The Art Of Constant Walking

Trip Report - Backpacking in the Hover Wilderness
September, 2009


Recently Eric, Kenneth and I adventured into the wilderness to seek solitude, and to break our long distance walking records. We also recently moved into another apartment, which Eric and I have come to realize, is a lot like backpacking. We moved from one apartment in our complex into another - It was one of the easiest moves we have ever done because there was no truck, no boxes, and it reminded us a lot of backpacking because you put your stuff on your back.. Walk. Take all the stuff out of your pack. Pack it back in. Walk. Repeat. It took us just as long to move into a new apartment, as it did to backpack 22 miles. Two Days.

Getting ready to go

On this most recent trip, we attempted to backpack to Tower Peak. We drove up to the area the night before and slept in the car (with a bivy for Kenneth.) As it turns out, most of the people we saw on the trail the first day did the same thing. A group had already beaten us to the trail-head backpacker's parking lot, and were setting up camp for the night on the hard asphalt. The next day, everyone was excited and we hit the trail bright eyed and bushy tailed. That was a long day. It seems like we hiked forever, and we weren't entirely sure if we were making good time or not. Our original goal was either the upper meadows, or Tower Lake. We didn't make it as far as Tower Lake.

Pretty Lake

After hiking 11 miles on the first day, we were pooped...to say the leased. All three of us decided it would be a good idea to sleep on top of a raised area in the medow. We found proof that people had camped here before from an old fire ring. We made dinner, cleaned up, and went to bed. After midnight we were awaken by the sound of large animals in our camp. I heard what sounded like a deer hoof, and I figured it was no big deal. Then I heard more... like five more. It sounded like these animals were throwing a party. Rocks were being tossed, trees were being bucked, and the curiosity of a few large sounding deer had taken over our camp. Eventually, Kenneth ripped open his tent and scared away the culprits.


In the morning we awoke to the aftermath of the deer. A chewed up REI walking stick, knocked over gear, and a cozy I had spilled food on chewed up and left 10-15 feet away from where I had left it. We had been ambushed by a gang of curious deer, taking advantage of a beautiful full moon lit night.

Chewed on Kenneth

The next day we were sore, and still pretty tired. We decided to take advantage of the three day weekend by hiking out the second day so we could spend Monday resting. It was a good choice. Even though Eric and I had been doing cardio at the gym to prepare for this trek, we hadn't actually been hiking in a while. This was a great reminder to our bodies that we should probably hike more.

Eric and Kenneth resting

It was a long second day, but we made it back alive, in one piece, without injury and that's what matters. We had a lot of fun backpacking in the sierra for the first time, enjoing all the wonders that create it's allure (including the boisterious wildlife!) I guess in a way backpacking got us ready for moving, it worked the right muscles and prepaired us for the hard work of walking back and forth carring stuff. Even though we didn't get all the way to Tower Peak, it was worth it. Every damn mile.

Kenneth in all his glory

Night of the Living Deer

Greetings!

I'm sitting here on my lunch break, writing a brief update on the weekend's backpacking trip, in a feeble attempt to be timely.

We never reached Tower Peak. In fact, we never saw it again after the first few miles in Leavitt Meadow. As Kenneth so profoundly put it near the beginning of the trek, "that looks far away".

Out intended, and unreached, destination. Yes, it does look far away.

But we did have a blast! We made it most of the way to our planned destination, sleeping in Piute Meadows instead of at Tower Lake, but the hike took it's toll on Amber and I, seeing as how we had done little hiking lately to get into proper condition. Still we charged hard, and did about 11 miles each day, "uphill both ways", with heavy packs.

Kenneth adjusting his pack in Piute Meadows

The need to be functional today for work precluded the sanity of any summit attempt we might have made. In addition, we experience an event we can only describe as "Night of the Living Deer" that motivated us to attempt to move camp or hike out on Sunday. Regardless, we had a lot of fun and Upper Piute Meadows was spectacular, and we can't wait to plan another backpacking trip (and maybe one a bit more leisurely).

A full trip report should be coming soon...

Related Posts:

• The Tower Calls...
  

