Backpacking Adventure - Day 2

The next morning, while packing up camp, I looked up to see a marmot/woodchuck/rodent thingy observing us.

"Umm, what is that???" The tone of my voice must have made Patrick think it was something pretty serious because he whipped around to find what I was talking about.

"Oh, I don't know. He's cute."
"Cute? He looks big enough to attack and eat me!"
"He's all fluff."
"Don't animals fluff up when they feel threatened and are preparing to attack?"

Not only was he "cute," he was a bold little sucker! I had to chase him from our camp on multiple occasions. At one point, I turned my back on him for a second to zip up my pack and I turned back around to find him within 3 feet of me. Not cool, little marmot thingy, not cool.

Once packed, we left our campsite and furry neighbor behind as we started up the switchbacks that would take us to the summit. The trail was extremely steep and I was already sore from the previous days ascent. By the degree of steepness of the trail, you never would have guessed we had gone uphill for 4 out of 5 miles the day before. It felt as if we were gaining all 3000' in these last 2 miles to the summit.

Back and forth, back and forth up the mountainside. Up here, the trees were more sparse and the giant redwoods had given way to just regular sized trees. Occasionally, we had to find our way around or over trees that had fallen across the trail and the trail was so littered with tree debris it made the going extremely slow. Small, round pinecones were so abundant on the trail it was like walking on marbles. We had to be careful not to fall or twist an ankle. It was evident they hadn't been up to clear the trail for the season yet.

Finally, it seemed the trail was leveling off some. We came to a fairly large patch of snow we had to cross. "Hmm. The trail looks like it goes that way but I see footprints that are going that way," I say, pointing in two different directions. As I look closer at the footprints I realize those aren't footprints but giant bear paw prints. Quickly, we scan the area for a bear. Nothing, but that doesn't mean much. "Ok, let's get out of here!" Straight out of a cartoon (I think there was a trail of dust I left in my wake), I shot up the trail. Patrick couldn't get over how fast I took off, after all we'd being going up the mountain for over an hour and we were exhausted. Just goes to show what your body's really capable of!

Soon afterwards, we came out of the trees, rock wall on one side of us and deep canyon on the other. On the other side of the canyon, the mountains rose up again, no trees but giant snowfields covering them instead. We paused briefly to evaulate the map and estimate how far we were from the summit. While looking over the map, we both noticed a weird noise coming from down in the canyon. "It sounds like an emu (thanks to Kristin's Redland neighbors, I know what an emu sounds like)." But, obviously, it wasn't an emu. We had no idea what it was, but all I could keep thinking was "Do bears make a warning noise???" Regardless, we kept moving up the mountain. We had no tree cover any longer and the sun was out in full force. We had gone from killer pinecones underfoot to loose rocks that brought to mind visions of stumbling and plummeting to our death.

Just as all morale was dying rapidly, we came to a gorgeous waterfall that ran wide and strong and flooded our path. Now, this was worth the climb. We stood in the spray of the waterfall, navigating the trail in our minds. Soon, we were precariously stepping from rock to rock, not sure if we would make it without tumbling into the flow of water below.

After the waterfall we continued to climb the mountain for another 30 minutes. It felt much longer! Patrick had to walk in front so I couldn't see how much further it was to the top. Another river crossing and we were there. We had made it to Summit Lake! It had taken us 2 1/2 hours to go 2 miles, but we had made it!

We set our packs on some rocks and plopped down to rest in the sun. The lake was surrounded by mountains, giant snowfields everywhere. It was beautiful and peaceful. We saw fish jumping in the lake and a tiny garter snake, while we sat relaxing. We climbed some nearby rocks and laid in the sun. We realized we better decide the game plan for the rest of the day. We decided we would look for a good place to camp, but if we couldn't find a spot we may just head back down the mountain and see how far we could get down the trail.

We went to investigate a spot we had seen earlier that was clear of snow and would work for our tent. However, by the time we went to investigate, the cleared area had been flooded by snow runoff. So, we were headed back down the mountain and we had carried all our gear these last 2 miles for no reason. But, hey, we were in it for the adventure. Only it was starting to feel more like torture.

The last installment of our adventure soon to come but here are some more pictures for now:

Our furry neighbor. Tell me that thing's not creepy!

