own instant oatmeal!
We arrived at Star Lake at 12:05, right on schedule for a lunch by a lake. Whenever we can pair water filtering with a meal, we gain a little time. The lake was beautiful with Job's Sister in the background.
After lunch we walked to Armstrong Pass, about 5 miles, where Grant tells me that his hope is that we make another 10 miles before bed. It is already 4:30 pm. (quick calculation- we'd been going about 2 miles per hour, so 5 more miles of hiking? We obviously didn't make it)
Today we reached the highest point on the trail, about 10000 feet at Freel Peak. We also walked through some of the prettiest meadows and wildflowers.
I'm tired of being dirty. It has been 5 days since the last shower and real bathroom. I'm tired of my legs and feet hurting. I needed better shoes before the trip. Time ran out for shopping and I thought these would do. I now have a twin blister in the inside of my other heal.
Tomorrow we really have to push it, because tomorrow night we sleep in a bed!
We arrived at Star Lake at 12:05, right on schedule for a lunch by a lake. Whenever we can pair water filtering with a meal, we gain a little time. The lake was beautiful with Job's Sister in the background.
After lunch we walked to Armstrong Pass, about 5 miles, where Grant tells me that his hope is that we make another 10 miles before bed. It is already 4:30 pm. (quick calculation- we'd been going about 2 miles per hour, so 5 more miles of hiking? We obviously didn't make it)
Today we reached the highest point on the trail, about 10000 feet at Freel Peak. We also walked through some of the prettiest meadows and wildflowers.
I'm tired of being dirty. It has been 5 days since the last shower and real bathroom. I'm tired of my legs and feet hurting. I needed better shoes before the trip. Time ran out for shopping and I thought these would do. I now have a twin blister in the inside of my other heal.
Tomorrow we really have to push it, because tomorrow night we sleep in a bed!
Friday, July 08, 2005
TRT Day 3 More Danger In the Woods? Theory disproved!
We started our morning packing up to leave just to eat BF 10 mins down the trail from our camp. We finally found the overlook that people were talking about on the way up. It had a wooden bench built into an outcropping of rock. This told us that we really hadn't hiked as far as we though we had the day before, probably 16 miles, still a good ways. After the bench, we headed downhill for about 3 miles. Then the path started rolling. We met many mountain bikers on Kingsbury Grade, rumored to be among the best trails in the Tahoe area. Lots of great thin paths with rocks and roots to jump/climb/roll/fall over. After 7 miles we hit the next trailhead and started walking on pavement. It so fitting that we made our two biggest mistakes of the trip while on pavement walking through a subdivision.
Mistake #1
I had asked a guy on a mountain bike how far it was to the trail head. He said 20 minutes. It really turned out to be 40 but it is hard to tell when you're on a bike. He was going the other way. He must have reached his turn around point, came back to his car, and then he stopped by us as we were walking. He asked if he was right on the time. We told him no in a polite way. He then asked us if we wanted a ride to the next trailhead so we could continue on our way. I really really wanted to say yes. The pavement was hurting my feet. But to respect my husband and our mission, I declined. We kept walking down the pavement. We should have said yes, and this is why...
Mistake #2
We walked past a house and a woman came out, called to us and asked if we wanted any water. We happily said yes, Grant was almost out and I was a liter or less. I guess this is something that she does fairly after for TRT hikers. The woman's husband said he was working on a building near the next trailhead (construction) and offered us a ride. Being that the pavement was exposed to the sun, it was afternoon, we were hot and tired, and needed to catch up after not getting as far as we had wanted to yesterday, we said yes. As I tried to get into the truck, the man (dim) let the truck roll backwards. The open truck door pinned my hand between it and the side mirror of the car parked next to it. It hurt. I had all of the symptoms of someone about to faint. Dizziness and needing to lie down. We ended up taking the ride from the woman. Grant was awesome and very patient.
About a mile in from the trailhead we stopped for dinner. It was soma noodles with a sun dried tomatos, spices, and olive oil sauce. It was pretty good. We are finding that we packed slightly too much food. We thought we would be hungrier.
About 3 miles in from the trailhead was the first time we found a flat spot. Everywhere is windy. Even in the valley where we camped. The wind seems to accelerate down the hill and through the trees. We only did 11 miles today (14 if you count driving) Tonight bed is early. Hopefully a bright eastern sunrise will get us off to an early start. I'm finding that mornings are the best time for me to hike. It's still cool and I'm still feeling rested.
Mistake #1
I had asked a guy on a mountain bike how far it was to the trail head. He said 20 minutes. It really turned out to be 40 but it is hard to tell when you're on a bike. He was going the other way. He must have reached his turn around point, came back to his car, and then he stopped by us as we were walking. He asked if he was right on the time. We told him no in a polite way. He then asked us if we wanted a ride to the next trailhead so we could continue on our way. I really really wanted to say yes. The pavement was hurting my feet. But to respect my husband and our mission, I declined. We kept walking down the pavement. We should have said yes, and this is why...