Photo Gallery:

Piute Meadows Backpacking

And now for something completely different:

• Night of the Living Deer, Pt II
  

The Tower Calls...

As I write this, we are already on our way to the Sierra for a long-anticipated backpacking, peakbagging adventure. Kenneth, Amber, and I are off to attempt Tower Peak in the Hoover Wilderness, some 15 miles distance from the Leavitt Meadows trailhead.

Tower Peak in the far distance, this is taken from near where we will start

It was the sight of Tower Peak that 'piqued' my interest in climbing and mountaineering, though I didn't know it at the time. Researching the peak exposed me to many resources I now find invaluable. So, I have high hopes for this venture to be a sort of culmination of the other adventures we've had in the meantime, summit or not.

But there is one bit I'm a little apprehensive over. Backpacking.

Amber sporting a pack in the Los Padres

Though I camped a lot growing up, I never did any backpacking. Not until two springs ago when Amber and I went on a trek through the Los Padres near Santa Barbara. What a nightmare that turned out to be! Overgrown trails, bushwacking through steep canyons of Poison Oak (to which I am highly allergic), and a painful last two miles night-hiking out so as to be able to shower off the allergens.

Really the poison oak was only a couple mile-ish sections, with really beautiful trail the rest of the way. But it was enough to create psychological misery. And on top of all that, the camera broke after we passed the point we had dayhiked before!

Last year's backpacking camp, before the madness

Nope, we were beaten. And sick of hiking for a while after that. In fact, that is how we discovered rock climbing! But in the end we're very excited about this trip, even if we need to drag our asses a ways in there to get up this thing.

So wish us luck! And we'll report back!

To the Leap!

Trip Report – Lover's Leap
July 2009
Guest Blogger: Kenneth Davenport

Our good friend Kenneth and some of his fellow climbing buddies headed up to Lover's leap this past month. He spent the time taking a newbie on trad, and climbing some sweet 5.10 climbs. They experienced all sorts of situations, and it seems like they had a blast doing it! The Leap always brings an adventure with unpredictable weather, lines at the routes, stellar climbs, and more. Below, Kenneth describes their adventure in his own words-

The infamous stretcher

On Friday evening Chris drove up and got a campsite- however there were still some available on Saturday morning. Joss, James, Sarah, and I arrived late and bivvied.On Saturday Chris led Pop Bottle with Joss and myself following, then we futzed about figuring out whether to do Haystack in the hottest part of the day with two parties of two ahead of us already. We ran into a Seth (with dog Annie) and a Chad who work at Marmot, and we discussed options for short climbs.

Kenneth climbing

We all went to Surrealistic Pillar and I decided that I wanted to lead it. It was fun and challenging, but I bootied a UK nut on the way up. I went way past the first belay and ended up on top of a choss pillar. It turns out there were spots to build an anchor either there or 50 ft of down climbing below. The sky was looking bloated, and Chris decided that if it started raining she would not climb. She let Joss go, and by the time she got up to where I was, we were getting horizontal rain. With zero percent chance of precipitation in the forecast!! I rearranged the anchor with minimal cams and nuts and leaver biners, and we rapped off. Joss was a little nervous since she'd never rappelled before but I walked her through it. We auto blocked her setup, gave her gloves, and with Chris giving a her a fireman's belay, she got down safely. I pulled one of my cams from the anchor and left a solid .75 C4 and the bootied nut, and rapped down.

Chris climbing

When we got back to camp we ran into folks Topher knew (and we recognized from the gym). The Marmot dudes also came by with a couple sixers to share. I passed around the bourbon and we sat under trees to chillax, lament, play with Annie, take pictures, and set up tents before heading to the Strawberry Lodge for dinner. Cooking outdoors in the rain didn't sound appealing at this point. By the time we were finished eating however, the rain had stopped.

Who wants to boulder?

Chris and I woke up early Sunday to retrieve my gear off Surrealistic Pillar, and we found a party of three ahead of us on it at the first belay station. We hollered at 'em that we needed to bail yesterday and left gear, and not to touch it, and they acknowledged. I let Chris lead the first pitch, since we now knew where the first belay was. It was a heady pitch and Chris took her time but nailed it. Joss showed up for moral support and a photo op while Chris was setting the anchor.

