With the help of Justin all of the wood from the huge white pine that was felled last year in front of the cabin has been split into mostly manageable chunks. Mostly manageable because some were so dense and knotty that three wedges wouldn't split them. We burned about half of the pile trying to keep warm between snow storms.
Out of real food (We are not counting freeze dried hiker food!) and trying to avoid the high prices and limited selection at the upper lake store we rode bikes into town to get groceries. The downhill slope was fast and fun but the ride back was definitely a workout. Justin actually walked the bike a few times while I rode in circles to stay close. I'm not sure if the burger from Rhino's Bar or the beer slowed him down, but I was welcoming the slower pace.
Betsy arrived on Monday May 9th and hung out for the afternoon and evening. By that time the snow was gone and the temperatures had warmed up. In the morning we headed toward Sausalito via Reno and Sierra City. The drive up Donner Pass was snow free with just patches up around 8000 feet. As we headed north to Sierra City the signs of spring were prominent throughout the landscape with flowers starting to show. We stopped briefly at Yuba Pass, around 7200 feet where snow drifts still littered the slopes.
In Sierra City there was no evidence of winter, except that the tourists had not yet returned.
It looked like our return to the trail would happen there after a brief visit to the Bay Area. However, once settled in Sausalito things changed pretty rapidly.
Justin and I had a nice walk across the Golden Gate Bridge on our first day in the area followed by several days of meeting our relatives and geocaching with Betsy in Sausalito, on Angel Island, on Mount Tamalpias, and elsewhere. Justin is uncommonly good at finding geocaches, so much so that Betsy really enjoyed beating him to one!
We also had brunch, a walk through Berkeley's Botanical Gardens, and dinner with Betsy's brother Michael and sister-in-law Cindy. And we got together with my sister Sherri to help with her garden and to enjoy a nice dinner.
Not surprisingly, all of the walking, biking, and hiking wore the boy out. It also gave him a chance to think about what he really wanted to do next, which turned out to be help his parents move and return to his life as a video game expert. On Wednesday, May 18 Justin flew out, headed for Houston. Good luck, buddy! It was great hiking with you.
Snow reports from around the Sierra and via the Fullers also helped me to decide to return to Tucson briefly with Betsy until mid-June. Two reports from Deb sum it up:
"Some hikers are beginning to flip north to avoid the snow in the Sierras. Not particularly a good idea at this point. Here's a post from PCT Section hikers describing the current UNSAFE conditions of Section M, Sierra City to Belden.
Catherine Barash
9 hrs · Fort Jones
California Section M report from today. PCT Trail Update - Section "M" (initial 7 mile) observations during training hike from Hwy 49 to the summit. **UNSAFE!!**
The initial switchback section is great, including across the middle to the post piles. However, beyond that gets dicey. Initially, you will find overgrowth within the rocks past the post pile, making a couple areas tricky as it is difficult to see where the outer edge is trail, a bush, or air. That is the minor issue.
The greater problem is the handful of rock slides (shale) that have blown out the trail on the upper switchbacks (Southwest facing). The first one I encountered was just a few feet of damage, and clearing was relatively easy to find foot holds. The others were worse, where the trail was effectively replaced (blown out) by the slide. One I cleared a bit, the other I had to create a few foot holds, wedge the trekking pole and jump! Any slip and it is 1,000 to 1,500 feet before you hit anything as you slide down to probably your final hiking memory!!
My plan was to hike up beyond Deer Lake and back. Unfortunately, when I reached the summit, I also met up with the 3-5' of snow that the Sierras supposedly did not get. About 200 yards up the trail past the summit and the trail disappears under deep snow --- GPS-only travel. At about 250 yards in I stabbed the aluminum trekking pole in about 2', hitting solid, taking a step forward my leg disappeared, wedging against what appeared to be a fallen tree. The pole slipped off, sending it deeper, and to save what felt like a possible broken leg I put all my strength against the pole, bending it dramatically, but saving my leg. Here I decided to turn around.
I camped at the summit last..."
And the second one.... Report from Enduro who tried to make it through Lassen National Park:
"Tried to hike n from drakes[bad]. Too much snow after kings crk. Heading back to drakes. Will try to jump to OS or Burney. ..... I'm heading back to drakes now. Brutal hiking. .....Lots of postholing and snow bridges. Everywhere. ARGHHHHHH! PCT wins the day!! Enduro"
The Fullers return June 25 to Kennedy Meadows. I may be a few days earlier, but I plan to meet up on the trail. In the meantime I'm trying to keep in shape walking the hills of Sausalito. After we leave our housesitting gig I'll walk the hills of Berkeley and then Tucson.
Today is May 21st. Yesterday we enjoyed a drive up Highway 1 to the Point Reyes area where we had lunch at Nick's Cove and then revisited some geocaches in hopes of finding Betsy's lost glasses. While lunch was awesome we had no luck finding the glasses.
This morning it's cold. 54 in Sausalito. 37 in Sierra City. Glad I'm not there. Tomorrow we head for my sister Sherri's place for a few days while we await sister Tonya's arrival. Then we'll head back to Tucson for dental appointments and such.
I'll plan to keep up the blog more regularly now that plans are pretty well settled.
One of our housesitting companions: Queen Latifa.
