2001 Sierra Trip – Photos & Narrative
This trip marked the demise of my beloved Olympus XA rangefinder camera. Many of the pictures on this page are soft. I have since replaced the XA with a new camera, an Olympus 3.3 Megapixel C-3000 Zoom. Not as light or easy to use as the old rangefinder, but the digital camera makes loading up photos on to a web page a lot easier. With a 128 Mb of SmartMedia, I can take over 170 3.3 MP pictures. 2015 Note: my how things have changed in the digital world! |
Kevin fishing the evening hatch at a remote back country lake. |
Traveling ultralight on some smooooth granite: Kevin, Colin and Silvio. |
Trekking poles make kicking steps a breeze on a late season snow field |
The brothers at the summit. I always love a picture with a glacier in it. |
On top of the world, or at least our part of it. From left to right, Kevin, Silvio, and Adventure Alan. |
On our way down. Easy walking along a granite ridge |
Camp mid-trip. The clouds are the very beginning of a huge cold front blowing through.Notice the neat two tarp pitch using two trekking poles and a stick (far left). We never got rain but had a very hard frost overnight. This was the morning that we went for the very early, very frosty swim. |
Father and son enjoying a very cold water but what a bathtub! |
Some of the weight savers on the trip. From L to R, Barricade Food Can, less food (inside the can), light plastic cup, SnowPeak Giga stove with homemade heat shield and windscreen, Primus 450 g fuel canister, titanium cup, 1.9 L ti pot, 2.5 L Platypus reservoir. |
The hike out on the last day. Last big mountain lake <sigh>. Colin, AA, and Silvio in a communal hug. Next stop the ice cream stand at the Tourist Lake From Hell (TLFH). At the TLFH Kevin went on a 20 minute rant about power boats, SUV’s, summer homes, and mass consumer culture. Can’t blame him. It’s such a shock to the system after 7 days in the high country. |
Colin strolling into camp. We got done hiking by 1 or 2 in the afternoon most days. |
Enjoying the last bit of alpenglow glow and staying warm my a 8 oz Cirrus vest and 8 oz Montane Sirocco Smock. We saved over 5 lb. per person on clothing this trip. We were never cold. |
Colin and Silvio heading back to lunch after filtering water. |
Kevin running a streamer through a deep pool. As usual he’s hoping to entice a large trout. |
Kevin leaning against his rod case and looking very philosophical. Not! I guarantee you that he is intently looking at the obvious drop off for large cruising trout. The aluminum rod case served double duty as Kevin’s walking staff for the trip. |
Pitching the tarps as the winds pickup and the cold front comes rolling through. Notice the windward pullouts in the middle of the 10×10 Oware tarp. Lee edge is raised to for ventilation. |
Adventure Alan enjoying a mid-trip layover day and fishing his heart out. This lake held some very, VERY nice fish. Put that streamer over the drop off and strip, strip, strip…. BANG! |
Colin had a touch of trail sickness mid-trip. I got up, gave him two ibuprofen, and threw my bag over his. You can see he is warm and resting peacefully. Who wouldn’t the both a Marmot Hydrogen and Western Mountaineering Ultralight sleeping bag over you. Note the Photon light, Swiss Army Classic knife, and small whistle all on a lanyard by his head. The kid knows the drill! |
Kevin making a long cast on a windy day. High altitude lakes are often difficult to fish in the middle of the day because of they are unprotected from strong afternoon winds. |
In fine spirits and winding our way up to a rocky “pass.” |
Kevin and Silvio skirting a small lake as we navigate our way cross country. Kevin was disappointed that this lake held no fish. Nice weed population though, and probably a good breeding habitat for the endangered Yosemite Toad. |
Father and son getting ready for steep cross country descent. |
It’s a delight traveling across large granite slabs. |
Colin in a pensive moment at the end of the day. |
A cheerful conversation over the morning’s tea. |
A very windy afternoon. My hair is blowing straight back. I need the Montane shell to stay warm. |
A refreshing swim after a hot 2,500 foot climb. |
Silvio doing what the likes most, going to every snow field I had to walk him across a big moraine to get to this one. |
Silvio and Colin hanging out after dinner. This was a deep canyon and quickly got dark. You can still see alpenglow on the peak at the end of the canyon. |
Silvio having a sunny breakfast on a warm rock. The drying clothes are Kevin’s. He took an unexpected and fully clothed plunge into the nearby stream. As usual, concentrating a bit too much on the fish and not his feet! |
Alpine meadow and stream meanders. |
A drying lake. Lots of great tadpoles. And lots of fresh bear prints in the mud. |
Too cute for words. Kevin and Silvio sharing a cup of tea. |
The End! |
Your site is saving me at least 100 hours of researching all these subjects on my own. Getting ready for 3 months of trekking in the Alps has never been so easy. I can focus on trail and rifugio preferences rather than gear research. Have you tried the My Trail packs? And the best part-confirmation that the Gaia app will truly do the job well rather than spending $700 on a Fenix 5x.
Thanks so much.
Hi Lacy. So glad you found the site useful. And three months in the Alps is fantastic. Jelly! Wishing you some great trekking. Warmest, -alan