Mistake #2
We walked past a house and a woman came out, called to us and asked if we wanted any water. We happily said yes, Grant was almost out and I was a liter or less. I guess this is something that she does fairly after for TRT hikers. The woman's husband said he was working on a building near the next trailhead (construction) and offered us a ride. Being that the pavement was exposed to the sun, it was afternoon, we were hot and tired, and needed to catch up after not getting as far as we had wanted to yesterday, we said yes. As I tried to get into the truck, the man (dim) let the truck roll backwards. The open truck door pinned my hand between it and the side mirror of the car parked next to it. It hurt. I had all of the symptoms of someone about to faint. Dizziness and needing to lie down. We ended up taking the ride from the woman. Grant was awesome and very patient.
About a mile in from the trailhead we stopped for dinner. It was soma noodles with a sun dried tomatos, spices, and olive oil sauce. It was pretty good. We are finding that we packed slightly too much food. We thought we would be hungrier.
About 3 miles in from the trailhead was the first time we found a flat spot. Everywhere is windy. Even in the valley where we camped. The wind seems to accelerate down the hill and through the trees. We only did 11 miles today (14 if you count driving) Tonight bed is early. Hopefully a bright eastern sunrise will get us off to an early start. I'm finding that mornings are the best time for me to hike. It's still cool and I'm still feeling rested.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
TRT Day 2 Getting used to it
Today we tried out part of our new philosophy of backpacking. We hiked before eating breakfast. Energywise this worked great. Timing was thrown off because we didn't end up eating dinner until after 8pm. I was very hunger for dinner but too anxious to eat enough. I guess I'll be hungry in the morning.
The three people that we camped with left before us. We caught up with them twice but didn't get very far ahead because of our breaks. That's another change in philosophy for us. We timed our breaks, about 10-15 mins every hour or so. We took the breaks even when we weren't too tired. When you know that you need to cover 15 miles, you know that you'll be hiking all day, so why be exhausted for the last bit?
We crossed many day hikers climbing up to Snow Valley Peak, so we knew we were getting closer to the next trailhead (Spooner Summit). Sometimes I feel proud to be a backpacker- other times just silly.
We accidentally spent 2 hours at Spooner Lake for lunch. This was our first major water stop. We're entering a part of the trail that we've been warned doesn't have many water sources for the next 20 miles or so (a little over a day away). Together we can carry 7 liters of water. To lose weight, we left the pump part of our water filter at home and opted for gravity. Only bad thing is that gravity is slow, especially for 7 liters. We'll have to finesse this our water techniques as we go, this was way too much time for lunch!
We crossed our first sites of civilization in 36 hours, a four lane highway US-50 (opposite side of the lake from where we entered yesterday). As always, you drop elevation coming into a trailhead and then you immediately gain elevation leaving a trailhead.
As the evening came on, Grant and I, still spooked about mountain lions and bears, same songs together to "scare" away the wildlife. This also made going uphill a little easier. This evening we chose to camp close to the lookout/vista at South Camp Peal. Almost as far as we wanted to go for today.
Tomorrow we look forward to 7 miles of trail, ~5 miles of road in between trail heads, then 3+ more miles of trail. People, cars, stores, hills. The feet are cranky but not in too much pain. My legs are stiff until warmed up a mile in or so. Quite the opposite of Grant who is ready to go once on his feet and then slows down. My shoulder hurt. Good thing we're eating to lighter backpacks.
The three people that we camped with left before us. We caught up with them twice but didn't get very far ahead because of our breaks. That's another change in philosophy for us. We timed our breaks, about 10-15 mins every hour or so. We took the breaks even when we weren't too tired. When you know that you need to cover 15 miles, you know that you'll be hiking all day, so why be exhausted for the last bit?
We crossed many day hikers climbing up to Snow Valley Peak, so we knew we were getting closer to the next trailhead (Spooner Summit). Sometimes I feel proud to be a backpacker- other times just silly.
We accidentally spent 2 hours at Spooner Lake for lunch. This was our first major water stop. We're entering a part of the trail that we've been warned doesn't have many water sources for the next 20 miles or so (a little over a day away). Together we can carry 7 liters of water. To lose weight, we left the pump part of our water filter at home and opted for gravity. Only bad thing is that gravity is slow, especially for 7 liters. We'll have to finesse this our water techniques as we go, this was way too much time for lunch!
We crossed our first sites of civilization in 36 hours, a four lane highway US-50 (opposite side of the lake from where we entered yesterday). As always, you drop elevation coming into a trailhead and then you immediately gain elevation leaving a trailhead.
As the evening came on, Grant and I, still spooked about mountain lions and bears, same songs together to "scare" away the wildlife. This also made going uphill a little easier. This evening we chose to camp close to the lookout/vista at South Camp Peal. Almost as far as we wanted to go for today.