Great view while heading up the trail.

Checking the map. How much further?!?

The waterfall that flooded the trail. It was so much more beautiful than this shows.

Summit Lake

We made it!!!

Backpacking Adventure - Day 1

Over Memorial Day weekend, Patrick had 4 days off from work. I had the idea that we should go backpacking, get out of town and into nature and really use those 4 days. We've been backpacking before but for this trip we planned very little. We knew what we were bringing and the general area we were heading and that we should be cautious of bears. Our friends loaned us their bear canister (they had a pretty serious bear encounter at Yosemite, so we decided not to fool around) and we were off. We headed north and then east into the mountains. When we got close we stopped at a ranger station to get some trail suggestions.

They suggested a loop that would take us 4 days, lead us by alpine lakes and gain 3000' in elevation. Right away, I jumped onboard. Sounded great! We bought a trail map and jumped back in the car.

"How do we get to the trailhead?"

"I don't know."

That conversation should have been our first clue we didn't have enough information. But, hey, we were in it for the adventure.

"Looks like there are some river crossings, according to the map. It's marked as a well-maintained trail, though, so I'm sure there will be bridges or rocks you can use to cross (clue 2, if you're keeping track)."

We got to the trailhead around 3 PM, swung our packs on our backs, took our pictures by the trail mileage sign, all shiny faced and eager to start our adventure. Right away, the trail went up (remember, 3000' elevation gain. Patrick tried to warn me, I'll admit). But it wasn't too steep and we were at once treated to some amazing views. Craggy rock walls in the distance and a beautiful sea of trees as far as we could see. Far off, we could see mountains topped with snow. Such an excitement for two people that don't ever see snow in SoCal. Soon, we were a part of the forest as the trail led us down into a canyon. We crossed a waterfall, an easy crossing, someone had thrown a log down to walk across, and we continued on through the trees.

About an hour later, we came to our first river crossing. Hmm, no bridge. We scanned the area, immediately realizing there were no rocks either. It was easily decided we had to go barefoot as we were only wearing tennis shoes. I volunteered to go first since Patrick has pansy feet and was afraid the rocks would be too sharp for his feet. Growing up in the country, though, I've spent entire summers barefoot. The crossing was easy enough and we dried off our muddy feet (with Patrick's t-shirt he happened to be wearing. Can you say "dirty hippies?"), put our shoes back on and headed up the trail once more.

The trail steadily climbed the mountains for the next hour. Occasionally, we would see small patches of snow off the sides of the trail. How exciting and so unexpected! We had no idea we would be this close to snow when we started our trek. Once again, though, we were at a river crossing. This one was much wider and since the water was so cold we were concerned that our feet wouldn't make it across the expanse of river we had to cross. We walked up the river and found a spot that was a lot narrower, but a lot deeper. Oh well, we're in it for the adventure. Country feet to the rescue and we were across that river in short order. We contined on.

By now, we were traipsing through snow patches that covered our trail and, subsequently, the muddy bogs that follow snow melt. The trail led us through the forest, where normal trees and giant redwoods mingled, across mountainside meadows, through prickley bushes that scrapped our legs as we pushed past, and, all the while, at a steady climb. By the time we reached our third river crossing, we were exhausted and it was time to set up camp. There was nowhere to camp on this side of the river, unless we wanted to go back a mile or so. I had, however, remembered that I had my river sandals with me and quickly crossed the river, now that I had shoes on for the crossing. Right across the river was a great campsite. We were in luck, no backtracking needed.

It had taken us 3 hours to go 5 miles, but we were satisfied with how far we had come. It had, however, become abundantly clear that we should probably not attempt the full loop. If we got out too far on the loop and came to a river crossing that wasn't navigable we would be too far to complete a turnaround in the alloted amount of time. We decided instead to hike further the next day and camp by one of the alpine lakes and then take 2 days to hike out the way we came in.

When it became fully dark outside we climbed into our tent and snuggled down into our sleeping bags. We talked, played cards by headlamp and, finally, fell asleep to the rushing noise of the river.

At the trailhead, full of energy and excitement.

Crossing a waterfall. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was so beautiful!


The first snow we could touch. So exciting!


