Mount Whitney

On Saturday Chad, our friend Andy, and two of our brothers-in-law, Todd and Jared, set off to climb Mt. Whitney. It was a grueling trek and a trip they'll remember for a lifetime. Three of them made it to the top and none of it was easy for anyone in the group. They were snowed on twice. Altitude sickness and/or delirium caught them all off guard. Basically, after 20 hours of unexpected twists and turns they left their camp, reached the 14505 foot summit and returned back to the trail-head. Many awesome photos were taken, but here are a few of my favorites from Andy's and Chad's cameras. Next time you talk to anyone in this group congratulate him on what an amazing job he did. I know I couldn't do it and I am so proud of them!

hiking

On Sunday the three of us went on a hike. We read in the paper that a local hike on a protected site was open to the public for the weekend and we figured it sounded fun. The hike we took was four-miles in the McKenzie Preserve at Table Mountain. The area is owned and operated by the Sierra Foothill Conservancy and they did a great job giving us information about the hike. Upon arrival they gave us a pamphlet identifying 25 spots to watch for on the trail. Each spot had details that, without the booklet, we most likely would have missed and it also provided us with history of the area. Maggie hiked about 1/3 of the trail on her own, the rest was on Chad's back in the pack. We saw birds, cattle, squirrels, Native American mortars, small streams, tiny flowers and more. The Sierra Foothill Conservancy offers guided hikes on privately owned land fall through spring and, now that we're members (we joined because the $20 family membership deal was too cheap to pass up), we plan on taking more of the hikes this spring.

Camping, Day 1

Our first day of camping began with a hike on the Big Stump trail. It was the same hike Maggie and I took a year ago (click here). Maggie's grown a lot since then and is much more solid on her feet. She still enjoys riding in the backpack, though. Who wouldn't?

After the hike we drove to our camp to unload. Maggie and Chad took a nap after the tent was up and I enjoyed sitting outside, relaxing and reading a magazine! Later in the day, after dinner, the air turned humid we noticed a few sprinkles on our bear box. Huh? It can't rain while we're camping! Good thing we have a good tent and a solid rain-fly. Fortunately the sprinkles only lasted about a minute or two and were super light, so nothing ever got wet. We did, however, get to see something at sunset that Maggie was excited about: a rainbow.















We ended up having about 3 minutes of rain overnight and it was so loud in the tent. I liked it and especially liked that there wasn't any thunder or lightning to accompany it.

Yosemite, part 2

While Chad was hiking to/from Half Dome, the rest of us explored Yosemite Valley. I took a billion photos of waterfalls and I'm not going to bore you with those, so here are a few of the people shots. It was a fun trip and we all had a great time.

Yosemite, part 1

Last Thursday we went to Yosemite for the night because Chad had a permit to climb Half Dome. He trained diligently for the past three months and I am so proud to say that he made it to the top! He left our camp at 4am and reached the summit at 10:45am. He was back down to greet us at the parking lot just before 6pm. The hike was 17.2 miles. Since I wasn't there, I can't describe how intense the trip was, but I can post a few of his photos. Such an amazing journey for him and we are so stoked that he made it. Awesome!

Pockets

On our weekend hike Maggie discovered the usefulness of pockets. Never noticing them before she found that putting rocks in her sweatshirt pockets was an easy way to make sure her most special discoveries were kept safe. After a bit she got distracted and forgot about them, which made it easy for me to sneak them out and back onto the trail. I don't think we were supposed to take them home.

Happy 19 months, Maggie!

Oink

We all know Maggie's been rocking the mullet for awhile. The back keeps getting longer and her bangs, well, they're at a Dumb and Dumber standstill. Some friends of ours (who currently have daughters with the same problem) suggested (duh!) dollar store hair bands, as if that tip was written about in the baby guides and I lazily skipped by that chapter.  So off to the Dollar Tree (that's what it's called here--no lie) Maggie and I went and, sure enough, we found those mystical hairbands. 500 critters for a buck. To make a long story longer, Saturday was the first time we tried them in her hair. Chad and I laughed and laughed, and then agreed she looked pretty cute.

Happy Campers

In Front of Our Tent

This past weekend we spent our days at Hume Lake with friends. It was Maggie's first time sleeping in a tent and our first time as a family camping in the beautiful mountains. Now that we know what a great camper she is, it definitely will not be our last.  Even though we stayed for two nights the time went by so quickly that we weren't able to experience everything we wanted to. We aren't complaining though because it gives us lots to look forward to for next summer.We had such a great time.

Our Families During the Nearly 3-Mile Walk Around the Lake

Before Heading Home

Maggie Eating Breakfast in Her Jammies

Stumped

On Wednesday Maggie and I went to the Sequoia National Park with my parents to tour an area from a recently published book called Timely Exposures by Jackie Weiner. The walk was guided by the author. Despite the chilliness in the shade we had a fun time in the mountains hiking, looking at old Sequoia tree stumps, taking photos, enjoying the flowers, spotting a couple spotted fawn and hearing about the area from an expert researcher and a forest ranger. Maggie enjoyed herself too, but the walking part got a little rough for her. Most of her walking was assisted by one of my parents because falling became a frequent occurrence. Darn bumpy trails.

Family Reunion

Last Thursday Chad's folks came for the weekend to visit. We had a great time and are so glad they were here. They took Maggie swimming and watched her on Friday so Chad and I could have dinner at Slates (yum!). Saturday we all went to the cabin. We had lunch with my parents before they headed back down the hill. That afternoon we went for a nice hike and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and clean mountain air. All in all it was a great visit and Maggie loved playing with and getting to know her grandparents from sunny San Diego. I'm pretty sure they felt the same way about her. Unfortunately we didn't get many photos of the weekend because video seemed to take priority. Maybe someday I'll learn video editing and get something interesting here on the blog.

