Sequoia National Park: Nine Lakes Loop 8.1-8.3, 2020

Day 0 My wife and I worked tirelessly for months finishing renovating our house to prep for sale. Just one week prior to my planned departure date for California, where my daughter and I planned on a two week trip through some national parks, I finally took delivery of a Winnebago Solis (class B), driving to Montana and back in the process. I was able to depart on time, and we started out in Sequoia National Park. Our first day upon arrival had us staying outside the park, but we were able to spend a few hours at the south entrance hiking the local trails and trying to grasp the splendor of these engorged towering trees. Even the burn survivors were gorgeous, with new bark slowly encasing the black remnants of a long ago fire. Simply magnificent. We also saw a bear as we approached our parking area but neither of us was able to get a good focus on the bruin through the undergrowth.

Big Tree Trail, Sequoia NP

The Foundation

Day 1 We finally arrived at Mineral King and found a place to park on the side of the road, thankfully fairly level as we stayed in the van returning at night on our last day. We had a planned itinerary (Cassie did all the planning for this and subsequent trips in CA), which was the usual; suffer on a long first day into the night and cover some mileage. After some elevation and time, we both came to the conclusion that a high mileage day with 8000 feet of climb wasn’t going to happen. Thankfully, once on the trail our permit was good for anywhere. With both of us suffering more than anticipated, we hiked the Timber Gap trail towards Redwood Meadow. By the time we reached Bear Paw and the start of the High Sierra Trail, it was already dark. We hiked into the evening and found a spectacular place to bivy on the trail cut into a sheer rock face, right before Hamilton Lakes.

Our bivy spot below Hamilton Lakes, Sequoia NP

Day 2 We got up early and headed for Hamilton Lake, now able to fully appreciate the rocky faces we were traversing. Towering granite was to our left and right, the views were truly eye popping. We took a short break at Lower Hamilton Lake and eventually started our climb towards Kaweah Gap at 10,700 feet, passing a small tarn before the magnificent Precipice Lake. With a sheer rock face on the opposite side, the name was truly apt. Another break was in order in this astounding place, but still behind schedule we moved on to Kaweah Gap. We ran into Geof and Matt (both from CA) here for the second time and had a nice chat, just two of only a handful of people we had seen on the trail so far. It was funny trying to verbally coach them on the Willis Wall pose, but they got it after the picture and will now help spread this pose throughout CA…..bwahahaha!

Sometimes struggling with feeling quite puny, we both trudged on towards Little Five Lakes, where once again we found a place to bivy well after darkness fell. During the day, when we were feeling low, always our spirits were boosted by the never ending parade of Sierra spectacle, the views were simply sublime.

Geof and Matt (CA), attempting the Willis Wall Pose via verbal coaching at Kaweah Gap

High Sierra Trail below Hamilton Lakes

The aptly named Precipice Lake, Sequoia NP

Day 3 We wanted to be closer to our exit at Mineral King to finish this approximately 45 mile loop, but alas, our puniness hampered fast speeds. Sometime right after Big Five Lakes, I heard my daughter cry out and looked back to see one foot in front and a leg twisted under her….she had slipped on a rock and twisted her right ankle, landing on her left knee. A quick assessment determined she could continue, but the rest of the hike necessitated even slower pacing and careful footwork. The abuse seemed to keep coming, but then we ambled up the Lost Canyon Trail to ever more spectacle. I tried wide angle, panoramas, multiple overlapping shots and video, but the no camera could capture the grandness of the views both left and right. How could we not stop at the creek and sit on a grassy knoll, soaking our feet in the cold water? Impossible to just blow through here, lingering was a must. One of the most beautiful alpine places I have seen, rivaling anything experienced so far in my 40 years of hiking….my daughter was in complete agreement.