Camp!

I led the rest of the climb, bootied my own gear (humming the Final Fantasy battle victory music as I did so), down-climbed back down the chosspile, watched a lizard of a climber leading an impressive-looking .11something nearby, traversed around the arete, and ran the hell out of the last 150 feet of 5.5 dike-hiking. I think I set 3 or 4 pieces and slung a horn though. I barely had enough rope to build an anchor in a safe spot at the top.

Kenneth busting a move

After topping out we went back to camp, packed up, ate avocado, brie and tomato on flat bread, moved crap to the car, and hiked up to the Main Wall to look at stuff. James and Sarah tried an 5.11a sport route on Tombstone Ledge and lobbed off a couple times before calling it done. Before that they'd talked me into leading a 5.10a sport route called Arctic Breeze. I flashed it and Chris, Sarah and I ran laps on it afterward. After the long hike down, we bade farewell to Chris and headed to Z Pies before the long drive home. YUM!**

Lovers's Leap by Joss

DDTV: Cracking Spicer

Duration 7:53

First official video with our fancy-pants camera. Also, shooting on rappel made for more appropriate shots than the butt-dominated fare you get on the ground. Be sure to check out the HD version if you have a very fast connection.


YouTube: Regular - HD Huge

This is climbing the easy 5.6 at Spicer Terraces on toprope. This was originally intended just as a test of our HD camera, but ended up getting considerably more time invested into it. I wanted to try a specific editing style, which may have drained the "action" a little bit, but it's still a fun video and a vast improvement over our earlier videos. I'm hoping there will be a couple more to come in this vein.

Fun In The Yosemite Sun

Trip Report - Yosemite With Eric's Parents
Toulumne Meadows, Hetch Hetchy, Yosemite National Park, CA
July 16-19, 2009

It was a warm weekend in the park, but once again we found ourselves having a blast. I was able to see some things in Yosemite I've never seen before, and visited some good ole' fashion tourist attractions. Eric, his parents, and I hopped in a rented SUV and headed towards the park.We stayed at a hotel just outside Yosemite named the Evergreen Lodge. Eric's parents booked a family suite, and it was very nicely decorated. There was no TV in our hotel suite, but who needs it when you have ping pong, hammocks, pool, foosball, board games, and a full bar? Not me!

The view from Crane Flat fire lookout

The first afternoon we visited our favorite fire lookout just before Crane Flat. It was fun to show the Clark Range to Eric's parents. The fire lookout is the best place to learn the layout of the park. After we checked out the views, we headed down to the Giant Sequoia trees just a mile from the road near Crane Flat. We walked down the one mile path and found some pretty cool trees with an amazing history. Bigger, taller, and heavier than any living thing on earth ever.... pretty impressive. I made sure to give one a big hug.

Eric walking by a huge Giant Sequoia

Later that afternoon we drove out to Hetch Hetchy. The scenery was beautiful! I can't believe I've never been there before. The drive in felt long due to the anticipation of driving into a beautiful hidden valley tucked in the shadows of its popular neighbor. The valley there is gorgeous. Its just as impressive as Yosemite Valley proper, just a lot smaller. I would love to spend more time there, but this time we were in a hurry because we had dinner reservations at the hotel restaurant that night. It was yummy.

Hetch Hetchy Dam

The next day we headed to Tuolumne for some climbing. Eric and I tried to climb at pothole dome, but we failed to find the bolts for the top rope climbs. It was kinda annoying knowing we were just missing the bolts right in front of our faces. It was getting pretty warm so we had lunch and then hung out at Tenaya Lake. While we were there a Search and Rescue volunteer approached our picnic table to tell us that lightning storms were coming. She was doing a preventive program warning people of the dangers of being in Tuolumne during the summer months. That's a really smart way to get people in tune with weather in the wilderness, and in tune with safety.

