After a very successful backpacking weekend in the Sierra last summer, Calipidder was thinking of organizing a new "GBA" backpacking trip in Point Reyes.
Back in November, she managed to book a campsite at Wildcat Camp for a weekend in January 09. This was quite a gamble weather-wise. It is common in Northern California to have long periods of nice weather between two storms, but it's really unpredictable.
Well, this gamble really paid of as the weekend was probably the best weekend we could have. Perfect blue sky, not a cloud, no fog on the coast, and spring temperatures. Calipidder said she also arranged for the weather. I think I believe her.
The backpacking trip itself was awesome. There were 7 of us. Calipidder (Rebecca) and her Drunken Marmot (David), Airsax (Chris), Pavla, Triplep220 (Jeff), bthomas (Ben), and myself.
We started at the Bear Valley visitor center and hiked about 6 miles to reach the camp. We arrived at the beginning of the afternoon and set up our tents before having lunch. The beer that Dave brewed and carried (2 gallons keg) was tasted and very much appreciated. We then hiked a few miles to Alamere Falls. The stream runs on the cliff and then falls right onto the beach. Interesting sight. On our way back to the camp, we collected a lot of drift wood for the evening's fire we would make on the beach.
Attempts to fly a kite were not successful as there was no wind at all. In Point Reyes... In January... Who would have thought?
After dinner, we went to the beach and had a nice fire. Some people were looking for driftwood in the dark and had a hard time finding some. Ben conducted experiments trying to figure out the best way to start a fire. I think his conclusion was: "matches".
That night was fabulous. We could see Venus' reflection in the ocean. We even saw a shooting star.
Wind picked up in the middle of the night, shaking our tents, and the the kite finally agreed to fly at sunrise.
After breakfast, we packed everything up and hiked over the hill to reach Arch Rock via the Coastal Trail, before heading back to the Bear Valley visitors center through Bear Valley trail. It was about 7 miles long.
As a perfect conclusion to a perfect weekend, we had a great late lunch/early dinner at the Moyans brewery in Novato.
My pictures are here.
Jeff's pictures are here
Rebecca's pictures are here
Rebecca's blog post is here.
Day 1 - Interactive track log:
Day 2 - Interactive track log:
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Hiking Kennedy Trail - 10 Jan 2009
I've been meaning to go back to Sierra Azul OSP and hike up Kennedy Trail for a while. CC was interested, so was Aggiejen and Wildbun so we all met on this beautiful Saturday morning, ready for the steep climb. Reaching the summit (or more exactly the junction with Priest Rock Trail) took us 3 hours (we took it slow and stopped for every geocache along the way). The climb is about 4 miles long with an elevation gain of about 1800 feet.
We actually past our original goal and went as far as the incredible area we call "Kennedy Meadow", before going back down, dropping a new cache (by CC) on the way.
We saw interesting mushrooms and fungi.
My photos are here.
Interactive track log:
We actually past our original goal and went as far as the incredible area we call "Kennedy Meadow", before going back down, dropping a new cache (by CC) on the way.
We saw interesting mushrooms and fungi.
My photos are here.
Interactive track log:
First hike of the year: Castle Rock State Park - 03 Jan 2009
It was a gorgeous Saturday, and a bunch of us decided to hike in Castle Rock to grab a few caches including the new GC1KCZH-Castle Rock Cable Co. by Bullit, who was part of the group.
The park was beautiful, with great views of the Monterey Bay. No rain that day, but it was so cold that I was happy to wear my gloves.
The hike was about 6 miles long, and the elevation gain was about 1200 feet.
The group was made of Bullit, CC, Calipidder, Drunken Marmot, Nazgul, and myself.
My photos are here.
Interactive track log:
The park was beautiful, with great views of the Monterey Bay. No rain that day, but it was so cold that I was happy to wear my gloves.
The hike was about 6 miles long, and the elevation gain was about 1200 feet.
The group was made of Bullit, CC, Calipidder, Drunken Marmot, Nazgul, and myself.
My photos are here.
Interactive track log:
2009 resolution - A new beginning
I haven't updated this blog much last year as my interets progressively shifted from geocaching to hiking and backpacking.
I had a lot of fun in 2008 exploring the Great Outdoors with good friends and I want to share this fun again.
So, as a new resolution for 2009, I am going to dust-off this old blog and will try to keep it up to date with track logs, photos, and trip reports.
Stay tuned for upcoming updates...
I had a lot of fun in 2008 exploring the Great Outdoors with good friends and I want to share this fun again.
So, as a new resolution for 2009, I am going to dust-off this old blog and will try to keep it up to date with track logs, photos, and trip reports.
Stay tuned for upcoming updates...
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