Trip Report Days 3-5: Alta Peak

On day 3 of our trip at Sequoia National Park, we hiked from Pear Lake to the base of Alta Peak. Along the way, we saw some spectacular views of the Sierra Mountains, including the Great Western Divide. We were supposed to camp at Mehrten Meadow, but we made a wrong turn 0.2 miles from our destination and ended up camping near the High Sierra Trail instead. Though it added a few extra miles to our hike, camping away from the crowds afforded us extra opportunities to spot wildlife, including marmots, mule deer, and California quail. On Sunday morning, we headed up to Alta Peak. We had originally planned on reaching the peak early in the morning, but we didn't realize we were heading in the wrong direction until we reached a trail junction 2 miles further out of our way. By the time we reached the peak -- after a long arduous climb -- clouds had completely surrounded the top and we had no view. We signed our names in the logbook at the summit and were disappointed to see everyone rave about the awesome 360 degree view of the Sierras. We had no time to complain, though, because thunder immediately chased us off the peak. We hurried back to camp, with ominous storm clouds above us the entire time. The weather cleared, though, and we managed to start a fire before nightfall. On the last day of our trip, we hiked back out to the Wolverton parking lot. It was sad to be going home, but we both looked forward to taking showers and eating greasy fast food and we promised ourselves we'd make the hike to Alta Peak again.

Trip Report Day 2: Pear Lake via the Watchtower

On Friday morning, we left Lodgepole Campground and drove to the Wolverton parking lot. The trailhead was fairly crowded, with several day hikers, two or three groups of backpackers, and one trail runner all heading out at roughly the same time in the morning. Along the trail, we played leapfrog with several of the other backpackers. Jess and I stopped frequently, taking breaks to filter water. Luckily, the mosquitoes were not nearly as annoying as they were in Yosemite a few weeks ago, so we could linger near the streams and enjoy the abundant wildflowers (e.g., Tiger Lilies and Indian Paint Brush) that surrounded each stream. We took the Watchtower Trail instead of the Humps Trail and were paid off with a spectacular vista at the top. Unfortunately, the Watchtower is closed much of the year, when snow and ice makes the cliff-hugging trail hazardous. When we reached Heather Lake, we couldn't resist diving into the crystal clear water and taking a quick dip. We hiked passed Emerald Lake and set up camp right next to Pear Lake. We tried our best to stay up and watch the stars, but I'm pretty sure we fell asleep well before sunset.

Trip Report Day 1: Bears at Sequoia National Park

Early Thursday morning, Jess and I drove south to Sequoia National Park. We left Oakland at 7:30 AM, so we could arrive in the early afternoon and secure two of the 25 daily first-come, first-serve Wilderness Permits for the weekend. Although we didn't need to get there quite so early -- we were the first two backpackers to register for the Lakes Loop and Alta Peak trails -- we made the most of our time by setting up our tent at Lodgepole Campground and taking the shuttle to the Giant Forest Museum. On the hike back to our campground, we encountered a few bears on the edge of Round Meadow. It was about 4 or 5 in the evening, and the bears were just waking from their afternoon nap. The cubs woke up first, eagerly exploring the edge of the meadow while staying close to the still sleepy big mama bear. Luckily, Jess and I just learned about the park's black bears at the Visitor's Center and thus were aware that these fellows were pretty harmless to visitors. They spend most of the day eating insects and berries, and take a nap during the heat of the day. But, my heart was still racing when the mama bear woke up and headed directly toward us. Thankfully, she had no interest in us and started clawing at a fallen Sequoia tree, foraging for insects.
The rest of the hike was beautiful, but not quite as eventful. The General Sherman tree -- the largest tree in the world by volume -- did not seem to warrant the hype and was a bit anti-climatic. We ended the evening by quickly cooking dinner back at our campground and attending a surprisingly informative and interesting presentation about fire by a park ranger.

Trip Report: Young Lakes via Dog Lake

This weekend, Jess and I went on our first backpacking trip together in Yosemite National Park. It was a casual three-day, two-night 12 mile loop to Young Lakes from Tuloumne Meadows. Our friend Alexis had reserved a Wilderness Permit a few months earlier, and the three of us set out from Oakland on Friday morning.

We ended up at the trail head later that afternoon. Unfortunately, we started our hike right in the middle of an afternoon thunderstorm. For a few minutes, we were pelted by hail the size of Gopstoppers. Luckily, the storm quickly passed and we were left with fine weather for the rest of the trip.

