06/20-21/2009 - Tahoe National Forest - 5 Lakes Basin The first backpacking trip of the summer…it’s always so exciting. This was a Sierra Club Loma Prieta section trip that I was leading with Sanjeev. Since it was mid-June we decided to have the trip at a relatively low elevation and made it easy for those who needed to brush off the backpacking cobwebs….like me. So we chose 5 Lakes Basin which is located in Tahoe National Forest close to Emigrant Gap and about 20 miles east of Nevada City. I had hiked in this area a few years before in a heavy snow year at that same time in June luckily the snow level was below average this year so we could go higher up. We headed out on Saturday morning after we had a pre-hike weigh in contest. Two of us had packs that weighed 27 pounds and no one was above 35 pounds so we were set to go. Our entry point was the Carr Lake trailhead and there was no shortage of folks headed out. The weather was cool and partly overcast which I think played in o...
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06/27/2009 - Emigrant Wilderness - Leopold Lake Where do I start with this trip? It was definitely an adventure for the books. This was the second trip of the backpacking season for me and definitely more challenging than the trip the week before. The plan was to start out from the Crabtree trailhead in Emigrant Wilderness and head up Tom’s Canyon x-country and head over to Leopold Lake. I had heard and read that this lake was really beautiful and I couldn’t wait to check it out. This trip was also an opportunity for me to try out my new Garmin 60cx which we would all soon fall in love with. We got an early start (early for me). We headed to the Serene Bean in Pinecrest to get our fill of coffee and unhealthy breakfast foods. We picked up our permit from the Summit ranger station where we were warned that there was snow above 8300 and that Chewing Gum Lake was surrounded by snow. Our destination sat at 8800 feet….hmmm should be interesting. After weighing our bags and trying de...
Pioneer Basin - 8/29/08 - 9/1/08 Okay so this trip happened a number of months ago but better later than never right? I was really excited and slightly apprehensive about this trip. I had always wanted to go to Pioneer Basin and had read several reviews about how great this area is. The apprehensive side of me was worried about the "lightweight" classification for this trip. I did this trip through my Sierra Club section and there were guidelines about weight. It was not a true lightweight trip since the lightweight just meant that the "big 3" needed to be under a certain weight. I also looked at this as an opportunity to buy some new gear :) ....which I did in the beginner of the summer. I am the proud owner of a Six Moon Designs pack and a Tarpent....I really love the Tarptent. A couple of weeks before the trip the co-leader had to cancel and I agreed to help out. I knew a few others on the trip and knew the other folks would be well experienced so I was looking f...
September 14 & 15, 2008 - Yosemite - Ten Lakes There is nothing much better than taking a Fall backpacking trip. The weather is generally good and the crowds are home. About 6 years ago I took a trip to the Ten Lakes basin and I always wanted to go back. I am also thinking about leading a trip there in the next year or so so I thought it would be a good idea to go and scout it out. There are a number of lakes in the basin (10..ha ha) but I didn't really have a final destination in mind except that I wanted to try and visit something other than the 2 biggest lakes. We headed out around 11- after a breakfast of waffles and coffee outside the park. The parking lot at the trailhead did not have many cars which was great. The weather was very nice and we packed up and headed out and up...and up and up and up. This is one thing I do remember about this trail it's pretty much uphill. I would consider it a moderate hike...about 8 miles and 2000 feet uphill. I was also trying to br...
August 8 - 10, 2008 - Yosemite - Young Lakes Okay so this is over 2 months overdue...what can I say it's been a very busy travel season. This was my second time into the Young Lakes area I had been there the year before on trip to Upper Young Lake. This however was going to be my first time leading a trip with Sierra Club. I thought Upper Young Lake was a perfect place to go since it gets relatively little trail traffic and it's a really spectacular area. The plan was to hike to Upper Young Lake on Day 1 and then do a x-country day hike over to Roosevelt Lake that sits right below Mount Conness. I considered the trip to be a easy-moderate hike. It's only about 7 miles to Upper Young Lake with about an 1800 foot gradual gain. We had a great group assembled for the hike and no newbies everyone had been on a Sierra Club trip before. I drove up with Suzanne and Nancy on Thursday afternoon and we tried to get a campsite at Tuolumne Meadows but we were out of luck...not su...
The Bhutan Series - Day 4 - Thimpu I was completely rested and ready to go and this was going to be a busy day so thank goodness I finally got a full's night's sleep. Below is the list of the day's activities: - Thimpu Festival - Tankin - Paper Factory - Weekend Vegetable Market - Dinner and drinks with Sonam Our first stop was the Thimpu Drupchen at the Thimpu dzong. During the Drupchen, the deities are prayed to and dances are performed only by monks in costume. The drupchen occurs before the tscechu I believe for about a week out of which there are 4 days which the public can see some of the dances. During the other days dances are performed inside the monestary. The tsechu occurs a few days after the drupchen and dances are performed by monks as well as by lay people. Since the drupchen is very religious cameras were not allowed into the dzong. Before the dancing started I got the opportunity to meet with a monk, Gimptu (I may be spelling it wrong). I asked him lots of ...
The Bhutan Series - Day 3 - Arrival in Bhutan The alarm clock went off at 1 AM...yes 1 AM...and I took my 3rd shower in 24 hours I was looking forward to some cooler weather. The tour company made a point of stressing check in 2 hours before the flight so I was at BKK bright and early at 2 AM. I was sweaty and sleep deprived but somehow managed to get myself and my gear checked in. Of course a storm had broken out so our 4 AM flight was delayed about an hour. The happy portion of this part of my traverse was that I was sitting in first class a result of changing my arrival date. We had a stopover in Calcutta before flying into Bhutan but prior to that I finally got my chance to see EVEREST. I think the plane tipped to its left side as soon as the first person spotted Everest. It was a really clear beautiful day so we could see Everest and the surrounding big 'uns very well. I was totally stoked my trip was made by just seeing that. Yes I admit I have a slight Everest obsession whic...