Tuesday, October 30, 2007
thoughts...
Sorry that my promise of 'pictures to follow shortly' turned into 'I will take forever to update my blog'. Here they are- some pictures of our Jennie Lakes hike last month- see below. It's hard to believe it's only been a month- seems a lot longer than that. October has worked me over this year, with some difficult lessons and some busy times. More on that later- I'm still working through some things and not ready to put it in written words yet. In the meantime, I leave you with some Halloween pictures to enjoy!
Hiking at Jennie Lakes
My baby brother and I, all geared up. My pack looks bigger but his was about 30-40 pounds heavier than mine. Thanks, brother!
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Back from the Heights (in One Piece!)
I realized I'd better post something soon, lest anyone think that I had died up in the mountains or something dire like that. Since I am still in the middle of the school week (and trying to get caught up from being gone all weekend) this will be a short post, but more details and pictures to come.
In short:
-We had a great hike, though very different that expected. 3 days before leaving, my brother found out that an early snowstorm had covered the Mt. Whitney trail in 2 feet of snow and that pickaxes and crampons and other such technical gear was now required to climb it. That was definitely out of our league, so Mt. Whitney was no longer our destination. It sits, waiting, for a later return when I will pull myself to the top someday.
-Instead, Kenneth took us to the Jennie Lakes Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest. This made me very happy for several reasons: 1) not as hard a hike 2) we had a more relaxing time and 3) my parents took us to Kings Canyon and Sequoia all the time as kids, and it was great to go back. That particular smell, of high, clean forest, is unmistakable. Even the dirt up in those mountains feels clean and healthy!
-We hiked in on Friday; camped, fished, explored, day-hiked on Saturday; back out on Sunday.
-Beautiful scenery, peaceful lake that we had all to ourselves, and stars that covered the night sky like handfuls of dust.
-There were lots of great conversations, fun times, and chances to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in ages. And quality time with my baby brother, which is a rarity these days. All in all, a great weekend.
Pictures will follow shortly.
In short:
-We had a great hike, though very different that expected. 3 days before leaving, my brother found out that an early snowstorm had covered the Mt. Whitney trail in 2 feet of snow and that pickaxes and crampons and other such technical gear was now required to climb it. That was definitely out of our league, so Mt. Whitney was no longer our destination. It sits, waiting, for a later return when I will pull myself to the top someday.
-Instead, Kenneth took us to the Jennie Lakes Wilderness in Sequoia National Forest. This made me very happy for several reasons: 1) not as hard a hike 2) we had a more relaxing time and 3) my parents took us to Kings Canyon and Sequoia all the time as kids, and it was great to go back. That particular smell, of high, clean forest, is unmistakable. Even the dirt up in those mountains feels clean and healthy!
-We hiked in on Friday; camped, fished, explored, day-hiked on Saturday; back out on Sunday.
-Beautiful scenery, peaceful lake that we had all to ourselves, and stars that covered the night sky like handfuls of dust.
-There were lots of great conversations, fun times, and chances to reconnect with people I hadn't seen in ages. And quality time with my baby brother, which is a rarity these days. All in all, a great weekend.
Pictures will follow shortly.
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