One of the most amazing views of the entire trip. Once again, this picture just doesn't show the true beauty. That giant redwood tree was controlling the entire course of the river. The tree on the right side of the pic is a normal sized tree, to give you a better idea of the size of the redwood.


Last river crossing of the day. Our campsite was on the bend in the river you see above me.


Our beautiful, peaceful campsite.

Red Sox Game

Last week, Patrick and I decided to by tickets to the Angels vs. Red Sox baseball game. We bought our tickets at noon and were leaving Pasadena for Anaheim five hours later. We got to the stadium just in time to grab something to eat and get our seats. Our seats were awesome. We were behind home plate and to the side a little down the 1st base line, up in the 3rd tier of seating. We had a really good view of the field and home plate. It was a good game, but unfortunately our Red Sox lost. That will most likely be our one and only Red Sox game of the year.

Angel Stadium. Patrick and I were trying to decide where we would prefer to be if the big one hit. Up where we were or down on the first level. Ah, the things you think about at a baseball game when your team's losing.

Patrick's Birthday

Patrick is officially only 3 years from 30. He says this is the first year he has ever actually felt OLD. He's so right, though. 30 was always way off into the future, now, it is just around the corner. So, for his birthday, we tried to party it up like two young'uns while we still could (not really, we've been middle aged in spirit for a long time now).

On Patrick's birthday, I took him to a bbq dinner so he could get some ribs, one of his favorites, and then we came home and had some butterfinger, peanut butter cheesecake that I had made for him. Yes, Patrick is allergic to milk. I make his cheesecake with tofu. I know, I know... Sounds disgusting. I'm telling you, though, it is delicious and you would not be able to tell the difference. I'm sure you still don't believe me. I wouldn't believe me either if I hadn't tasted it myself.

Then a couple days after his birthday, I took him to see the John Brion show at the Largo in LA. The Largo is a venue that lots of comedians and muscians perform at. John Brion is a muscian and, for Patrick, the show was amazing. For me, I got a little board but I think it was because I'm not a muscian like Patrick. I could appreciate the music but I didn't like all of it. It was cool, though, how John is a one man band. He will play something on the piano and record it, then go play a beat on the drums and add that to the piano he has already recorded and so on and so on with guitar and other instruments. Seeing him do this live was pretty impressive. We were in the third row and I could tell Patrick just wanted to walk up on stage and pick up one of the 10 or more guitars that were waiting to be played.

After the show, we didn't feel like going home, even though it was way past our bedtime, so we headed to Canter's Deli. We sat and ate pastries and sandwiches at midnight with all the other late night Los Angelenos. Patrick and I have vowed that we need to spend more time going out in LA. It really has it's own vibe and we need to appreciate it more.

Burns, Buttcracks and Boobjobs

A southern California beach on the first warm weekend of the year is surreal. I always say the southern California way of life is not real life and no where is that more evident than at the beach on a warm, sunny day.

The crowded beach is filled with all kinds of umbrellas shading even more kinds of people. Tattoos, piercings, scars, fat, skinny, old, young, black, hispanic, asian, white and inevitably buttcracks. Any which way you turn you see buttcrack because, for some reason, once the bikini bottoms and board shorts reach a certain level on the hips people lose all awareness as to where their buttcracks are in relation to their clothing. Not to mention the hundreds of people at the beach wearing bathing suits that don't fit correctly and therefore flashing all sorts of things you never wanted to see. There are the surfers, paddle boarders and boogie boarders out in the waves, who get a scary surprise when they see dorsal fins about 30 yards away, until they realize it is a pod of dolphins swimming by. There are the kite flyers, football throwers and volleyball players. On the boardwalk, there are the bike riders, skateboarders, runners (with their shirts off, of course) and rollerbladers. There are the pasty white (myself included) who you can see actively turning red before your eyes from the strong sun and there are the overly tan who either spend all of their time sunbathing or paid way too much money to be sprayed with the orange elixir that southern Californians thrive on. There are boobjobs everywhere you look and you can make a game out of who can spot the next boobjob to walk by first. And keeping watch over it all are the lifeguards in their lifgaurd towers and lifegaurd trucks that drive down the beach straight out of Baywatch (we even saw a lifegaurd in his red shorts carrying his red flotation board while running down the beach. It doesn't get any more Baywatch than that). Despite, or maybe because of, all the unreality of the real southern Californian beach, it is a wonderful place to spend the day and we can't wait to go back.

