happy birthday c-dawg!

In honor of Christian's birthday I'm posting some pictures from our 2004 Trinidad trip. Great memories! Christian, It's awesome to witness God's blessing on your family and your business. I hope it continues for a long time to come. I love you my man, and I love having you as my brother.

I'm not sure what's scarier- the eyes or all that chest hair... (had to post at least one embarrassing pic =)

fishing with Grandpa

relaxing in the heated pool after a hard afternoon's work fishing

C-dawg and Crazy-hair
Mr. Cool above Port of Spain, Trinidad

Helping me with my camera. It's awesome having a professional photographer in the fam!

snorkeling (actually just getting smashed up by the surf) at the family beach house

Happy Birthday Bro! I hope it's fantastic.

Dylan and I, Sequoia Nat'l Park

My friend Dylan and I visited the national park Saturday and did a little sightseeing and rappelling.

On the way up Moro Rock. Dylan had never been up here and he's moving to Florida in a few weeks. This is one of my favorite places to bring people, so if you come visit we may end up here.

Moro Rock

Tunnel Log

Dylan had never rappelled before, so I gave him a crash course and sent him off a 20 or 25 foot ledge (with a belay, of course)

The moon coming up was really beautiful, but the lighting made getting a good shot really difficult. My old camera (the non-waterproof one) had a better night mode. This was the best I could do.

SMR November training

This month the team went to The Needles, one of the most popular climbing areas in CA, and simulated a victim evacuation. It's hard to describe how exhausting it is to haul a loaded litter on difficult terrain. Normally I have plenty of energy for this stuff, but by the end of the day I was completely worn out! For the last couple miles, we reached a trail and got to fasten a large wheel under the load, which helps to support at least some of the weight. It was a very realistic and necessary training, but one which I think none of hope to repeat anytime soon! We started our day at 0630 and didn't get out until after dark. Some pictures:

The Needles attracts climbers from all over the world. In this picture you can see some climbing partners from near Barcelona, Spain (red arrows; click the pic to make it bigger). The lead climber has already topped out, and the other is working his way up the third and final pitch. I thought they were fun to watch, but they apparently thought the same of us. After they completed their climb they watched and filmed us rigging and using a high line system.



The area gets its name because it's comprised of a series of massive granite needle-like spires.

Randy and Ed manning the lower end of our high line.

When the daylight and our energy levels started to fade we took Matthew out of the litter and instead filled it with some of our extra gear. In a real call-out we would probably just stash the gear and come back for it later.

Teamwork!

South Fork American River

After not paddling for a couple months, I got the chance to get out on two consecutive weekends. We went back to the South Fork American River, and I noticed that I was a lot more comfortable than before. My goal is to be ready for class IV water on my local run, the Kaweah, by the time the spring thaw rolls around. Just a few pics, and a clip of some real wave surfing.

Rafts have priority over kayaks. We move out of the way when they pass through and then go back to playing. I know lots of people have fun rafting, but kayaking is so much better! You're more in the water than on it. You can stay and play at any feature on the river, whereas in a raft you're just along for the ride, and once you pass that big wave or hole, that's it.

This guy was going down the river with a Carlson board (basically a big beefy boogie board) and flippers. Pretty cool!

I like the contrast of colors. A few months into the sport, and after seeing a lot of other boats, I have absolutely no regrets on choosing a Jackson Fun kayak.

This is the line of paddlers waiting their turn in First Threat. It sucks to work your way up from the back of the line and then have a crummy ride (or fail to catch the wave at all, which I did three times in a row =).

playing at Maya wave.