Weaver Lake

For the past five years Chad, my dad and their friend Mike go fishing at some point during the month of June. And they always go to Jennie Lake. It's a strenuous hike of nearly 11 miles round-trip. For the most part the lake is secluded so they can fish in peace, eat a sack lunch, and mentally prepare for the hike back down the mountain in the afternoon. There have been some years where they've encountered lots of snow on the trail and some years with very little. This year was one of the former and upon arrival they found that the only choice they had was to hike to a different spot. Weaver Lake is where they ended up going and, because of the amount of snow on the trails, Weaver became the landing spot for lots of other fishermen and campers too. 

Maybe they'll give Jennie another shot next year.

Weekend Hike

This weekend we found a new hike near the cabin. We read about it in a hiking book earlier in the day so after Maggie's morning nap we put her in our hiking backpack and were on our way. Turns out it was a great trail but maybe a little too soon for us to have taken it. There was still snow on the ground in parts so we had to guess which way the trail headed a few times. We also had to trudge through some thick snow. Thanks to the well-placed markers though we were able to figure out where to go without getting lost. Chad was sick this weekend so he opted out of the hike and chose a long nap instead. My dad wore the backpack and Maggie for the first half of the hike and I tried the getup for the second. It worked slick and we all had lots of fun.

Backpack

The weather was beautiful this weekend so Chad decided to go for a walk with Maggie and me. Now that she's over 16 pounds he thought to bust out the Kelty hiking backpack he received for his birthday from my parents last year. We walked my usual 3-mile route with her on his back and she talked and smiled and looked out at the world the whole time. In other words, she loved it. Now we're ready for spring and summer when we can go up to the mountains and hike with her in tow.

(Yes, I know she's still in her jammies. It was that kind of day for her.)

San Luis Obispo

This past weekend Chad, Maggie, my parents and I spent a long weekend in San Luis Obispo. We had a great time and really love visiting that area when we can. Chad and I met when we were both living there (11+ years ago) so there's an extra fondness for us because of that. This was Maggie's first trip there and I'm pretty sure she loved it too. We know she liked seeing Santa (smart girl). Most of our time was spent in San Luis Obispo but we also walked along the bluffs at Montana de Oro and hit Morro Bay for lunch. Another great weekend that went by way too fast.

Surprise!

(I'm way behind on posts but I'll do what I can to update the blog this week as I receive more photos.)

On Wednesday Chad took me out to dinner. He suggested we go to a restaurant we hadn't been before. I was a little confused as to why he wanted to go to this place on a Wednesday night, but really didn't think much of it. So after he got off work we headed down there, put in our food order and sat there talking, enjoying the evening. About 20 minutes after we got there our good friends L&A from the Washington DC metro area popped their heads into our booth. I looked at them and just sat there, thinking my mind was playing tricks on me. I couldn't believe that they would be in the same restaurant. In our town. On a Wednesday. She had just emailed me that morning from DC -- it seemed nearly impossible.

Once the shock wore off (or at least the initial shock, I was still surprised for the next 24 hours or so, really) we all sat down, ate dinner and headed to our house. Apparently our friends, Chad and my parents were all in on the surprise visit. So sneaky!

For the next four days we showed them our town (they'd never been here before), went to Yosemite, Shaver Lake and did a few other things together before we took them to the airport Sunday night. It was such a quick trip (for us) but I feel so lucky they made the effort to come out here. Talk about a wonderful surprise!

Weekend with Friends

On Friday our friends from the Bay Area came to visit us for the weekend. We had Indian food for dinner that night and had so much fun catching up. We hadn't seen each other since August. Saturday morning we hit up a few craft fairs near our house before heading to the cabin for the night.

At the cabin we cooked, played Scrabble, visited the town and had a nice time together. Saturday afternoon we also took a nice walk along the lake.

That night it rained pretty hard. Sunday morning when I woke up there was snow covering the ground, trees and rooftops. A little later it began snowing again but I was the only one up to enjoy it. By the time everyone else awoke the snow had stopped falling and most of it had melted into the ground.

Camping Again

Last Friday we went with Chad's family to Hume Lake for the weekend. There were eight of us and we all had a great time. We managed to fit a lot into the quick trip and really could have used an extra day to do some more. We walked around the entire lake, ate good food, hit the Celebrate Sequoias Festival, swam at Sandy Cove, made marshmallow guns, shared bear stories, cooked in a dutch oven, paddled around the lake in canoes and visited Boyden Cavern, a marble cave deep in the Sierra.

Jennie Lake

This weekend my dad, Chad, and a friend went on their annual hiking and fishing trip to Jennie Lake. It's an 11-mile hike and from the tales they tell it's a grueling but fun trip to a remote area in our local mountains. They each caught their limit of rainbow trout and enjoyed the day spent in the mountains. Here's a photo of the three taken by a camper there that day.

Yosemite

To escape the especially warm weather this weekend Chad and I decided to visit Yosemite. We drove up early yesterday morning and had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, waterfalls, rivers and meadows. The big event was hiking to the top of Vernal Falls - a strenuous 3 mile hike that I didn't think I was going to finish - but I did! The views from the top of the falls were well worth the pain, fear and drenching we got along the way. I'm thankful Chad encouraged and convinced me that I wanted to finish the hike. Anyway, here are a few photos from the day.