Long live burns, buttcracks, boobjobs and the stereotypical southern California beach.

The mass of people who flocked to the beach on the first hot day on the coast.

Good times at the beach. You can tell my forehead is getting a little toasty.

Celebrating Patrick

Patrick's 27th birthday is next week (April 22nd) and I wanted to share some facts about my favorite person in the whole world! So, here are 27 things you may not have known about the birthday boy:

1. Patrick loves anything that has the word board in it. He skateboards, snowboards, wakeboards and boogie boards. He's even been sandboarding.

2. Patrick is an amazing athlete (even though he has asthma). In the last few years he has really gotten into running and is really good at it, even though he does not have a typical runner's body.

3. Patrick's dream would be to live in the mountains and have it be winter all year long.

4. Patrick has been deathly allergic to milk his whole life, but didn't own an epi-pen until 2 years ago when we were traveling to Portugal and thought it would be good to have one with us since we didn't speak the language.

5. Patrick had never had any alcohol until his 21st birthday and then when he had his first sip he said, "How come you didn't tell me it tasted so delicious."

6. Patrick has sprained his ankle so many times it is permanently swollen. He even sprained it one time while putting on his watch. Figure that one out!?!

7. Patrick is very musical. He plays piano, guitar and is learning the harmonica (That last one is a painful process on the ears).

8. Patrick loves playing football but isn't into watching football on tv and he refuses to play flag football because it just isn't the same.

9. Patrick loves anything funny. He loves the comedy channel, loves going to see comedy shows, and his favorite websites are collegehumor.com and jokeroo.com

10. Patrick is a perfectionist and a clean freak, although, he's gotten alot better since knowing me :)

11. If you google "Patrick Sears" you can find a resume for another Patrick Sears that has majored in all the same things as Patrick and looks like he has lived the same life as Patrick. We think there are certain things that just come with being named Patrick Sears. Really creepy!

12. Patrick was the number one student in his mechanical engineering program at Colorado State for 3 years in row.

13. Patrick loves fireworks. While in high school he had a cop tell him and his brother to stop altering fireworks that they were playing with outside their house and in college he almost burned down Wyoming. Stay away from fireworks, Patrick!!!

14. Patrick has worked as a janitor and a shoe salesman.

15. Patrick's first car was a Toyota Corona, circa 1975. You couldn't drive it at night when it rained (which in Oregon is a problem) because when you turned on the windshield wipers the headlights would dim.

16. Patrick loves tea. The stronger and smokier the better.

17. Patrick makes a killer shrimp cocktail.

18. Patrick chipped one of his front teeth while at a punk rock concert in high school.

19. Patrick will read anything Chuck Palahniuk writes.

20. Patrick's favorite shows are Heroes and Lost.

21. Patrick dreams of hiking the Oregon portion of the Pacific Crest Trail.

22. Patrick loves mountain biking and rock climbing, but doesn't get to do them very often.

23. Patrick collects Kachinas (Native American carvings of figurines out of one piece of wood. The artistry of the quality ones are really amazing). His grandpa started his interest in Kachinas when he was little.

24. Patrick has always been afraid of aliens. Funny that he has ended up making space robots for a living. Maybe he knows something we don't :)

25. Patrick can do some pretty amazing toe-touches.

26. Patrick dyed his hair black in college once.

27. Patrick is the greatest friend and husband a girl could have!!!

A Proper Date

The last real date Patrick and I had been on was 1 1/2 years ago. So, I told Patrick I wanted to go on a proper date. He planned it out and made the reservations. We dressed up in our best and he took me out on the town. Our first stop was a happy hour at a great place known for their wine and blues performances. Since we were just there for happy hour we didn't see any performances, but we had some great wine. Then we walked three blocks down the street to the restaurant we had reservations at. The restaurant was amazing. Great service and wonderful food and more great wine! So, we didn't care when the bill came and it was about 4 times more than what we would ever normally pay. You gotta do it up big when you only go on a date once every 18 months! We had so much fun, we didn't want the night to end. Eventually, we headed home and promptly fell asleep (it was 10 PM). Man, are we old!

I made Patrick pose for this picture. He looked so handsome!