Itching to get back

The mosquitoes were pretty bad last week, but it didn't distract too much from the beauty of the Eastern Sierras. Not much can take away from the jagged peaks and bouldery slopes, snowy mountain tips, glassy lakes, and blue skies.

Weather was great. We had rain for about 4 minutes, and hail for maybe 2. The rest of the time was sunny and beautiful.

The group was a very slow hiking collective as a whole. But that way, we had a much more leisurely walk (at least I did!). And we didn't get to many of the places we had originally planned to reach. The length of the walk was about half the distance as planned. We had 2 layover days at pretty lakes along the way, where we swam and climbed and read.

The group dynamics were much better than originally hoped for. My fears were slightly unfounded, and I feel like I rekindled a friendship that had been on the fritz.

Last week, I definitely got some much-needed relaxation time. We practiced morris tunes on tin whistle for hours each day (until we were asked to stop). I actually finished an entire novel in a week! Yay! I swam and collected 5 lbs. of lovely rocks (replacing the weight of the food that I'd eaten during the week so my pack weighed just about the same going in as it did on the way out!).

And I got lots of rock time. One of my housemates and I climbed Mount Merriam (or got within about 25 feet elevation of the peak). We couldn't figure out a safe way to traverse the last 200 feet of sheer cliff. With 2000 foot drop on one side and 3000 on the other, we decided to be satisfied with the first "peak" instead of the real summit. We also did a few excursions of bouldering and rock scrambling (climbing up large boulders piled precariously on steep mountainsides, and jumping from boulder to boulder to boulder). That's one of my favorite things to do!

It was a fun trip, and certainly nice to get away for a whole week. Next year I'll have to figure out another backpacking excursion.

Into the Wild

Even though I get to go backpacking many times throughout each year, I'm somehow really excited about this one in particular.
Maybe it's because I haven't been on a week-long trip for 3 or 4 years.
Maybe it's because my housemates are going, and I really enjoy spending time with them.
Maybe it's because we've been madly preparing fabulous-sounding meals for the past couple of weeks (dehydrating veggies, measuring out, pre-mixing, packaging things like Tom Yum soup, spicy brown rice salad, Sambar stew), and I can't wait to eat!
Maybe it's because school is finally out and I have something fun to do with my free time!
Maybe it's because this is the first summer since high school that I've had enough time to go away for a week AND not have to rush back to a summer job. (well, besides traveling around Europe for 3 months after college which, in itself, was a job.)
Maybe it's because I get to go play in the granite for a whole week! Collecting rocks, sleeping under the stars, watching the bees buzz and the flowers sway in the breeze. I love granite. I love being waaaaaaaay up high above everything and looking down on the tiny little sparkly blue dots we call lakes and across at the jagged snowy peaks. I love being higher than the trees. I love that at any moment a bear might come by and eat my lunch. I love swimming in small icy lakes. I don't love the mosquitoes, but with enough DEET, I can tolerate them.

I'm off this afternoon, and will be back just in time to do, um, NOTHING productive for a couple of weeks before more adventures and then school again. Yay!

Frustrated

I'm a little frustrated and disappointed about some of the issues related to next week's 7-day backpacking trip we've been planning for months. Holidays are supposed to be fun and something you look forward to, not stress you out. Yeesh. I'll enjoy the granite and cool mountain lakes no matter who IS or IS NOT on the trip.

McGee Creek Backpacking

We had a gorgeous 3 day backpacking trip over the 4th of July ("Go America" day) holiday. I love being away from the Red White and Blue hoopla. But I especially love being out in the mountains.

The group was 7, and I was happy to get to know some of the participants better. I wasn't very happy to become so intimate with the hordes of hungry mosquitoes. DEET is really really nice!
The trail was lovely from the start, with huge amounts of wildflowers of a whole palette of colors. We climbed about 3,000 feet in 8 miles and set up camp by Big McGee Lake. The next day's day hike was up nearby Red Slate Mountain, offering beautiful views down into the Convict Lake basin.

I limited myself to collecting rocks on the way DOWN the mountain. I only brought home 4 this time! It's so hard to stop. I have a rock addiction. Wonder if there's a rockaholics anonymous group around?

With school out (yay!!!) I may finally have time to organize photos of this and other trips, as well as get to work on gifts for various people I've neglected horribly over the past 11 months.