First Sierra backpacking trip!

I have been dying to get to the Sierras to do some actual backpacking, really for years now. All of that car-camping and neighborhood hiking was really just a way of training Ranier to make a hike in the Sierras a possibility. Dahrius has been ready for some time now. So, opportunity called, and I convinced Baba to come along and see if we could pull this off.

We headed for Carson Pass, and the plan was to hike into Fourth of July Lake, about four miles in. It's a decent hike, involving a fairly strenuous ascent, followed by a ridgeline traverse, and then a descent into the glaciated bowl where the lake sits. It's one of my favorite short hikes in the Sierras. Ranier had hiked that far before, so I thought perhaps we could make it if we took all day.

Here we are getting ready the night before, having spent the night at Sorensen's Resort nearby.

The next morning, we were off! We got a reasonably early start and made good time on the flat part. The sign indicates that Round Top Lake is two miles off, and about 1000 feet up. It's basically at the top of the climb.

Before we had set off, we had been warned that some serious weather was blowing in, due to really hit the area tomorrow night. That would mean that we would be trying to hike out of our camp in possibly cold, wet conditions. Ranier also was not finding the trail march to his liking. We were making progress, but VERY slowly. After we had a nice lunch along the stream, maybe 2 miles in, Baba and I decided we'd be better off just camping somewhere close by. If the weather turned really nasty, we could always head back down the mountain pretty quickly. And we wanted to make sure that the kids have fun.

So we found a nice spot not too far away and pitched our tent. It was a lovely day, and the kids immediately perked up and set off to climb rocks and explore.

One thing about hiking in this area is that you start really high up, almost at 9000 feet. So we had our own snowbank nearby. Amazingly, there were no mosquitoes, and the wildflowers appeared to be at their peak. It had been a cold summer, and the conditions reflected that.

The rocks, of course, were made for climbing. I didn't even try to stop Dahrius from scrambling up every boulder he found.

Ranier decided to get involved... a much shakier proposition, but he proved a capable climber (and noticeably improved over the course of the trip), and boy was he happy when he succeeded in getting to the top!


We had fun hopping over and wading in the nearby stream. The flowers were amazing, and Ranier couldn't resist starting a collection.



I took a brief hike by myself up to the base of Round Top Peak, shown here, and Round Top Lake, below. Gorgeous country, but the wind had started to really pick up, and the temperature started to plummet. I didn't linger since I wasn't wearing much more than a shirt and shorts.

By the time I got back, we had to all bundle up. The wind was really howling, so we took shelter behind a rock after a quick camp meal, and settled in to watch the sunset.

Unfortunately, the wind was so intense that neither I nor Baba slept at all. Dahrius got some sleep in the tent, and Ranier was so buried in his sleeping bag that I don't think he even noticed. It was freezing in the morning, and mostly overcast with big clouds billowing in. After a chilly breakfast, Baba and I decided that it wouldn't be too fun standing around hoping things will warm up, so we headed down the mountain. I also felt like I had a cold coming on, which turned out to be the case, so it was the right call. But still a little disappointing not to be able to spend as much time as possible in the mountains.

The hike back went well, with Ranier traveling the whole way on his own legs. It actually snowed on us a few times, though the sun also came out now and again. We paused for a picture...
The boys will be in even better shape next year. We'll have to plan at least two trips just to make sure we get as many chances for cooperative weather as possible. Can't wait!

Friends and fun in the redwoods

As usual, life seems to skip along as fast as possible, and blogging regularly proves difficult. In any case, we finished off our summer with a number of exciting events and trips in our local area. We were thrilled to get a visit from Katherine and Bea to Inverness, where Ranier discovered that babies are pretty fascinating.

Jeanne was able to come out for the visit to Inverness as well, and we enjoyed one of our sunnier summer days on one of the new decks.

The four of us took off from Inverness for a few days of camping. The plan had been to meet up with friends from Mendocino County, but plans changed for everyone else; regardless, we decided to take advantage of the time we had set aside and checked out a Austin Creek State Park, which is located in the hills above Armstrong Redwoods State Park just outside of Guerneville, on the Russian River (Sonoma County). Getting there is half the fun, up a very narrow and windy road that starts in the giant redwoods and works its way up through oaks and grasslands to the top of a hill, and back into a redwood grove. We picked a really nice site and started to explore.

The campground is adjacent to a pond which was full of bullfrogs. We had fun spotting them in the pondweed.

This is rugged country, with steep canyons, mixed forests of oaks, pines, redwoods, and lots of other California natives, including tons of poison oak.

Fortunately, there was a nicely graded road-trail that we hiked on for a couple of hours. We were hoping to reach a stream, but we turned around before we did so. Great hike though, and Ranier managed almost all of it himself.

The next morning we were treated to an amazing scene of the fog from the coast below us, having streamed up the Russian River valley during the night and just barely filled in the valleys right below the campsite. We spent some time enjoying the scene and admiring the fog, flowing river-like over the trees below.

There were lots of cool, hollowed-out trees in the area, including this one nearby...




Dahrius and Ranier love to make each other laugh. I am already dreading the day when their laughter doesn't fill the soundscape of our lives.

We spent much of the day hiking around Armstrong Redwoods, gaping at the tall trees. We also found a few that had fallen down...

We also swam in the Russian River, played ball in the woods, and much else besides. I think we'll make plans to return next year.