California

JMT – Days 3 – 4, Lakes and Burgers

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Day 3:  11.2 miles hiked, 38.2 cumulative, Thousand Island Lake to Trinity Lakes outlet (8990′)

I crawled out of bed early into a crisp cold dawn. I snapped some more pictures of Thousand Island Lake in the morning light and drank my coffee in the quiet. I enjoyed the beauty and the peace of the Sierras. Eventually the cold and breakfast brought me back to task. We packed up and hit the trail, getting into the routine of hiking. It was a day for lakes as we passed six gorgeous bodies of water, crystal clear mirrors of the Sierras.

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JMT – Days 1 – 2, Firsts and Water

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Day 1:  12.4 miles hiked, 17.4 cumulative, Tuolumne to below Donohue (10,190′)

My son and I woke in the Tuolumne backpackers camp and packed up. As we were drinking our morning coffee/hot chocolate a ranger showed up. He didn’t care that the campground was closed. He just wanted to check our permits and verify that we all had the required bear canisters. Armed with the current bear activity warnings…we were off.

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San Francisco…the Pacific Coast trip comes to an end.

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We had driven over 1000 miles along the Pacific Coast in an epic trip from Seattle to San Francisco. My husband had stayed home with our oldest who was working, and so it was just me and my 14 yr old son and 11 yr old daughter.

Hwy 101 was amazing, mostly two lanes and beautiful. I had survived driving it alone, back feeling fine and only one speeding ticket. Hey, I was passing an 18 wheeler so totally justifiable. But still $300.

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Giants

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The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It’s not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.

– John Steinbeck

I can’t say it better than Mr. Steinbeck. I have wanted to see the Redwood Forest for as long as I can remember. I was not disappointed.

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