dive

My friend Jeremy chartered a dive boat out of Long Beach last weekend and invited me to come. We went back to Catalina again but had the luxury of diving in more remote spots than the popular "underwater park" we went to last time. I got seasick (again), which surprises me- I remember being on my grandpa's sailboat as a kid with 10 to 12 foot swells crashing over the bow and I was fine. Here it was mostly a gentle rocking and I lost it like three times. I didn't, however, let it prevent me from going on and thoroughly enjoying all three dives. We saw lots of lobster, eel, and fish amongst the giant kelp forests we were in, and the visibility was better than last time. The water was cold so we were fully encased in neoprene from head to toe. Just a couple of shots this time:

My friends Jeremy and Theresa. Patient and experienced, Jeremy's been great with helping me get back into the sport. He's logged scores of dives here, in Hawaii, and all over the Caribbean.


I spotted this gauge in the cabin and just had to snap a pic. Looks like we were well beyond the safe protection level, but I didn't actually notice that much rust. I can't help but wonder how this gauge actually works, and how one determines what's a safe corrosion level and what's "under" safe!

Road Trip!

This past weekend my friend Mark and I rented a Nissan 350 Z and hit the road with an open-ended itinerary. We left at 4 am Saturday and headed North through Yosemite. I've been in Yosemite Valley but I'd never been in the Tuolomne Meadows area of the park. It was beautiful of course.

Here's Mark in his favorite T-shirt (Reagan) and the Z on the way down from Tioga Pass, connecting the east and west sides of the Sierra.

Near Mammoth Lakes, CA, on the eastern side.

In Devils Postpile National Monument. We took a couple hours to do a five mile hike to see the monument and falls.

This is the Devil's Postpile itself. Very uncommon lava columns, apparently. They're quite symmetrical, as you can see better in the talus field in the picture below.

Rainbow Falls, also in the National Monument. If I recall correctly this cataract is about 110 feet.

Hwy 395 South, near Mammoth Lakes, CA. There's some windshield glare in this pic, but the air quality on this side of the mountains is always better than in the Central Valley.

A few hours later we were in Death Valley National Park. Note the temperature in the shade is almost 110 degrees (and this was after six in the evening!)

The salt flats in Badwater Basin, Death Valley, CA. There was a big sign halfway up the cliff behind where we were standing saying "Sea Level" I took some pictures but it's almost too far away to read!

These naturally colored rocks are called the Artist's Palette. This one's for you Mom =)

There are some pretty cool roads in Death Valley. Long and straight, with visibility for miles in all directions. Perfect for testing the top speed of a 300 hp V6 rental car, which incidentally, happens to be 147 mph.

Saturday evening we decided we still had half the weekend ahead of us and continued west to Vegas. We rode the monorail and saw the sites on the strip. There were so many bright flashing lights everywhere I was continually thinking we were getting pulled over. We walked into the MGM Grand hotel and casino. Definitely not my cup of tea, although we did see some interesting things (caged lions- you know when the lion roars sometimes at the beginning of a movie? Well this is them- MGM films). A lot of these hotels have wedding chapels too. I saw one real bride wandering around (by herself) and another girl wearing a white frilly top with "Bride" in silver lettering on it. You couldn't pay me to get married there. Overall I feel I did all right in Vegas though. For $4.50 I got a slice of pizza, and the monorail ticket was $9, so I'm pretty sure I blew a lot less than the geniuses yanking the handles of the slot machines. Somehow they couldn't seem to comprehend a basic point- these things never give out as much money as you put in, or as they say, "the house always wins."

We kept driving west and around midnight found a dumpy little motel to crash at for a few hours. Sunday morning we figured we were so close to AZ, why not? We hit the road again and before long we were at the Hoover Dam and the Arizona border.

The Colorado River at the Hoover Dam (upstream side).

Downstream side. For security reasons they're building a new bridge for the interstate downstream from the dam. You can see the massive concrete pillars going up in this pic (four on the west bank (right side) and one on the east/left side. I have absolutely no idea how they plan on completing the rest of it. It looks to be like a quarter mile drop down to the water from between those bridge pillars. That's either an insane amount of concrete, or they're going to do some sort of suspension bridge.

View of the dam from the east bank. Incredible to think that this was built without most of the machinery and technology that we have today.

A few hundred miles further east we were in Arizona at the Grand Canyon. I can certainly see what all the fuss is about. It was spectacular. What I can't see is how Evel Knievel could have jumped a motorcycle across it. Okay, so I just Googled it and found this interesting article about the Knievel's exploits. http://www.geocities.com/shioshya/knievel.html

I like the contrast between foreground and background. Even so, it's still hard to grasp the vastness of the canyon. I was also was fascinated by how straight and level the canyon rims were (The North rim is at the horizon in these pics. We were at the South rim) despite the varied and jagged topography they contain.

This was a pretty cool spot we found right off one of the hiking trails.

One of the trails that winds down into the canyon. In the middle right of the pic you can see where it tunnels through the rock.

About 2:00 it was time to turn around and head home. We wanted to make it to a mountain pass I had heard about while there was still some daylight left. We got there just at dusk.

