to Stinson Beach again...

Took bus down to pantool and easy but steep downhill hike in constant drizzle. Overheated, but all good.  At ocean right now typing this.

Oregon backpak trip1

Going to head up to lake of the woods... I think it's Peterson trailhead and hike south about 35 + miles to Hyatt lake area. Don't know yet... Only if I get a shuttle drive.  If not I'll just walk 2 days and double back. Purpose is to get in shape for PCTA red Meadows back country trip in July.
I have all the maps and apps doubled up on 2 devices and some sketchy printouts... May take the Garmin GPS also.  Weather looks good.
Hopefully I can figure out how to use all these etoys and post an actual route and topo...still learning.

Purpose of trip is the rejigger my heart + soul and do a nature retreat and clear the cobwebs. Just viewing big mama Shasta mountain here enlivens me!!

It didn't go so well...changed trip at last minute and hiked north toward mt McLaughlin. And then ran into 10-150ft of snow...miserable. Overnite in snow, rainy, cold... Back next day.  Benz into limp mode...issues, frustrating for 3 months...

snakes on the trail

There's so much to be concerned about on the trail... bears, water, injuries, exhaustion.  And now i can add another one:  snakes!

In over 40 years of hiking the Sierras I've never encountered any snakies up front, close and personal on a trail - until now. I've spotted my share of Rattlers and water snakies..alwas from a distance...until now.

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I was enjoying a little backpack trip by Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite.  After a 4 mile ascent and another 2 mile flat run, i decided to have lunch.  There was a nice high ridge with plenty of wind to keep the mosquitoes away and a nice view... what could be better?  

After snacking on cheese, trail mix, sardines, banana and orange... ok i know!!...  i took a snoozy siesta.  very peaceful, relaxing... i dozed off only to be startled 10 minutes later by something moving on me... i thought it was just a big fly or something but this one felt different... i opened my eyes, and out of the corner of my eyes i spotted it - a beautiful little red, black, white striped snakey slithering away - like a teenager that had just been caught raiding Dad's liquor cabinet

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of all the animals I want to encounter on a trail – snakes ain’t one of them.

i’d rather encounter a grizzly – not a momma grizzly mind you! But snakes?  Snakes are right up there with … slimy, yukky…no can do!

in 4 decades of hiking in the high sierra i’d never once encountered a snake on a trail… i’d seen some of them slithering around far away from me… usually by a stream or lake… but never on the trail itself.

I remember the scene in Vikings where Dragbour (??) Where his death was in a snake pit because he was a fearless warrior but really really didn’t like snakes.

The movie 'snakes on a plane' promo poster said: ‘sit back, relax, enjoy...’ yeah right!

Thankfully real life doesn’t follow a movie script – so we can enjoy snakes in their natural habitat…

Snakes are as much afraid of humans as we are of them. Guess which one should be more afraid ?  

So I just got up, checked around, saw another King snake even more beautifully colored... And another teenager slithered away.  I double checked my backpack, put it on and hopped away from that spot.  The danger for totally self imagined... Engrained ego 'flight or die' reaction?  

The only conclusion is that I was in new territory...cool!   Even old farts can have fresh, strange new experiences on a well hewn trail repertoire.

2018 backcast + ULA backpack

It started in 2017 when I went to the PCTA Trail Skills College in Truckee and got my ass kicked on a simple 1 mile hike up the north Squaw Creek PCTA feeder trail.  How could have gotten so out of shape?  I promised myself to cure that.

In 2018, after another PCTA Trail Skills College I was in a slightly better shape, but still huffin' & puffin'.  Then in July, I lucked out to be part of Paul Cardinet's 'Can Do' crew at Red Meadows behind Mammoth - and that CHANGED EVERYTHING.   Not only was I one of the youngest, I was also the slowest.  After 6 days of trail work (building 3 bridges ++) my body finally rebounded and I was not the slowest anymore.  AND the big thing was my blood pressure lowered by 20-30 points for two weeks following.  Most of the 70 yo's on the crew had been doing this for over 15 years - and the camaraderie was magnificent. 

Then I took a longer PCT hike with my friend Scott from Blue Lakes to Raymond Lake - about 6 miles each way.  With my camino ultralight and ill-fitting pack, I was once again huffin' and puffin'.  But oh! what joy at being in the hi-Sierra with the incredible scenery, wonderful PCT trail and my friend Scott. 

Fast forward to early 2019 and I decided to get serious and bought a brand new ULA Ohm backpack.  Turns out that almost 3/4 of thru hikers on the PCT use a ULA, and everyone on the Mormon Rock work crew that I asked for pack recommendations said good things about ULA (and they all had one!).

And man, oh! man is that a sweet pack. After 3 long trips it just gets more and more comfy and versatile.
The first two miles of the Hetch Hetchy straight up hike was like floating with a light daypack, and I was carrying 22 lbs.

start me up...

As 2019 moves along, I am rediscovering long distance backpacking - for sheer joy, gratitude and my health.  

Here's what's on my agenda for this year (subject to change with notice):

1. PCTA Mormon Rock work crew

2. Point Reyes - Glenn & Wildcat Camp

3. Yosemite Hetch Hetchy = Lauren Lake

4. tbd...  Hat Creek? shasta

5. Oregon Crater Lake PCT

6. PCTA Trail Skills College - Big Bend, Ashland

6. Lone Pine & Whitney

7. PCTA 'can do' crew Backcountry - pack supported

8. PCTA 'can do' crew Red Meadows

9. PCTA Mt.Jefferson backcountry - pack supported..cancelled

10. Echo summit reroute,.10 days , CaC lodge

11. Ancient Bristlecone Pine (pinyon pine nuts ++)

12. So Cal PCT backpack trips

and the big one - Camino de Santiago & Porto, Mar-April 2020. 5th year anniversary. 

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I get tired just looking at this schedule.  But oh! what fun.  80% of these are with PCTA work crews and friends.  All PCTA trips are trail maintenance projects with great people, good food and FUN.

My intent here is to have an individual blog on each trip:  Dates & plans, pictures b4-during-after, lessons learned AND if there's no entry a few days after each trip - well, then I transcended into another energy form :-).