No camera can capture the splendor of Lost Canyon, Sequoia NP

Above Hamilton Lake, Sequoia NP

Eventually schedule beckoned and we departed for Columbine Lake and our highest point on this loop, Sawtooth Pass at 11,700 feet. It was a pull up to Columbine but the lake is a classic high alpine water bowl, surrounded only by rock and scattered grass and flower patches eking out an existence in improbable places. Oh, what a trudge up to the pass, always wondering where the pass was. When we finally reached it, my daughter said “a pass is supposed to be lower than the surrounding peaks!” And I probably don’t want to go into the navigation from Sawtooth Pass down to Monarch Lake. I’m sorry, but scouting ahead, below, left and right, I found no discernible trail; Cassie had to carefully make her way down with her bad ankle on scree, slanted rock, foliage hiding marmot holes and generally all manner of ankle twisting impedimenta. Even when we arrived at Monarch Lake and looking back, no trail was to be found visually, and despite showing us right on top of it with GPS, well, it just wasn’t happening. Akin to the Dune series, we experienced no-pass and no-trail in one day. We were quite thankful to have reached Monarch when it was still light and we refilled our water and ate dinner before departing in the dark for our waiting mobile man cave at Mineral King, happy to find that the car munching marmots (yes, that’s a thing….many vehicles had tarps protecting their undersides from hose and wire gnawing teeth… only in California!) had spared our vehicle.

Yes, we made it with no further injury, but the lateness necessitated sleeping at the trail head and departing early the next morning down that horror of a road, made even worse by constantly riding the brakes despite being in second gear the entire time.

Once the pain subsided and the serpentine road was behind us, we both agreed that the vistas in Sequoia on the Nine Lakes loop made every painful moment well worth it. What a splendid place!

Little 5 Lake in the morning, Sequoia NP

Sawtooth Pass (11,700’) with Columbine Lake below

Pinnacles National Park

It’s been a while since I’ve posted…..sorting, packing up, finishing renovating our house to put up for sale, the usual “life gets in the way” stuff.” I even had to put my bike in storage, managing some neighborhood runs to keep in shape. But things are quickly changing; due to our inability to travel, I pushed up the timetable by a few years to purchase a Class B RV, a Winnebago Solis. I drove down to California over 3 days to do a 2 week trip with my daughter, hitting Sequoia, Yosemite, and Lassen in lieu of climbing Kilimanjaro. That trip will start tomorrow, so this report on Pinnacles was on my way down.

Winnebago Solis: everything I need and nothing I don’t

Like myself, I imagine many people have never heard of this national park. It’s small, in the middle of nowhere, and was only recently established in 2013. I secured a spot in the RV park (which even has 30 amp service) early enough to set up and go for an evening walk of about 5 miles. The road is closed into the park on this east side entrance so anyone contemplating a hike on the 30 miles of trails must be prepared to walk a couple of miles just to get to the trailheads. My evening walk up the road and on the trail paralleling the road was very pleasant, and I stopped to watch turkeys scratching in the grass and quail scurrying over the fence posts. Once back at my van, I turned off all the lights and opened the rear doors (screened), put my pillow against the shower wall and sat on my bed, listening to a riot of crickets as I sipped some wine. This was probably the first time I’ve had to relax in this way in months; the wind down to retirement has started.

Golden hour on the Sycamore Trail, Pinnacles National Park

I set my alarm for 6. Despite being quite warm in the evening I got up at 4:30 and turned on the furnace, as the temperature in the van had dropped below 60. 66 degrees was just right. After a quick breakfast, I set out with cool temperatures and foggy vistas. I arrived at the closed visitor center at Bear Gulch and set off on my planned route, climbing and traversing the Pinnacles High Peaks trail and descending via the Condor Gulch trail. Needless to say, my lonely hike on a national park trail with nary a soul to be seen was delightful. The vistas were grand, and as I climbed higher I espied Turkey Vultures riding the early morning thermals. They clrcled about with nary a flap of their wings. This part of the trail is specified “steep and narrow”….in a few places it reminded me of Angel’s Landing in Zion, with metal handrails and steps cut into the rock., Narrow it was, with me having to hold my camera occasionally in front of me as I scooched past rock outcroppings. To my utter delight the trail climbed right into the midst of the soaring turkey vultures. Sometimes they flew so close I could hear the air pass over their wings, with some below me or eye level, with a layering of birds up above. I spent some time here amongst the flyers, doing my best to snap some photos and video, but mostly just enjoying the aerial company. My timing was perfect in that the birds started to thin, with some settling on rocks as the morning thermals abated. Like the crickets the night before, this was a special event for me, and only for me as there were no others around. Perfect.