This is a great example of what more experienced kayakers can do on a decent wave. The first paddler you see, in the baby blue helmet, is a girl- unfortunately she's not in our kayak club =)

new car

I've purchased a 1997 Ford Escort LX. Yep, it's old, it's slow, and it's a station wagon. I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a lot fewer speeding tickets in this bad boy. Cops don't notice me, and I've noticed that other drivers are more courteous to me. I really liked driving my Subie, but having a fun/fast car really does cost in almost every way. It costs more in gas, more to insure, more to maintain and repair. When you have a "beater" car you don't have to worry about scratches, theft, or keeping it clean =). A few associates have commented that in my line of work, image is important, and I think there may be something to that (my boss has requested that I start parking at least a block from the office =). If your lawyer pulls up to court in a Yugo, you have to wonder how good he is at what he does. So, I plan on getting something better before too long, but I just couldn't find any good deals on the makes/models I was interested in, and the rental car tab was starting to add up. The price was right on the Escort- I may be able to sell it in a few months for the same price I paid. Here are some pics:

Bringing sexy back! This thing is a chick MAGNET, and I haven't even added 20" spinners yet...

Actually it's not in bad shape for a ten year old car. And I can haul a few kayaks in/on it.

Moke River

Last Sunday I paddled on the Mokelumne River about 3 hours from home with two friends from the kayak club. Most of the rivers aren't runnable this time of year, but the Moke is one of the rivers whose flow is controlled by dam releases. We had a great time.

This entry method is called a seal launch. The concrete is a water diverter to break up the water coming from the dam. I did it first and then filmed Larry and Dan coming down.If you view this clip on my new camera you can watch it in reverse, which is quite amusing.

Here's Larry and I trying to surf a small wave. It's actually easier to surf a larger wave because the face of the wave will be steeper making it less likely the paddler gets "flushed" out or off. I missed it the first time but had a fun little run on my second attempt before getting flipped. It really is like surfing in that once you're properly balanced on the wave you really don't need your paddle and you can turn simply by leaning, or in paddler lingo, practicing good "edge control."

This is me approaching the Devil's Toiletbowl rapid, with a little too much speed and off balance (trying to avoid a rock just to my left).

Dropping off the ledge...

failing to keep my weight over the bow...

This side of the boat is supposed to be in the water =)

Here's what it looked like on video. The first paddler through is Larry, demonstrating what it's supposed to look like. The second paddler through is me showing what not to do and getting some more rolling practice in!

Dan and Larry, nearing the take-out. Since we drove only one vehicle up there, I volunteered to do the bike shuttle to retrieve the car from the put-in. So after paddling 6 or so river miles, I rode 8 or so miles on Larry's bicycle (which we had previously stashed at the take-out) back to the car. And since water runs downhill, it was an uphill ride. The fun on the river made it absolutely worth it though. I got a few other clips from the day, but the upload times are too frustrating! I also spent a few hours trying to create an actual highlight film using Windows Movie Maker or something but gave up on that too =).

a pretty big crash

Well if you've been wondering what it's gonna take to get me blogging again, wonder no more. Yesterday I was involved in a huge traffic collision on the highway. I'm fortunate to have walked away without a scratch, but I do believe it's time to say goodbye to my faithful Subaru. There's quite a bit of media coverage on the incident, since it involved over a hundred vehicles including 13 big rigs, and closed a major California N/S corridor for over twelve hours.

I had pulled off the road as far as I could and stopped, thinking I was in the clear. Turns out I was wrong about that, but at least it's absolutely clear for insurance purposes that I wasn't at fault. I don't know whether to feel lucky or guilty that one of the fatalities (a five year old boy) occurred in the car less than twenty feet behind me, which absorbed much of the impact of the oil tanker that was out of control and heading my way.

Even a tragedy as horrific as this has its bright spots, however. I was stuck at the scene for more than six hours while they tried to sort out the mess, and had plenty of time to get to know my fellow motorists. I was able to hold hands with complete strangers from the cars around me and pray, for the victims, the rescuers, and their families. It's amazing how an event like this can bring people together. At the beginning we were exchanging information simply for insurance purposes, but by the time I left we were exchanging well-wishes and hugs. I even got an invite to Thanksgiving dinner, and that was from the lady who was a passenger in the car I had plowed into (after being impacted from behind and projected forward). One of the CHP officers observed our little group and approached asking, "Are you guys family?" Todd, who was driving the Suburban that did a nice little number on my passenger side, responded, "We are now!"

