adventure Archives - Page 2 of 2

Kibbie Lake

August 24, 2011 by Ron Erskine

When I heard a Yosemite ranger tout Kibbie Lake as the finest overnight backpack site in the park, I sprang into action. I avoid backpacking in the Yosemite because of the crowds and generally head to the east side, but it’s a long haul. If Kibbie Lake has the spectator value, reasonable solitude, and is two hours closer to home, I’m in.

A little snooping around the web was encouraging, so Dave Sellers and I synchronized our calendars and set out.

Kibbie Lake sits just inside the northwestern boundary of Yosemite. In fact, the trailhead is also an entry point into the southern reaches of Emigrant Wilderness which borders the park there. Since the trailhead straddles two juridictions (Yosemite NP and Stanilaus NF), a permit can be obtained from either source. But Yosemite is beyond the driving route to the trailhead. Since you will pass by the Stanislaus NF office in Groveland, it’s more convenient to get your permit there.

Past Buck Meadows on Highway 120, turn left onto the road to Cherry Lake. A twisty-turny 30 miles later, over the Cherry Lake Dam to the end of the road, you will finally reach the end of the road.
From the get-go, I was skeptical, but Kibbie Lake scored high. The hike was moderate (4 miles, 500 feet elevation gain), the setting had all the Sierra bells and whistles (granite walls, lovely streams and gardens), and while there were other campers nearby, we were always alone.

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Two thumbs up for Kibbie Lake.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, backpacking, Hiking, outdoors, Sierra, Yosemite

Chasing Spring

May 19, 2011 by Ron Erskine

The flatlands are drying up, so it is time to start chasing springtime up the mountains. Highway 395 on the east side of the Sierra is my preferred portal to alpine country, and Tioga Pass is the most direct route there. But when will Tioga Pass open? After the record snowfall this past winter, it will likely be later than usual; I heard one report that it may not open at all.

But Tioga Pass is more than just a route to somewhere else. There are several places close to the road that are drop-dead gorgeous. I had seen another photographer’s pictures of Gaylor Lakes, a short walk from the pass, and I decided to look for myself.

From the small parking lot just inside the Yosemite entrance at Tioga Pass, I shouldered my camera gear and made the short steep walk through oxygen-poor air to the ridge above. The view from there overlooks a shallow valley scoured clean by a long-gone glacier that cradles Gaylor Lakes. Beyond the valley are the peaks of the Cathedral Range – a stunning view.
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I set up my tripod and sat patiently hoping for something special as the sun moved lower in the western sky. It was lovely to watch, but nothing developed that was particularly pixel-worthy. In an idle moment, I turned back toward Mt. Dana, and nearly did a back flip. While I sat in a stupor gazing over there, look what was happening over here!

Man, I snapped into action like an EMT at a 20-car pile-up. Gotta catch this before it passes. I love this picture, but honestly, a chimp could have taken it. It just shows that the trick is to just go out there…and every once in a while, turn around.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, backpacking, Hiking, Nature, outdoors, Photography, Sierra, Sierra Nevada

Snow at Coe

February 17, 2011 by Ron Erskine

Winter’s back. After a couple of lovely spring-like weeks, the weather man is calling for rain and cold temperatures. Word is that the snow level may drop to 2,000 feet which would dust the hills that enclose our valley here in Morgan Hill.

Two winters ago during a similar cold rainy session, I lay in bed listening to the heavy steady rain, knowing that up at Henry Coe State Park, it must surely be snowing. I rose in the still-dark morning, tiptoed through the bedroom gathering warm clothes and camera gear and headed out. I nabbed a foo-foo coffee at a weirdly empty Starbucks and twisted up the hills through the rain.