Eric checking out the view with his Dad

The last day there we headed into the valley during the morning so we would beat the heat of the afternoon. We parked at Camp Curry and did the tourist thing- hop on a valley bus and see the sights! We visited the dried up Mirror Lake, Yosemite Falls, El Captain, Bridal Veil and Camp Curry. Everyone had a great time and we all came back with some amazing memories. I can't wait until the Fall when we get to do it again! Eric and I are very Lucky to live so close to a place many people will only visit once in their lifetime.

Janelle and Phil- Eric's awesome parents

Photo Gallery:

Yosemite July 2009

Summer already?!

Trip Report - Hiking Mt. Hoffmann
Toulumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, CA
June 27, 2009

Well, the solstice has passed, and Summer is now in full swing. Amber and I decided it was time to get away for the weekend, and get up into the mountains (not that there isn't plenty of this planned for the upcoming weeks).

Mt. Conness from above May Lake, this is the kind of thing that gets us going!

Over the first half of this year, we've been slowly adapting our newer adventuremobile, the PT Cruiser, to meet our needs. One thing we've toyed with is a solution for sleeping in the back. Needless to say, we've tinkered and tested and now got it down. You can expect a more detailed post on this in the future.

Friday night, Amber and I threw a ton of gear, and some meager rations into the car and yanked the back seats out. Did I mention a ton of gear? Seemed so, since we had no idea what we would do up there, but without the seats or passengers it was quite manageable.

Our luxurious accommodations (I'm not doing a good job of pretending to sleep)

So we drove late into the night, up and over the pass, and found a secluded place to pull off and crash in the car. The next morning we awoke to grand mountains along the Tioga road, still peppered with snowfields. We were meeting Dirk and his climbing partner at the Toulumne campground office bright and early, so I cooked up some oatmeal while Amber reserved a campsite, and just short of coin flips, decided to try a hike.

We'd been in Toulumne just a few weeks before, but nothing was open yet and this time it bustled with activity! We stashed our food safely at the May Lakes trailhead and headed up towards Mt. Hoffmann. Hoffmann is considered pretty easy for a Sierra peak, but it turned out to be just the adventure we bargained for.

May Lake, where the use trail leaves the official park trails


Amber checks out the Clark Range, at an early rest break

It's not a particularly long hike, nor is the gain excessive (~2000ft), but it had a little of everything. First we had to DEET-up to drive away the voracious mosquito squadrons (they do not travel alone). We wound around the south side of the lake and found the first of many small snowfields to cross. Thankfully the snow was soft, and easy to cross (with steps in many places).

Amber hiking up one of the more significant snowfields

On one of the snowfields we met a hiker, now named "Polly Prissy-Pants", who had turned back due to "horrifying clouds of mosquito" in the talus above. Though we did meet with some tiring switchbacks, the mosquitoes never worsened, so perhaps he had no DEET or just should have waited for things to warm up a bit.

At times we've had trouble hiking above 9000ft, but sleeping up near the pass the night before really helped. We were able to hike pretty consistently without really "feeling" the elevation. Though there were a good amount of switchbacks and snowfields, there were also nice flats where you could get a bit of a break. One reason to recommend this hike is that, not too far in, you get GREAT VIEWS of parts of Toulumne and Yosemite Valley, and as you wind your way up, they just get better. Eventually revealing every major range in the park! (and some might be surprised that Half Dome looks a bit puny from above)

The false summits of Hoffmann

We though we were heading for the large formations overhead, but this was not the true summit. At one point you round a switchback onto the large summit plateau and the true summit (with antenna) becomes apparent. Though it was a bit further away, we made it to the base quite quickly. There should be a class-2 scramble to the top from there, but almost everyone ended up using their hands enough to make it class-3. With careful route-finding you could probably keep it class-2. Though we were alone almost the entire time we were on the trail, we shared the summit with several other parties.

The west side of the formidable Sawtooth Ridge, seen through a gap in the summit plateau

Hikers crossing the summit plateau, Lyell and friends in the background

For such a tame hike, Hoffman treats you to precipitous drops on the other sides of the summit. It sits at near the center of the park geographically, and also treats you to amazing views. You can see Half Dome and Clouds rest, the Cathedral Range, Mt. Dana on the Sierra Crest, the domes of Toulumne Meadows, the Lyell group, the Clark Range, the Sawtooth Ridge and Tower Peak. A view like that inspires you to keep working to try more peaks.

