Jordan Peak

It takes something out of the ordinary to get me up before 5 am, especially on a Saturday, but SMR (Sequoia Mountain Rescue) training on Saturday was worth it, as usual. We met at 0600 hours in the small town of Springville, nestled in the Sierra Nevada foothills at an elevation of 1,000'. With one stop to add snow chains, we made it to our starting point just as the sun was starting to show. Once again, the "SMR curse" was with us- we always seem to have fantastic weather every time we go out. I haven't had the chance to train with the team in really inclement or severe weather yet, and that's precisely the weather we're most likely to get called out to operate in. (update: the storm system that had been projected for earlier in the week arrived hours after we left =)

Regardless, it was a fantastic day. Eleven team members climbed approx 2500' to summit Jordan Peak. Most of us wore snowshoes, but several team members used telemark and Randonee skis to climb, and of course, to descend. Until I moved out here I never really knew how backcountry skiers actually got uphill. The trick is that they use removable climbing "skins" which attach to the bottom of each ski and provide friction for ascending. I even got to try it out for a while. I don't consider myself much of a skier, but I've been to a few resorts, and I'll tell ya it's certainly a different experience trying to ski in deep powder in heavily wooded terrain with a large pack. Thankfully the soft snow and warm dry clothes made my many face and butt plants more embarrassing than painful.

The others were happy to let me break trail most of the way up. There's something special about being the first one to put tracks in a pristine and breathtaking environment.
The air quality was so good we could identify lots of features in the Valley, and even see some of the Coast Range.

We dug a snow pit for avalanche assessment. A snow pit provides for snowpack evaluation and the opportunity for different types of tests to determine stability.

Click on any picture above to make it larger, or click on the buttons below to play a short video clip.

double identity theft, etc

I just checked a Sierra weather forecast, and it's calling for snow accumulation of 4 to 72 inches overnight. How cool is that! It'll certainly make Saturday's avalanche assessment training with Sequoia Mountain Rescue interesting.

My car was broken into Monday night. The thieves stole my radar detector. I haven't been too concerned about tickets in my new clunker, so I wasn't all that upset. Besides, in my new line of work maybe I shouldn't be driving around with a device aimed at circumventing law enforcement (my boss raised an eyebrow when he saw it the other day =). A spare credit card I used to keep in the glove box for emergencies was also taken. A call to the credit card company confirmed that several unauthorized charges were attempted. The company was great about cancelling the charges and offering a new card with a different number, but not so great about cancelling the account entirely, which is what I wanted to do. I gave up after they put me on hold 5 times transferring me to six different people.

The weirdest thing is that my insurance and registration info was stolen. I couldn't figure out why someone would do that- all I could think of was that it was like a new kind of identity theft- for cars instead of people. I checked the bottom left corner of the windshield. Sure enough, the VIN plate was gone. I've read enough police reports on vehicle code violations the last few weeks to know that there are countless unlicenced and uninsured drivers out there who would be happy to provide a citing officer with false info during a traffic stop. I've filed a police report and now my car's VIN is reported stolen. That'll really up the resale value, as anybody who runs a CarFax or other vehicle history report on it will attest.

I'm kind of pissed off. I don't think I've ever been the victim of a crime before. I feel helpless and angry. I wish I'd walked outside and caught whoever it was in the act. Maybe the cops will be able to trace the credit card use or VIN or something and make an arrest. I would love to testify as a witness in the case (I'd have to recuse myself from being the prosecutor). I'll probably just settle for going back to work tomorrow putting the bad guys in jail with renewed vigor.

Anyway, enough of that- I'm getting depressed.

I went snow camping with two friends Sunday into Monday. We had a great time despite temperatures dropping into the teens overnight. A few pictures:

Lodgepole visitor center in Sequoia National Park. Last year was an extremely dry year- the Sierra snowpack was only about 30% of normal. This season is shaping up to be a good one for snowsports (and kayaking come Spring!).

My friends Sean Trimble and Brian Hutchins. Both DA's. Sean and I share an office, which makes for quite a bit of confusion regarding names. The good news is that even though my new business cards haven't come in yet, I can just take some of his and scratch out the last name. =)


We didn't take tents or tarps, instead opting to build a snow shelter. Fun stuff! I don't think I'll ever outgrow playing in the snow.

Snow is a great insulator. A well built snow cave or shelter can be surprisingly warm- well above freezing even! They take some time to build, but can offer more warmth and protection than a tent. What you see in these pictures isn't a great example because we were short on tools and time, but I didn't freeze, and that's pretty much the point.

I never get tired of these views.

A helmet story

I have a number of friends who insist on teasing me that my obsession with paddling around in a 6.5' yellow plastic boat is something less than heterosexual. They're just jealous, of course, but still, when I went out and bought a lacrosse helmet the other day for kayaking, I didn't exactly help to shut them up. Until now I've been using my climbing helmet, but I wanted to get something with a grill attached to protect my face (which, as anyone who's seen Ashton Kutcher in the new Cheaper by the Dozen movie can attest, "is the real moneymaker"). Observe:

Anyway, last weekend's severe weather in the Central Valley caused a number of local rivers to spike, and I got the chance to paddle a big chunk of the Kaweah River with some buddies on Sunday. It was my first time using the new helmet, and it paid for itself the first time out. The flows and features on the river were very challenging for my limited skill level, and though I made it downriver without any swims or portages, I did get just a little beat up. One of the times I flipped I smacked my head against a submerged rock hard enough to crack my neck. When I got home I was looking my helmet over and here's what I found:


The grill looked new when I got it. So basically, I don't care what you think, I'm saying it was a good investment! (Additionally, Monday was my first day of work at a new job, and though I wanted to make an impression, I don't think a broken nose or gash in the face would have been the best way to do it.) The end.

Chorro Grande Trail

After catching a red-eye back to CA on New Year's Eve, I spent the following day hanging out with my friend Mark. He had the excellent idea of going on a little hike. I've been in the Sierra's quite a bit now but it was nice to hike in some of California's other mountains. We were in the Coastal Range near the town of Ojai. Some pics:

These mountains aren't nearly as high as the Sierra peaks, but still scenic.

Just messing with the digital color filter on my camera.

Christmas, etc

A few pics from my Christmas vacation:


Mom, Dad and I taking a walk near home late afternoon, Christmas Day. Thanks for a wonderful vacation guys!

I still like playing around with the pretty cool macro mode on my new camera. If you enlarge this pic you can see the reflection of the camera lens in Mom's pupil =)

PA had a little bit of snow while I was there, and a pretty big ice storm shortly before I arrived.

Spreading some new stone on the driveway. Always a fun family project.

I like this picture of my good buddy Ben. We squeezed quite a few Halo games into a short amount of time...