Tomorrow we look forward to 7 miles of trail, ~5 miles of road in between trail heads, then 3+ more miles of trail. People, cars, stores, hills. The feet are cranky but not in too much pain. My legs are stiff until warmed up a mile in or so. Quite the opposite of Grant who is ready to go once on his feet and then slows down. My shoulder hurt. Good thing we're eating to lighter backpacks.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
TRT Day 1 Mt. Rose and Dead Fawn
Today we walked from Mt. Rose campground down hill towards the Tahoe Meadows trail head where we officially started our TRT journey. The meadows were beautiful. Small flowinf streams leading to patches of wildflowers. Just out of the meadows, inside the trees we crossed our first of many snow patches. Navigating with a topo map and compass is getting easier yet I find myself becoming a map snob. Does the map have good colors? Clear elevation marks? Does it have shading? (I especally like shading) We passed by and got passed by a handful of mountain bikers. Today is an even day. Bikes are allowed on this section of trail only on even days. We were going to try to avoid this but the earliest we could drive to Tahoe was yesterday since it was the first day we had a chance to check our mail in about 10 days. Our camp stove, a cute little snow peak giga, was arriving.
About 10 miles in we saw dried up twin lakes, a planned water stop that we knew had the potential to be dried up already. Most of the snow on this side of the lake was already gone, just patches in the more dense tree areas. Upon Grant's request, we hiked up an extra mile to this overlook that actually was amazing to eat dinner. You could see just about all of Lake Tahoe. We also saw a dead fawn in the middle of the trail. It was freshly dead. I actually could not see any markings of how it died. This made us very paranoid about mountain lions. On the drive up, Grant read about them liking to kill their prey and then come back later to eat it. We were quite a site trying to make as much noise as possible as we nervously walked back down off of the overlook and back onto the main trail. Grant took what we hope will be great shots of the lake from Christopher's Loop/Sand Harbour Vista.
We hiked into camp about 8pm, finally was able to get some water from a clean stream, and were greeted by some fellow hikers just doing a three day hike. On the north east side of the lake you're in Nevade State Park so there are specific walk-in campground that you can stay at. We walked in later then we hoped but thankfully already ate dinner and were ready to set up our tent and sleep.
I got the funniest blister on the inside of my heal. My feet and shoulders/neck ache but all else is good. The spirits are back up after the lion and water shortages are over.
About 10 miles in we saw dried up twin lakes, a planned water stop that we knew had the potential to be dried up already. Most of the snow on this side of the lake was already gone, just patches in the more dense tree areas. Upon Grant's request, we hiked up an extra mile to this overlook that actually was amazing to eat dinner. You could see just about all of Lake Tahoe. We also saw a dead fawn in the middle of the trail. It was freshly dead. I actually could not see any markings of how it died. This made us very paranoid about mountain lions. On the drive up, Grant read about them liking to kill their prey and then come back later to eat it. We were quite a site trying to make as much noise as possible as we nervously walked back down off of the overlook and back onto the main trail. Grant took what we hope will be great shots of the lake from Christopher's Loop/Sand Harbour Vista.
We hiked into camp about 8pm, finally was able to get some water from a clean stream, and were greeted by some fellow hikers just doing a three day hike. On the north east side of the lake you're in Nevade State Park so there are specific walk-in campground that you can stay at. We walked in later then we hoped but thankfully already ate dinner and were ready to set up our tent and sleep.
I got the funniest blister on the inside of my heal. My feet and shoulders/neck ache but all else is good. The spirits are back up after the lion and water shortages are over.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
TRT Day 0 Traveling up to Tahoe
The drive to the Tahoe area was uneventful. We had no trouble with traffic and the scenery look much different without the piles of snow we had faced last December. Most of the traffic was headed in the other direction, back home after the long 4th of July weekend. We drove in the south route to Lake Tahoe to drop off the resupply package and visit the Desolation wilderness Visitor Center to get our permit. We winded up into the mountains on US50 and drove into Echo Chalet, a resort with little cabins on Echo Lake about 5 miles outside of South Lake Tahoe. We had already packed up our resupply box, full of food for the second half of our trip, the camera battery charger, and a card reader/hard drive to download all of the pictures. The echo chalet has its own post office which the manager made us use to mail ourselves a package that really wouldn't leave its spot in 5 days. It cost over $10 dollars. I wonder if we could have found a spot to hide it in the woods, but then there are those wild animals to worry about. Next stop was the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit trailer. The ranger said there would be much snow through Desolation Wilderness (on the west side of the lake) and that we would need crampons and ice axes to avoid falling off the mountain ridges. We still had a week and we were hopeful that the snow would melt to a passable state by then. We decided to not get the recommended supplies (who wants to carry these things anyways?) and that if we did get back in a week and find that we still needed an ice axe that we would re-evaluate our hiking itinerary which means hitch a ride back to South Lake Tahoe and take a bus back to our car.
After the visit with the ranger, we drove north to Tahoe City, parked the van, hopped onto a bus and went east to Incline City, Nevada where we called for a taxi to take us up to Mt. Rose campground. The taxi dropped us off at the end of a long park road where a sign had been posted "closed for season." The driver said that there was probably just some snow on the ground still and that it was fine to go in. Walking through this abandoned campground was the eeriest feeling. No running water. All the bathroom buildings were locked. No bear boxes. We had been planning on bear boxes because we had too much food to fit in our bear canister. Our site had snow on it but wasn't covered. Camping in a campground has become so easy for us. What a luxury is having a picnic table on our site and a fresh snow melt stream trickling away during the evening to get our water from.
