John Muir Trail 2016: Finishing Yosemite

This year's JMT trip was shorter than others, at 40 miles, but we were able to fashion a five day loop trip with just a one-mile car shuttle. The segment that we needed to close was the 15-mile stretch between Half Dome and Cathedral Lakes. Weather was perfect, mosquitoes were rare, and we visited three of the High Sierra Camps along the way (Vogelsang, Merced Lake, and Sunrise).  80% complete now, next year will finish the trail with a 68-mile trip between South Lake and Onion Valley in 8 days, without a resupply.
Mark posted his best shots here.

After an overnight stay in tentcabins at Tuolumne Meadows, we're ready to start

Day 1: Crossing Tuolumne Creek, we won't see dayhikers again til day 5

Approaching Vogelsang Pass

Day 2: on the descent into the Merced River drainage

Day 3: hiking past Merced Lake

A fawn at Merced Lake

The trail on the floor of Merced Valley

Near our joining of the JMT, and looking at Half Dome's backside. We climbed Half Dome when we hiked that segment in 2010.

That stripe is the cable route. Can you see hikers?

See them yet?

Day 5: Cathedral Pass, Cathedral Lake and Cathedral Peak

June 2016: Southern Utah trip

Cataract Canyon is the last major segment of Colorado River whitewater that I hadn't paddled yet, and in 2013 I set up this trip, but then couldn't go. Five in the group still went, and raved about it. So I was waiting for at least an average snowpack year to reschedule. This time our group was eleven, mostly Hiking Club members, and I booked us a paddleraft trip.

Because flow in Cataract Canyon (the segment between the Green River and the Dirty Devil) is unregulated, springtime flow usually peaks at about 40000 cfs, making the rapids some of the biggest in North America, for a while. Really big years might see 70000cfs, so last year I planned this 5-day river trip for about ten days into June, which ended up perfectly timed. For three days, the flow peaked at 46000 cfs, and we nailed it exactly.

Five of us added extra days onto the trip for hiking in Bryce Canyon NP, Escalante NM, and Arches NP before meeting up with the others in Moab.

On the trail at Bryce Canyon NP

Hoodoos and tall fir trees

In Escalante NM: all day spent exploring slotcanyons. This is Zebra Canyon

Mark showing us how to keep his camera dry in Tunnel Canyon

An evening hike to swim in this pool at the top of a waterfall. Best EVER.

One of the biggest alcoves I have ever visited, 3 mi into Escalante Canyon

We were on the trail in total darkness to make the 6am sunrise at Delicate Arch (Arches NP)

Park Ave (Arches NP)

In Moab: we are now a mighty group of eleven! This is the BEFORE shot.

Finally, on the river! Our flotilla is powered over miles of flat water by a motor rig.

On a hike in Indian Canyon, Canyonlands NP

Sunset at our Spanish Bottom camp (Photo by Kay Roney)

Shade on a hike is always great, but this was unexpected: an entire room!

At the beginning of the whitewater stretch. Suited up!

 

We scouted Big Drop 1 from the right bank, and watched this oarboat go thru.

I guess this would be the AFTER shot. At the bottom of Cataract Cyn, in Glen Canyon NRA. Our last day on the river the paddleboats are lashed again to the motor rig.

The bridge at Hite, where Lake Powell starts. It's the first manmade thing we have seen since 5 days previous.

The day we were in rapids, the flow in Cataract Canyon peaked at 46000cfs. Average flow in Grand Canyon is probably around 16000cfs, for comparison. It's big enough that most trips only run motorized boats thru Cataract. As it turned out, our two paddleboats were the only ones in Cataract on that day, all the other boats were motorized.  As we pushed off the banks, a lot of the other crews on the river were pulled out, and watched us go through from ledge perches above. I know I'd have wanted to watch! In fact our guides had never guided paddleboats thru Cataract at water that big.

There was a pair of wooden dories that endo'd in Satan's Gut, wrecking them both. They were on the last afternoon of a 13 day trip. Luckily nobody drowned. We found the dories lashed to a giant S-Rig, later duct-taped together, to get them out, but the boats' structures were crushed. Our two paddleboats made it through, with only one swimmer getting washing-machined through Satan's Gut, and he was the guide! It was all good though and a great time was had by all.

Here's my one-minute iMovie version of the GoPro footage. 

Want more? Tohru's photos are here, and Mark posted some here.

April 16: Hiking Club at Topanga State Park

View of Santa Monica Bay

In Santa Ynez Canyon

March 25 with Hiking Club in Santa Anita Canyon

We started early, so it's cool and shady

Some of the weekend cabins in the canyon. These are all walk-in

50' Sturtevant Falls

A lot of flowers in bloom right now

Five miles in, at Sturtevant's Camp. When this enormous old tree fell in the camp a few years ago, they carved a bench from this one section, and counted 800 annular rings.

Periwinkle was brought in early by cabin builders, so it's everywhere in the canyon now. It keeps the poison oak down, and it's pretty, so it's okay.

March 10-13 Hiking Club in Death Valley

Hiking in Gower Gulch, Zabriskie Hills

Roadrunner

In Natural Bridge Canyon (Mark Ammerman)

Group photo at Zabriskie Pt (Mark Ammerman)

The valley floor got a rain shower Friday night, dropping snow down to about 6500'. Here we are as we start up the fan to Redwall Canyon. (Mark Ammerman)

Climbing a big pouroff in Redwall Canyon

Everyone made it!

Redwall Canyon Narrows #1

A lot of gold poppies came out this year

Redwall Canyon narrows #2

Flowers were everywhere, many tiny and delicate like these (Tohru Ohnuki)

February 13: Hiking Club in Downtown LA

Our LA Conservancy tour this year was to Union Station.  Union Station was the last of the great railway stations, built in the late '30s. A few of us rode the train down, and visited nearby Olvera Street, which is across the street. Lots of great photos that day.

The station's architecture was modelled after the Mission revival style of the Santa Barbara Courthouse

Inside, the station is all original

That ceiling is prefabbed concrete, for stability in earthquakes. But looks like wood.

Looking toward downtown

The tour guide told us these grapevines on Olvera St date to the 1850's

Inside, the station has a lot of art. This mural depicts California history.

It includes guys who hike.

Christmas Dayhike in Griffith Park

That's Catalina Island out there

Griffith Park Observatory

I think Griffith Park is my favorite Christmas Day hike. Lots of people are out, and this year, despite the cold, it was still busy.  Sunshine and utterly clear skies prevailed

December 20 dayhike down the spine of the Verdugos

Glendale

Mt Hollwood, Mt Lee, Santa Monica Bay

Today Nina and I hiked down the length of the Verdugo range. It was a perfect day, cool with mixed skies. It's a 13-mile hike with a car shuttle. I'd wanted to do this entire hike for several years as an end-to-end dayhike, and it was worth the effort.