Yosemite Valley North Rim Hike

Labor Day weekend was the culmination of my church men's summer group that was designed to "stretch" a group of men spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically to become or be better leaders.  The physical part of the stretch was a 31 mile hike along the north rim of Yosemite valley.  In short, it was awesome.  It was a challenge (more so for some than others) but very rewarding.

We left the church parking lot on Friday afternoon with the goal of getting 4.5 mile hike to our first night's camping spot.  The drive, however, proved to be about as exciting as the whole hike.  A woman driving in the opposite direction rounded a corner too fast, lost control of her car, and went over the side of the road, landing about 100 feet from it and down next to the river 30 feet below the road surface.  We were flagged down by another driver on the side of the road right after it happened.  The car landed on it's side facing away from us so we couldn't see the status of the driver inside.  Six or seven of us made our way down the bank toward the car, which approaching was a test of nerves for us.  I'm sure each of us considered turning around and running back up the bank at some point during the descent.  I wasn't the only one throwing a bunch of prayers upward that I be able to handle whatever I was about to find.  Of course, the pastor (mister fitness), another man (Tony- also mister fitness), and myself (not mister fitness, but somewhat agile) were the first down, although I'm not ashamed in saying I deliberately slowed down to let the pastor round the car first (I noticed Tony did the same).  We didn't know what we were going to find and would judge going around the corner based on the pastor's reaction.  The woman was relatively uninjured but quite shaken (not surprising).  We helped her out of the car and up the bank to a waiting ambulance (that happened to be passing by) and she was taken to the hospital.  Did I mention there was no cell service?  Who knows how long she would have been sitting on her side in the brush if the car following her hadn't stopped.  Once she was on her way to the hospital we got back on the road and got to the park only an hour behind schedule.

The hike went pretty well.  Several weeks leading up to the hike, Atalie and I "trained" by doing several day hikes and I think that made all the difference (that and my job).  Guys were in charge of bringing their own snacks and we all pitched in money for the meals.  However, the amount of snacks brought could have filled a 5 gallon bucket (overkill!)  I, of course, didn't bring enough snacks so got help all the other guys along the way with theirs.  By the end of it, we did 31 miles or so and the views along the way were amazing the whole time.  Time to drag Atalie along on it now... :)

I would have more pictures but getting them from the other guys is like pulling teeth...  oh well.

 The woman's car as viewed from the road.

The group (minus one) at Yosemite Point.

 Hanging out at Eagle Peak.  I'm not alone in thinking it was the best view of the valley in the park.

Walking up to the edge of Yosemite falls.  The water was really low.

View of North Dome with Mt Starr King in the distant left.

Echo Peak & Red Lake Peak

August 18-19 we got out to condition Patrick a little for his Labor Day hike, do a little scouting for his field work, and enjoy some scenery of course!

 

Patrick and his coworker had recently carried some equipment up a steep hillside to Echo Peak that was covered in vegetation they had to bushwhack through. At the top, they thought they might have seen a trail up the opposite side of the hill. So, Patrick decided to check it out with me and without all his field equipment to see if the next work trip there could be made a little easier.

We started off on a trail that lead to a public lake, but we veered off toward some cute rental cabins in a wooded area along the bottom of a nearby ridge adjacent and connected to Echo Peak. Patrick asked one of the inhabitants if he knew of a trail up it. The man said people walk along the top, so we just decided to cut up it at the next best spot. The earth was dry, pebbly and steep so I took breaks often to regain my sense of stability on more solid footing and catch a breath.

Turns out it wasn't a walk in the park, as the trail wasn't clearly defined in parts and we scrambled up some steep and/or loose gravel areas, but Patrick did choose to go up this way the next time he visited there with his coworkers.

And the view at the top of Tahoe Lake was plenty of reward too! Patrick had shared this view on Facebook not long before our trip, so you may recognize it.

Gorgeous day and vantage point to have an eagle's eye view of the land. Smiles here, but about 10 minutes later we realized we lost our tripod. It must have fell out of Patrick's side pocket somewhere not far from here! Oh well, his birthday took care of the replacement this month. ;)

Turning backwards from where I was standing in the previous photo, you can see the side of the ridge we were on (just out of range of the left side of the photo).

On our way back, we followed the ridge more closely to our car as opposed to going down the same random spot we scrambled up. So, we saw a few new things, including this foundation and fireplace near the rental cabin area. It looks like a fire probably knocked out the rest of it, but it sure would be charming to have it rebuilt!

