I invited some geocaching friends out on a backpacking trip this weekend. Since I knew it would be a first backpacking trip for some people, I decided to choose a destination that was nice and easy with other attractions, like geocaches, fishing, swimming, etc. Island Lake in Tahoe National Forest is one of my favorite leisurely backpacking destinations and fit the criteria perfectly.
The hike is a mere 1.5 miles over nearly flat terrain, ending at a picturesque granite- and tree-lined lake with many nice campsites. With no permit limits and relatively simple access, the place is crowded with both dayhikers and backpackers. But, if you want to hook someone on backpacking from the start, there is no better spot. The lake is a great example of all that a perfect Sierra lake has to offer: good swimming temperature, amazing scenery and sunsets, and there is plentiful dayhiking to other lakes and ridges for those who want a bit more of a workout. Fishing is even an option - it's not a great fishing lake, but plenty of trout were jumping and one of our group was even able to haul in a few for breakfast. It is crowded, but there are enough places to camp that you can usually find a spot to yourself, though you'll be hearing people laugh and yell across the lake as they enjoy the water as well.
I certainly wouldn't recommend Island Lake for someone who wanted a quiet weekend getaway, or a challenging overnighter, but for beginners, or experienced backpackers who just want a weekend of luxury, it's a great spot.
Pictures from our trip are available here: Island Lake, Tahoe National Forest
Update, 7 pm: It worked just fine, surprisingly (I always screw the simplest things up...). Photos are now back.
The Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne is aptly named. The Canyon follows the Tuolumne river as it drops from the Meadows down to Hetch Hetchy, where the river empties into the reservoir. As the river descends down the canyon the walls get relatively higher and higher, and the resulting scenery is kind of a mix between the Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley.
We spent the 4th of July weekend backpacking through this incredible scenery. The route we took started at the Lembert Dome parking area and took us into the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp backpacker's camp for the first night. It was a simple and easy day, nice for acclimating and enjoying the beautiful Tuolumne River. The camp was crowded, being July 4, but here's a hint for anyone going into Glen Aulin: go past the first cluster of backpacker sites and walk up the hill to the last set of sites. They are much bigger, less buggy, more spread apart, and less crowded. When we arrived, the lower sites were packed. I walked up the hill to the far sites and they were empty with the exception of one quiet couple.
After a bear-less night in Glen Aulin, day two took us fourteen miles down the Canyon to Pate Valley. With a 5000 foot descent, the day got progressively hotter and hotter. But this was no problem - the stunning turquoise Tuolumne river provided plenty of foot soaking and swimming opportunities, many of them presenting themselves at just the perfect time. We encountered a serendipitous waterfall with a swimming hole just after a hot climb that took us over Muir Gorge.
Just before reaching Pate Valley we saw a bear foraging, so as we selected a campsite this was in the back of my mind. I ended up finding us a site on the far side of the Pate Valley footbridge, hoping that Mr Bear didn't like crossing bridges. Since the bear was foraging, I hoped he was wild enough that he would leave us alone. I don't know how many backpackers Pate Valley sees, but considering that it is a minimum of a 4000 ft descent into and climb out of the Valley, I don't think it sees too many.
Paige strolled into camp with a bag of trout she'd caught over the last few miles of trail, and Dave cleaned and cooked them for us. It was a nice treat to share after the long day's hike! Even with the fishbreath, no bears bothered us overnight, though there was some barking from a fox or coyote near camp at one point.
Day 3 took us up and out of the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, climbing 4000 feet back to White Wolf, where we had left cars. Depending on the map or signs that you believe, the hike is anywhere from 8.4 to 10.4 miles. I think it was closer to the 8.4, but I didn't really care about distance - it was all about knocking off those 4000 feet. We left camp early to get the climb out of the way before the forecasted 90 degree midday heat, and it ended up being a rather pleasant shaded climb along cobblestone trails. I was glad to be going up and not down - those cobblestone trails always make me nervous about an ankle twist when going down.
As I climbed I got some nice views down into Hetch Hetchy, though the pervasive smoke dampened the distant views. Doing the hike this direction ends rather undramatically - the high point at the end of the climb is an unremarkable hill along mosquito-ey meadows. It meanders into White Wolf where a cold coke and bag of chips awaited me.
If I did this hike again I would still choose to go in this direction - I think I might not have enjoyed the second day's hike through the Canyon as much if I had to climb that 5000 feet. The climb out of Pate Valley back to White Wolf has nice scenery, but it's mostly about getting that climb done, so you're not missing too much as you haul yourself up that hill. Also, that first easy day into Glen Aulin allows for that first day adjustment and time pad after the long drive to the mountains, the shuttle setup, and the permit pick-up.
