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!