Until the Dam Breaks: Hetch Hetchy to Tiltill Valley

Trips, Weekends

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir to Tiltill Valley

Out and Back – 18.6 Miles

Saturday – Hetch Hetchy to Tiltill Creek (in Tiltill Valley) – 9.3

Sunday – Back to Hetch Hetchy – 9.3

The mark is still there from the mid 90’s, the painted-over crack and words that an environmentalist artist repelled and painted in the middle of the night on the O’Shaughnessy Dam. The words echoed John Muir, “Free the Rivers.”

It’s hard not to agree; hydroelectric power is on its way out, and wild salmon populations have been decimated by the hatchery system. Restoration seems appropriate now, seems necessary now if we want wild salmon to have a fighting chance of survival or hope to see some of our most scenic rivers run free.

There are 75,000 dams in the US alone, a third of which are over 50 years old, and 14,000 of which are considered “high-hazard,” meaning their failure could result in the loss of human life. This isn’t just an environmental issue, it’s an issue of infrastructure in disrepair and public safety. It just happens to have an environmental facet as well.

Stepping down from our soap box, we can think on this from the point of view of the future; of what our children and our children’s children are able to experience and share with their friends and families. Of what they are able to gain knowledge and experience from, and what kind of people we give them the ability to become. There is a direct correlation between our decisions today and the outdoors and America’s natural lands tomorrow, it’s time for that to be recognized.

cramped up hetch hetchy reservoire

All photos taken with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1.

A Walk through the Wildflowers: Merced River Trail

Trips, Weekends

Merced River Trail

Railroad Flat Camp to North Fork intersection – Out + Back – 5 miles

Spring engulfed the land surrounding the Merced River. Every step we took brought us to a new spread of flowers, tall grasses, and butterflies. Literally butterflies everywhere. As the warm sun cloaked our shoulders we felt lucky to be in such a place for two entire days. With not so far to go, the river and its creeks and its bursting flowers were ours for the taking. Walking, dipping, napping, collecting, eating, drinking, and singing. That’s all we needed.

Merced River - Josh - Cramped Up

Merced River - yellow flowers 2 - Cramped Up

Merced River - flowers 2 - Cramped Up

All photos taken with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1, except yellow poppy photo.

Tread Lightly: Walking the Lost Coast Trail

A Little Longer, Trips

Lost Coast Trail – Mattole River to Black Sands Beach

North to South – 24.6 miles

Day 1 – 8.3 miles – Mattole River to Randall Creek

Day 2 – 9.7 miles – Randall Creek to Shipman Creek

Day 3 – 6.6 miles – Shipman Creek to Black Sands Beach

Slowly. Step, wait, step; balance, step. Head down, eyes on your feet, step, look up to the hazy California coast dropping to the fury of the winter Pacific, step; the rock you’re on wobbles, slides, and down, propped up by a hand. Struggle. A push up with forty on your back, a knee that says no, an aching body that only wants a view; affirmation.

Sand. Soft dry sand, wet firm sand, granular sand, powdery sand, sand with rocks, sand with sticks, sand with seaweed. Step, sink, step. Slow going on this section, tide is returning and your race to escape it takes on new urgency. In a few hours violent waves mercilessly pummel rock into sand. Move along.

Blocked. Stuck, knee deep and rushing; gallons upon gallons screaming for escape. You gaze up and down the stream, hoping to see something different, a log, a series of rocks, nothing. Pack off, bend down, laces untie, boots off; step. Slowly, carefully, propped by a pole, still slipping; stub a toe, a curse. Other side, trail in front, boots on, laced up, forty on your back; step.

A bluff; bright green, well fed grass, a worn trail of firm dirt to coast along. Up and down, side to side, eyes ahead; take it in, and down. Rocks. A uniform groan and it begins. Slowly. Step, wait, step; balance, step. Head down, eyes on your feet, step.

Cramped Up Lost Coast 1

Cramped Up Lost Coast 4

Cramped Up Lost Coast 12

Cramped Up Lost Coast 4

All photos taken with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1.

Obstructed: The Journey to Ventana Double Cone

A Little Longer, Trips

Ventana Double Cone – Out + Back – 34 miles

Day 1 – 8.5 miles – Bottcher’s Gap to Pat Spring

Day 2 – 17 miles – Pat Spring to Double Cone Summit and back to Pat Spring

Day 3 – 8.5 miles – Pat Spring to Bottcher’s Gap

Two women eager to tackle Double Cone. Seemed fitting. But when we read the tid bits of information online about the trail to Ventana Double Cone in Big Sur, the results were confusing. Some “reviews” told of an impassable, totally obstructed trail with zero water, while others spoke of it as a delightful hike with gorgeous views; the mileage was unclear. Per usual with internet findings you have to find the truth somewhere in the middle. Or by just trying it out for yourself. We found out pretty much for sure that there was water at our camp destination at Pat Spring, and decided to take on the potential challenge. How obstructed could a trail really be?

We doubted our negative informers, and we underestimated ourselves. The trail was longer than planned, and invisible at times, but we found our way to the top of Double Cone. And back down. We had nearly enough daylight left to take some photos, write in the mountain-top log book, and begin our 8.5 mile journey back to camp, with the last hour and a half in the dark. We didn’t listen to everything we were told by the internet, or the Eeyore-like ranger, or even those we encountered along the way. We took pieces of it all, said fuck it and went for it, and ended up with a true adventure of our own.

CrampedUp_DoubleCone_1

All photos taken with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1.