Wildlife sightings: mountain quail, bear, rattlesnakes, king snake, garter snake, gopher snake, marmots, lots of fish, chipmunks, deer. Pictures are here: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne Backpack
A last minute change of plans due to permit availability had us going into a different wilderness than originally planned. Rick (the Naviguesser) had invited the two of us along on a weekend to Dinkey Wilderness and I eagerly agreed, excited to check out a new area of the Sierra. When permits were surprisingly long gone when we arrived, we chose an alternate destination, Upper Twin Lake in Kaiser Wilderness.
I had no complaints - Kaiser is another area I've been meaning to check out, and having been there before, Navi assured us that it was a good destination. We twisted out way up into the mountains and watched the temperature outside drop from the car's interior indicator. While almost 100 degrees at 1300 feet at 9:30 am, by the time we reached the trailhead at 8000 feet the temperature was a perfect 72. The only weather concern was the clouds around us, which were building in a way that indicated we might face some thunderstorms.
Upper Twin Lake is a short hike of about three miles from the trailhead we started out from, and we got there quickly. After finding a nice campsite and setting up, Dave and I both tried fishing for a while with no real luck - only a couple of nibbles. A couple of thunder clouds rumbled in the distance but we were never rained on. We tried fishing again a couple of hours later and this time had some luck. Within a short amount of time Dave had caught two rainbows and I had caught one. At about 8-10 inches long, the three made a perfect dinner for the two of us. Cooked in aluminum foil over the fire with wild onions, then lightly seasoned, I didn't need the ramen noodle backup dinner that night!
Chatting around the campfire, relatively warm temperatures, and stars made it a lovely night at the lake. By the next morning Dave was eager to fish again and managed to catch a breakfast of brook trout in minutes. Better than oatmeal!
Pictures from this overnighter are here: Upper Twin Lake, Kaiser Wilderness
There is a reason that Highway 1 heads inland at Fort Bragg to join 101. The coast north of this point was simply too rough and rugged for a highway to be built, and this stretch is known as the Lost Coast. Difficulty in trail access, unpredictable weather, and roads that make people nauseous just by looking at them on the map are just a few of the reasons that make the Lost Coast a wild and secluded destination.
This year's trip fell on Memorial Day weekend, and I was surprised by the numbers of people who made it out to the Lost Coast other than our group. While it is typical to see only a few other hikers out there, I would say we easily ran across 50 other backpackers over the course of four days (outside of our own group, that is). Paige had organized a great trip for fifteen (sixteen? I lost count) of us, with half the group heading southbound from Mattole to Black Sands, and the other half heading northbound from Black Sands to Mattole, both groups hiking the ~25 mile stretch over four days. We met on the middle night and camped together, also exchanging car keys to make the shuttling situation less painful. We would all meet again on the last day for lunch in Garberville, where cars, keys, and gear would be switched back to the proper owners.
Hiking the Lost Coast is completely different than Sierra backpacking. For starters, it's damp. The sea air gets in everything and gear doesn't dry out as quickly as it does in the dry mountains. You also have to pay careful attention to tides - if you don't plan your schedule around the tides you can find yourself waiting for hours to get around certain points. The other big difference is the beach walking. It contorts your muscles in ways you are not used to (really seemed to bother my hamstrings and hips, more than anything else), it slows your pace, and fills your shoes with sand. So, four days for 25 miles was a great pace - not too many miles to cover (we made it to camp around noon every day), but it gave us flexibility to deal with tides, vary our pace on the slow beach stretches, and dry our gear out during the sunny afternoons.
It was a great trip, and my pictures are uploaded here: Lost Coast
I just published my Field Report for the Golite Xanadu on BackpackGearTest.org (read it here or start at the Initial Report here). This is an oddball tent and I felt I needed to say a bit more about it.The Xanadu is advertised as a four season, 2+ person tent that weighs in at well under five pounds. My measured carry weight of everything (tent, poles, stakes, stuffsacks, guylines, etc) is 4 lbs, 8.3 oz. The main body materials are Epic (the yellow in the photo) and Silnylon (the grey). Additionally, there are large no-see-um mesh walls and vents.
There are some reasons I am concerned about this tent and its marketing, but it's not all bad. In fact, it has quite a lot of good things going for it. I'm incredibly fond of its openness and space. Everyone who has ever bought a tent knows that when a manufacturer says a tent fits two people, that really means you better like your tent-mate, because you'll be squeezing into space that is, in reality, much more comfortable for one person.
This particular tent is advertised as fitting 2+ people, and when compared to industry standards I think this is a conservative designation. Many manufacturers would call this a three person tent. It's incredibly spacious and comfortable for two people, and in an emergency you could certainly squeeze in a third, but that would put it at that 'hope-you-all-used-deodorant-this-morning' level of closeness.