 

After a flame & ember-cooked dinner and a good night's rest at a car-camping site, we drove up the highway to a trailhead for Red Lake Peak. The parking lot sure did have a nice backdrop! (That's not the one we were hiking to.)

This picture was actually taken at the end of our hike, but it shows you the path we started on. It was relatively low grade and wound through a small section of trees and large boulders before hitting open terrain.

Since our plan was to climb to the top of hilltops we were walking at the base of, we eventually decided just to blaze our own path up, not knowing how long it'd be before we'd come across an official trail to the peak.

The spot we chose was steep (the peak we were aiming to climb was at 10,000 feet after all), and sandy/loose footing in places like the day prior so it was a little slow going. The weather was beautiful but it got pretty blustery as we ascended, so some of the boulders at the top were good wind breaks for staying warm.

 After we arrived to the top of the initial hillside we chose to climb, we followed the ridge. Already the view was quite nice!

To our pleasure, from our perch we noticed a pathway up to our goal (yonder round-top, and the chunk of rock on the left).

Nearly at 10,000 feet! (Probably about 30 feet shy!) We had to scramble up the stuff at the end, and the wind was rather persistent (thus, me wearing Patrick's raincoat), so we took more care. This hike, and this picture in particular, reminds me of our hike in the Quiraing in Scotland (there is a similar photo of me in a frame on our wall).

  A chance for you to see things from our perspective! :)

There was supposedly a log book for signing your name at the top of the rock chunk, but we were unable to find it. I was already beginning to test my comfort zone on some of the areas we were climbing on, and although we brought the rope in case it got too sketchy, Patrick's scouting ahead/higher up didn't reveal anything so we didn't bother getting our additional equipment out. Perhaps the book is there somewhere, but we had already spent too much time looking for it that day and Patrick got me up to 10,000 feet for the first time so it was still a success!

 

On our descent, Patrick was able to find where the trail went down a much easier section of hill than the area we carved for ourselves up it. Way to end on a good note!

Odds & Ends Outside of Merced

In followup to the last blog, here are some random bits from excursions outside of town that we wanted to share:

 On August 11, Patrick and I visited Nelder Grove near Oakhurst. We wanted to get a few medium-length hikes in (this was a 10 mile/5-hour day hike) to help prepare him for his long Labor Day weekend trek in Yosemite. The scenery consisted of a well established path/road with occasional hills, so it was pleasant but didn't yield a lot of unique photos. We did, however, think it might be amusing to show you the size of a Sequoia cone (in Patrick's hand) in relation to the size of the tree it grows into (behind him), whereas a sugar pine has cones the size of his shin.

 

It's dry out here anyway, but with water levels particularly low this year the dust is bound to be bad. There were places on the path it felt like I was walking on a cloud because the top layer of road was so thick of lofty dust. All the splattered fauna along the side of the road makes the photograph appear as if it is sepia-toned.

To further illustrate my above point, Patrick pulled on a sapling and let it spring back to fling off all its dust coating. Notice the difference from the sapling on the right (it's camouflaged, but you'll find it next to the sign post).

Patrick has spent a lot of time in the Tahoe area since his job responsibilities have grown to include implementation of the equipment that is kicking off the American River Project. But he still maintains the equipment for his other project too- here he is in action, cleaning a solar panel at a site in the Sierra National  Forest. His tasks can actually require a lot of creativity. He informed me that the only way to clean it with what he had out there was to use a survey rod with a towel bundled up and attached by zip tie at the end.

Free range cattle occupy some of the forest areas Patrick works in, so every now and then you'll see one emerge. I find it so out-of-place in an absolutely thrilling sort of way!

 

 

Some of you may have seen this photo on Facebook already. Patrick posted it from the ballpark where we watched the Fresno Grizzlies game and partook in the Taco Truck Showdown on August 24. $2 tickets were redeemable at any of the twelve popular taco trucks in attendance, and guests could vote for their favorite vendor. Part of Patrick's meal included a duck taco, and mine included a Korean BBQ pork. I'm bummed that the eggplant tacos were all out by the time I got in line for one, but maybe next year!

 

We went with Patrick's coworker Joey, and friends Matt & Jenny who brought their adorable young daughter. Matt said at the last game they went to she had expressed interest in going to the area where Parker (the Grizzlies mascot) hoses down the nosebleed section of park. I decided to join in on the fun, but the three of us didn't want to get too wet, so you'll see us in the upper right corner, slightly removed from the action.

 

 

Like any ballpark, there are people in the stands who walk around to sell bottled water and junk food. However, I was tickled to find in our part of the country, alongside cotton candy is the more regionally specific choice of churros. Well, I just had to get one in the spirit of things and I can say with confidence that I'd get one again as it was quite delicious!


