Mono Lake

The overcast skies prevented a spectacular sun rise over the lake. But what got me awake was the serenity. The entire lake was quiet until after the sun came up and the gulls went on a feeding frenzy by 7:30am. This lake is three times saltier than the Pacific ocean; other than brine shrimp there's not much to eat bu apparently there are enough brine shrimp to feed quite a few birds. Up to 90% of all of California's gulls are hatched here and fly westward to the ocean.

It looked like rain but none ever came. By 11am the people started coming, ruining my tranquility but by then I had done plenty of walking and photographing and needed a break. From the western to the southern shore, I went everywhere, to the South Tufa pinacles to the Panum crater and in the late afternoon, back to Mammoth Lakes for a dinner at Roberto's. I even got ahold of Kevin, who returned Thursday so that means the dogs were only alone for 24 hours. The monsoon started that day, too and it's been raining ever since.


(More later)

Highway 395

I slept soundly over night. Nothing got me up but the sun. I gassed up and started my drive. The most southern part of Highway 395 outside of Hesperia where the route begins isn’t all that impressive. This is mostly a dry area of power plants, ghost towns, sun-burned small homes, power lines and truck traffic as it bisects the Mohave desert. Joshua trees spot the desert and the low-lying hills to the east hug the fog in the early morning, but scenic this road certainly is not, at least not here. One has to look closely at the finer detail to see pictoresque, unique objects because the colors all blend into one rather dull shade of sand.

It got hot fast here. My van registered a low tire but I didn’t check it out any further. I called Darlene as I neared the ghost town of Orchalla. She had never heard of it. “You have to stop in Bishop and see that photography gallery!” but once I got into town, didn’t see it and drove on.

The transition from desert to mountains is not noticable at first because the northern edge of the Mohave desert lingers here. Eventually the hills become sharper and the wide valley narrowed, until a distinctive river formsd between the highway and the nearby mountain rainge. Cottonwoods, always an arbiter of underground water, popped up as well. Snow topped the higher peaks, but the peaks still remain treeless. Even at 4000 feet the high ground is treeless, a reminder that one is still in the desert.

I stopped for an hour at the old Manzanar Japanese internment camp. In 1942 this now little-known camp was one of ten internment camps for Japanese Americans. At its peak there were 11,070 Japanese-Americans kept here, most of them who had been born IN this country. Barbed wire surrounded this camp and a rigid daily schedule was adhered to. The last Japanese left in November 1945 and all that remains now of Manzanar is the dance hall, which is now the museum, and a make-shift guard tower one sees from the highway. Allegedly Italian and Germans were also held here in much smaller numbers, but the museum is "still working on" that subject.

I listened to the videos and reflected on this country's unfair social practices as I walked along the displays. I had never heard of Manzanar until I watched Ken Burn's recent documentary on our national parks. I wanted to check out this site on my own and I am glad I did. There were Asians in the crowd as they silently walked along the displays; I wonder what their thoughts were on this place.

I quietly drove on after my short visit. This valley is hot, dusty and windy in the summer and unbearably cold in the winter. Without water from the mountain creeks to irrigate from, this would be unsuitable for farming as well.

Lone Pine, Big Pine and Bishop were the three decent towns along Hwy 395. Mount Whitney's base rose from Lone Pine to the west (you can't actually see the peak from there) but the terrain didn’t start to rise until north of Bishop, when barren mountain peaks gave way to red fir-studded crags. Now this was the stuff that perked me up! These were all tourist towns, popular with both PCT hikers and motorcyclists.

My goal now was to get to Mammoth Lakes and drop off a resupply package for myself at Reds Meadow, where we'll be at on 18 July. This required me to take a park shuttle that meandered down and up a steep park road with views of the Minaret Peaks, Devil’s Posthole and Reds Meadow. This area is rife with avalanches in the winter, as the driver pointed out several blown-away mountain sides as we drove on. I got off at Reds Meadow, paid my $9 storage fee and hiked down to Rainbow Falls and then continued on to Posthole and Minaret Falls, adding another five miles today to my day hikes. There were quite a few people on the wide trails today. A 1992 fire burned a lot of the top trees near the waterfall and no new growth seemed to take over here, creating an open, exposed area that seemed quite hot even at 4pm as I started this hike.