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My wife says I operate on Erskine time – always early. Indeed, it was still dark when I arrived a Coe headquarters, but I had a great time watching the snow fall furiously through the twin cones of my headlights sipping my foo-foo coffee.
The snow never let up as the sky turned slate gray which cued me to gear up and go. I headed up the Monument Trail to Eric’s Bench – a magical spot even without the snow’s soft kiss. Like a pinball, I bounced this way and that trying to capture every lovely sight. It was a grand morning.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, coast ranges, Hiking, Nature, nature photography, nature writing, outdoors, Photography

Alpine Country

December 24, 2010 by Ron Erskine

There’s no place I would rather walk than in Ann Zwinger’s land above the trees. The spacious views and clear bracing air, the naked rock dotted with pincushions of ground-hugging flowers, the new snowmelt trickling in mountain creases, resting a moment in high mountain lakes before continuing on – all of this harmonizes in a way that is better felt than adequately described.

But to live there? Not a chance.

I recently visited the remains of the Great Sierra Mine above Gaylor Lakes a short walk from Tioga Pass on the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park. The mine sits at 11,000 feet on the very crest of the Sierra with views down both sides of the divide. Rock, rock, and more rock. Other than the wind-trimmed krummholz of whitebark pines, there was nothing there to soften the scene.
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As I walked among the rocky ruins of miners’ shelters built there in the late 1800’s, I tried to imagine daily life in this environment. It is a place of stark beauty that is enchanting in the small doses enjoyed by a visitor from the flatland, but all day, every day, the beauty must be trumped by the pervasive starkness. The day I visited was lovely and still, but it is not hard to imagine the winds and brutal weather that rake this spot.

So, I gained a new appreciation for the softness of the lowlands that I always seek to escape. “Down here,” our homes are safely nestled in green rolling terrain, and that feels good. But “up there” never stops calling for another visit.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, Alpine Country, backpacking, mountains, Photography, Sierra Nevada, Yosemite

Yosemite Valley in Winter

December 15, 2010 by Ron Erskine

To most of us with easy access to Yosemite, the idea of visiting the park passes with the onset of winter. But my most enjoyable visits there have been in the middle of winter.

I enjoy photography and the idea of Yosemite Valley draped in snow has always danced in my mind. One recent winter, I kept a careful eye on the weather reports waiting for a powerful winter storm to pass through. Because the valley is fairly low (4,000 ft.), it takes a strong system to leave a great deal of snow on the ground.

Finally, a good storm hit northern California, and on its heels, I grabbed my camera and tripod, and set out for the park.

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I was truly experiencing Yosemite Valley as though I was the only person there – even the first person there.

These are two shots I like from that day. After the next big storm blows through, think about calling in sick.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adventure, Nature, nature writing, outdoor, Photography, winter, Yosemite

Backpacking. Why?

November 11, 2010 by Ron Erskine

Backpacking:

Carry everything you need on your back.
Walk miles over tough terrain.
Breathe oxygen deficient air.
Sleep on the ground.
Crap in a hole.
Eat just-add-water food.
Bugs.
Altitude sickness.

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Who needs this? Backpacking. Why?

This question is a classic example of those that elicit the remark, “If you have to ask the question, you probably won’t understand the answer.” Never deterred by short odds, let me take a brief stab at it.

Perhaps the best and briefest answer is in this photograph. You cannot see sights like this at roadside rest stops. And if you could, it would not include what this photograph cannot fully convey. Use your imagination to expand this rectangle into a sphere that fully envelopes you. The utter stillness, the complete silence, the warm light, the immense reach of space, completely surrounded me on this morning. I was well off the trail, far away from anyone.

The magic and the mystery that this photo implies were palpable.

Add to this scene the sense of nervous vulnerability one feels in the wilderness. Nasty weather, equipment failures, and injuries can be real, even life-threatening, problems. When you face such a problem, what are you going to do about it? In today’s world, we confront few elemental situations where our resourcefulness profoundly matters. Here, a phone call or a flip of the thermostat won’t cure your discomfort. You have to find a way with what’s on your back.

I truly believe that a moment like this in the wilderness – truly alone, where one’s hold on basic comforts is so tenuous – changes a person in a profound way. Such moments expand your sense of self and awaken in you the magic of the world.

Backpacking? That’s why. There’s a price, but the dividend is priceless.

Filed Under: Sports, Travel Tagged With: adventure, backpacking, Hiking, outdoors, Photography, Sierra, sports, travel, wilderness