July 4th family visit

Last weekend Christian and Dad flew out to visit me for almost a whole week! We had a fantastic time. Thanks so much to Mom and Hol, Addie and Storie for giving up your men for the July 4th Holiday! I worked half a day on Wednesday, then jetted up to Fresno to pick the guys up. We had all afternoon, so we decided to cruise on up to Yosemite. Christian had never been, and we figured (correctly) that it would be less crowded on a Wednesday than on a holiday weekend. Unfortunately none of us had a camera with us, but we drove through Yosemite Valley, and took a nice little jaunt up to the top of Vernal Falls. It was beautiful as always.

On the 4th we went kayaking on the Lower Kings river east of Fresno. This scenic stretch is COLD because it's fed from the bottom of the Pine Flat Reservoir. It has a couple of class two rapids. C & D were in borrowed old-school boats and neither has a reliable roll, but they were game for it and Dad especially was a great sport despite a cold swim below one rapid which caught him off balance.

It was another triple digit day, so the water felt particularly refreshing!

At the takeout there's what they call a "weir" for irrigation purposes. It's a fun spot to kayak surf. Here's a short clip of my first attempt to get on the wave.

On Sunday we hit up some of my favorite spots in Sequoia National Park. We got on Top of Moro Rock just in time to catch an interesting talk from a Park Ranger on some of the history and geography in the area. We hiked a couple of miles around Crescent Meadow and saw Tharp's Log, a hollow and fallen Giant Sequoia that Hale Tharp, the area's earliest white settler, fashioned into a primitive cabin that he lived out of in the summers from 1861 to 1890 while his cattle grazed in nearby meadows. We checked out the aptly named Tunnel Log, and stopped by Auto Log, another giant sequoia that people used to drive on. Christian found a "C & H" carved into it, which made for a great photo. We finished up with a respectable hike from Wolverton to the Watchtower. (I checked the mileage again guys- it was probably close to around 7 miles round trip with significant elevation gain =). The views of Tokepah Valley were stunning despite the poor air quality due to so many wildfires in the Sierra this summer. Dad's knee was bothering him on the descent but he was a trooper even though I had no pain-killers in my pack.

On the Watchtower Trail.

Christian and I, same spot.

The almost sheer vertical here will take your breath away! Click on this pic (or any other) to see it full size.

Dad and I scrambled out as far as we could to peer over the edge. This granite monolith is a lot like Half Dome- not quite as high, but the hike is shorter, and the views are still killer.

Christian and Dad enjoying the fruits of our labor.

The view up Tokepah Valley. You could clearly hear the stream raging over a thousand feet below us as it pounded through twists and turns in sections of granite gorge. There was a sizable snowfield below too, which surprised me, considering it's July and it wasn't a great year for snow pack.

Crescent Meadow, in the Giant Forest, Sequoia National Park. A ranger was telling us that there have been a number of sightings of a sow and cub(s) here recently. We didn't end up seeing a black bear here, but on our way out of the park, we did! A sow and one cub were meandering through another meadow just off the road. It was a great way to end the day.

Christian on top of Moro Rock, with a view of the Middle Fork Kaweah River drainage and the Great Western Divide in the background.

At Hanging Rock, with Moro Rock just behind.

There were some beautiful wildflowers. I'm really bad at identifying local species, but this is what I call a purplus flowerus.

This is a patch of the rare and beautiful spotted yellow-centered penta-petal.

Another beauty known as the pale droopy flower.

And here we have the fuzzilus spikus plantus.

Here's a clip of a doe and fawn we encountered, as well as the Watchtower.

My friends Kevin (in the boat) and Beau (reclining in background) swung by as we were out by the pool grilling one night, and we turned it into an impromptu roll session.

I don't think Kevin had ever been in a whitewater boat before, but he picked up the technique fast and did a couple of unassisted rolls within about 10 minutes!

video- Kevin roll

Here's Christian giving it a shot. You can tell he's on his way up here because of the water curtain off the boat.

setting up for the roll...

video- Christian roll

Dad's turn. Flopping in (on purpose =)

Me standing by for the assist, if needed.

Dad fiddling with his spray skirt. underwater. =)

video- Dad roll

Well there you have it- all the stuff that was photographed, at least. We also spent a fair amount of time eating good food, watching good movies, and computing (that's where the three of us line up on the couch with laptops and check e-mail, listen to music, and watch funny YouTube clips together =). I also had a jury trial scheduled which the guys were going to watch on Thursday/Monday, but it ended up resolving, which I wasn't too disappointed about. We got more time to hang out together!

Thanks so much for coming to visit me guys! It was such a pleasure sharing part of my life with you. I know both of you guys have a lot going on at home right now too. We need to start long-term planning soon for next time!