I made it back to the 6:30pm shuttle, on which three Marylander students came on who are hiking the JMT as well. They started on 30 June and are hiking 8-9 miles a day. “We’ve hiked over 100 side miles already” said the man in front of me. When they learned that I was from AZ the man across from me asked me “What is it you Arizonans hate about Mexicans?” referring to that SB1070 law. I explained that it wasn’t against Mexicans, it was against the drug runners and smugglers who had been taking advantage of Arizona’s lax laws for too long. The border crime has simply gotten out of hand. I seem to have convinced him that the SB1070 is not meant to be a racist law, but people can and do see racism in this law, especially if they don't live in Arizona. Since California fortified its border south of San Diego, the illegals that were flooding the state in the 1980s and 1990s simply moved the crossing points further east, to Arizona, where border enforcement was always intermittent at best until recently.

Dinner once again was at a Carl's Jr where I also sat down to write my blog notes and download pics. The town of Mammoth Lakes was scenic enough, even genuine, but it was getting cold now at the 8000' elevation and I needed to get downhill where it was warmer, for the night. I found a spot in Lee Vining, with a view of Mono Lake, for the night. A moonless night kept this a dark but starry night. My plan is to get up at sunrise and watch the sun rise over Mono Lake. The color schemes allegedly are a photographer's dream.

Leaving Arizona

I just couldn't get up and leave. My delay helped as I was able to find my iPod and my notebook, which will come in handy with downloading photographs and updating this blog.

I finally left the house at 11:18am, knowing the drive through Phoenix would be hot and miserable. The dogs had no clue I was leaving as I didn’t make a big deal. The one thing I felt a little bad about is that none of them got walked in two days; the heat was too much and I had too much to do in the evenings. Pache has our bedroom all to himself. At least I know the birds and lizards in the backyard are safe and so is he.

It was 82F when I left, but it topped off at 113F when I pulled over briefly in Phoenix to rest a bit. There was already so much traffic there at 1pm. The AC couldn’t keep me cool. It was like being back in Baghdad again: I could feel myself sweat and my clothes were sticking to me.

I dreaded driving through Phoenix and regretted not having taken I-8 to Gila Bend and then AZ Hwy 85 to I-10, bypassing the greater Phoenix area altogether. The city slowed me down, and Baseline Road is now a congested stop-and-go boulevard full of oversized single-family homes kvetched next to other homes. No one in Phoenix seems to want a big yard; it's all about the house. The Gila Indian Reservation on the west side of town, however, breaks up the monotony when run-down, cracked and littered box houses of the reservation come up.

I have driven this stretch of I-10 before to Quartzite, in early 2009, but this time the wintering Midwesterners and their RVs were mostly gone. Quartzite, on the Colorado River, swells to over a million people during the winter, but today it was a quiet rest stop town with empty RV lots, closed rock stores, dusty side roads and political campaign signs.

Once I crossed into California, though, it seems as if the desert expanded and oversized cars were everywhere. Gasoline shot up 50 cents as well. I now was going to drive as far as I could before sunset. I was nowin unexplored territory.

The Mohave desert here and the Mountains on either side were treeless but were of such pretty pink that the barren rocks were pictoresque. I wouldn't want to hike them in the dead of summer, but a winter hike would be nice. I'd even consider the Salton Sea Recreation area as a winter vacation.

The wide valley slowly narrowed as I was ascending, driving in a southwesterly direction. When I neared the town of Indio in the valley, the now red mountains and the tall date palms rose from all directions. I thought of Erin here, as she likes palm trees and the town, although clearly a working Hispanic town, was very much “southern Californian.” Indio is the self-named “Date Capital of the World” and is on the northern banks of the Salton Sea. It is also a towm of mostly Native Americans and Mexicans.

I couldn’t find the nice part of town except for a two-block artsy section that was too fancy for me. My dinner tonight was at a Carl’s Jr with a chicken sandwich, where again I was the lone Anglo until another couple came in. The blonde woman looked approvingly at me as if our shared whiteness gave us unity, although I was comfortable in the restaurant. They were waiting on the local bus. Dressed in a white sleeveless shirt, the woman seemed restless. “I felt that earthquake yesterday!” she said, referring to the 5.4 earthquake from yesterday. They soon left when their bus arrived. I had dinner in silence.