Amber and I savor our success on the summit!

While our marmot friend scurries away from the excitement...

Tower Peak I have seen on several occasions, and it is striking in being a bit of a loaner. We hope to hike it this fall, on a backpacking trip. Another that is particularly striking is Mt. Clark. Remote and more difficult, it is extremely striking, and near the top of my list. Yosemite is just a small portion of the Sierra. There is more variety and adventure waiting for the hiker or climber than could be fully appreciated in a lifetime. Just another reason I like to play like it's my big back yard.

Tower peak from Mt. Hoffmann's summit


Savoring a day well spent, above Mono Lake

But enough pontificating, hungry and starting to lose steam on the summit, we celebrated briefly then promptly headed back down. It was a long return, and I'd guess the whole trip was around 7 miles. The last mile was especially long. Though it wasn't a super tough hike, we have been doing lots of other activities so weren't particularly warmed up for it. In the end it was just the right length, not leaving us particularly sore. We drove down to Mono Lake to have a few beers before meeting people at Whoa Nellie Deli for dinner. Sunday we'd do a few rock climbs, bask in the beautiful Toulumne weather, and head home.

Photo Gallery:

Mt. Hoffmann / T.M.

We Won't Need Rain Pants

Yosemite is known for it's scenic hiking, and one of the most popular trails is the Mist Trail. Eric, myself, and our friend Jen decided to visit this trail during our most recent visit to the valley. Everyone knows that hiking the mist trail during the spring is the best time to do it. Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls are raging, and the water is blasting at full force. It's a very popular hike during this time, but we decided to do it anyway. Our plan was to get to the trail as soon as we got to the valley, because Jen wanted to run up to half-dome.

Vernal Falls

When we got to the valley the weather was dim. Gray storm clouds rested peacefully on top of the giant granite walls that tower over the valley floor. We had our sun roof open so we could see the top of the walls, and it started to rain a little. We still decided to go on our hike. Fate also gifted us with a parking spot at Curry Village. We had some lunch, threw on our boots, and headed to the trail. We opted to leave our rain pants in the car however, because we didn't think we were going to need them. Good thing we had enough sense to bring our shell jackets.

The gray sky

Jen decided to not do Half Dome because of time so she headed up the mist trail with us. The hike started off pretty dry, but when we reached the bridge everyone realized how much water we were dealing with. I have been to Yosemite many times, but I have never seen Vernal Falls as powerful as it was this time. There was so much water...it was breathtaking. We started with the rest of the hike up the cut stone steps. Doing the stairs always amazes me. Going up stairs for a long time is totally a chore, but when you add a gushing waterfall soaking you wet to the bone, you seem to forget all about being out of breath. The scene was so lush, the bushes and trees so green. It felt like we were in a tropical paradise. A rainy, tropical paradise.

Jen checking out Vernal Falls

We made it to the top of Vernal Falls and we were soaking wet from the waterfall. We decided to keep on hiking to Nevada Falls, but little did we know we were about to get a lot more wet. We started for Nevada Falls. When taking a break, we ran into some hikers that were trying to talk their friend into taking the Mist Trail back to the car. He didn't want to get wet, so he was talking about taking the long way back. Our friend Jen reached into her backpack and pulled out a poncho. She gave it to the hiker, and told him to use it. His friends all made fun of him for being such a baby, but he still accepted Jen's gift. His friends gifted him with a new nickname, "Poncho". Literally, a minute after we gave Poncho his rain gear for the falls, it actually started to rain.

Eric and I soaking wet

We hiked up a little further, but it stated to rain a little harder. We turned back and headed for the car, everyone (except Jen) put on their rain jackets, and headed for the top of the stairs. As soon as we got to the stairs, BOOM! There was a huge crack of thunder, and we saw lighting. Great..... It started to pour. It was raining so hard, there was practically a flash flood following us down the stairs. I thought I was wet before, but now, I was soaked. I was soaked, and it was magical. I have done the mist trail a few times, but this was the most fun I have ever had on it. Hiking in the rain is always exciting, but add thunder and lightning, and you have a completely new type of energy. It was magnificent to see the valley in such conditions. Beautiful views graced us all the way down the trail, and we took a lot of great pictures. When I got back to the car I had about two inches of water in each boot, but it was worth it.