Turkey Vulture soars overhead

I had to beat feet back to get packed up before 11, the camp check out time, and I also had 5 hours of driving to get to my daughter, so I trotted down the Condor Gulch trail and finally met some people starting their hikes near the visitor center. All told I probably saw 12 people, so still a pretty sparse scene. Of course, it is off season for hiking in the desert.

This made for a wonderful break on my trip to California and I was pleased to be able to hike in this small but beautiful national park. I actually liked the fact that the roads and facilities were closed, which undoubtedly thinned the crowds significantly. Stats: 11 miles/2000’

Formations on the climb to the High Peaks trail

One of the vistas in Pinnacles National Park

Coping During Covid: Staying Active and Safe

I retired from flying on March 1st, 2020, perhaps the best time. It may also be the worst time to retire in general; my wife and I were supposed to be in Paris, Budapest and Prague during these past few months. As a member of one of the “at risk” groups (over 65), we have been especially careful and sheltering in place. We’ve had groceries delivered and done curbside pickup at Lowes and Home Depot as we leisurely finish renovating our house, for sale at some point in (hopefully) the near future. No use lamenting too much, we just deal with the current situation. Personally, I’ve found great ways to maintain fitness. My neighborhood sports a substantial hill which I’ve walked and run on numerous occasions, sometimes in the evening when foot traffic is almost nil. My bike rides usually encompass mondo hills in the local area. And now that many of the local parks have started to reopen, I can walk out my door and do any combination of hikes. In the following video I managed a 23 mile jaunt with 4400 feet of elevation gain and loss with only a small portion not on trail, the walk from my house to a trail connector. In-home exercises substitute for the gym, and I’m finding that these workouts can be very strenuous. Within the bounds of social distancing and safety, we can all find ways to get the exercise we need. Stay safe and please be courteous!

Bach to the Future

Shelter in place. Purell. Social distancing. Avoid contact. Get exercise but don’t go far afield. Don’t touch your face. Wash your hands frequently while singing the ABC song. Such is the current state of affairs with Covid-19. This compilation of video hopefully reminds us that this too shall pass. Music by Willis Wall with apologies to Mr. Bach.

The Many Faces of Mt. Rainier

Self quarantine allows one to indulge in more leisure activities; in my case, assembling and editing video and photos. I chose close to 100 photos of Mt. Rainier from various vantage points, some on trail, on the roads, off trail and far afield cross country. The mountain presents faces in almost unlimited variety, depending on the time of day, time of year, and position/elevation on the orbit. Hugging the flanks at 9000 feet offers a unique vista vice being miles away at low elevation. Decades of hiking in the park in all seasons allows me to present this comprehensive assembly, starting at Longmire and proceeding clockwise around the mountain. Presented in 4K, please enjoy!

MRNP: Anvil Rock (9584')

Lineup for Paradise gate opening

Warmed up from my Cowlitz Rocks skin/ski a few days ago, I hit the snow with a full 1.5 liter bottle spiked with Tailwind this time, heading up the familiar Muir Snowfield to tag Anvil Rock (9584’). I know I took my daughter by here when she was 16 but figured I’d make it official. My scramble guide to Mt. Rainier suggested not trying to stand on the rock that marks the peak, instead tagging it with one’s pole. If you consider the sheer drop on the other side and the crumbly nature of Rainier’s makeup, it sounded like a prudent idea to me.