It was dark now and I wasn’t sure where to go. Highway 111 took me west into Palm Desert and then Palm Springs, and all I could see were resort golf courses and lighted mansions in the hills to my south. Extreme decadence. Even the palm trees were lighted along the road. Calling this area Palm Desert and Palm Springs was well-deserved. Other than acacia trees, I didn't see any other species of tree.

I came across a street fair in Palm Springs as I rode into town. This was a perfect opportunity to get some walking in and see the town, try out my new Canon S90 for night shots. Quite a few blocks of Main Street were blocked to vehicular traffic. It turns out this street fair is every Thursday all year long, according to the shop owner of “Life is Good” in town. All sorts of dates, local candies, art products and clothes were for sale but I got to town as the fair was winding down and even the musicians were grateful for the break. This would have been a nice event to see earlier in the day, as the setting sun reflected off the windows of the resorts.

I always like the unusual displays. Tonight it was a small booth with the banner "Ask a Rabbi." The bearded Gent had a few inquisitors.

There were dogs everywhere, from a small Maltese named “Chiquita Bonita” who walks this fair every Thursday with her proud owner “in a new outfit every week” she added. Some of the shops and outdoor restaurants offered mist for the customers. Even at night it was 82F and I was quite warm when I got back to the van to continue a little further west and north. The lights of the valley were now bright and the nearby hills shadowed in the dark. This was the California I remember. I was now on a four-lane highway. All I needed to hear was the Eagles tun “Take it to the Limit” and my return to this state would be official. My homecoming was rather quiet as it didn't feel like I was gone for so long anyway.

In San Bernadino where I stopped to rest, it was a mere 64F and according to a radio announcer, one of the colder nights this summer for them. I drove 40 miles and went through a 20-degree temperature change!

I spent the night at a rest stop at the start of Highway 395, the edge here of Death Valley. The parking lot was packed with both trucks and vans like mine. I was exhausted by now. I watched a cat stroll near a fenced-in small house on the edge of the property, but I didn't stay up long enough to find out where the cat was heading.
 

California

Once again my departure date was delayed. That probably wasn't so bad because a 5.4earth quake struck near Palm Springs, CA this afternoon.

Erin wrote me asking me for financial help with a dental course this fall and could I help pay for the $1350 tuition? Since stopping by the bank to pay off the credit card was part of the plan anyway, I didn't mind, but left for the bank right away and got there shortly after noon.

From there it was to the PX where I picked up some travel-sized hygiene containers and talked to a saleswoman, Marlene, who may be interested in our hiking club.

From the PX I stopped by the Cochise College computer lab to print out my insurance card. Just my luck I'll get pulled over in California for being an Arizonan. Two days ago I got pulled over for my cracked windshield and was told I had 30 days to get it fixed. Fat chance that's going to happen with me gone three of those four weeks.

"How long has that window been cracked?" the cop asked.
"A long time..." I said, but never revealed it was initially cracked in East Texas driving through a construction zone south of Tyler around midnight. And that was in May 2005.

"No cracks longer than six inches" the cop reminded me. And here I thought as long as the crack didn't interfere with the driver's vision, which it doesn't.

I didn't get back home until after 3pm today. All I had to do now was wait for my UPS package that was due today. According to the tracking record my package left the SV warehouse at 6:18am today and was "in transit." The UPS lady I talked him curtly told me that "we have up to 9pm to deliver packages..."

The package arrived at 7:20pm. By then it was too late to take off and I putzed around. The house is not as neat as I wanted it to be and the dogs are probably going to mess it up somewhere before Kevin gets back from his trip.

I got ahold of Kevin yesterday morning and caught him in Pinetop where he was spending the day. "It was cold here last night!" he told me. I checked the weather for that town and it read an overnight low of 47F. That's not so bad, but the night before it was 62F. Kevin bragged about hearing wolves howl at night, camping in the same general area we had camped out two summers ago near Big Lake. "I'm still trying to see elk!" he sighed. Elk are best spotted right before sunrise as elk like to saunter across foggy meadows at that time and disappear quietly into the dark forest before sunup.

