"Summer" Vacation

This summer has been the coldest summer in San Francisco since 1975. That's saying a lot considering Mark Twain once wrote, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." Luckily Matt and I had a chance to head out to see some of our National Parks in a quest for better weather. In an effort to reserve picture space on my blog and picasa, but in an antithetical manner to proper blog posting, I have chosen not to illustrate this blog with pictures. Please click on the album below to see those - which are far more interesting than my words!

Yosemite and Sequoia Kings Canyon August/September 2010

Day 1:

Hetch Hetchy in Yosemite National Park. Supposedly this valley was once as grand as Yosemite Valley, but the greedy City of San Francisco had a dam put in and made the gorgeous valley into a reservoir. It was a fight that likely led to the end of John Muir. But I must admit that water sure is tasty.

• 5 mile RT hike to Wapama Falls (500 feet). Disappointing, but I can't imagine how amazing the falls must be in Spring. Apparently sometimes the bridges are impassable.
  

Day 2:

• 13 mile RT hike to Smith Peak (3700 feet). Bear sign everywhere, movement of large brown entity through the bushes, and lots of hiking through thicket in burned area made this hike not much fun. Amazing views from the top however.
• 3 mile RT hike to Poopenaut Valley (1229 feet). Straight down. Met a couple heading up who scared us off with stories of the biggest bear poop they'd ever seen. Peeked at the river and headed back up. Not nearly as pretty as it looked from the top. And after hiking the depth of the Grand Canyon in one day, we were pretty exhausted.
  

Day 3:


Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. Gorgeous, gorgeous place. So many hiking trails accessible from the campground. If it weren't for the sub-freezing temperatures at night and the high altitude, I might be tempted to stay there longer.

• ~16 mile RT hike to Young Lake, Dog Lake, and Lembert Dome (~2100 feet). Started at noon, got back to camp around 8pm. Absolutely gorgeous but in too much of a hurry to enjoy much.

Day 4:

• ~3 mile RT meander through Tuolumne Meadows and along Lyell Fork (I'm assuming about 0 feet). Fabulous rest day. I love exploring the rocky rivers.
  

Day 5:

• ~3 mile RT to Middle and Upper Gaylor Lakes. (600 feet). I've been here before and still enjoyed the sweeping vistas. And we saw a marmot!
  

Eastern Sierra. The austerely beautiful Mono Lake and the forested Devil's Postpile near the popular Mammoth Ski Area.

• 1 mile RT nature trail at South Tufa. Hot but loved it. Such amazing geologic features.
  
• ~4 mile hike to Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls. The postpile was really neat - although I think Giant's Causeway was neater. Could have done without the hike to the falls.

Day 6:

Spent the night in Bishop then drove many, many hours to Sequoia.

• Pathetic swim in the hotel pool.
• 5 mile run past empty fields owned by the City of Los Angeles and lots of roomy sf detached homes and lots. Also, I probably wouldn't call my real estate company Owens Valley Realty. Just saying.
  

Day 7:

In the Giant Forest of Sequoia National Park.

• 3 mile RT hike to General Sherman and along the Congress Trail. Amazing trees and arrived early enough to avoid the crowds.
  
• 1 mile RT hike Big Trees Trail. We saw a mother bear and 2 cubs! Then a male bear by the parking lot.
  
• 1 mile RT hike to Crystal Cave (steep). Access trail to the cave; nice waterfalls. I was too chicken to go on the cave tour, but Matt got to see some pretty cool sights.
  
• 0.5 mile RT hike to Moro Rock (300 feet). Probably some of the best views you can get in Sequoia. I still prefer Yosemite.
  
• 1.5 mile? RT hike to Tharp's Log and Chimney Rock, around Crescent Meadow. No bears this time. Getting bored of the sequoias. I still like the Redwoods better.
  

Day 8:

Matt's birthday! Exploring King's Canyon National Park. Draped in smoke.

• 0.5 mile RT hike to see General Grant. Very imporessive.
  
• 8-9 mile RT hike to Mist Falls (600-1000 feet). Apparently no one can agree on the exact stats for this hike. I can imagine it would have been lovely if not for being accosted by forest fire smoke, flies, and mosquitoes the whole way, and meeting huge crowds of families at the Falls.
• 1.5 mile loop hike around Zumwalt Meadow. Actually quite pretty and somewhat redeemed Kings Canyon. It still isn't Yosemite.
• Chickened out swimming in the gorgeous Hume Lake. Redeemed Sequoia a tiny bit more. Even if it is a reservoir.
  

Day 9:

Bored with Sequoia/Kings Canyon, we headed into the exciting city of Fresno. We explored the quite fascinating Forestiere Underground Gardens, the Target, the pool at the Holiday Inn, and some AAA baseball.

