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 

Slow Down the Pace... Take Out the Adventure?

Having injured my knees constantly since exploring the Sierra's, makes me realize that some people can recreate outdoors solely, but I need to and should have always supplemented with the gym. Needless to say, what's done is done.

I've been venting to friends here as I had some tough "career" front type decisions (as I do every year multiple times) and we have concluded that it is hard to live here without feeling like every adventure needs to be challenging. Sure there are days where you may do a short hike to a lake to swim in the frigid water, or the casual trail run on 3S__(insert 08, 02, or whichever Forest Service Road is to our liking), or a day of (gasp) reading by the creek.

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.

My "Guest Post From the West Coast"

Last week I sent in a fairly personal blog post to my good friends at My Backcountry Vermont . I sometimes have an issue with being too personal, but once in a while it's okay. I still don't like using iphoto because I can never remember the best way to send the photo files, so they came out a bit small... so I reposted the blog and made the photos bigger.

Guest Post from the West Coast

Introducing our newest guest blogger, Silvia, for our first edition of Guest Post from the West Coast! This is a great reminder to live in the present. And, Silvia, I, too dream of someday living out of a car -- a vintage vw van, actually.  ( :

Peace from the East,
Sarah


Author’s Note: I wanted my first “Guest Post from the West Coast” to be about adventure.  However, I recently tore my right ACL (did it last year to my left knee in a stupid telemarking breathtaking view type situation) backcountry skiing Mount Gould in the Central Sierra.  I can write a post about that later. So as a now “ACL-less” person, I’d rather talk about something else for now.  I’m not sure who will read this, as I typically don’t write blogs this long, nor with footnotes.

Huggins the Cat

A month ago, every night for a week before I was to be home, our 16 year-old cat, Huggins, had been sleeping at the head of my bed.  

Catnap in the living room rays of sunshine

"She hasn't done that in a while. She must know you're coming home."

After I left, she didn't go back into my room.  It's interesting how these things work. 

The past few days she hasn't eaten, and is dehydrated and uninterested at making her funny chattering noises at the birds in the window. She wouldn't leave one chair until someone came home.  

I was an artist once

"She purred a little bit last night. I think she's been suffering and we just didn't know it...I think she waiting until she saw you one more time."

 Huggins was put to rest tonight and buried next to Sunny the Cat, with the blue rabbits foot that I got in elementary school next to her.  My poor mother. The bonds we make with our pets. The years of our lives they represent. 

Kneading Dough to Pass the Time

A recent spacebook update from my USFS friend in Mammoth reminded me I haven't quite finished this post.  I have led the life of a hermit... or a hermitress this winter and I want to explain why.

Traditionally in college, when I wanted to get away (from my thoughts) I'd borrow someone's dog or dogs, or start baking,  ride my bike, or I'd just do things by myself or with one or two of the same people. Having a conversation over a cup of coffee and horrible "cider" today with someone I haven't seen in ages reminded me of how time flies and it's so great to catch up with old friends.  I haven't been purposefully trying to be anti-social, but merely, that after a summer of wandering the wilderness in a job I was so lucky to have, I needed time to further reflect on where I am going.

Hiking North toward Ebbetts Pass.
Love this trail shot. Where am I going? Where does it go?

In the land of apple cider doughnuts

I used my last Mardi Gras costume contest plane ticket (thanks Rafters of Mammoth Lakes) that I won and went home to Vermont for a few weeks. I forgot my camera charger, but I did take a few photos.  I really needed Vermont time. A time to see good friends and family and new babies.  I also visited UNH and UVM to see about their Graduate programs. I almost got to SUNY Cortland.  It was fun to be in the Boston area a few days and learn I'm not so great with the train schedules, and spend time (or try to) with some great long-time friends from home and college.

Many times when I visited my parents in Southern VT, even when I lived in Vermont- I wanted to see everyone I knew and do everything I could. That is virtually impossible. Even though I had more time this visit, I still didn't accomplish seeing everyone and doing everything. Next time. 