This is not just a pretty sunset. It's smoke from a forest fire that started earlier that day. When we stopped the car to get gas a few miles further on, we were blasted by hot smoky wind. The sign still said the Sherman Pass road was open though, so off we went! We didn't end up seeing the fire and it cleared up once we got closer to the other side. (The road is a snowmobile trail in winter, and goes over 9200'!). I read later that about 2500 acres had burned but that it was mostly contained.

Here's our trip by the numbers: 2 days, 1500 miles, 3 states, 3 national parks (not even counting the two closest to home), several national monuments and conservation areas, and
a boatload of fun. (Oh, and 1 black bear in the mountains and 2 coyotes in the desert!) I'd never seen Death Valley, the Hoover Dam, or the Grand Canyon before. I definitely feel like I got a taste of the Southwest, and though I'm becoming more familiar with the Sierras, this was my first trip to the Eastern side of the range.

recent adventures, SMR update

Seems like I've been in the mountains all but one or two weekends the last couple of months, and I'm still not tired of them. (This past weekend my friend Mark and I took off for a crazyfun road trip that will have to get its own separate post once I organize the pictures.) The other day I drove an hour into the foothills by myself to swim in the river , see if I could start a fire without matches or a lighter (I succeeded with flint, but still haven't gotten a flame with the bow and stick method), and do some target shooting. My friend Ronnie invited me to go kayaking with him on the holiday weekend, and it was an absolute blast. I didn't get any pictures, but I did manage to stay upright most of the time which was a definite plus. I can't wait to get my own boat and learn more about the sport. Some of the best whitewater in the US is right here in the Southern Sierra. On the 19th and 20th of last month The Tulare County Sherriff's Dept organized May Days, the big mock Search and Rescue event for the spring. Sequoia Mountain Rescue conducted two rescue missions. The first scenario involved an injured aircraft pilot/passenger whose parachute hung up in a tree and left him hanging about 30 feet off the ground. The second mission involved rescuing an injured climber off of Dome Rock, the same place I went climbing several weeks earlier. SMR's performance wasn't flawless, but we did pretty well. I was just glad for the opportunity to observe and participate even though I'm still in training.

I got to do a nearly 600' rappel and ascent.

This was taken looking nearly straight up. It looks like I'm just standing there, but you can tell it's a high angle environment because of the way the rope dangles below me.

I just thought this was a cool shot of part of our anchor system, a figure eight on a bight backed up with a barrel knot.

We camped at the Peppermint Campground. At over 7000 feet, it got surprisingly cold at night! Here SMR team members huddle around the fire in down jackets and hats. Hard to believe we were sweating in 90 degree temps and using our AC's down in the Valley the day before.



This is a Huey chopper the Navy flew in from the China Lake Naval Air Station on the east side of the Sierra. If you look through the cockpit you can see the Blackhawk the National Guard brought in to assist (yeah, there were a lot of agencies involved over the weekend).

Here's the California Highway Patrol CHP chopper taking off.

Apparently the Discovery Channel is putting together a show about search and rescue. This film crew interviewed several of our members and shadowed us for much of the day.

This was our first mission, something SMR has never encountered or trained for- a tree rescue.

"The IQ of room temperature..."

I heard somebody's intelligence described in that way recently, and it made me laugh. It also made me think of myself. Here's the deal: occasionally I get bored late at night. In Pennsylvania this problem was usually solved by pranking Mom and Dad in some way when they're exhausted and trying to go to bed. When I lived in Virginia I once decided to go for a walk late at night. This seemingly innocuous idea ended up with me hiding behind a tree in somebody's yard with the dog going crazy and the homeowner trying to figure out what the commotion outside was all about. Then there was the time I got ditched by my friends on the roof of the old burnt-out hotel we were exploring because the cops showed up. A couple weeks ago I found some of those plastic zip ties. I brought a few home thinking they might come in handy if I ever needed to restrain an intruder until the police arrived. Obviously I had to confirm that they were suited to this purpose (late at night of course). Using my teeth I tightened that sucker down on both wrists, and was able to positively confirm that yes- zip ties make great restraints. Lucky for me my toolbox was right in the coat closet. Unfortunately I found that front end nippers aren't easily manipulated when you're holding them between your knees.

Around midnight last night the boredom again struck, and I decided to go outside and review technical rope skills in the tree outside my apartment. There's a big Oak tree in the few feet between the building and the parking lot, and it's a little ways off the sidewalk so I hoped to remain unnoticed. I mean, it was the middle of the night- who in their right mind would be up and about at that hour? Well for some odd reason the boredom apparently wasn't limited to Apartment 78A- several of my neighbors decided it was time to go out. The first guy out got into his car right on the other side of the fence from where I was crouched. He couldn't see me, but the rope dangling down near the side of the building was clearly visible above the fence. The car started- I tensed and waited, causing the rope I was already tethered into to wiggle some more. The car door opened again and he got out. Game's up, I thought- but no- he got back in and drove off. A few minutes later I was 25 feet off the ground and feeling smug about my extreme stealthiness when the flashing lights of a squad car cruised down the road and slowed in front of my building. The officer pulled onto my street and stopped, and I just knew that sneaky low-down neighbor of mine had called in a report of a burglary in progress at my apartment complex. Amazingly though, I realized that the cop wasn't there for me. He was actually pulling somebody over.