I realize that Sequoia and Kings Canyon are a backpacker's paradise, and since we didn't go on any hikes longer than 9 miles we probably can't judge it. Plus there was the whole forest fire problem. However, I think next time we will still stick to Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne Meadows. Why ruin a good thing?

Day 10:

Got our money's worth out of the hotel with the max 20 hours. Enjoyed some relaxation before the long drive home.

• 20 minute swim in the hotel pool
• 45 minute run through the neighborhood. (Nike Plus out of battery...)
  

Tally:

• Over 65 miles of hiking including one 16 mile, 5000 foot day.
• 2 runs (pain free!)
• 2 swims in the hotel pools
• 7 nights of sleeping on the ground
• A strong desire not to have to work

Hope you had a great Labor Day weekend!

Training Proof

This morning I did the equivalent of my upcoming tri. Here I am ready to brave the lake:


(Wow, look at that ankle tan line...)

Look at me go!



This wasn't today, but a previous weekend when Matt and I biked up Cull Canyon:



And getting ready to sail. That will be tomorrow. I'd rather be tri training, sadly.

Asilomar

I just returned home last night from a conference at beautiful Asilomar. Both mornings I went running on dirt paths by the beach with these views:





Also met some fabulous people and heard a lot of great ideas. I love not going to work!

Honoring my Mom

Last week my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's sounding like the prognosis is good, but she still has to go through all the emotional and physical trauma of having the dreaded c-word. From finding all the right doctors to digesting and understanding the information and then on to the treatment - likely surgery and chemo - I can't even imagine what it's like. Especially for someone who so much likes to be in control :).

My mom (like most mothers I'm sure) has always been the one in the family taking care of us, worrying about us, and dealing with all our problems. Even now that she has two 30 year old or nearly 30 year old daughters. She's really good at self-sacrifice. It's always hard when she's the one who's sick; she likes to take care of herself but once at least she let Matt and me take her to urgent care. Where she wouldn't let us come inside with her so we wouldn't get sick too.

So in the spirit of feeling helpless because our mom has a nasty disease, Karen and I decided to make at least ourselves feel better by starting a team for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer - a 3 mile walk in Phoenix on November 6th. We are walking in honor of our mom and to raise awareness - it has of course hit closer to home that self breast exams and regular screenings are super important. If you're in the area, please consider joining our team. Just come walk with us to support our Mom and all the other breast cancer patients - no registration fee or fundraising necessary.

Visit: http://main.acsevents.org/goto/joansjuggernaut


And now for some evidence of what an awesome mom I have. (And also an attempt to make my photostream less ghetto...)

Here she is (along with my dad) visiting us in beautiful Socorro, New Mexico:


Walking me down the aisle:


And with me and my sister - now self-labeled as Joan's Juggernaut:


And much thanks to my dad who has been supporting mom through all the doctor's appointments so far.

The Oakland "Riots"

I just realized I had these pictures on my phone, so I thought I'd share them.

A few weeks ago a court convicted a BART police officer of 1st degree manslaughter for the point blank shooting death of an unarmed black man. While the locals came together for a peaceful gathering (unlike the riots that occurred when the shooting actually happened), some out-of-towners and even out-of-staters decided to run around town breaking windows and looting.

This is the aftermath of that fun event - some of the damage on my 2 block walk from BART to my office. The Sears store still hasn't repaired their windows.

Sailing on a Dreary Day

What a great day for sail! The sun is shining, the wind is strong but calm, it's warm enough to just wear a t-shirt...

Oh, wait - this is San Francisco Bay! About two minutes of sun all day and so much wind we had to eventually take down our main sail and sail with just the jib. Here's Matt working the jib sheet:



Day 2 of sailing lessons was much better than Day 1. Only 4 students and an instructor who remained calm and didn't scream at us! Good times.

Score One for Gay Marriage!

There is a rocking party going on outside my house right now! Why? Because a fabulous judge just overturned Prop 8 - California's voter-enacted gay marriage ban. This issue is very near and dear to my heart - why would you want to prevent a certain group of people from declaring their love and marrying each other? Not only is equality of marriage morally right, but the marriage/wedding industry I'm sure also generates a lot of cash. Who wants to miss out on that?

Marriages can't happen yet as the judge is deciding whether or not his decision should be stayed during the appeals process. I'm hoping that starting Friday marriages can continue!

A couple facebook friends posted these quotes from MLK, which I think are lovely:

"Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." - MLK Jr.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear. - Martin Luther King, Jr.

And in honor of the occasion, a fun video:



And that reminds me of the other fun video I posted way back here. CELEBRATE good times, come on! (Sorry that's the current music playing on the streets.)