A view from the top of Vernal Falls

Granite Ditch Season Opener

Trip Report – Yosemite Valley
April 3rd – 5th
Guest Blogger: Scotty Ellis

Yosemite Falls in good form!

Hi! My name is Scotty and I am a recent addition to D & D’s group of adventurous friends. I am writing this trip report to add some new blood to the D & D blog postings. Our recent trip to Yosemite was my first trip with the D & D crew. The plan was to leave and arrived early Friday, the 3rd, to do some XC skiing. Then after skiing, to head back and set up camp and prepare for a weekend filled with awesome Yosemite granite climbing.

Eric xc-skiing near Crane Flat

Well… because I am as bad at skiing as this Australian is at differentiating between kangaroos and ninjas, I decided to pass on the XC trip (I was later told by Eric, Amber, and Kenneth that it was awesome and that they are going to miss the snow once the season is over). Thus, I am going to start this report at the point when we (my girlfriend, Katie, and I) began: Friday night.

The trip began Friday night with the perfect introduction, food from Sonic “America’s Drive-In”. After we clogged our arteries with jalapeno poppers and cheesy tots, we were ready to start our weekend full of climbing. We finally arrived at the Lower Pines campsite around 11:00 PM where the whole crew was trying to stay warm from the night’s chill. Our group had campsites 10 and 40 reserved (they are nearly back to back sites) so we had the perfect setup for the weekend.

The approach to the Valley can include several cool tunnels!

When we arrived, we were told by everyone that the bears were being really active and to watch out. Sure enough, a bear approached our campsite that night and almost stomped our tent (probably smelled the deliciousness of Sonic on our breath). Thank God that Dirk was around to scare off the bear.

The next day, we all woke up around 9 am and had a nice Noah’s Bagels breakfast. All carbo loaded up, our group (Eric, Amber, Shenoa, Dan, CJ, Jackie, Katie, and myself) left to top rope and boulder at Swan Slab while Kenneth went to the base of El Cap to do some aid climbing. The short trip to Swan Slab was beautiful. Due to the snow thaw, the waterfalls were gushing which created a picturesque scene.

Picturesque indeed! (Katie and Scotty)


Our little friend!

Our group was very productive once we started climbing: Shenoa led a nice 5.6 climb, Dan led a tall 5.8 route, and there was some awesome bouldering done. We got back to the campsite around 6 PM and Eric prepared his famous Texas-Style Chili for dinner (which was delish!).

Shenoa leading near Swan Slab


Katie, Scotty, and Eric bouldering near Camp 4

Eric also provided some entertainment.. He had “I’m On A Boat” stuck in his head and was rapping while he worked. By the end of the night he had us all rapping, “I’m on a boat and it’s going fast and I’ve got a nautical themed, Pashmina Afghan.” I am pretty sure that we all had dreams of being in our swim trunks with our flippy-floppies that night. Since we knew several other groups of climbers around that weekend, there was a massive campfire Saturday (and no-one got busted!).

CJ climbing near Swan Slab, Sunday

On Sunday, we all awoke to some cheesy grits and juice. After eating, packing up our tents, and loading gear, we were ready to get back on the granite. Shenoa, Dan, CJ, and Jackie decided to head back to Swan Slab while Katie, Eric, Amber, and I decided to go boulder in Curry Village. We chose to go to Curry Village because it was close to the Lower Pines campsite and we also wanted to check out the destruction from the last year's rock fall. The rock fall had some devastation but it also brought some joy to our world: the possibility of new untouched boulders to climb!

Kenneth approaches a belay station with partners looking on

We climbed for a couple of hours before we all headed home. What a fun filled weekend it was!

-Scotty Ellis

Photo Galleries:

Yosemite April 2009

• shenoaHAHAHA@flickr: Yosemite 2009