I wasn't prepared to see all of this snow. I guess I always knew that there would be a chance of snow. I am worried about slipping on the snow on the trail. We have our new hiking poles with us, that will help.
After the visit with the ranger, we drove north to Tahoe City, parked the van, hopped onto a bus and went east to Incline City, Nevada where we called for a taxi to take us up to Mt. Rose campground. The taxi dropped us off at the end of a long park road where a sign had been posted "closed for season." The driver said that there was probably just some snow on the ground still and that it was fine to go in. Walking through this abandoned campground was the eeriest feeling. No running water. All the bathroom buildings were locked. No bear boxes. We had been planning on bear boxes because we had too much food to fit in our bear canister. Our site had snow on it but wasn't covered. Camping in a campground has become so easy for us. What a luxury is having a picnic table on our site and a fresh snow melt stream trickling away during the evening to get our water from.
I wasn't prepared to see all of this snow. I guess I always knew that there would be a chance of snow. I am worried about slipping on the snow on the trail. We have our new hiking poles with us, that will help.
Friday, December 31, 2004
Winter Storm Advisory
"We advise you that you need to go enjoy a snow storm in the mountains..." -Grant and Robin's collective consciences on the subject of dealing with 'lack of wintry weather depression'
December 27-30, 2004 *Trip to Lake Tahoe* CA’s escape to real weather
(Sunday) Last week, Grant and I decided to get out of Berkeley for a few days. The mundane weather pattern of the bay area in conjunction with the shortness of the days has almost driven me mad. Except for 2 major rain storms, for the last 2 months, the temperatures have ranged from 50 to 60 and the sky has been clear with less than usual fog in the Golden Gate. The only things that have changed are the sunrise and sunset times. Depressing. It didn’t feel like winter. It didn’t even feel like Christmas was coming. It was weird and wrong and it was causing me emotional distress. When Grant and I told everyone that we were moving to California, most people said, “I bet you’re glad that there won’t be any snow.” My answer was always, “I’m glad that I will not have to drive in it.” However, there was never any total gladness in my thoughts of leaving the state of my youth. I honestly love Michigan. I love being so close to so many fresh water lakes, especially the big ones that start with the word Lake. I love that there are seasons, my favorite being Fall. I love that you have big cities when you want them (Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Traverse City) and quiet retreats not too far away (Kensington Metro Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks, Manistee River Trail). I love that I know all of the major expressways in Lower Peninsula (I grew up near the cross of I-96 and US 23 and then got my first teaching job near the cross of I-69 and I-75). I love that you could drive fast on straight roads through endless farm fields. I love that most Michigan drivers can drive- in any weather condition. I love the look people give me here when they know that they will never be able to point their hand and tell me where they grew up.
Obviously, we did not make plans for a trip back to Michigan or else some of you would be seeing us right now. So what is the next best thing that we found on such short notice? Lake Tahoe. Tucked in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and on the border between California and Nevada is a beautiful lake named Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is frigged right now but it never freezes because the water moves too fast. It doesn’t matter because we are not really here for the lake anyways. We are here for the snow. It is so sad that you have to drive 3 hours and climb 8000 feet from where we live in Berkeley in order to see something that is what winter is all about- and there is tons of it here already and we hear that more is on its way. Not only is it on the ground, but it is on the roads so we get to practice our winter driving skills. We even get to learn a new skill like driving with tire chains on. Snow is on roofs of buildings, it is on cars, and it is on the bottom of our skis because we skied like crazy today. I would say about 80% of the people who visit Lake Tahoe come primarily for the Alpine Skiing. Which means that the “unpopular” Nordic skiing was amazing.
Today (Tuesday) we left our cozy hotel room at 7am and drove to the closest Sno-Park to South Lake Tahoe. (FYI: Sno-Parks are controlled by the California State Parks and are provided for people who do not waste their money on lift tickets but enjoy the finer, more elegant sports of cross-country skiing (nordic and telemark), snow shoeing, and sledding. Oh yeah, those annoying snow mobiles are allowed in some of the parks too. Sno-parks cost $5 per day – visit as many as you can in a day- or $25 for the season which includes staying overnight in your car if you want to. We bought the season pass hoping that we’ll be back at least one more time) You have to do your research before you get to the sno-park because there are few signs and the trails may or may not be marked. These mild inconveniences for the common folk proved to be a great adventure for my curious husband. You see, before we left Berkeley, we went to REI and purchased a couple of topographical maps of the area. (Thank you mom and dad Kinney for the gift certificate) Armed with his maps, compass, and GPS my husband was in 7th heaven today when we traversed the side of a mountain, along a beautiful lake, on a path that had disappeared due to the gusty winds and blowing snow, with the occasional threat of slipping down the mountain into the lake, all on skis. Can you get this kind of adventure from going downhill on a groomed trail at a prissy resort? I think not. You can’t even get this kind of adventure from the resorts that specialize in cross country skiing (which all charge around $20 per day). Today was the most thrilling day on skis that either one of us had ever had. And alas, today is only Tuesday. We still have Wednesday and Thursday to discover more mountains and lakes.