The Xanadu opens up into an airy palace. Beneath each silnylon vestibule (one on each side) is a mesh wall that unzips completely. In the photo to the left the vestibules are open and walls collapsed. Also, under that flap on the end is a tent-width giant mesh vent. While this mesh makes for an open and airy environment, it is exactly the reason that this shouldn't be considered a four season tent.I had the Xanadu out in Lava Beds National Monument a few weeks ago, and the wind was vicious. I secured the tent, tightly staking it in, tying out guylines, and tightening the vestibules. A short while later I poked my head in to grab a jacket and everything was covered in dust. The wind would whip up the lava rock dust and blow it through large vents on the end, as well as under the vestibule and through the large mesh walls. There was no way to close down the tent further - the mesh walls and vents were at the mercy of the wind. There isn't even a flimsy piece of velcro to hold the vent closed over the mesh. My mind immediately flashed back to a painful night in a snowstorm a couple of years back up near Carson Pass.
With ~100 mph gusts and ~3 feet of overnight snowfall, the tent we were in at the time did an incredible job protecting us from the elements. But it had a small mesh vent that was difficult to keep closed, and over the course of the night spindrift would make it through this vent and collect on our sleeping bags and gear. And if there is one thing you want to avoid on a cold, stormy winter night it is getting your insulation layers wet.
Now, take this tiny vent, make it impossible to close, widen it across both ends of the tent and make two entire walls of it. Suddenly the Xanadu is anything but a four season tent. I decided that I would not be testing the Xanadu in true four-season conditions due to safety concerns. And it turns out that my concerns are valid - see here for another tester's experiences in the snow.
My problem with this tent boils down not so much to the tent itself, but in the way that it is marketed. This is a bad, even dangerous four-season tent, but it isn't a bad tent. In fact, I see this line of tents as perfect solutions for people who want to give up their old, heavy backpacking tents but aren't ready to commit to a tarp or tarptent style. I know lots of people who just feel more comfortable in a 'real' tent and are willing to take the hit in weight, and this tent would be a decent (though expensive) stepping stone into lightweight backpacking.
In my review, I compare the Xanadu to tarptents that I have used. Essentially, it's a tarptent on steroids. It has some of the features that help save weight with tarptents, along with the corresponding issues. It is single walled (condensation) and uses a lot of mesh (dust/snow can get in on windy days). At the same time, the Xanadu provides a much more robust body, poles, and staking setup, and is therefore capable of handling conditions beyond that of a traditional tarptent.
This tent seems to fit in a weird, narrow niche between a lightweight, 3-season setup and a true, 4-season tent - too heavy and overbuilt for most conditions, but not robust enough for others. I actually have a trip coming up on the Lost Coast where it will be a great solution since I expect a lot of brutal wind but not snow. I don't entirely trust my lightweight shelters in those conditions, but the Xanadu should be nice.
I expect that most people aren't regularly taking tents out into snow storms, and those that do would recognize the limitations that the open mesh creates, but I really think Golite needs to reconsider the branding of the Xanadu as a four season tent.
I almost forgot to post my photos from last weekend! Before it gets too hot, I wanted to visit a new East Bay park. I settled on Pleasanton Ridge and met a couple of others there for a day of hiking and geocaching. It was a good place for wildflowers, but I wouldn't want to hike there in the heat of summer - 80 degrees was warm enough. Pictures available by clicking on the photo.
I could talk for days about what I've seen and what I think, but that's not gonna happen here. I'm currently dead tired and running on fumes (cookies and beer) so this is going to be my big 'Web 2.0 Expo' post for now. I've had some pleasant interaction with Six Apart, the company that provides the blogging platform software that I use. Most of the time I'm a happy Movable Type user (when things go wrong it's usually due to my own screw-ups), but lets not focus on the software. Lets talk about the reasons that Six Apart rocks that have nothing to do with blogging. Most photos by my colleague Moya and her ever-present Treo phone.
7. They build a mean ad-hoc mini golf course in their office.
I even got a hole in one!
6. They print their T-Shirts on women's cuts too
So did the Web 2.0 expo. Who knew women used the internet?
5. Payam can fix things
Like this Movable Type wrench thingee.
4. They had the best party of the South Park Crawl
Trust me on this one - we stopped by most of them.
3. I won a bottle of wine by giving them my card and being the lucky person to have it drawn from the fish bowl.
Alden Vineyard Cabernet. Their CEO's vineyard.
2. Historical truths on their office walls.
1. Vodka, even if it was gone when we were there.
That's what they told us, anyways. Web geeks definitely do not drink as much as the Outdoor Retailer crowd, however.