Take a Saturday with incredible weather, add in the spiking effect of Coronavirus with social distancing and shutdowns galore (meaning people are getting outside probably more than ever), and tweak the mix with free entry to the park, and one gets a bloated parking lot. The whole trip up the snowfield had specks of humans booting, skinning and snow shoeing in nicely spaced lines for the better part of the day. Everywhere I turned the specks were visible both high and low. However, with so much open space it was quite easy to have your own bubble. I opted to boot up Panorama Point as I saw some skiers having difficulty skinning. Besides, there is always a nice boot track here making it easy peasy. It looked like party time at the top with people taking a break and paying homage to the malignant sun god. I snapped a few pics and continued up the remaining short steep two steps to the gentler terrain above. After this it was shush shush shush goes the skins for some time. I broke off from the main thoroughfare, making my own track to the right to position myself for Anvil.

Anvil Rock (9584’) visible from the snowfield above Panorama Point

I found a nice bit of rock to take a break about 500’ below Anvil, eating some chow and quaffing my liquid. I had noticed some chaffing on my Hoji’s (inside ankle side) from my prior trip, so I shed the boots to take a look. I applied some mole skin and changed to thicker socks and this seemed to alleviate the problem, at least until I took the mole skin off in the shower at home. The layer of skin that came with it raised an eyebrow to say the least. From the rocks it was a short skin to just below the summit rock of Anvil, where I found a flat spot to stash the skis. Low angled soft snow made an easy jaunt to the summit rock where I placed my pole atop the top. Tag! Nice views here to while away a few minutes, and far enough off the main route to enjoy solitude whilst watching the ants, noticeably slower now with the higher elevation.

Nisqually icefall

I configured for the downhill, somewhat dreading the conditions. However, it turns out the crud at 9000’ wasn’t nearly as bad as what I encountered below Cowlitz Rocks and was quite manageable. In fact, as I proceeded lower the skiing became less survival and more glidal, with pretty good soft spring conditions all the way to Paradise. Maybe a little choppy in places but fun nonetheless. The steep slope below Panorama point was doable without traversing and was over in short order with tight turns. After that it was cruising to the parking lot, now packed to the gills with people everywhere. I even passed a group in lounge chairs with tables adorned with beer. I weaved through the parking lot to my car staying 15’ from everyone and did the pack up chores….drying the skis, pouring coffee, eating a peanut butter cookie; the usual stuff. Light traffic had me home in short order and my wife treated me to a salmon dinner. Welcome to retirement.

Looking towards Camp Muir from Anvil Rock

MRNP: Cowlitz Rocks

One of the things an at-risk 65 Y/O newly minted retiree can do in today’s crazy virulent world is recreate outside. Real easy to keep social distance in the great outdoors. I departed with after-hike snacks and a thermos of coffee for Mt. Rainier National Park to tag another peak on the 100 list and get some fresh air. Traffic was light on the 2 hour drive and the park kiosk was unmanned. The gate from Longmire to Paradise usually opens at 9 so I timed my trip to be there accordingly. Normally I would get there earlier and have breakfast at the Inn, but at the moment there isn’t too much normal going around. The Paradise parking lot had a few cars and most of the people mulling about were skiers with a smattering of snow shoers (the sno-play area was shut down). The round trip to the Cowlitz Rocks is under 8 miles and I kept this in mind when I discovered (already on trail) I had left my liquid replenishment at home in the fridge. I determined that by frequently eating snow on the way, I could keep overwhelming thirst at bay and salvage the trip. For this outing I decided to pack my skis vice snowshoes. I knew the terrain was low angle and didn’t expect any good skiing, but I liked the thought of skinning with the chance of a few turns on the way back.