A foggy view of the Green Mountains/ Appalachian Trail ridges from Mt. Anthony hike with Mom.

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

Mashed Potatoes

A collection of random things I've seen since September on.

Hat says, "Carson Ranger District, We do it Right the First Time".
Don't know who's hat it was... 

Of Wheels and Used Bikes

I am in the process of moving and didn't have time to true my front road bike wheel.  So I took it to my local bike shop, Big Daddy's, in Gardnerville, NV.

As I opened the door, it made a jingle noise, and I looked down at a bell attached to a 11 tooth chain ring.  I reveled in the finer details of life as I walked in to the back to wait by the shop to pick up my wheel.

As I was waiting to pay, and old man with an accent and a younger Asian woman were asking crazy questions about front baskets, and the phone was ringing and the UPS truck was there.  When it rains it pours on a typically non-busy day of the week for a little bike/ski shop.  There was the hint of tri-flow in the air. There were new skis on the wall ready for the snow to come. I paid the respectable $10 fee (and he would have done it for me right then and there the day I brought it in) and left a happy customer.

As I walked out, the bell jangled again, and I stepped out into the crisp, warm fall air  of Nevada with a little grin on my face and an ache in my heart for the bike shops of my life that I miss.

From Olympic Bike Shop in Tahoe City, CA

It brought me back to a month ago, when I got to pick out a used bike from a retired couple North of Reno. I had responded to a craigslist ad.  I promptly got a phone call from a Southern accented woman.  She said, "oh come on up and if you don't like this one, we have many more to choose from. It's my husband's hobby".

I really wanted the pink GT Tequesta because I love those old GTs. It was for someone with a much shorter inseam than I.

The husband was somewhat deaf, and the wife had to repeat herself. He insisted on wheeling the bikes out the the road for me to try them.  His gait uneven, and myself having worked with the elderly, just hoped he didn't fall and hurt himself.

After having gone for a spin on a bike that merely distracted me, that I didn't need, as the style was not what I was looking for (baby blue Schwinn 5 speed who's model slips my mind), the wife excitedly told her husband, "Honey, this is the girl that works in the [Wild-ER-nis]."

Although being hard of hearing, he immediately corrected her pronunciation and wheeled the Schwinn back to the garage.

"We like going over Ebbetts Pass," she said. "Every year we take our camper and camp near the wilderness."

"We came from poor roots, and now we couldn't be more blessed," she went on. "We just love to go on trips with our camper and we even buy bikes on our vacation.  People can't believe we bring them back with us, but we just love it, " she added.

They said they get a lot of University of Nevada students coming to pick out bikes, and I'd surely find one I like.  The whole back yard was divided up into $100 range bikes, $200 range bikes, and the higher priced bikes.

"The students like the fixies," the wife said.

The husband adjusted the bike in the stand that I decided to buy.  A Peugot mountain bike, oddly, Made In Canada, just like my other used bike back in VT (A CCM 3 speed bike).

"Come back next time you're ready to buy a different bike," she said with a sweet smile.

The husband was all ready to take the front wheel off and try to lift the bike onto my roof, but I insisted I do it.

"She really knows her stuff, this girl, " he said to his wife.

I apologized for getting there after dinner, and thanked them for their time.

"Anytime dear," she said. "We do this for fun. It's his hobby. Good luck with your travels."

Can't San Fransisco people get their own "Put some fun between your legs" stickers
 instead of taking mine off my bike at a music festival? 

If it weren't dark out I would have taken a photo that would adequately have documented this experience.

 Instead I have the photo of the top tube and sticker that I so happily put on my "new" bike for my Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival ride across Golden Gate Bridge. Which on the second day of the event (I surmise) got stolen off my bike by a bike valet, who's job it was to protect my bike.  So my next sticker will be "fuckyoubikethief",which my co-worker with the USFS has on her bike.  Maybe I'll just have back up of these stickers from Local Motion, if they still make them.

