Why am I in California? Here's the long version:
Two weekends ago, Tim and I took a sweet hike through the Mummy Range in Rocky Mountain, his last jaunt in the North Fork before becoming a California boy (again); leaving the Chapin Pass trailhead at 4:00 am, we were already blanketed by clouds overhead. Fortunately, the 3:00 am rainstorm ended just as we began our hike, and didn't reappear as a vicious thunderstorm until after our peak bagging. We skipped Chapin to save on time, and get to the top of our final peak before the afternoon (when daily thunderstorms are to be expected). Got to watch a nice sunrise between Chapin and Chiquita... only to be socked in by a thick cloud, which sat on top of us, bringing with it some COLD weather, winds, and 20' visibility. I know better, but pulled an alpine faux pas (is that the spelling?) and didn't bring a warm hat or gloves. It was cold enough that I couldn't move my hands. At least I was wise enough to bring self-heating hand warmers so that I could at least unzip my backpack with my frozen claw-hands!
We summited Chiquita (13,069 ft) and Ypsilon (13,514 ft) in these conditions. As we decended into the saddle between Ypsilon and Fairchild, the clouds lifted and we could see for miles! As a bonus, the winds died down and the sun warmed my cold hands. Which was fortunate, because the hike up Fairchild was some serious rock scrambling, over both small and huge boulders. Brutal on one of my knees, to the point that it is still bugging me today. In any case, the last 500 feet elevation gain up Fairchild was fairly easy and the rocks were more forgiving and not nearly as steep; Fairchild was at 13,502 ft.
This is when the thunderstorm started rumbling from the west. Our goal to include Mummy and perhaps Hague's Peak in our jaunt was "cut short" - though I'm not sure you can call a 12.5 mile hike up 3 mountains as "cut short" in the first place! (I bought a snazzy fancy-pants watch that gives elevation, distance, heart rate, etc... seems fairly accurate, but can't be positive it was 12 miles.) Besides brief gropple and rain, we were able to decend down from Fairchild, down the broad saddle, past Crystal Lakes, and literally unlocked the Lawn Lake Ranger Cabin just as it began to rain. And rain. And rain. We lit a fire in the wood stove and relaxed at 4 pm. 12 hours of hiking! It's no surprise we were alseep by 6 pm. ;)
The hike out was a comparatively easy 6.6 mile downhill. Mummy Mountain will have to wait for another day when Tim comes out to visit.
Tim packed and we had a little party at the Rock Inn; it was a whirlwind of activity last week before we left. I had to work, since I already don't have enough time saved up yet to take off this entire week to be out in Cali; no rest for the weary!
With Tim's belongings packed neatly away in a 14' Uhaul, towing his truck behind us, we set out last Thursday in the evening. We learned quickly, from our drive up Trail Ridge Road, that a 14' Uhaul does not have much towing power up the mountains. Which kept our progress slow the entire trip; Berthoud Pass, Eisenhower on I-70, all the ups and downs in Nevada (apparently it's not flat along US 50), and Yosemite... Snail pace. Made it as far as Grand Junction on Thursday night and stayed with a former Rocky traildog, Conrad. I didn't even get to see him! We arrived at 2 am and then he went to work in the morning.
We plowed through Utah's heat and arrived at Great Basin National Park in Nevada on Friday evening. Unfortunately, we missed the cave tours for the evening and had a dilemma - camp out and lose time on our travel, without the guarantee to get into a cave tour in the morning (and not have any camping gear easily accessible in the Uhaul... there was talk of pulling out the mattress and sleeping on that...), or skip the awesome-looking caves and keep going. The less-stress option was to keep going. We stopped at 2 gas station in Nevada, neither of which had a Nevada road map; however, they had California, Oregon, and other random places far far away. Which was weird. We ate at the worst, strangest McDonalds ever with super space cadet girl getting our order wrong 4 freaking times... and some 15 year old girl looking like some 50s farm wife with her old fashioned hair and man, I felt like I was living in that HBO series True Blood with the way those people talked and acted in Ely, Nevada... I was convinced there were vampires nearby and we needed to find a place to hole up for the evening. Made it to Tonopah, which was just as bizarre as everywhere else. I am sorry, Nevada, I don't like you.