Caution, ski traps

I had visited this area on October 4, 2017 so had an idea of the terrain. To access I hiked down the closed Paradise Valley road a short distance to where the parking area hid under the snow. As expected, there was a good snow shoe track leading up to Mazama Ridge, where I took to skinning on gentle terrain. The path to the Cowlitz Rocks essentially runs next to Stevens Creek, buried by feet of snow. The going was rather toasty in these snow bowls and I throttled back a bit to preclude too much sweating, what with my liquid dumbassery. I shed my pack and skis at Glacier Gap for the final ascent, at first sinking up to my knees in snow but eventually finding my way to crappy frozen scree and rocks, always a pleasure to climb in ski boots. When the rocks ran out and I looked to the actual summit rock ahead and 20 feet above me, I decided not to risk booting up the slightly frozen 30 degree slope with no ice axe. No sense risking a tumble into the rocks below on my first outing after retiring, that would be poor form indeed. So there, I’ve fessed up but still counting it.

Nearing my high point; Glacier Gap upper right; you can spot my skis and pack below

Needless to say the views were “incredible, tremendous”. Nothing quite like an outing with complete solitude (once I departed the snow shoe track). There’s also nothing like trying to ski through a slightly warmed 3 inch thick crust with powder underneath. Sometimes backcountry skiing can be a humbling experience, considering I was shushing down the black diamonds at Crystal just two weeks before. I’m surprised I stayed upright. Somehow I managed a few turns and was actually grateful to put the skins back on for the rest of the trip back, sometimes skiing down sections with the skins. Higher speeds on skins sound really cool.

Winter Wonderland

Finally back at my vehicle, I cracked open a soda water and poured my still hot coffee while my skis were drying on the macadam. There were maybe 15-20 vehicles in the lot, attended by skiers coming back from their runs down the Muir snowfield. I leisurely packed up and enjoyed the downhill in my Prius C, clocking 99.9 MPG for quite a distance out of the park until it came back to 81 MPG when I filled up in Graham. Nice. After copious Purelling before touching anything I enjoyed the light traffic during what would be a normal rush hour all the way home. May we live in interesting times. Stats: 7.8 miles/2400’

Mt. Adams and part of the Tatoosh range to the south

View from the Paradise parking lot

Panasonic M43 Leica Lens Trifecta (8-18/12-60/50-200)

In preparation for retirement travels, two years ago I decided on purchasing a Panasonic G9 for various reasons. Aside from affordability, the M43 format allows for much lighter and more compact lenses (I already owned a few) vice a full format camera. I fretted in the decision making process, coming from the smallish (but fixed lens) Panasonic LX100. In all my research the more compact cameras always had a deal breaker, be it the lens, lack of 4K video, lack of weather sealing, sensor performance and/or size or fiddly interfaces. I finally decided to go with the larger form factor of the G9 as, for my uses, the pros outweighed the cons. A large part of this process involved lens selection.

Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 8-18mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS

The first lens I purchased (at the same time as the camera) was the Leica 8-18. Most of my photography is landscape oriented, but this lens also has much flexibility for architecture. In depth reviews can be found on line for each of these lenses, so this post will only deal with my uses and observations as a non professional photographer. The wide end of the 8-18 makes for interesting shots and with the right subject can be quite arty and pleasing. This lens accepts 67mm screw on filters, another bonus, along with internal zoom (the lens does not extend).

Amazon sphere, 8mm

Leica 8-18 lens, 8mm

However, in landscape photography the wide end of this lens will minimize the center subject and create aberrations on the periphery, which is sometimes not appropriate.

Leica 8-18 at 8mm; notice the distortion of my daughter at the edge

Mt. Rainier seems puny at 8mm

As long as one understands these limitations, this lens has been an excellent performer for me and is weather sealed. The middle range allows for precise control for framing a nearer subject.