Looking back on our decision, we probably missed the most exciting weather week in Berkeley as there were rainstorms and flooding. Pictures of Berkeley made it to The Weather Channel. Rain is a big deal for people in California. They do not seem to know how to drive in it therefore they crash into other people. Good thing we're not there to witness it.
(Wednesday) Today we slept in slightly longer and got a later start which meant that the roads were more clear than yesterday and that more people were up and about. We stopped first at the National Park Service Headquarters to get some maps and practical information about the trails in the area. A very lovely park ranger gave us some great tips from personal experience and sent us on our way to Carson Pass, a sno-park along highway 88. This park had the deepest snow that we had seen so far. We parked and got our gear together. We always take the typical supplies... duct tape, compass, whistle, GPS, maps, chap stick, water, granola bars, headlamps with extra batteries, etc. I pretty much carry what Grant tells me to take with me. After climbing over a 6 foot wall of snow at the edge of the parking lot, we located a park map on a tree. The map was about 5 feet over our heads. We tried our best to read it but decided to just follow the blue diamonds nailed to the trees as we started our expedition. We'll break up this trip into 3 parts. Keep in mind that today was supposed to be the easy day because we worked so hard yesterday and were sore...
Phase 1: Trail already broken. We followed the path already set before us. Along the way we passed 5 other skiiers returning so we felt pretty good about the path we chose. Then after a downhill, the path turned to the left and the blue diamonds disappeared. At the time, I knew that our plan was to follow the marked path so we turned around to search for the place where the set trail separated from the intended path. Looking back, I probably should have just followed the trail in the snow because it probably would have led back to the start anyways.
Phase 2: The rolling hills of Carson Pass were great. Grant and I had lots of fun skiing in the woods. We backtracked and found the blue diamonds which led us downhill. There was no trail, so we made our own as we let gravity pull us down the hill. At the bottom we found another sign that was nailed pretty high on a tree and decided to loop around towards Woods Lake and then back to the parking lot. The total loop was less than 4 miles total. The trail to the lake was mostly flat with Grant leading the way in breaking trail. At this point, our spirits were still high and the sense of adventure was very strong in Grant. The lake was frozen over but we didn't test its strength. There was nothing too special about the lake.
Phase 3: After all the fun of breaking a trail going downhill, and seeing the river which led to the lake, we realized that we would have to go back up to get to our car. Breaking trail in knee deep snow (it was knee deep on skis and probably close to a foot deeper than than without skis) going up hill proved to be one of the hardest things that I have done while participating in an outdoors sport. We took turns leading eachother and following those faithful blue diamonds. The time sped from 2:30pm when we left the lake to 3:10pm when we were .2 miles farher along the path. The GPS showed that we were getting closer to the highway but were still over a mile away from the parking lot. I wanted to go to the road. Grant dissented, sure that we would get run over because of the weather conditions. It had been steadily snowing the entire time we were skiing. So we tramped on for another .2 miles which took over an hour. By now the sky was getting darker and the road was about 10 feet from us horizontally (about 40 feet vertically). Exhausted, we crawled up the hill, put our headlamps on backwards for the cars behind us, and started skiing on the snow bank created by the snow plows. We did not get hit by any cars but we did get some weird looks from some people as we climbed over the snow bank onto the road. We finally made it back to the car at about 5:30pm- just in time for the snow plow to come and clear a path for us out of the parking lot.
With that adventure behind us, we kept up with our plan of relaxing in the natural hot springs of Grover Hot Springs State Park. The 102 degree pool was great. It was just what we needed. It was especially cool to feel the snow fall as was sat in the toasty outdoor pool.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we head home so I'll finish this adventure when we get back...
December 27-30, 2004 *Trip to Lake Tahoe* CA’s escape to real weather
(Sunday) Last week, Grant and I decided to get out of Berkeley for a few days. The mundane weather pattern of the bay area in conjunction with the shortness of the days has almost driven me mad. Except for 2 major rain storms, for the last 2 months, the temperatures have ranged from 50 to 60 and the sky has been clear with less than usual fog in the Golden Gate. The only things that have changed are the sunrise and sunset times. Depressing. It didn’t feel like winter. It didn’t even feel like Christmas was coming. It was weird and wrong and it was causing me emotional distress. When Grant and I told everyone that we were moving to California, most people said, “I bet you’re glad that there won’t be any snow.” My answer was always, “I’m glad that I will not have to drive in it.” However, there was never any total gladness in my thoughts of leaving the state of my youth. I honestly love Michigan. I love being so close to so many fresh water lakes, especially the big ones that start with the word Lake. I love that there are seasons, my favorite being Fall. I love that you have big cities when you want them (Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids, Traverse City) and quiet retreats not too far away (Kensington Metro Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Pictured Rocks, Manistee River Trail). I love that I know all of the major expressways in Lower Peninsula (I grew up near the cross of I-96 and US 23 and then got my first teaching job near the cross of I-69 and I-75). I love that you could drive fast on straight roads through endless farm fields. I love that most Michigan drivers can drive- in any weather condition. I love the look people give me here when they know that they will never be able to point their hand and tell me where they grew up.