Saturday, made it through Nevada without any other freakishness and finally saw the lovely snow capped mountains in Mono Lake, California. By the way, the road between Mono Lake and Yosemite National Park is a HOOT! Like being on a rollercoaster. They made an otherwise straight and boring road, that much more exciting with its abruptly undulating dips and hills. Just goes to show, Nevada has no sense of humor with their even-terrained flat roads!
We breezed through Yosemite, although a day ahead of schedule, Tim wanted to get to Pinnacles and relax. The valley between Yosemite and Pinnacles - the valley where a lot of the big Cali cities are - was flat and boring, as I had been through there before on the way to and from wildfires. Agriculture. Yuck. Was happy to see another mountain range - although without any snow on its ~2-3,000 ft "peaks" - and drive into the oak savannah.
We may be out of the city, but are certainly not out of the heat. It's killin' me, folks. Seriously. I'm melting.
So my first and lasting impression is, Pinnacles is a nice place to visit...but sure as hell wouldn't want to live here. At least, not in July and August. I'm pretty sure today it was already 90 degrees by 10 am; supposed to be 105 degrees or so. I'm taking refuge in a coffee shop in Hollister, about 30 minutes away.
Pinnacles is a neat little park. Strangely, they have a pool at their campground. I enjoy the little lizards running around but have yet to be unpleasantly surprised by a rattlesnake. Intead, the reservior in the park was the waterpark for snakes of all different sizes. I told Tim, all I have to do is show my mom photos of these snakes (which I am going to do) and she'll tell me not to live there. ;) I did a 5.3 mile hike yesterday morning; hoped to get an earlier start, but didn't make it on the trail til 9:45. HOT. But I'm stubborn. It was a nice hike, steep climbs up steps carved into the rock were interesting... but I needed to make it quick. Managed the hike in 2 hrs 15 minutes by running nearly the entire length of the Condor Gulch Trail downhill. Good thing too, I am not used to this heat. Came out pretty well, barely a sunburn. ;)
We did take a quick trip to Trader Joe's in Monterey, my how I have missed Trader Joe's! It's amazing that it is actually almost COLD, with that ocean wind blowing. I'd much prefer that climate, but there's so many freaking people. Is there no happy median in this state!?
Lots of stereotypes have come true - such as the hotshot jackass crotch rocket riders that pop wheelies for no reason, almost get in accidents around curvy roads, and shooting up between lanes wrecklessly. I told Tim if he acts like that, he's yesterdays news. ;) Also, the ads in the local arts/music paper including things such as SmartLipo, face lifts, and EAR RESTRUCTURING! Seriously, they are EARS people! Ears! Ears do not need improvement. Sigh. But, the tee-hee bimbo blondes with fake boobs and bikinis are nowhere to be found, even on the ocean... it was probably 65 degrees, guess they keep to southern latitudes, and far from the interior heat. I wonder if fake boobs have an optimal temperature range??
Well, time to be hit by that oppressive heat and head back to the ranch. Literally. Tim is living/house sitting for his former boss, whom owns a nice chunk of sizeable property adjacent to the park. She owns a horse. Since she isn't around, I don't know the horse's name, so I just call him Horse. The house stays pretty cool, but I still found myself tossing, turning and sweating. Although the nights are much more comfortable, I still miss my 60 degrees or below Rocky Mountain evenings.
Tim's settling back in very easily, since he used to work here. I don't see myself willingly moving here, but the soonest would be January, if I can find a way to finish my degree at Colorado State either online, or something. Only have a couple classes left after Fall semester. Well, anything can happen between now and then. I hate long distance enough as it is, but did I mention Tim doesn't get cell phone service or internet at his new place? Guess it's back to courier pigeons and the pony express.
PHOTOS galore:
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| From Mummy Range Peak Baggin' |
Mummy Range Peak Baggin'
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| From Tim's Going Away Protest |
Tim's Going Away Party
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| From Cali or bust! |
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| From Cali or bust! |
The Move