Leica 8-18 at 12mm, hand held; the combination of lens and body offers up to 6 stops of stabilization

Zion (Leica 8-18 at 18MM)

Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS

The next lens I purchased was the Leica 12-60. This lens is light (315 grams) and compact. I find the extra reach makes it an excellent walk around lens as well as giving me the ability to bring in those more distant vistas. Once I put it on my camera I didn’t change it out for most of last year. It too is weather sealed but it does extend for zoom and, being a smaller lens than the 8-18, takes 62mm filters; I had to purchase a separate set. I imagine this is the lens I will use the most in my travels due to its versatility.

Leica 12-60 at 12mm

Leica 12-60 at 36mm

Leica 12-60 at 60mm

Leica 12-60 at 32mm

Grandpup (Leica 12-60 at 60mm cropped)

Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit 50-200mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS

I have the older Panasonic 45-150 lens I paired with a Panasonic GH2. That lens packed a lot of bang for the buck. I gave this combo to my daughter for her trip to Africa a few years ago, which she used on a safari at the end of her stay. I was blown away by the images she captured with this dated but very capable combination. I also used this lens on my new G9, giving me just enough reach to capture some nice eagle shots on Whidbey Island.

The newer G9 with the older Panasonic 45-150: 150mm

I’m not a wildlife photographer so that 45-150 would be perfectly acceptable for the few times I need some reach. However, Kilimanjaro is on the docket for this year, with my daughter and myself doing a 4 day safari at the end. My wife and I are also talking about a possible Antarctic cruise. These two once in a lifetime trips alone convinced me that I should pick up the Leica 50-200. Of course it’s weather sealed and accepts my 67mm filters, two more bonuses. My wife and kids surprised me with this lens for my recent birthday, and I haven’t had much time to use it. However, today I took it out for a hazy but nice weather hike to our local Tiger Mountain just to get a feel for it. At first, when Mt. Rainier showed itself, I zoomed to 200mm and the mountain was jumping all over the place. Then I realized I had not turned on the lens OIS; doing so locked the image in the viewfinder down, the difference was amazing. I think the reach will suffice for my recreational photography nicely, although no wildlife appeared on this busy trail. I guess Lars will have to do instead.

Leica 50-200 at 50mm

Leica 50-200 at 106mm

Issaquah HS at 200mm from Poo Poo Point

Crop of the above photo (Leica 50-200 at 200mm)

Mt Rainier from Poo Poo Point (Leica 50-200 at 200mm)

This lens is the third in a series of three Power OIS lenses from Panasonic, and from my recreational photographer’s standpoint I believe I have all my bases covered. I’ve found with the 8-18 and 12-60 that judicious use of the zoom and minimum focusing distances produce perfectly acceptable macro images, and a recent review of the 50-200 lauded the ability to get insect shots without getting too close to the subject.

Bygone Cholla cactus: Leica 12-60 at 60MM

Just as a reminder, the M43 lenses have an equivalent doubling of a full frame 35mm camera; 12 = 24, 200 = 400 etc. I should also mention that these OIS lenses, in combination with a camera like the G9, provide enough stabilization that I find I can hand hold up to 2 second exposures. They are also fast enough to track motion decently, and the stabilization on all 3 provides excellent results shooting 4K video (although untested at 200mm on my latest lens). Remember, if you want detailed reviews they are readily available on various sites, usually provided by professional photographers putting glass through its paces. This overview is therefore from the perspective of a hobbyist. I don’t dig deeply into the capabilities of my cameras unless there is a specific need to do so, like night photography and star shots. With this understanding, I can offer that the combination of a good camera body that takes advantage of the Optical Image Stabilization of these lenses makes for a smooth user experience….most of the time I can just point and shoot, occasionally adjusting the exposure. I always have a UV filter on, but also employ an ND filter if I have a tripod (which is not that often). I can’t attest to use of these lenses with Olympus cameras with regards to taking advantage of the OIS, or other brands. But my last 2 years with the Pany G9 and these tailor made lenses has been a real delight.

