Well, it was a pretty eventful August this year. Nice time to take vacation.
I'm curious to see what everyone else has been doing too! So, once you've read this, feel free to leave a comment, a link, a something. I shall relate my adventures in the middle of California as best I can, and offer whatever insight I've come to in the last couple weeks.
Well, I took off with Monica Heiken on the morning of the 9th, headed to Yosemite. We drove all day, and were lucky enough to find a quiet spot at Cold Spring, right outside the valley.
After a fairly early night, we were up at six a.m.
Hah. . .
just kidding.
Actually, I slept in until like ten.
Then we made a leisurely breakfast. Really important part of the day.
At this point we decided that we should hike Half Dome. After getting some fresh ice for the cooler, we headed over towards Glacier Point and started trekkin' up with all the other folks towards Vernal Falls. We were in really bad moods by this point, and it was okay. To be quite honest, we probably started a bit late.
It was pretty hot, and it was a hard day of hikin'. Spot on though - last ones on the summit. We enjoyed an amazing sunset; it was great to be up there, all alone on the cables, and with no crowds on top.
Silence. Wind.
Sunset.
Damn tired. . . still stoked though!After getting down, we began the drive to Tuolumne.
Small note here: Signage in Tuolumne is tough to navigate at night, regardless of the fact that the main road runs east to west, with no junctions. Better yet, campgrounds fill up quickly in the summer - definitely not many openings between one and two a.m.
So we found a spot off a dirt road, and slept. It was a very, very long day by this point. One of the longer ones I can remember.
By the time morning came, we were still tired. After sleeping in, we headed to Tenaya lake to make some breakfast and relax a bit.
We were headed out of Tuolumne by mid-afternoon.
Highway 120 runs basically east from Tuolumne to Lee Vining, and 395 runs north and south from there. After a stop for a milkshake, we headed towards Bishop.
Our backpacking destination was south of Lee Vining and north of Bishop - Rock Creek Canyon.
We arrived at Mosquito Flat by late afternoon, with intention to leave in the morning.
It's really not a bad drive in the Sierra. Everything is gorgeous and super alpine, and driving distances are fairly short - 'specially with two drivers. It's about an hour from the border of Yosemite to great backpacking, climbing, skiing, etc.
Looking down an upper section of Rock Creek Canyon
Next, we headed down into the valley again, and back up Golden Creek to its head. Golden Lake was one of the higher lakes we camped at. We got there fairly early, so we set up camp, and I eventually scrambled up an easy 5th class ridge to the top of an adjacent peak.
The rock up there was phenomenal. I even found several slabby boulder problems, and one of the most perfect finger cracks i've seen in a while - 15-20 feet of perfect granite and precise finger locks. Very nice way to spend the afternoon above 11,000 feet, sending wilderness granite!
Looking south down Golden Creek, back towards Pioneer Basin
Golden Lake
We spent the night on the beach south of Mendocino, after a lot of extra driving. It was a really late night, and all the campgrounds were either way too expensive or full. Sleeping in random locations isn't as easy when you're not in National Forest land. . .
The next day we drove north through a wonderfully foggy California coast, and by the early evening we were in the Humboldt Redwoods!
Our last day was spent at Gold Bluffs, near Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This is without a doubt my all-time favorite campsite on the California coast. Right on the beach, and absolutely beautiful regardless of the weather. . . get there before 1pm if you want a spot!
We cooked alfredo pasta with salmon, butter, parmesan - adventured around the beach - and tried hard not to think about all of the things we had to do upon our return the next day.
Fern Canyon. 1 mile-ish north from Gold Bluff
Small note here: Signage in Tuolumne is tough to navigate at night, regardless of the fact that the main road runs east to west, with no junctions. Better yet, campgrounds fill up quickly in the summer - definitely not many openings between one and two a.m.
So we found a spot off a dirt road, and slept. It was a very, very long day by this point. One of the longer ones I can remember.
By the time morning came, we were still tired. After sleeping in, we headed to Tenaya lake to make some breakfast and relax a bit.
We were headed out of Tuolumne by mid-afternoon.
Highway 120 runs basically east from Tuolumne to Lee Vining, and 395 runs north and south from there. After a stop for a milkshake, we headed towards Bishop.
Our backpacking destination was south of Lee Vining and north of Bishop - Rock Creek Canyon.
We arrived at Mosquito Flat by late afternoon, with intention to leave in the morning.
It's really not a bad drive in the Sierra. Everything is gorgeous and super alpine, and driving distances are fairly short - 'specially with two drivers. It's about an hour from the border of Yosemite to great backpacking, climbing, skiing, etc.
Looking down an upper section of Rock Creek CanyonThe morning came quickly.
By the afternoon we found ourselves at Ruby Lake, below Mono Pass. We swam, relaxed, made some dinner, and were sleeping as it got dark. The climb the next day was gonna be long!
We got a fairly quick start in the a.m. - oatmeal fueled crazies. We were over Mono Pass and headed southwest by one in the afternoon.
Mono Pass rises to just over 11,900 feet, though the peaks around it are much higher. It was roughly the highest point on our backpacking trip.
Though our original plan was to continue to Pioneer Basin that night, we found a beautiful little spot near a small creek, and chose to take an easy day instead. Hard to beat lying in soft grass next to an ice cold stream - especially after the long, hard, dusty slog over Mono Pass and down.
. . .Proved to be a good choice.
In the morning we were hiking down to the valley that holds Golden Creek. We saw several groups of people - everyone very nice - and had the usual yummy lunch right next to the water.
Looking north up Golden Creek
The mosquitos got worse as we headed closer to Pioneer Basin.
I had to remind myself that even though we were packin' in the right time of year for the Sierra, the season was still early because of the amount of snowpack (late snowpack). Pioneer is like a alpine marshy place - sort of meadow like, with incredible lakes and some very rocky patches.