My backpack weighs a shocking 42 pounds. Darlene's is under 30. How did mine get so heavy? The Bearvault alone is a good 15 pounds and I consciously tried to pack no more than two of any piece of clothing. Thank goodness I opted for a Canon S90 instead of my Canon xS as photographic accessory as the xS weighs four pounds, the S90 a half pound. When Darlene, Ray and I meet up at Yosemite/Tuolumne Meadows on the 13th, we will go through our gear and get rid of any excess. I'm leaving a few days earlier to get acclimated to the high elevation there, do a few day hikes and test out my Kaylands. I'm still not sure which shoes to take as there is still quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations of the southern High Sierras.

So, even though the original plan was to make it to Edwards AFB tonight, I will instead leave early tomorrow, hopefully by 6am and head toward Phoenix where I'll get on I-10 westward. I'll be seeing the mountains before sunset.

Too bad I'll miss the World Cup finals. Germany was eliminated today by Spain, this Cup's powerhouse. It was no surprise that Spain beat Germany. What did surprise me is that Germany allowed itself to lose. Now the final will be played on the 11th between Holland and Spain. Seeing either team win will be nice as neither have ever won the Cup before, but I'm going to be cheering for Holland. Kom op, Holland! I even have an orange windbreaker I'm taking along.

I hope the world remains at peace in my absence. Tar balls are now floating ashore in Texas, but that state's beaches are already badly contaminated with oil, what's a few more tar balls?

One thing I've noticed about myself over last summer: I am starting this road trip five pounds lighter and it shows in my stereotypical "last shot before I leave" mug I always take before venturing on long trips. I should lose another ten pounds after I'm done with the John Muir Trail.

I am excited. My dream to walk through the High Sierras is finally coming true, thanks to Darlene. To walk through what John Muir described as "The Range of Light" is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/08/us/08brfs-MODESTQUAKEJ_BRF.html?src=mv&ref=us

To the saddle and up Carr Peak

Distance: 7.8 miles
Elevation: Saddle at 8820', Carr Peak 9100+
Trailhead: Ramsey Vista Campground, 6700'

I finally made it up a peak today and I think I know why I have been so tired and nauseous the last two days: there is a spider bite on my lower left arm! Perhaps I have have had a slight reaction to the toxin?

Sadie and I started our hike at 9:56am. We took our time as it was hot and dry. Sadie did her frolic dance in the parking lot, but within an hour was tired, thirsty and by my side because the first mile is mostly exposed rock. I, too felt slow. It took me over an hour to reach the aspen groves; normally I get there within an hour. I had no time to beat, so I didn't mind being so slow. It was just nice to be on a mountain again. It seems as if I hadn't been on a peak in weeks.

There was no water anywhere on this trail, but I brought plenty for us.

Wildflowers were all in bloom: From sunflowers and Crownbeards to blue Flax and Purple Vervain, Firecracker Penstimon and Cardinal's Cape to a few others I didn't know. The cacti had already bloomed and the red salvias are still waiting. They will boom for me in September. The young aspens were infested with what look like bag worms, though and there were plenty of flying insects in the higher elevation. The humus and soil smell in the aspen grove, though, I find energizing.

I heard all kinds of birds this time, from titmice to red-tailed hawks and hummingbirds. And since there were so many people on the trail, some with small children heading up to Carr Peak, I wanted to give them the right of way and instead of heading up to the peak right away, hiked another 1.5 miles to the Bathtub Springs intersection in the saddle and sat in a shaded overlook to take in the scenery. I never did find the bathtub springs, though, although I recognize the intersection from last year when Sadie and I hiked the Miller Creek trail in the fall.

I hadn't hiked this section from Carr Peak to the tub in five years so it was nice to see Carr and Miller Peaks from the saddle. There were many blow-downs on the Carr side, from the peak trail to the intersection with Miller Creek. We were all alone here, although at one point Sadie took off to bark at someone. I didn't call her name and she came back to me, so I assume whoever she barked at didn't want to be seen. I let it be. This section is still popular with border crossers.

We made it to Carr Peak at 2:45, a late peak for me. But what fun it was to sit there with cliff swallows buzz diving around me! They didn't chirp, they just flew toward me like stealth fighters. By now the blue sky was getting overcast and provided a cool shade for us, allowing us to get back down to the car by 4:30pm. All the hikers who were on the trail were now gone.