Leica 12-60 (60mm, 4 sec exposure with tripod; cropped)

Retirement Thoughts: Fun with 65

It’s time for the transition. Turning 65 is not just a birthday, it’s also the end of a career. I’ve been flying since 1982, and with the mandatory retirement age of 65 my 38 years of aviation have come to an end. It’s also the beginning of my wife’s and my next phase; we’re kicking off retirement with the “big purge” (the most difficult part of the process), selling our home, selling our vehicles (we may keep one) and heading off to Europe for hopefully a few years of travel. 2020 is booked already and includes time in Budapest, Prague, Ireland and the UK. My daughter and I are doing Kilimanjaro in August and I’m going back to Italy for another week of biking. There will always be time for hiking, running and cycling. Which leads me to the reasoning behind my clownish “65” birthday feats. I figure if I’m really lucky, I might have 10 years of mental and physical fitness to do many of the things I’ve put off because of time commitment while working….kayaking the Inside Passage, skiing in Greenland, any one or more of the long trails, cycling endurance events etc. With this in mind I have kept on top of my fitness with an eye towards preparing for retirement. Essentially, I figure I should be able to run a half marathon, bike a century, or hike over 25 miles per day for multiple days at the drop of a hat with minimal extra preparation.

Partly cloudy skies on the west side of Lake Sammamish

My “test” of progress took 4 days, centered around my birthday. On day 1 I confiscated the stair machine and climbed 6500 feet in 3 hours. The next day was weight day, so I did a plank for 65 seconds, leg pressed 65 pounds 65 times in 65 seconds. Next up was bench press; 65 pounds, 65 reps in 6.5 minutes….this was actually the hardest thing I did. There was little time for rest between sets to get under the time limit and I was sore for days. Lastly I grabbed some 20 pound dumbbells and curled 65 times in a row. Day 3 was treadmill time. After a half mile warmup, I ran 6.5 miles at 6.5 MPH pace. Weather delayed my final task, the 65 mile bike. It’s been rather wet and gloomy here in the PNW but a few days later the forecast was for partly sunny skies. With temps in the mid 30’s I set off on my Salsa and rode north and back, looping around Lake Sammamish in the process and riding around a neighborhood a few times to arrive at home with 65 miles on the Cateye. My 5 hour ride (2000’ climb) was mostly pleasant, with some rain showers, followed by sleet and snow about 50 miles in.

A short break on my 65 mile bike ride

I kind of chuckle with the whole “65” contrived workout thing, but it did validate my training regimen and has positioned me physically to handle strenuous outings for my upcoming events. Of course, there is always the caveat that shit happens, but we have no control over many things in life. I’m concentrating on what I do have control over. Thanks for reading.

You Look Like an Old Lady

My daughter and I have done a December hike for the past 6 years when she comes back to the PNW for the holidays. We were looking for something that didn’t require too much driving and didn’t take us too high into the clouds, and Lake Annette filled the bill. This is a popular enough spot so there is a well established boot track, no snow shoes required…..my studded trail runners and her microspikes did the trick. But beyond this, the Lake Annette hike has a more special meaning for me. The first time I did this hike I was 29 Y/O and took my then 60 Y/O mother, who was visiting me from across the country. I remember teasing her a bit, telling her at one point when we were negotiating the bouldery trail across one of the avalanche chutes, “Come on Ma, you look like an old lady.” She was quite active at that age so I was allowed, after all I’m the favorite son. The second time I did the hike I took my visiting 12 Y/O niece; that was 24 years ago. Lots of flies. And today I went with my daughter. After we got back to the vehicle I wanted to get some longer exposures of the creek, so I grabbed my tripod and put on the ND filter. It was just a “hop, skip and a jump” (one of my mother’s sayings) to the creek, but the short trail was a little steep and icy. My daughter had taken off her microspikes. On the way back, she was having a hard time not sliding on the ice, so I offered my hand for stability. I know I was sporting a wry smile when I said, “Come on Cassie, you look like an old lady.” Happy New Year!

The mandatory flowing water shot