As you can probably tell, we've been pretty busy, which is one reason why we've been bad about keeping up on the blog over the summer, and it's also the reason for so many retroactive and upcoming posts! Patrick has been on the road a lot for his job, which is why you've been hearing so much from me lately, but we'll get him on here again soon. :)

Odds & Ends in Merced

In between some of the events that comprise most of our posts, we've kept busy with smaller things that aren't big enough news for their own entry, but do add up to a comprehensive news piece. Here are some of the odds and ends from our day-to-day life in Merced.

 

Quite a while back, in June I believe, Patrick and I stopped by the Merced Fruit Barn near the outskirts of town on our way back from a hike. We'd seen an ad for it and wondered if it was a decent market. Turns out it was a little more than just a market, as it contained an ice cream stand (aaaah! I just remembered that- must go back to try!!!!) and had a few pens of animals such as goats, exotic birds, potbelly pigs, alpacas, and emus. I don't think I'd ever seen an emu before, but boy are they ODD lookin'!

 UC Merced has been constructing new buildings as it continues to expand and proceed with its long term campus design plan. At a Topping Off Ceremony for the Housing 4 Building on July 20, members of the campus community were invited to sign the final beam before it was put into place. Not too many people came out, but that made it easy for our names to have dominant placement as they remain forever a part of the campus! :) 

I was worried Patrick wasn't going to make it in time to sign the beam so I added his name too. (Turns out they gave a second chance for people to sign after the speaker talked, so he was able to leave his unique signature as well.) I wanted to add a little flare, so I did a really quick/primitive ode to the picture we drew on the ceiling of a room in his housing building at GVSU when we started dating.

There it is, being lowered and attached! My sharpie-picture is on the top surface of the beam, slightly left of the flag pole.

Before Patrick embarked on his 30-mile Labor Day weekend hike of the North Rim in Yosemite (to be posted at a later date), he  wanted to examine our old tent to make sure the body wasn't compromised if one of the other hikers needed to borrow it. Naturally, the perfect place to do said check is in the dining room where the table and chairs normally sit. There it stayed for several days, but he made good use of it by laying out on our sleeping pads to computer surf.

A week or so after we got back from Michigan, Patrick and I started hanging out with Aditi (pictured above). She is visiting from India to learn how to use hydrology models like those used in Patrick's department. Outside of work, she was a bit bored and lonely, considering she has a husband and 3-year old back at home. Patrick had mentioned to her that maybe we could all go out to a restaurant so she could try Mexican food. Time kinda escaped us quickly, especially due to our travels, so about half of her 3 months in the States had passed by when we finally got on the ball and took her out. :( We wanted to makeup for the lost time, so we followed it up with an early September visit to a nearby farm/winery/event venue that serves wood-fired pizzas on Friday nights.

 

Exploring the grounds after dinner, Aditi mentioned everything in America seems giant: the farm cat, squirrels (both of which seemed small to us), pumpkin, and sunflower. Oh yeah- you'll notice that I also recently visited the neighborhood Great Clips for some dramatic grooming! :)

Hydrology models weren't the only things Aditi was interested in learning about while in the U.S. She requested we teach her how to make pancakes! That was fun. :)

We made a lovely lunch out of the occasion with turkey sausage seasoned at home by Patrick, fresh fruit, and mimosas!

Patrick had told Aditi before our first meeting that I love Indian clothing. So after we ate, she wrapped me in a sari and told me I could keep it! The only issue is they are way more complex than I expected, so I'm not sure I could get it on again without assistance....either way, I'm still excited to have one!

This completes our current updates from odds and ends in town! Phase 2 will consist of a similar-style blog featuring out-of-town items.

Mid-summer trip to MI

The last 10 days in July were blocked out for our travels to MI! Unfortunately my sisters had circumstances preventing them from making it to MI while we were there, but we decided we'd just devote a little more time hanging out with our nephews while Patrick's family was all in the country, and then trade that out at Christmas. As per the past few years' tradition, the Wombles rented a house on a lake for a week for plenty of outdoor fun and interaction.

Patrick teased at one point that he could shoot fire out of his fingers. The problem was that then Isaac asked to see it! :) Since the boys were going to have smores in the afternoon, Patrick decided he could somewhat satisfy that curiosity by starting a fire without a match (we couldn't find any at the house anyway). He did shoot some flames, but without a string it was much more laborious to get the woodpile ignited. (We did try dryer lint, which Calum is holding above, but it just never got hot enough.) Eventually we decided that eating smores was much cooler than flamethrower fingers anyway, and sought out some other way to kindle things. :)

I was standing on the boardwalk while Grandpa did drive-bys to give Isaac an opportunity to ambush me with a watergun. In between snapshots I'd chase him off with my own loaded weapon!