Obviously, we did not make plans for a trip back to Michigan or else some of you would be seeing us right now. So what is the next best thing that we found on such short notice? Lake Tahoe. Tucked in the middle of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and on the border between California and Nevada is a beautiful lake named Lake Tahoe. Lake Tahoe is frigged right now but it never freezes because the water moves too fast. It doesn’t matter because we are not really here for the lake anyways. We are here for the snow. It is so sad that you have to drive 3 hours and climb 8000 feet from where we live in Berkeley in order to see something that is what winter is all about- and there is tons of it here already and we hear that more is on its way. Not only is it on the ground, but it is on the roads so we get to practice our winter driving skills. We even get to learn a new skill like driving with tire chains on. Snow is on roofs of buildings, it is on cars, and it is on the bottom of our skis because we skied like crazy today. I would say about 80% of the people who visit Lake Tahoe come primarily for the Alpine Skiing. Which means that the “unpopular” Nordic skiing was amazing.
Today (Tuesday) we left our cozy hotel room at 7am and drove to the closest Sno-Park to South Lake Tahoe. (FYI: Sno-Parks are controlled by the California State Parks and are provided for people who do not waste their money on lift tickets but enjoy the finer, more elegant sports of cross-country skiing (nordic and telemark), snow shoeing, and sledding. Oh yeah, those annoying snow mobiles are allowed in some of the parks too. Sno-parks cost $5 per day – visit as many as you can in a day- or $25 for the season which includes staying overnight in your car if you want to. We bought the season pass hoping that we’ll be back at least one more time) You have to do your research before you get to the sno-park because there are few signs and the trails may or may not be marked. These mild inconveniences for the common folk proved to be a great adventure for my curious husband. You see, before we left Berkeley, we went to REI and purchased a couple of topographical maps of the area. (Thank you mom and dad Kinney for the gift certificate) Armed with his maps, compass, and GPS my husband was in 7th heaven today when we traversed the side of a mountain, along a beautiful lake, on a path that had disappeared due to the gusty winds and blowing snow, with the occasional threat of slipping down the mountain into the lake, all on skis. Can you get this kind of adventure from going downhill on a groomed trail at a prissy resort? I think not. You can’t even get this kind of adventure from the resorts that specialize in cross country skiing (which all charge around $20 per day). Today was the most thrilling day on skis that either one of us had ever had. And alas, today is only Tuesday. We still have Wednesday and Thursday to discover more mountains and lakes.
Looking back on our decision, we probably missed the most exciting weather week in Berkeley as there were rainstorms and flooding. Pictures of Berkeley made it to The Weather Channel. Rain is a big deal for people in California. They do not seem to know how to drive in it therefore they crash into other people. Good thing we're not there to witness it.
(Wednesday) Today we slept in slightly longer and got a later start which meant that the roads were more clear than yesterday and that more people were up and about. We stopped first at the National Park Service Headquarters to get some maps and practical information about the trails in the area. A very lovely park ranger gave us some great tips from personal experience and sent us on our way to Carson Pass, a sno-park along highway 88. This park had the deepest snow that we had seen so far. We parked and got our gear together. We always take the typical supplies... duct tape, compass, whistle, GPS, maps, chap stick, water, granola bars, headlamps with extra batteries, etc. I pretty much carry what Grant tells me to take with me. After climbing over a 6 foot wall of snow at the edge of the parking lot, we located a park map on a tree. The map was about 5 feet over our heads. We tried our best to read it but decided to just follow the blue diamonds nailed to the trees as we started our expedition. We'll break up this trip into 3 parts. Keep in mind that today was supposed to be the easy day because we worked so hard yesterday and were sore...
Phase 1: Trail already broken. We followed the path already set before us. Along the way we passed 5 other skiiers returning so we felt pretty good about the path we chose. Then after a downhill, the path turned to the left and the blue diamonds disappeared. At the time, I knew that our plan was to follow the marked path so we turned around to search for the place where the set trail separated from the intended path. Looking back, I probably should have just followed the trail in the snow because it probably would have led back to the start anyways.
Phase 2: The rolling hills of Carson Pass were great. Grant and I had lots of fun skiing in the woods. We backtracked and found the blue diamonds which led us downhill. There was no trail, so we made our own as we let gravity pull us down the hill. At the bottom we found another sign that was nailed pretty high on a tree and decided to loop around towards Woods Lake and then back to the parking lot. The total loop was less than 4 miles total. The trail to the lake was mostly flat with Grant leading the way in breaking trail. At this point, our spirits were still high and the sense of adventure was very strong in Grant. The lake was frozen over but we didn't test its strength. There was nothing too special about the lake.
