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 February 25th, 2010
There is also a screenshot-heavy instructional pdf available here, for those who need lots of hand holding (hey, I’ve been there). So, who is taking bets about how quickly the system crashes on March 1?
February 9th, 2010 Berry Creek Falls A new house purchase has had me quite busy lately so I’m a week late on this post, but better late then never, right? With all of the recent storms we knew the waterfalls in Big Basin would be great, so we took the first good-weather opportunity to get out there and hike. Our route was decided upon at the park headquarters once we learned that the Skyline to the Sea trail was closed due to downed old-growth redwoods and washed out bridges. We decided to take the Sunset Trail to the waterfalls (about 6 miles), then come back via Mt McAbee, a ~1300 foot climb from the creek. In all, about a 12 mile loop with around 3000 feet of gain. A good, but not killer, workout. The trails were muddy and covered in a lot of fresh fallen trees and branches which made the going slow at times. The air smelled fresh and the wildflowers were just starting to peek out - we saw milkmaids, trillium, and adderstongue. The highlight of the day were the waterfalls and cascades along Berry Creek. They were rushing with the water from all of the recent rains and made for some great photography, even with my little camera. If You Go Check with Park HQ on trail conditions - some are very muddy, others have a lot of fallen trees, and others are just fine. The info we received was a bit outdated - it turns out that the Skyline to the Sea trail was passable that day, but we didn’t hike it. Links
Big Basin Waterfall and McAbee Loop January 29th, 2010 Half Dome If you plan to hike Half Dome this summer, you’ll have to plan ahead. Like Mt Whitney, Half Dome is moving to a quota system on weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and holidays. Granted, that quota is still an enormous 400 people per day, but they say that is half of the number they usually see on weekends. The permits MUST be reserved ahead of time and are not available in the park. So if you show up on a weekend this June and expect to stroll up Half Dome without planning ahead, you’d be wrong. Enforcement - well, who knows how that will go. I wonder if there will be a ranger standing at the bottom of the cables and asking for permits See here for more information (and an FAQ). From the website:
Here is where I make a confession. I have never done Half Dome. I’ve had absolutely no desire to hike along with a herd of people in order to stand on top of that giant chunk of granite. If the right opportunity came along (for example, a sunrise summit on a backpacking trip) I certainly wouldn’t object to doing it, but it’s never been near the top of my todo list. I can think of many other crowdless places in the Sierra where I’d be far happier. As far as the permit system goes - meh, I’m impartial. I don’t think it will stop idiots from climbing it (see: Mt Whitney) but at least it will help regulate the mass of humanity on the cables, and maybe make it safer too. January 27th, 2010 Prints Redwood Peak is an easy little peak that’s a stone’s throw from the nearest trailhead. Not one to take the easy way, I decided to approach it from a trailhead several miles away in Chabot. Let me back up a second - I actually started off the day with a goal to hike a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. I needed to finish up the last few miles in Chabot (from Bort Meadow to Redwood Road), so I parked at Bort and started hiking down the BART with a firm turnaround time in mind since I had to be back at the trailhead no later than 1:30. I figured I’d knock off as many miles of the BART as I could and then turn around.
After finishing up Chabot and crossing into Redwood preserve, I pulled out the map to see what kind of loop options I had available for my return hike. There was nothing in Chabot, but something caught my eye - if I continued another 3 miles along BART I’d reach Redwood Bowl and Redwood Peak - a peak! Yay! I have a hard time resisting those. I figured I’d hike BART to the Redwood Bowl, then on the return hike I’d bag the peak and take some of the single track side trails back to Chabot.
 Redwoods With an hour left until my turnaround time I hustled along BART until I reached Redwood Bowl 15 minutes early. I had a snack, refilled the water bottles, and then headed up the peak. It’s a very easy one - the most excitement comes from the fact that the approach trail runs against the archery range fence and I heard several arrows flying through the woods. Hmm. I took some of the side trails back and they were quite muddy after this week’s storms. The rain started up so I had a soaking wet slog through the trees - it was fun, and quiet. Not many people out on the muddy trails.
If You GoThere are several access points and trails in this area - you can do anything from a half mile stroll to an all day slog. The terrain varies from open ridge vistas to deep redwood and eucalyptus groves, so there is a lot of variety to enjoy.
Links
Redwood Peak via the Bay Area Ridge Trail from Chabot January 21st, 2010Unfortunately I was unable to make it to the OR show this year, so I’m enviously following along with the conversation on Twitter and various blogs. At least I have an excuse to go to the Summer show now (I usually miss it because I’m on the trail in August). I thought I’d throw up some links to the blog posts and product launches as they come in. If you have any suggestions or links to share feel free to add them in the comments section and I’ll add them to the main body of the post. Yesterday (January 20th) was the Mountain Demo Day at Snowbasin Today (January 21st) the show floor opens, and it continues through Sunday.
Probably the best way to get a feel for the show and all the new gear is to follow along with the constant feed of comments and photos live from the show floor. To follow along with the show in ‘Real Time’ head on over to twitter and watch the hashtag #ORWinter. I’m not seeing a lot of blog posts or news articles yet, so until they start getting published this is your best best for new info. |
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Copyright © 2010 Calipidder - All Rights Reserved
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Last month Yosemite National Park announced a 
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