I wore my Vasques dayhikers today because I momentarily forgot where my other better boots were (in the garage!). I now have a nickel-sized blister on my right heel and several hotspots.

A change of plans

I never did make it to Flagstaff. I think I had a mild reaction to the Novocaine (or whatever it was) the dentist used on me Friday afternoon: I felt "high" after the 90-minute procedure and the next day woke with another throbbing back ache and a mild stomach ache that's now in its second day. Although 400mg of Motrin took care of the back ache, my stomach is still queasy.

That's when I decided driving to Flagstaff on a holiday weekend was perhaps not a good idea. With the heat and the DUI roadblocks I kept postponing my departure on Saturday until it got so late I no longer saw the reason to go up there for a day only to drive off again a day later. Flagstaff will still be there next month and this way I don't get tired of driving before even leaving for California.

It's probably better so as I've had a better time organizing my gear. Whereas K had his packing list written out and everything neatly stacked and then packed the day before he took off for his hunting trip, I have my gear scattered around the dining area. I am still debating the clothes I should take!

He left yesterday morning. The farewell was bittersweet. I do miss him already, and the bedroom is so eerily quiet as he always has the TV on while sleeping to a DVD. I didn't have the TV on all day today as I spent a good portion of today in bed reading a book I need to read and review for Amazon. A cricket somewhere in the house is the only entertainment for now, although at times I wish Pache would just take me out of my misery and kill that thing.

As I mentally prepare myself for my depature in a few days, I can't help but worry about K. He hasn't been taking his insulin, saying he's cured himself of his diabetes, yet he still shows mild symptoms to me. I don't even know if he has any medication on him. And what if he relapses?

We seldom call eachother when we are on the road, prefering to give each other our privacy. I told him to call me before Wednesday, though, although I know he's in an area where there is no cellphone reception.

Another worry I have about departing and having sporadic cell phone coverage is my mother. It's not so much her health, but her mental health vis a vis her husband, who was diagnosed earlier this year with prostate cancer. Since he is an Iraqi War veteran the VA has determined that his cancer is service-related. And that means he must be treated in a VA hospital if he wants the government to pay for the surgery and medical bills. The earliest surgery date is not until September (for a cancer that was detected in February!) and the latest clue I got about the stage of the cancer is that it's now "im Mittelstadium," or prgressive stage. So although it's not yet stage IV, it's not exactly in its earliest stage, either. I don't exactly feel comfortable with this news. When I told my sister about this, her reply was that she doesn't feel the need to come see her father since she was never close to him in the first place. What if, though, he gets too ill to make it to her wedding later this year?

So instead of Flagstaff I will climb up Carr tomorrow, making it a nice half day workout with Sadie which will give me enough time to clean out the van and pack it the following day. My new Canon S90 should arrive on Tuesday. It will be my official backpacking camera as it weighs a mere six ounces and yet is rated one of the top "advanced-levels point-and-shoots for the serious photographer." Or so says Canon.

The big trip to California does scare me a little. What if I have a serious backache the entire time? I need to remember to take some sort of painkiller, as much as I hate taking medicines.

I still plan on leaving early Wednesday. Weather now looks rainfree. We haven't had any more rain since that short outburst a few days ago. I will take I-10 westbound until it merges with US395, and from there I will be hugging the eastern Sierras all the way into Yosemite. I have always heard such glowing reports about that drive, and when I lived in California so long ago always regretted that I never got to see that view.

Humphreys Peak

My plan was to hike up Humphreys Peak this holiday weekend. However, the 15,075-acre Schultz fire in that mountain range had closed off the entire San Francisco Peaks area. Now the Forest Service, which has declared the Schultz fire 100% contained, has opened the western trails of those mountains, which is where Humphreys is. The peak is the tallest peak in Arizona at 12,433' tall.

I've been wavering back and forth about going to Flagstaff, especially now that thunderstorms are forecasted all weekend. But if I don't at least attempt the peak with my full packpack on, I may be hurting myself later in California.

I plan on taking Sadie with me. She hasn't been excited about her nightly hikes, though. Perhaps because she feels slighted by the other two dogs who seem to want to ignore her. Perhaps the late afternoon heat still tires her out. Or perhaps she just hasn't been feeling well. The only thing she really enjoys eating are raw meats and people food.