Phase 3: After all the fun of breaking a trail going downhill, and seeing the river which led to the lake, we realized that we would have to go back up to get to our car. Breaking trail in knee deep snow (it was knee deep on skis and probably close to a foot deeper than than without skis) going up hill proved to be one of the hardest things that I have done while participating in an outdoors sport. We took turns leading eachother and following those faithful blue diamonds. The time sped from 2:30pm when we left the lake to 3:10pm when we were .2 miles farher along the path. The GPS showed that we were getting closer to the highway but were still over a mile away from the parking lot. I wanted to go to the road. Grant dissented, sure that we would get run over because of the weather conditions. It had been steadily snowing the entire time we were skiing. So we tramped on for another .2 miles which took over an hour. By now the sky was getting darker and the road was about 10 feet from us horizontally (about 40 feet vertically). Exhausted, we crawled up the hill, put our headlamps on backwards for the cars behind us, and started skiing on the snow bank created by the snow plows. We did not get hit by any cars but we did get some weird looks from some people as we climbed over the snow bank onto the road. We finally made it back to the car at about 5:30pm- just in time for the snow plow to come and clear a path for us out of the parking lot.
With that adventure behind us, we kept up with our plan of relaxing in the natural hot springs of Grover Hot Springs State Park. The 102 degree pool was great. It was just what we needed. It was especially cool to feel the snow fall as was sat in the toasty outdoor pool.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we head home so I'll finish this adventure when we get back...
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Trader Joe's
There is no Trader Joe's in Berkeley. You can find two within 2 miles (in different directions) of our apartment. Both stores are equally crowded and both provide snacks all day long. Today's interesting snack/drink was called "Very Green Juice Blend." The big juice container (the like 5 gallon serving type container with a spigot) was 3/4 of the way full. Was this because it was recently filled or are other people feeling the same suspicion that I do about the thick deep forest green liquid inside? Feeling adventurous, as I have been feeling more and more about food since moving here, I poured a cup full and brought it back to Grant who was waiting in line at the checkout. "What is that?" he says as he looks doubtfully at the liquid I have delivered to him. The look was half disgust and half interested. For being so green, the juice did have a strong banana flavor and was thicker than the typical juice that we buy. This was not made from concentrate.
About a month ago Grant and I both purchased cyclocross bikes. His is a Trek (strong, American) and mine is a Bianchi Volpe (a cute little Italian delight). Cyclocross bikes look like road bikes but have the ability to ride on thicker tires in order to go safely on dirt and gravel roads/trails. They are fast. Not as fast as road bikes could be- not that I will ever feel safe about going over 25 mph on a bike anyways- but fast enough for me and the hills of Berkeley. Anyways, one of many cool things about these bikes is their touring capabilities. Grant is all about going on a weekend bike/camping trip someday. The trip across America is always a possibility. So the bikes have the screws built into the frames for racks and of course we had to get panniers for the racks and of course we have to prove that the bags and racks work by going grocery shopping. This would have been our preferred method except today we had a bunch of errands to do like going to Target to pick out Mitch and Laurie’s wedding present.
Trader Joe’s is the store we go to for cheaper frozen veggies, Morningstar farm products, tortillas, bagels, pasta, sauce, condiments, and beer. We buy beer here because they always have descriptions on the price tags on the shelves. Since I have not developed my taste for beer yet, we choose a new six-pack each time we go based solely on the tags. I usually drink one or two before they are all gone. Liquids disappear quick around this apartment. Gallons of milk in a few days. (Milk we buy at Long’s Drug Store as well as ice cream)
One of the secrets to Trader Joe’s is that they can fit a lot of stuff into a small place because there are not 10 different options for everything (not many different brands and sizes). So it is easy to shop. People are happy there in their tropical work shirts.
About a month ago Grant and I both purchased cyclocross bikes. His is a Trek (strong, American) and mine is a Bianchi Volpe (a cute little Italian delight). Cyclocross bikes look like road bikes but have the ability to ride on thicker tires in order to go safely on dirt and gravel roads/trails. They are fast. Not as fast as road bikes could be- not that I will ever feel safe about going over 25 mph on a bike anyways- but fast enough for me and the hills of Berkeley. Anyways, one of many cool things about these bikes is their touring capabilities. Grant is all about going on a weekend bike/camping trip someday. The trip across America is always a possibility. So the bikes have the screws built into the frames for racks and of course we had to get panniers for the racks and of course we have to prove that the bags and racks work by going grocery shopping. This would have been our preferred method except today we had a bunch of errands to do like going to Target to pick out Mitch and Laurie’s wedding present.
Trader Joe’s is the store we go to for cheaper frozen veggies, Morningstar farm products, tortillas, bagels, pasta, sauce, condiments, and beer. We buy beer here because they always have descriptions on the price tags on the shelves. Since I have not developed my taste for beer yet, we choose a new six-pack each time we go based solely on the tags. I usually drink one or two before they are all gone. Liquids disappear quick around this apartment. Gallons of milk in a few days. (Milk we buy at Long’s Drug Store as well as ice cream)
One of the secrets to Trader Joe’s is that they can fit a lot of stuff into a small place because there are not 10 different options for everything (not many different brands and sizes). So it is easy to shop. People are happy there in their tropical work shirts.
The Berkeley Bowl
For most of the people I know, we are the only ones they know of who live in Berkeley, CA. So in my next few blogs I would like to highlight some of the activities that used to be very significant to Grant and myself but are now becomoing an everyday way of life. The first of which is the Berkeley Bowl grocery store.
