Backpacking Weekend in Point Reyes - 17&18 Jan 2009

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:

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:

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:

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...

Chesbro Reservoir

On Sunday, we went out to visit a cache in a very interesting location : Chesbro Reservoir, tucked in the hills west of Morgan Hill, South of Almaden.
The reservoir is almost dry and this caused an almost forgotten bridge to appear...
In 1937, 18 years before the Chesbro Dam was constructed, a small concrete bridge was built over the Llagas Creek. The dam caused the waters to submerge the bridge and gave birth to what is now known as Chesbro Reservoir.
This is a perfect time to come and discover this hidden bridge. In a few weeks, the bridge will be under troubled waters. Of course, there had to be a cache on this bridge :-)
And it is also a good time to check out tarantulas since it's the beginning of the mating season (and it's close to Halloween). We spotted two.

More pictures here

Atlas of Big Sur...

The highlight of the weekend was the hike to Atlas, another Big Sur cache by Touchstone. The meeting point was at the trail head, at 7:30 am.
Big Sur is a 2 hours drive from San Jose and to avoid waking up very early, Vero, the girls and I decided to spend the night in one of the local campgrounds. Camping along the river is very relaxing. It's a nice way of getting away for the weekend.
The hike was about 7 miles round trip, with about 3000 feet of elevation gain. Quite strenuous but not as much as the past three ones.
The weather was very cooperative. It was sunny but not too warm, partly due to the early start, partly due to a gentle breeze coming from the ocean.
Of the three Touchstone caches that I have found on the Big Sur ridges, this one was the easiest.
The trail was steep at places but the steep sections were not too long so we could easily catch our breath without having to stop too often. Also, the number of switchbacks is very reasonable (unlike the hike to Transcendental Elevation).
Near the cache, we spent some time at the "Atlas" rock. Initially, I could not figure how to see Atlas in this rock. But looking at my pictures now, I think I see an arm.
Poor Hotshoe got stung by a wasp near this rock. I have no idea who started it, her, or the wasp, but Hotshoe sure was upset. No serious reaction from Hotshoe other than a few bad words.
There was a picnic table AND a barbecue near the top (Timbertop). This is where we enjoyed a nice rest, Touchstone's cookies, and our a bug nets as the bugs were starting to bother some of us.
Note to self: Lift the net before eating or drinking.
The climb down was very quick. Even though we took our time, I think it took only 1.5 hours.
Another well spent day out :-)
Pictures are here...

Mount Tallac

This weekend, we joined a couple of friends for a camping trip in Lake Tahoe. The highlight of the stay was for me the assault on Mount Tallac. Not many caches there but climbing Mount Tallac and "grabbing" Kolly Wobbels #24 Mount Tallac (or at least its part II) seemed like a nice goal. There was also a virtual on the trail, marking the entrance of Desolation Wilderness.
The climb was pretty challenging for me but was totally worth it. The views from the summit are breathtaking. And I really like this kind of high altitude (nearly 3000 meters at the summit) hike were you start in the forest and end up in just rocks.
The hike was more than 9 miles long with about 3200 feet of elevation gain. A very healthy exercise!