I snapped a couple of pictures with my cell phone. This one, which I took less than ten minutes after the crash, shows the fog at the time that was a major contributing factor:

You can see my yellow kayak in the passenger seat of my car at right. I had been on my way to meet some folks from the kayak club and do some paddling on the Merced River. Probably the oddest moment of the day came when, right before they loaded my car onto the tow truck, I pulled out my boat and paddle and carried it across the broken glass on the freeway in front of fire fighters, police, and paramedics. Talk about out of place...!

A couple more pics:

Well, that's it for now. I want to do some car shopping online before I call it a night. Any suggestions on preferred makes and models will be duly considered =). Give your family an extra big hug today and tell your friends how much they mean to you- you never know what tomorrow holds!

Sawtooth Peak

I got a chance to tackle another Sierra summit the other day. The short version-I went with my friends Matthew and Kristi. We camped near the trail head and made a day-hike of it. We were successful, stayed safe, and had a blast. I forgot my camera but Mathew hooked me up with a few pics.

Mathew and I. Sawtooth Peak is the sawtooth-shaped peak (oddly enough) in the background above my head.

Getting closer. There were a couple of pretty lakes around this bend.

Kristi and I, almost there. The last half a mile or so was quite a scramble!

Sittin' on top of the world. Well, actually just 12,342', but it felt like it.

Chili Bar, pool rolls

Yesterday I paddled the “Chili Bar” run on the South Fork of the American River, outside of Sacramento. This is a hugely popular run (one source calls it the most popular stretch of whitewater west of the Rockies), but despite it being a holiday weekend, it really wasn’t too crowded- a few rafts, a few kayakers. It was a great chance for me to get into some more challenging water. Several rapids were class III or III+, with one IV. And the names of the rapids didn’t exactly inspire confidence- we’re talking names like Meatgrinder, Triple Threat, Troublemaker, and Satan’s Cesspool.

Here’s what my friend Larry told me in an e-mail before we went:

“You should prepare yourself, mentally, for a swim. I don't expect you to swim this weekend. The river is at a skill level that you'll be challenged, but will do well. I'm just mentioning the swim because you haven't had one yet. A swim isn't indicative of your skill level at all. "Everybody" swims. It's just a matter of when. I hate swimming. If I hadn't thought I was going to pass out last week I wouldn't have gotten out of my boat.”

“My head continued to swell up the next day to a baseball sized welt. The area around the back of my ear got swollen later too. I didn't do anything the next couple of days. Almost all of the swelling is gone and it is just a little tender now. As soon as the seizures stop I'll be good to go. Just kidding.”

Obviously Larry has a sense of humor. When we were on the Kings River last week he flipped and smacked his head hard against a rock. That’s what he was talking about in the e-mail above. Now you may think, “What’s the big deal about swimming?” I personally love to swim. But while swimming is a great sport and recreation in its own right, it’s to be avoided if at all possible when you’re paddling whitewater. Unless you like bruising your knees, tailbone, and elbows, that is. Not to mention the delightful possibilities associated with foot entrapments.

Anyway, on the river yesterday I rolled a number of times, but thankfully I didn’t have to swim. We had a fantastic day, and the 3 hour’s drive each way from Fresno was totally worth it. I think we paddled about 11 miles all told. Daniel, another experienced paddler from the kayak club, gave me some tips on how to do a “stern squirt,” and Larry loaned me a basic playboating DVD, so I’ve got plenty of material to work on in the pool.

Me right after I got flushed out of Chili Bar hole.

Trying to surf a hole. I'm leaning back to try to keep my upstream edge (bow) from getting driven under.

"Maya," a famous surf wave on this run. If you're good you can just sit there all day with very little effort.

Larry and I.

Not sure where this one was at. Looks like I'm about to go under.

Here's another kayaker getting buried in Chili Bar Hole. When we came back to the put-in to complete the shuttle, the dam release for the day was over and the water level had dropped so much that all you could see where this hole had been was a big boulder just upstream.