The Berkeley Bowl parking lot is always full. I drive past it on my way to school everyday and at 7am the parking lot is full of trucks bringing in tons of fresh produce for the store. California has quite a good amount of unique and delicious produce from its thriving (and water sucking) agricultural industry. Once the store opens at 9am, the crowds flock and keep the place busy through out the whole day until 8 at night. The best time that we've found to go is around 7pm on a Friday.
At first, one might be very overwhelmed with the Berkeley Bowl experience. "Why are there so many people in here?" "Why are the lines so long" "What's up with that guy's hair?" "Lets just skip the ethnic food isle because its jammed with carts," "You mean there was a separate scale for bulk food items that we had to go to?" "How do the cashiers memorize so many skew numbers?" "Will grocery shopping always take this long?" But then you learn to enjoy the fact that grocery shopping can be a leisure activity. You get to watch a great variety of people, speaking all kinds of languages, interacting as we do this dance, moving gingerly around each other, in the produce isles.
Berkeley Bowl is like many typical stores. It has the produce and freezer sections. It has a deli, with a place to eat, the meat and cheese counters. It has a bulk food section and dairy area. But it is not the sections that make the difference, no the essence of BB is in the food that is there. We always buy the cage free eggs with the drawings of the chickens throwing their cages on the carton. We strole down the bulk food isle and decide what cereal we would like to have for the next week. "Here is the bulk couscous, would you like whole wheat this time?" "How are we doing on noodles? Do you want to try the veggie spirials?"
At first we thought that the Berkeley Bowl was grossly over priced. We thought that going there would be an experience that we would only take in once in a grear while. Then we shopped around. Whole Foods = still expensive. Albertson's = still expensice. Andronico's = still expensice. Safeway = bad produce, cheaper prices on boxed things, but after living in Berkeley not quite acceptable. So we are left with enjoying BB and Trader Joe's (a topic for another Blog and a store not really in Berkeley)
Grant has a gardening project that he's working on for his Ecofeminist Theology class and we needed to get pallets. I suggested that we go to a grocery store or drug store and check in back. So we went to a nearby Safeway. We went inside to ask if we could take one. No one was at the customer service desk. No employee who walked by seemed to care that we were waiting. We looked around and thought of a few items we needed and said, "lets shop and come back." We wondered through the produce isle. It felt strange. The food arrangements looked weird. The food was different. Where were all the people? Where was the chatter of people talking on their phones with their handless headsets? Where was the organic section? Where are the 10 varieties of hot pepper? And then it dawned on me. I have truley become a real Berkeley citizen because I couldn't stand being able to walk down clear isles in a store other than the Berkeley Bowl.
You must come visit.
The Berkeley Bowl parking lot is always full. I drive past it on my way to school everyday and at 7am the parking lot is full of trucks bringing in tons of fresh produce for the store. California has quite a good amount of unique and delicious produce from its thriving (and water sucking) agricultural industry. Once the store opens at 9am, the crowds flock and keep the place busy through out the whole day until 8 at night. The best time that we've found to go is around 7pm on a Friday.
At first, one might be very overwhelmed with the Berkeley Bowl experience. "Why are there so many people in here?" "Why are the lines so long" "What's up with that guy's hair?" "Lets just skip the ethnic food isle because its jammed with carts," "You mean there was a separate scale for bulk food items that we had to go to?" "How do the cashiers memorize so many skew numbers?" "Will grocery shopping always take this long?" But then you learn to enjoy the fact that grocery shopping can be a leisure activity. You get to watch a great variety of people, speaking all kinds of languages, interacting as we do this dance, moving gingerly around each other, in the produce isles.
Berkeley Bowl is like many typical stores. It has the produce and freezer sections. It has a deli, with a place to eat, the meat and cheese counters. It has a bulk food section and dairy area. But it is not the sections that make the difference, no the essence of BB is in the food that is there. We always buy the cage free eggs with the drawings of the chickens throwing their cages on the carton. We strole down the bulk food isle and decide what cereal we would like to have for the next week. "Here is the bulk couscous, would you like whole wheat this time?" "How are we doing on noodles? Do you want to try the veggie spirials?"
At first we thought that the Berkeley Bowl was grossly over priced. We thought that going there would be an experience that we would only take in once in a grear while. Then we shopped around. Whole Foods = still expensive. Albertson's = still expensice. Andronico's = still expensice. Safeway = bad produce, cheaper prices on boxed things, but after living in Berkeley not quite acceptable. So we are left with enjoying BB and Trader Joe's (a topic for another Blog and a store not really in Berkeley)
Grant has a gardening project that he's working on for his Ecofeminist Theology class and we needed to get pallets. I suggested that we go to a grocery store or drug store and check in back. So we went to a nearby Safeway. We went inside to ask if we could take one. No one was at the customer service desk. No employee who walked by seemed to care that we were waiting. We looked around and thought of a few items we needed and said, "lets shop and come back." We wondered through the produce isle. It felt strange. The food arrangements looked weird. The food was different. Where were all the people? Where was the chatter of people talking on their phones with their handless headsets? Where was the organic section? Where are the 10 varieties of hot pepper? And then it dawned on me. I have truley become a real Berkeley citizen because I couldn't stand being able to walk down clear isles in a store other than the Berkeley Bowl.
You must come visit.
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