Spring break was upon us and I was very excited to get out of town and into the wilderness. I have always been intrigued by the desert in the spring, when it is alive with wild flowers and foliage. So Mike and I decided to hike a 25 mile loop in Death Valley. Now I will warn you that this trip was Murphy's Law at its best...anything that can go wrong, will... Here we go!
It started on the drive. At around Bakersfield I realized I forgot my hiking boots. I had previously hiked in my Chacos though, so I wasn't too worried. But then, on the first day of hiking, a stick punctured the arch of my foot. It was quite painful, Mike cleaned it up for me, sealed it with some duct tape and then cut the toe off a pair of his socks to provide some added protection. I think my feet look pretty hot, don't you?
But wait...I think I am getting ahead of myself. Back to the drive... The O
-ring was bad on our fuel canister and the pressure change as we drove from the Bay Area, over the pass and into Death Valley caused our fuel to leak all over Mike's backpack (containing his clothes, sleeping bag and much of our food for the hike). Then, upon the recommendation of the park ranger, we took the Subaru up a 4WD only road. Honestly it wasn't that bad of a road - but apparently the Subaru has a weak sway bar, and we broke our front suspension! Who knew that isn't a very important part?!
Our hike began on a very hot day. It took us quite some time to get some miles behind us (not to mention the whole foot injury). But, we had much to enjoy, the wild flowers were abundant from the start! Here are a handful of the flowers we saw.
Our hike continued up a canyon filled with old cottonwoods. Two springs kept parts of the canyon trickling with water. The trail was challenging to follow as many hikers and wild horses make their own paths from one side of the canyon to the other. We reached the top of the canyon by noon on the second day and then began a 4 mile cross country trek to hook up with a canyon known for its petroglyphs and marbled appearance. Along the way we saw lots of lizards, a sidewinder rattlesnake, a caterpillar nest, a butterfly and three wild horses - one that was as white as snow.
Well, it turns out that we never quite found the junction between our cross country trek and the elusive marbled canyon with petroglyphs. Instead we found that our lunch food was soiled with fuel (from the car trip) and we realized ourselves just a little bit lost. Darkness settled in and navigating through the canyons was impossible (even with Michael's crazy headlamp) and we had an anxious night of no water and thus no food. In the morning we awoke to realize that our decision, in the dark, to just go to bed landed us on a spring. Yes, we woke up with water 10 feet from our head! After filling all of our water bottles and eating a good breakfast we decided our best option was to leave the desert the way we came in. On our way out we encountered a crazy wind storm. Branches were blowing out of the cottonwoods, some rangers estimated the gusts to be 40-50mph. Since we didn't bring a tent we had to take cover for the night in some bushes. We cleared out a hovel and hunkered down until morning.
In the morning we finished our hike out to the car. The broken sway bar on the car didn't cause any problems on the way out. And all in all our hike was gorgeous and will be quite memorable!
Before leaving the desert we decided to hang around the valley to see some of the landscapes. It was still pretty windy, so we decided to skip the sand dunes and head for Devils Golf Course - named because only the devil would play golf here. Huge salt formations create this jagged surface. The mountains behind Michael were crested with snow.
We then took a scenic drive along Artists Loop. This 5-mile drive illustrated the various hues of the canyons. Along with the reds, browns and tans, there was also a lot of white and greenish blue tones where minerals provide highlights in the soil. Here you can see the white of the valley floor in the distance.
It started on the drive. At around Bakersfield I realized I forgot my hiking boots. I had previously hiked in my Chacos though, so I wasn't too worried. But then, on the first day of hiking, a stick punctured the arch of my foot. It was quite painful, Mike cleaned it up for me, sealed it with some duct tape and then cut the toe off a pair of his socks to provide some added protection. I think my feet look pretty hot, don't you?
-ring was bad on our fuel canister and the pressure change as we drove from the Bay Area, over the pass and into Death Valley caused our fuel to leak all over Mike's backpack (containing his clothes, sleeping bag and much of our food for the hike). Then, upon the recommendation of the park ranger, we took the Subaru up a 4WD only road. Honestly it wasn't that bad of a road - but apparently the Subaru has a weak sway bar, and we broke our front suspension! Who knew that isn't a very important part?!
Every year we head down to LA to play in a beach ultimate tournament. This year was especially fun to have our brother-in-law Paul join us! After a very warm January day we headed to the water. Michael went for a swim and played in the waves, but I just enjoyed pestering those not interested in getting wet! And our friend Yoxall shrunk, while Nick enjoyed towering over him!
Michael began a postdoc position at the National Lab here in Berkeley in conjunction with a professor in Korea. In December he traveled to Korea to give a few talks and take care of some paperwork. Conveniently the paperwork took 10 days to process so he was able to be a tourist for awhile! A few of the graduate students showed him around Seoul and took him ice skating. He also took a trip to the Demilitarized Zone. At the end of his stay the professor he was visiting took Mike and some of his graduate students to a cabin in the countryside and to a folk festival.
Some of the most interesting emails Mike sent were related to the various foods he was trying. I have to admit that I don't think I would have survived - I am not very adventurous when it comes to eating live octopus, assorted internal organs, and who knows what else!
In early December we gathered a bunch of our friends together for a beach ultimate tournament. We had friends from college, high school and our local club team. After a day of ultimate we all camped together - some even enjoyed the hot tub and sauna that the campground had to offer (pretty sweet place!).
The first half of the day we spent establishing a solid sled run. The only problem I had was a large bush in the middle which Michael had no trouble going around. I, on the otherhand, had to bail pretty much every time. After lunch we decided to get a little more adventurous...
On our way to the coast we took a hike up Saddleback Mountain. Unfortunately we don't have too many pictures because our water bottle leaked all over our camera and it died.After visiting the coast Mike took me to the Tilamook Cheese Factory...the best part was sampling the ice cream!
In August we met my parents in Seattle and drove to Port Renfrew, Canada on Vancouver Island. The following day we began a 5 day hike on the West Coast Trail, it is touted as "the most beautiful trail in the world." This trail islike none other I have ever hiked - it had it all: rivers, ocean, caves and arches, boulder fields, ladders, redwoods, tidepools, waterfalls, bear, whales, slugs, ladders, swinging bridges, carts on zip-lines,... oh, and did I mention ladders?...
The WCT winds through the forest, crossing ravines with a series of ladders joined with platforms - ideal for resting when the ladders number more than 4. Occasionally we came across cable-car crossings. Initially mom wasn't so fond of these crossings, but I think she liked them better than the ladders...or the swinging bridges!