Dad was asking me about my “Eskimo roll.” I managed to get a clip in the pool earlier today. I also have a clip from the river yesterday but for some reason it won't upload properly.

kayaking and other fun stuff

I keep waiting to get better pictures, but I think I should just post the ones I have. My new favorite thing to do is whitewater kayaking. Here's my boat:


I joined a local kayak club, which, like Sequoia Mountain Rescue, has proven an invaluable resource for like-minded enthusiasts with the knowledge and experience to enjoy the outdoors as safely as possible. They have a website with some great video clips of local Sierra rivers. You can check it out at http://www.kayak559.com/. I've made a few friends already. I've been practicing my roll and other techniques in the swimming pool at home and I'm getting more comfortable in class II and III water. (If you've ever rafted, it's an entirely different proposition when you're sitting much lower in a six-and-a-half foot boat.) Here's a few pictures of a section of the Kings river I ran on Tuesday.

I'm still enjoying the opportunity to be involved with SMR. This month's training was at Buck Rock in Kings Canyon National Park. There's a fire tower there which is basically a one room cabin perched high upon a granite spire. The forest service and volunteers have manned it every season since the early 1900's, I believe. You can climb the stairs and check it out, which is pretty amazing. The volunteer fire spotter explained to us that the wooden stool with glass capacitor-type things attached to the four feet was to be sat on in the middle of the room during lightning storms. Now THAT would be an experience!

Anyway, for our one-day training we practiced low angle litter skills and rounded out the day with some rock climbing nearby. I climbed a section of rock more difficult than anything I had climbed before. It was a rush! At the crux, I hissed "watch me!" to my belayer, which is climber lingo for "I'm about to fall and you better be ready to catch me," but I managed to find a hand hold with my left hand just as my right was about to give out. I don't have climbing pictures yet, but here's a few of the low angle litter evac scenarios we reviewed that morning.

I got back today from a short mountaineering trip I took with two friends from SMR. Chuck and Ed are both in their fifties and are in incredible shape. As I sit here typing this, I'm dealing with some serious muscle soreness! Anyway, the objective of this trip was to climb Split Mountain, one of CA's fifteen mountains over 14,000'. Split is located on the East side of the Sierra, only about 70 air miles from Visalia, but to get there we had to drive through Walker Pass, about four hours and a couple hundred miles each way. Thursday we made it to the trail head (an experience in itself- 45 minutes of bone-rattling off-roading), and climbed 4,000 feet to our base camp at Red Lake. Friday we started early and climbed another 4,000 feet, making the summit by 11:30 am. The route we took is classified as class III, which basically means that we were doing a lot of scrambling over steep rock, talus, and loose scree, but it was possible to do without technical gear. That's not to say that you couldn't tumble for a long ways if you slipped, and one section in particular had what Ed described as a serious "pucker factor." =). We returned to base camp yesterday afternoon exhilarated but exhausted, and went to bed early, hiking out and driving home today. The legendary sierra weather was true to form, with clear skies and moderate temps the entire time. I walked on a glacier and drank untreated water from its runoff, which was a first! It was a great trip, and although I've been up a couple of fourteeners in Colorado, this was my first in CA. I certainly hope it's not my last!

East face of Split

closer

Ed topping off his water bladder from the glacial runoff.

The area in the valley that looks like gravel with ripples in it is a glacial moraine. Pretty amazing- I've never seen one before. (mo·raine, n. An accumulation of boulders, stones, or other debris carried and deposited by a glacier. )

Summit shot. I got really agressive with the sunblock, lip balm, and hydration, and I felt pretty good overall. Slight headache above 13,000', which is pretty normal. Camping at over 10,000' helped us to acclimate.

Ed and Chuck at the summit.


Me at the summit.

The three of us (I remembered my mini tripod =).

Chuck negotiating his way through down the West face of the mountain.

A steep chute we had to get through. It was more challenging than it looks in this picture!