We only hiked four miles before we stopped to make camp since we couldn't find the trail spur to Young Lakes, we only had an hour or two of sunlight left, and we were pretty tired. I was especially winded, given the high elevation at Tuolumne Meadows and not drinking enough water. We ended pitching our tent near the southern edge of Ragged Peak, with a perfect view of the Cathedral Mountains. Before heading into the tent for a well-deserved night of sleep, we stared out at the clear night sky, and Jess even located the Big Dipper constellation.


The next day we wandered around the wilderness without our heavy packs until we found the trail again. We marked the correct trail with cairns, so others following the trail wouldn't get lost like we did.

We ended up at beautiful Lower Young Lake later that morning, with enough time to scramble up to a waterfall and visit Middle and Upper Young Lake as well. We set up camp near the lake -- which we ended up regretting, because we were harrassed by mosquitoes all day. The three of us coated our skin with an entire bottle of bug spray, and still ended up bitten up from head to toe. Even though we had a beautiful view of the lake that night, we decided to spend the night in the tent playing cards, away from the mosquitoes.

On the third day, we headed back to Tuluomne Meadows. It was a sunny hike back, so we took a quick dip in the icy waters of the Tuluomne River. We left Yosemite later that afternoon and made it back home a little after night fall.

Pinnacles National Monument

On Tuesday, December 29, Jess and I drove from Monterey to Pinnacles National Monument. We had spent the last few days hiking and biking along the coast and were looking forward to a change of pace, from taking in endless beautiful ocean views on the central coast to scrambling up talus and chimney rock to spot the elusive and extremely rare California condor in the central valley.

After driving south on Hwy 101 from Salinas, we entered the park via Hwy 146 through its west entrance. Even though Pinnacles' main attraction, Bear Gulch Caves, is located near the the park's other entrance, the west and east entrances are not connected, and driving to the east side of the park would have taken an additional two hours on unpaved one-lane roads. Although I was disappointed to be missing the park's main attraction, the lack of a through-road was in fact a fortuitous sign -- the remoteness of the park means less traffic and more hiking trails and wildlife.

We planned the trip to Pinnacles in order to spot a California condor. We first saw the California Condor (spp. Gymnogyps californianus) a few months ago at the San Diego Zoo and were both impressed. This giant vulture has a wing span of 10 ft. -- they are the largest flying land bird in North America -- and a featherless noggin so it doesn't get too mussed up when it pokes its head in the guts of a dead carcass. It can fly 100 miles per day and live up to 60 years in the wild. Before the arrival of Western settlers, the California condor could be found throughout the US, from as far as California to Florida and Massachussetts. After its numbers dwindled to just 23 in 1981-82, the condor has made a modest comeback -- currently there are over 300 condors, with 90 living in the California wilderness.

Unfortunately, Jess and I weren't lucky enough to spot any condors. In hind sight, we probably had the best chance of seeing a condor in Big Sur, when we saw a researcher holding a giant antenna off a cliff near Hwy 1. Afterwards, we realized she was probably trying to track one of the condors, because they are all radio collared. Nevertheless, we were lucky to enjoy some fun hiking and great views on the Condor Gulch, High Peaks, and Balcony Cliffs trails. The highlight was definitely scrambling over, under, and between wedged rocks in the eery darkness of the Balconies Caves.

Hummingbird Diving

On Sunday, Bing, Jess and I went for a 6 mile hike up and down the Montara Mountain / Brooks Creek trail in San Pedro Valley Park. Set in Pacifica, a small coastal town just south of San Francisco, the peak of Mt. Montara offers impressive 360 degree views of the Pacific Ocean to the west, Santa Cruz mountain range to the south, Mt. Diablo to the east, and Mt. Tamalpais to the north. (Unfortunately, I don't have any photographs. Just take my word for it, or hit the trail yourself on a clear day and see for yourself.)

The most interesting part of the trip, though, happened during the ascent. We noticed a tiny hummingbird repeatedly flying in a peculiar pattern: climbing 60 feet, then diving straight down kamikaze style before pulling back up at the last second. When we approached, the hummingbird continued its flight plan unaltered, just barely grazing the top of our heads. It must have repeated this flight plan over 15-20 times in the few minutes we stood watching.

After a brief internet search back home, I learned that we were witnessing a common sight along the coast of California during the early winter months. Anna's hummingbirds (spp. Calypte anna) begin nesting at this time, and males perform these dives as courtship displays to impress their potential female mates.

Interestingly, UC Berkeley researcher CJ Clark recently learned that the randy pilot flares its tail at the bottom of its dive, not only to prevent it crashing to the ground (with a force of 9 g's), but to create a loud chirping sound that attracts females.



Stop motion photography demonstrates the crazy things a little guy will do for a little love. Play on, playa, play on.