Sally and John fishing for seashells with the net.

 

Some sibling R&R!

Our timing for arriving in Grand Rapids was fortunate in that it afforded us the opportunity to go to our friend Mike's birthday dinner at Mangiamo! Italian restaurant.

 

We had a nice visit with Cassandra & Tyler and their girls, with additional entertainment provided by the slightly early b-day gifts we brought. Glow-stick star-shaped glasses (not yet glowing) and stretchy "sticky hand" toys were fun to introduce to Mattie and Anya.

Patrick and I are not the most prepared aunt & uncle. We get everyone their bday gifts late! Count it a leg up that the girls' presents were early, but to our shame we did go to the store a little before our visit. Realizing I didn't have any tape/scissors/etc. (and the finger painting portfolio pad was too big to get in a bag), I got creative and used up all the bandaids in my purse to wrap it. I figured it was kid friendly at least!


Even though we also had some great quality time with just my parents, and got to go to lunch with Mike & our other good pal Brad, the time goes by too fast and there just isn't enough to go around. So naturally we're looking forward to our next visit at Christmas! In the meantime we'll try to get the rest of our blog material posted soon! :)

San Francisco Color Run

There was a Color Run in Grand Rapids on August 5 and it takes place in various locations around the country. But in case you haven't heard of it (like I hadn't beforehand), maybe this will give you an idea of what it's like:

BEFORE

 

AFTER 

The color run is a "just for fun" non-timed 5K where a different color food-grade powder is thrown on the participants at each of 5 interspersed spots along the route. The only rule is you have to wear a white shirt! Part of the registration cost goes toward a non-profit group or initiative in the community hosting the run.

My coworker, Jennifer (pictured above), had paid the registration costs for her and a friend to participate in the July 14 run in the parking lot at San Franciso's Candlestick Park (where the 49ers used to play). However, Jennifer's friend had a family medical situation going on and decided she wouldn't be able to attend; so, Jennifer asked me if I'd like to go to keep the registration from going to waste. It totally sounded up my alley, and Patrick had an engagement that morning anyway, giving me the perfect opportunity to have a 24-hours girls' adventure!

We went up Friday night after work (splurging along the way on a decadent dinner/dessert at BJ's Brewhouse) to stay with Jennifer's aunt and uncle who live nearby since the race was in the morning. After the race we originally thought we'd get good & clean for the car ride, but decided it would be fun to surprise our husbands with our decorative looks. :) Jennifer's aunt & uncle took us out to eat before our departure, so we attracted some curious stares. Looking at the following pictures, it's no wonder why!

Here is one of the stations- you can see how the volunteer used a condiment bottle to spray the powder on the passers-by (they refilled from the adjacent barrels). No doubt our lungs were loving us that day, considering the color clouds they created.

 

That's me jogging on the left. The volunteer on the right looked like a smurf! The color settled from the air would pool on the ground so I did a couple "snow" angels and loads of people were picking it up to smear/throw it.

Post race- I look like a rainbow! :)

After the race, we could get free mini-slurpees/juice/etc. at vendor booths, then we all gathered around a stage where it felt like a big rave. A DJ on stage played bumpin' music and pulled people up for a break-dancing competition and prizes (such as "who has the coolest colored beard" award, etc.). They should think about doing this at night- it would be a totally fun dance party!

 

Each registrant was given a packet of color to use at any point during the race. I saved mine for the end, at which point they threw more out into the crowd for people to open and scatter. It was one giant color binge! (Good thing I bought waterproof disposable cameras for us to use during the whole event. Then Jennifer snapped some photos with her iphone afterward.)

 

After the crowd cleared out, you can see the collateral damage- the sidewalk is covered, and so am I!

I wore a white t-shirt to the race which I then topped with the Color Run shirt handed out. The color bled through so much that it left ghost letters silhouetted on my undershirt.

I look like I could be related to Neelix on Star Trek: Voyager. Until my sleeve recedes to show the untouched flesh!

The difference is so stark that it looked like I had tights on when I removed my shoes! lol :)

My shower that night took considerably longer than normal! hehe. I tried to use vinegar to "freeze" the color on my shirts, but a lot of the defining splatters and streaks muddled and rinsed out leaving my shirt a purple tinge. Not nearly as cool as it was in the photos above, but still a nice memento of the experience!