Adventures

This is what happens when you get up one morning to look at pictures on the computer and realize that you haven't been camping in a while... We decided to go at 11, were on the road by 1 and were at camp just west of Sonora Pass by 5:30. Originally it was just going to be a camping trip. We got up Sunday morning and drove up to Sonora pass for a look around. It was a beautiful day and we decided, hey, let's keep going, we can go home over Tioga Pass - and so we had breakfast just west of Sonora Pass, lunch at Mono Lake, dinner in the Yosemite Valley and were home to sleep that night.

I took an Advanced Winter Mountaineering course with Sierra Wilderness Seminars. The objective of the course was to learn more advanced techniques for winter mountaineering such as extended rope travel, setting protection while on a rope team and passing your rope past a piece of set protection. There was the chance that we'd summit Mt. Shasta, weather permitting. Alas weather did not permit, but I had a great time.

My second attempt at climbing Round Top, this time in the winter with a ski approach and accompanied by Phil. We had some great weather on Saturday, but it wasn't nearly as nice on Sunday.

I took a class with Sunrise Mountain Sports to learn how to build igloos. You can read the trip description here: A Song of Snow and Ice Pictures are now up and available at the link below.

Our first overnight trip for the winter. Phil and I snowshoed from the Boreal Snow Park, past Castle Peak to the Peter Grubb Hut. We only saw a few people on our way in and had the hut to ourselves, but passed near 100 people on our way back out. We both used MSR Denali snowshoes and carried smaller (45 L) packs. The hut was great. It's capable of sleeping at least 20 people in the loft and even has electric lights (solar charger and battery) for those long winter nights.

Charlie and I drove up to Bear Valley for the day. We took a lesson and then spent a few hours skiing. We had a great time with gorgeous weather and not very many people.

A short backpacking trip into Emigrant Wilderness. Amber, Emma, Charlie, Ken, Atom and I set off from the Crabtree Camp trailhead on Saturday morning, lunched at Camp Lake and stayed at Bear Lake Saturday night. We woke up to snow on Sunday morning, broke camp quickly and hurried back out to the car.

My friend Greg and I took a short trip into the Sierras to attempt a summit of Round Top. Unseasonal snow fall, heavy winds and unexpected cold temperatures made us question the intelligence and safety of climbing an exposed ridge, so we just did the hike - about a 4 mile loop.

I took a mountaineering seminar through the Livermore parks and recreation department and a local mountaineering store. We travelled to Mt. Shasta where we learned mountaineering skills and climbed to the 14,162 ft peak.