Oh the places you'll go.



Sidenote: 
My used bicycle had thorns in the tires, causing a flat on the Golden Gate Bridge on the way to see my favorite old time country singer, Merle Haggard.  Prior to that the rear wheel wasn't in the dropout all the way.  We saw 2 1/2 Haggard songs due to me having to keep stopping to pump my tire up.

With that aside, I still am fond of the retired bicycle fixer-uppers.  The fact that they are late 70s or older and still fixing bikes, going on vacations, and using the internet to sell bikes is a big kudos to them from myself.

We got a tube at the festival from the Luna Chix race manager. Crazyyyyyy.  And I now have new tires (from Big Daddy's) and room for 2 of the 3 bikes I have out here on my car.

Adventure Cycling Route Network Connecting Public Lands

Very cool.

Adventure Cycling Route Network Connecting Public Lands

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

Ebbetts Pass South

I did a 7 or 8 mile mini trip South on Ebbetts Pass to Noble and Asa Lakes. Noble isn't within the Wilderness Boundary, but that's where I camped.  The whole time I had "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros in my head. So play that and enjoy.

Noble Lakes

I went to Maine. Ayut.

I went to Maine for the wedding of my two beloved UMaine Alfond Arena friends.  I made my way from Boston, up to Dover, NH where a handsome young chap picked me up at the train station and took me out on the town.  From there we ventured to a cabin on a lake, then Portland, Maine to TamTam's new house and the Old Port... Where things were SO amazing that we didn't even take photos.
Thanks again to all that helped and made me smile in that branch of the trip! I'll be back. Soon.

My rental car and I left TamTams and set forth with Maine plates to Belfast, Maine for the wedding of two of my favorite people.  It was beautiful and well-thought out, and fun as expected.

Then I meandered along up through to Orrington and Fields Pond to just see if anything had changed, but the two tall pines still stood. Didn't get to catch up with the Beal's- we tried!!!

In Orono, Jim and I went biking (with my bike, but a loaner) to hit the root filled trails of bliss. It was mud-tastical.  Followed by beer with some of the Rose Bike Crew now and then.  And Bicycle Bob missed out on the ride, so maybe we'll have to execute planning better next time.

Well this was Cambridge, MA the day after the big 4th birthday 

Passes Are Closing

Ebbetts Pass, almost to the summit. 

89 Monitor Pass and 4 Ebbetts Pass are closing tonight for "Storm Preparation" (so maybe temporary, but for winter for sure will be soon enough).  Perhaps I will prepare for the GRE and winter myself.  God knows I need to make a life-sized, freshie snow angel.

Too bad my chains are in Mammoth and I am Subaru-less, but not for long!

Happy Fall! Hope to get back to Vermont for a bit. Keep posted!

Snow Angels for Peace in snow off of Ebbett's Pass Last week.

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?".

Ebbetts Pass North on the PCT

Early September, my Supervisor and I did a tiny section of the PCT for "Wilderness Lake Monitoring".  We started at Ebbetts Pass/Route 4 and hiked North past Kinney Lakes and into the Mokelumne Wilderness.

 It was other-wordly.  The 'Northern California Pacific Crest Trail' book by Schaffer says, "...your trail bends noreast up to a broad ridge to begin an incredible route past one of the most bizarre, yet beautiful, landscapes to be seen along the PCT...your odyssey continues with a diagonal comb north to a windcropped sagebrush saddle...".

Land Before Time



Why We Build the Wall

I've had a few weekends of office work, with a computer looking at a wall.  The Fire Prevention Officer shut the lights out on me one Sunday.  I said loudly, "Nope!", and he popped his head in and said, "Sorry didn't realize you were in here. We're going to have to cut a window infront of your desk so people know you're in here".

Haven't done that yet. But I did get to listen to a good ETown, from Burlington, VT episode.  The last song is Anais Mitchell and "Why We Build the Wall".  I love this song!