Thus, the insects were still pretty bad.
Pioneer Basin was the worst though - everywhere else seemed fine.
Hate bear canisters
Luckily we found the best island ever - smack dab in the middle of the larger lake, in upper Pioneer. Plenty of breeze, and the best swimming.
We took an extra layover day.
By the afternoon we found ourselves at Ruby Lake, below Mono Pass. We swam, relaxed, made some dinner, and were sleeping as it got dark. The climb the next day was gonna be long!
We got a fairly quick start in the a.m. - oatmeal fueled crazies. We were over Mono Pass and headed southwest by one in the afternoon.
Mono Pass rises to just over 11,900 feet, though the peaks around it are much higher. It was roughly the highest point on our backpacking trip.
Though our original plan was to continue to Pioneer Basin that night, we found a beautiful little spot near a small creek, and chose to take an easy day instead. Hard to beat lying in soft grass next to an ice cold stream - especially after the long, hard, dusty slog over Mono Pass and down.
. . .Proved to be a good choice.
In the morning we were hiking down to the valley that holds Golden Creek. We saw several groups of people - everyone very nice - and had the usual yummy lunch right next to the water.
Looking north up Golden Creek
The mosquitos got worse as we headed closer to Pioneer Basin.
I had to remind myself that even though we were packin' in the right time of year for the Sierra, the season was still early because of the amount of snowpack (late snowpack). Pioneer is like a alpine marshy place - sort of meadow like, with incredible lakes and some very rocky patches.
Thus, the insects were still pretty bad.
Pioneer Basin was the worst though - everywhere else seemed fine.
Hate bear canisters
Luckily we found the best island ever - smack dab in the middle of the larger lake, in upper Pioneer. Plenty of breeze, and the best swimming.
We took an extra layover day.
Next, we headed down into the valley again, and back up Golden Creek to its head. Golden Lake was one of the higher lakes we camped at. We got there fairly early, so we set up camp, and I eventually scrambled up an easy 5th class ridge to the top of an adjacent peak.
The rock up there was phenomenal. I even found several slabby boulder problems, and one of the most perfect finger cracks i've seen in a while - 15-20 feet of perfect granite and precise finger locks. Very nice way to spend the afternoon above 11,000 feet, sending wilderness granite!
Looking south down Golden Creek, back towards Pioneer Basin
Golden Lake
In the morning we were out early - heading east back over Mono Pass, past Ruby Lake to our exit trailhead.
We'd hoped to stop at Pie in the Sky, located at the resort just below Rock Creek lake, for some. . . pie. (Apparently some of the best pie ever), but by the time we got there. . . the pie was sold out.
We were fairly depressed about that. We got some more ice for the cooler, cried a bit about our lack of pie, and continued on.
After a refuel stop in Lee Vining, we drove west back to Tuolumne. Before hitting the park border, we turned off and found a great camping spot in a meadow below a walk-in campground. It was nice to have a comfy night in the grass again, without all the dusty, dry air and knobby granite to lie on.
Since we were so close to Tuolumne, we decided to spend the next day there.
We climbed Lembert dome, hung out for a while.
Then, suddenly plans got rearranged.
Realizing that we were somewhat tired for now of the incessant sun, and the dry air. . . we kept driving west.
We kept on talking about the coast, and got super psyched up.
We were in Fisherman's Warf, downtown for dinner, walking around.
We definitely looked out of place - greasy, grimy, probably not smelling too good. But we went to the best restaurant around - Buena Vista Cafe, for the original U.S. Irish Coffee and seafood. Stuffed.
We'd hoped to stop at Pie in the Sky, located at the resort just below Rock Creek lake, for some. . . pie. (Apparently some of the best pie ever), but by the time we got there. . . the pie was sold out.
We were fairly depressed about that. We got some more ice for the cooler, cried a bit about our lack of pie, and continued on.
After a refuel stop in Lee Vining, we drove west back to Tuolumne. Before hitting the park border, we turned off and found a great camping spot in a meadow below a walk-in campground. It was nice to have a comfy night in the grass again, without all the dusty, dry air and knobby granite to lie on.
Still mosquitoes though. . .
And super awesome lenticular clouds!
Since we were so close to Tuolumne, we decided to spend the next day there.
We climbed Lembert dome, hung out for a while.
Then, suddenly plans got rearranged.
Realizing that we were somewhat tired for now of the incessant sun, and the dry air. . . we kept driving west.
Before we knew it, we were in San Francisco.
This was weird.
We kept on talking about the coast, and got super psyched up.
We were in Fisherman's Warf, downtown for dinner, walking around.
We definitely looked out of place - greasy, grimy, probably not smelling too good. But we went to the best restaurant around - Buena Vista Cafe, for the original U.S. Irish Coffee and seafood. Stuffed.
By sunset, we were out, headed northwest past the Golden Gate, Point Reyes, and Highway 1.
We spent the night on the beach south of Mendocino, after a lot of extra driving. It was a really late night, and all the campgrounds were either way too expensive or full. Sleeping in random locations isn't as easy when you're not in National Forest land. . .
The next day we drove north through a wonderfully foggy California coast, and by the early evening we were in the Humboldt Redwoods!
Our last day was spent at Gold Bluffs, near Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This is without a doubt my all-time favorite campsite on the California coast. Right on the beach, and absolutely beautiful regardless of the weather. . . get there before 1pm if you want a spot!
We cooked alfredo pasta with salmon, butter, parmesan - adventured around the beach - and tried hard not to think about all of the things we had to do upon our return the next day.
Fern Canyon. 1 mile-ish north from Gold Bluff
The open road has magic that can't be compared with anything.
All photos - Monica Heiken
All photos - Monica Heiken
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