A Warm Winter’s Hike

Just A Day, Trips

Winter. It can mean different things to different people. It represents the end of a year, a time to hibernate indoors, and a chance for the plants and animals to take a rest before the cycle starts a-new. It means unimaginable cold temperatures in most of the country, where you don’t dare go outside unless you absolutely must. In these places in January, you know you’re only half-way through this season, and you’ll have to wait until April, or even May, before you’re hanging around in a t-shirt again.

In California, winter is just a New England’s Autumn day, yet it’s cold feeling when you’re used to temperate weather all year round. But every year since we moved to this great state we are granted a few weeks of real warmth and sunshine right smack in the middle of January. It’s like clockwork, and maybe it didn’t used to be like this, and maybe global warming is to thank, but we appreciate the thaw and the chance to enjoy some beautiful places that are usually bitter cold (by California standards) this time of year.

Hike to Upper Yosemite Falls – Yosemite National Park – 7.2 miles round trip

This is North America’s tallest waterfall at 2,425 ft.

All photos shot with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1.

The Nature of Desolation

Trips

As the wind blows free through the desert, meandering through groves of Joshua trees, cacti, and clumps of various Lichen, one can hear its sound; almost an echo. We can’t help but think that the desert is solitary, an encapsulation of a sort of insulated loneliness.

Coming from the thriving Sierra where vibrant greens top the tallest trees, rivers flow with deafening aggression, and monoliths of granite jut up through the sky, our wilderness is sheltered and comforting. Here, in Joshua Tree there is an awesome sense of nothingness and we are left with a clean slate to ponder the landscape, along with the sharp emotion of the nature of desolation.

Isn’t it ironic then to have inhabited places within a wilderness like this. As one looks at the crumbling buildings along the Salton Sea, there is the realization that it can understandably hold hands with a place like Joshua Tree despite the footprints of our predecessors. That the same feeling of quieted loneliness exists here as it does in the barren desert. That we as an invasive species built this and claimed it as our own with buildings, boats, and hotels… and yet, a short time later the desert reclaimed it and forced us out.

All photos shot with 35mm film on a Canon AE-1.

Heavy Steps

Trips, Weekends

Big Sur – Ventana Wilderness – Out and Back

20 miles Total

Saturday – 10 miles in to Sykes Hot Spring Camp

Sunday – 10 miles out to Big Sur Station

It’s difficult but well traveled and maintained as if it were a half mile loop in one of our national parks. Although you don’t necessarily see a ton of folks on trail, they’re in there, crawling around the tubs, waiting in line, calling dibs. To be honest, it’s off-putting.

Maybe we’re spoiled at this point having soaked all over the eastern sierra and elsewhere. Honestly, should we be feeling that because we do this all the time, we have more right to it than someone else? No way, these tubs aren’t ours, we didn’t make them and we most certainly do not own this land. So why is there entitlement seething beneath the surface and on the tip of everyone’s tongue upon the realization that you’re not the only one who came out here this weekend?

We all worked hard for this, we all dripped sweat up the steeps and felt our knees pop on the scree filled downs, we all jack-assed heavy packs with more food than we needed; we all did the research, made the effort, rounded up our friends and got here, didn’t we?

Maybe we should all just drop our attitudes and appreciate these places that exist for everyone to enjoy. After all, this isn’t the hip new bar your friends have been talking shit about lately.

Check your ‘tude at the trailhead.

Our Ocean’s Majesty

Trips

– Big Sur –

The deep churning waters stretch as far as the eye can see. We imagine we catch the shadow of China, off in the horizon. Out there in the faraway ocean where tankers and fishing boats float, seaweed and waves crash, the migrating whales and the cold waters, and the endless sea lives on; that is what we look upon, humbly perched on giant rocks. We are ants, and we could be washed away with one rogue wave.

All photos taken with 35mm film.

The Reward: Hot Spring Haven

Trips, Weekends

Backcountry – John Muir Wilderness – Out and Back

26 miles total

Saturday – 13 miles Rainbow Falls trailhead to springs

Sunday – 13 miles back to trailhead

Thirteen miles in a day is a long distance for your legs to carry you. But when you’re walking towards something so enticing, you seem to fly! A collection of pristine hot spring tubs in the middle of the wilderness is the greatest reward a hiker can ask for. Your muscles melt into the steaming water and the miles are far, far away.

Giving yourself a gift at the end of a hard day of work can really do a lot for you, even if you’re not in the middle of the Eastern Sierras – treat yourself daily! A good meal and a beer, a stroll through town, a jump in the ocean; anything that gives you pleasure that you think you can’t squeeze into your busy day – squeeze it in. You’ll see it can go a long way, and help take your daily stresses away…

Take the Leap, See it Through

Trips, Weekends

Emigrant Wilderness – Out and Back – Kennedy Meadows to Kennedy Lake

16 miles Total

Saturday – 7 miles in and creek side camp

Sunday Morning – A soggy mile out and back to Kennedy Lake

Sunday Afternoon – 7 miles out

The Emigrant Wilderness’s namesake stems from several groups of Emigrants (folks leaving one area to reside in another) that passed through this wilderness but eventually its use as a route was abandoned as the pass was too difficult and there were safer options. As we hike through fall fields walled in by sweeping granite mountainsides and side step small creeks meandering through the vibrant autumnal yellows, we can reflect on the people that made those difficult and dangerous treks through unknown lands and what that must have felt like.

The idea of leaving one’s home for another strange distant land, whether in search of wealth, opportunity, or community is baffling yet was and is commonplace. The essence of the unknown is a terrifying and at the same time enticing or exciting enterprise and so the mix of emotions that these people would have felt is mind boggling, and yet they did it; scared, unsure, nervous, and excited, they made it work and took that leap to the unknown. Their influence still holds true as there are numbers of us daily (young, motivated, inexperienced, and scared) making the decision to take the leap and see it through.

More photos after the jump.

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