At this point I'd had enough of the drama. It was time to switch over from my ascenders to a rappel and get back inside before my rap device earned me an actual rap sheet. Technically I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I highly doubt whether anyone would have believed me. I know I wouldn't have. I'd have nodded and smiled, then dialed 911 asap. "Hello 911? I'd like to report a white male, late 20's, near the roof of the apartment building...." I was just starting to rappel when another guy came out. No problem, I was well up in the tree and I'd just wait for him to leave and then continue. The only hitch in my plan was that he wouldn't leave. He got something out of his trunk, threw some trash in the dumpster, had a smoke leaning against the side of his car, talked on his cell phone, went back to the dumpster. You get the idea. The minutes dragged on as I hung limply from my harness, maintaining tension on the Munter Hitch I was using to rappel. I finally decided I didn't want to be there all night and determined to shoot for a fast rappel while his back was turned. I made it down a few feet, just below the cover of the leaf canopy, when his girlfriend decided to come out and join the fun. I mean, what better place and time to have an argument with your significant other than in the parking lot of your apartment complex at midnight, right? So much for my get-away plan. His back was to me, but she was facing directly towards me. Not only that, but she too had a cigarette, and was doing that thing smokers do, where they take a long drag on the cigarette and then tilt their head back to blow the smoke up in the air. She was looking RIGHT AT ME. I hung there silent and motionless, wishing I had the power to disappear. An 11 millimeter static line isn't much to hide behind. I was fully prepared for the inevitable at any second- a scream followed by- "oh my gosh there's a BODY HANGING FROM THAT TREE!" I had no particular desire to be tied up (har har) in a homicide investigation any more than a burglary.

I couldn't go back up- too much movement and noise to rig the ascenders. I couldn't go down- if they didn't' believe my story I'd be spending the night downtown answering questions. Even if they did believe me, it would still be my most embarrassing moment ever ("how long have you been up there listening to us?" etc. You get the idea).

There's a malady among climbers and cavers called Harness Hang Syndrome (HHS). The basic idea is that as long as you're moving around in a harness, you're fine, but if you hang motionless you will go into hypovolemic shock, lose consciousness and die, sometimes within mere minutes. It's actually true: http://www.texasroperescue.com/library/Harness%20Hang%20Syndrome.htm. Now I don't want to alarm anybody, but this entire post is a dramatization of a silly predicament, so why not go all the way with it. I'm not exactly saying I was at death's door, but I will say that I was not comfortable. The minutes felt like hours. My legs and back were tense and aching, and my arm was tired from holding tension on the rappel. Every time I loosened my grip even a little I'd slide down the rope another inch or two, causing the branch to which the rope was anchored to shake.

For some inexplicable reason I escaped detection. The argument ended with the dude storming off and his girlfriend following. Needless to say I wasn't waiting around to see if they'd come back or who else would show up. I staged an immediate extraction from the roof of the laundry room- I retrieved my gear and made a beeline for my apartment, slamming the door with a euphoric feeling that I had gotten very very lucky. Maybe I wasn't actually as exposed as I felt. Fortunately I had hauled up the tail end of the rope below me- I'm sure that would have been a dead giveaway. And I gotta say it was pretty cool acting all special ops commando with my black gloves and technical gear. It felt like those old war movies where the good guys swoop in from above on the ignorant and unsuspecting guards enjoying a cigarette down below.

Did I learn a valuable lesson from this? You bet- I'm going to bed at 9:30 tonight.

Half Dome

Despite the impression you may get from this blog, CA actually isn't all rugged mountains and scenic coastline. In fact, I should probably post pics of some dilapidated gas stations next to abandoned warehouses, or ugly billboards towering above brown, charred fields, just to balance things out. Nevertheless, I got the chance to visit Yosemite again on Saturday (with five other Oak Brook attorneys from different parts of the Valley), and was blown away by the beauty once again.

Good view of Half Dome from the trail

There are cables anchored to the rock for the final 300 yards.

Someone was feeding a Marmot (something you shouldn't do).

The Cliffs of Insanity. Incontheivable!!

I arrived on top just as this client was finishing a guided climb of the Northwest face that took around 3 days. I offered to e-mail him some pictures, which I'm sure he'll be glad to have.

I'm standing here on what's called the Springboard, or the Devil's Pulpit. (I've heard both.)

Here's part of our group on the descent. 17 miles round trip with 4,000' of elevation gain was enough to wear everybody out!

Mist at the base of Nevada Falls

View from the top of Vernal Falls. (M & D, you may recognize the spot where we turned back when you visited. See the big dead tree? =)

The Mist Trail descending from Vernal Falls.

O Lord my God,
When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art!

words & music by Carl G. Boberg and R.J. Hughes