The Land of Cut-Off Jeans: Travels through the Mid-West into PA

Link to Photo Album of this Trip/Blog Photo Roll

This chronicles my travels through the Mid-West and ending in Carlisle, PA

So... I Actually Left California- so may as well ride bikes along the way

Leaving CA

I should change the title of my blog. But yes, I left the Eastside. The Range of Light. The Eastern Sierra. It is happening. It is real. Wow.  If I'm going to leave, then I need to at least enjoy my drive to quaint New England.
I currently am wishing I owned a truck and had the whole summer off to bike and tour the West and British Columbia.  However, my knee needs a'fixin, so I'm doing a "Sampler Tour" of the West, and trying to mountain bike or bike in every stop along the way.  I'll have to go to more National Parks and do some dispersed camping on National Forest lands in the fall, unless that fire outside of Fort Collins is still going then.  Then I'll just re-route.

HIGHLIGHTS of my Mountain Biketastic Adventure in an Easterly (sigh) Direction

Parting with the Sierras and the Great Basin (I hate goodbyes) .  

I decided to meander up 395 and over Monitor Pass to the best little towns South of Tahoe... Markleeville and Woodfords. You do blink and they are gone, but oh I love them.

Mammoth Lakes Interagency Welcome Center- Where Dreams Come True
Where my love began (and my first USFS job and first job in the Sierras)

Day at the Beach 2

Yesterday was a nice day for a bike ride in Bishop.
Today it's snowing in Mammoth. Happy Memorial Day weekend. Always seems to snow or rain.

REAL canoli from Schat's in Bishop
The Carson City Schats= gross canolis 

The Pie's the Limit

Nostalgia is starting to take over my life.  There are lots of things I want to see and do and probably will need years more time to do them.  The knee, time, and distance are always factors. The seacoast and Redwoods will have to wait. British Columbia and Montana will have to wait. I also am going to physical therapy three times a week.   I suppose I could not go, but my knee is pretty important to me right now.

This weekend aside from getting ripped off at the Subaru dealer repair shop in Reno,  I went to Tahoe.  I love the North Shore and my friends were so kind as to take time out of their busy wedding planning lives to hangout with me.  I took a friend along, as his job doesn’t start right away and he’d never really been to Tahoe.

Glass Mountain Trek

Glass Mountain Summit

11,160', 3,402m

12.07.11

 We don't need to be on the Humboldt-Toiyabe to get things done.

What two Backcountry HT Ladies decided to do instead of ski the groomers. 

There was some snow on the "official" cross country route, so we planned our own route which eventually met up with the cross country route.  We found it once we were almost to the summit.

All in all, it is one of the distinct peaks in the Glass Mountain Range that can be seen when in the Long Valley Caldera, and if looking Southeast from Mammoth.   The route we took was mainly soft pumice, and soft-silty soil mixed with pine needles.  As we got higher, the pumice got a bit bigger in size.  It was a great calf-building exercise.  I recommend trekking poles and microspikes.  It got to be snowy and frozen granular at the summit.   What a fun day!

Summit Post's Write-up

Heidi taking photos

Go Ahead, Jump!

This is a post about exactly what it sounds like.

Everywhere I've ever worked, except maybe all the outdoor stores... er I guess not at VYCC... okay maybe just at the Nursing Home I worked at in highschool and part of college... people took "Smoke Breaks".  Well Sarah and I, as Carson-Iceberg Wilderness Rangers Extradinare, though Jump Breaks were WAY better.

As my season comes to an end and I debate what should I be consuming my time with now... a simple Van Halen song may inspire me to just go for it. Whatever it maybe. 

Mt Rose

Silvia's Gear Review: 2011 ...

I have always thought it would be awesomely amazing to write up Product Reviews, particularly about bikes, but hiking is my job, so backpacking gear reviewer?  I may have better writing samples than this one available... anyone?  I am the perfect candidate to product test.  I take care of my things, but I manage to break things anyhow. Thus, the perfect person to test gear. 

This gear I actually haven't field tested yet, for reasons and circumstances I care not to discuss. I have spent a lot of time making sure that all the parts are included, and have set them up in the yard.

Here we go!


1.  Northface 2-3 person Pup-tent.
Poles: Really big aluminum poles maybe 2 feet long each section.
Material: Something not sil-nylon
Manufactured: USA
Weight: 6 pounds easy

Thoughts: Wow, this tent must be waterproof! But it is just starting to rain here.  My main concern is that it won't fit in my pack. I haul so much anyway that the weight of this tent is no concern.  I mean, seriously, when was the last time you bought a tent (other than the ones people make for thru-hikers) that was Made In the USA.  I should send this tent to Melissa in AZ. Will it solve her Made In The USA dilemma?

But oh wait! I don't need to worry about it fitting in my own backpack.

2. Camp Trails External Frame Adjustable Backpacks (disregard the Mt. Smith packs on the left)

 Material: Heavy duty nylon packcloth
Weight: 3.5 lb

Thoughts:
I can use a cotter-pin to adjust the shoulder straps! And I can pack a ton of tools and ginormous things to the outside.  It has big roomy pockets for my 4 pound radio.  Negative: no where for my water bladder, just water bottles.  The hip belt sure is comfy.

3. Headlamp and Fire Shelter
It was standard to have to carry a fire shelter, but  maybe this one is a little outdated.
And what kind of batteries do I have to carry for this headlamp? Whoa!

Summary:
Good Gear Lasts a long time, as you keep the mice out... and obviously this isn't a real review at all. I was asked to go through the gear my district has. These were some of the star finds.

Seriously, these packs are a critical part of backpacking and gear design! At one point in backpacking evolution there were 6 packs. Now you go into a store and you can't avoid talking to someone about packs. There's different torso lengths, different pockets, ones with tons of padding, ones for UL (oh sorry, ultralight), kids packs. Craziness.

 The headlamp and fires shelter were just little bonuses in my chore of purging the gear storage for work. The packs are tried and true for hauling a lot of gear, but if someone can tell me when North Face last made tents in the USA I'll be elated.  North Face (sorry guys) of all companies with roots in lovely California, actually had tents made in the USA at some point.  If they made their first tent in 1974 or 1975 (they did), and it was a Geodosic tent, meaning it was a geometric dome shape. Bob Howe, is an amazing tent designer. It inspires me to go back to school for design instead of Recreation Administration.

Either way, it was quite fun to see a little part of Backpacking History.

First person to tell me the model and year of this tent, gets something awesome, yet small mailed to them!  If I get the answer first, then you'll just have to pat yourself on the back.

Awesome History of Gear Webite
The History of Gear Project .  I would put in a quote from it, but just read it for yourself.  Especially the section, "Why Does Anyone Care About Old Gear?".