John Muir Trail Completed

I recently completed the 220 mile John Muir Trail through the Sierra Nevada range. I had been planning this hike for several years. Since my daughter died in June 2010, it became a memorial hike for her. Nancy hiked the first three days with me from Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows and then I was alone for 17 days before I met up with my cousins Patrick and his wife Laura, Sheila, and their friend Jeff. It took us three days to hike from the Kearsarge Trail Junction to the top of Mt. Whitney. It was an awesome and memorable experience and one that I would have gladly shared with Maren. I'm saddened by her death, but moving on to live a full and exciting life.

Join me on a hike/backpack sometime! I may repeat the JMT in 2012 now that I know how to do it! I met one woman on the trail who has hiked it 15 times - eleven in a row!!!

Ozark Trail Winter 2009

Interesting way to start 2009 by hiking 15 miles of the Ozark Trail! It was a fun hike, but much more demanding than we anticipated. There was still so much ice on the trail - it was quite difficult to get up the north slopes - in fact Nancy had to crawl up one of the first hills.



On Day two we had to ford more crazy streams that had become emboldened by the melting snow and ice making the crossings very cold if not hazardous. We managed to survive without incident other than getting a bit wet and cold and having to remove our boots to make the crossing.

Last Long Hike of 2008 - Wind River Range

Nancy and I did 6 days in the Wind River mountains in September. It had been 4 years since Peter was there on a NOLS course and it was another spectacular hike through gorgeous scenery and lots of trout to catch. It was just the two of us this trip and it had been awhile since we had hiked without others - it was nice, but we still like having other people to share such spectacular beauty with.

We hiked into Titcomb Basin after two days of walking - it was as spectacular as other trip reports we had read....what do you think?

We hiked up to Mistake Lk to try to catch the ellusive golden trout - but we obviously didn't have the right flies although we saw many large fish cruising the shore lines and feeding. We had stopped at a fly shop in Pinedale, but that didn't help either! We did talk to a couple of other hikers two days later at Island Lk and they said they had caught some nice goldens at Mistake on spin cast equipment - ok we're taking a spincast rod next trip!

For our next trip we are planning on circumnavigating Mt. Rainier on the Wonderland trail - planning 10-14 days - don't want to struggle too much and yet don't want to lay around all day either....we're still thinking about it. We won't have to send in for permits until springs. If you're seriously interested, let us know.

Last pic for today is Island Lake just south of Titcomb Basin and another gorgeous high alpine area with lots of trout in the lakes....we did catch brookies to eat every day here....nice to have brought the frying pan with lots of butter.....hmmmmmm!

2008 Hiking

Our first 2008 hike consisted of a trip to the Sierras with Peter, Nancy, Mike, Erin, Maren, and Vikram. We had a great time. Our plan was to hike a loop trail starting at Twin Lakes (eastern Sierra) and go past the great slide after mule pass onward to burro pass and then into the heart of northern Yosemite NP and then back to Twin Lakes via Peeler Lake. After two days we realized that given Mike's timetable (he had to be back to catch a flight to Boston) that we probably wouldn't make it that many miles....so we backtracked from burro pass to Crown and then Peeler Lakes. We still had a marvelous time and the scenery was as to be expected in the high Sierras - just wonderful.

Hiking from the eastern Sierra is a bit more demanding than coming in from the west due to the steepness of the trails and topography. I'll bet the dayhike to Mt. Whitney is quite a challenge from Whitney portal!!!

We so much enjoy the Sierras (beautiful Robinson Lake at the left) - they are just very special mountains and the climate is usually so pleasant and enjoyable in the late summer and early fall. This year was not much of an exception but for one night below burro pass when we thought the gods were quite angry as they rained lightning and thunder on us for a couple hours - Nan and I had to laugh because we were both counting from flash to thunder to see how close the threat was to us - I think the closest we counted was 3 seconds! Still - quite amazing display of nature's power in the high alpine environment of the Sierras mountains. There was a pretty good rain too - but we were all snug in out tents and no worse for the wear the next morning when we all crawled out.

Below is a picture of Nancy just after peaking out on Mule Pass - heading down into the valley below - Slide Canyon to the right, Little Slide Canyon to the left in the photo.

You have to admit - the scenery is quite spectacular!

On to the next hike......

End of 2007 - Minarets

After out hike to the Grand Canyon in the spring, we headed back to the Sierras in September to hike with Mike and Lucy again. This time we had planned to do part of the Roper High Sierras Route as described by Doyle Donahoo on his website Sierrattrails.com; great Sierras hiking web site...please donate some money to him if you enjoy reading about hiking in the high sierras.

We started at Devil's Postpile and hiked west to near the Minarets (great book about Starr dying on Clyde Minaret "Lost in the Minarets"). Lucy and Mike made it up to Nancy Pass on a day hike, Nancy and I spent that day hiking into the Beck Lakes drainage. We ate trout from Superior Lake and had another great trip although it started out snowy and cold - it turned into a beautiful Indian Summer in the High Sierras.

Wow! I haven't posted to this blog is sometime! Just too busy I guess. Nancy and I moved to Missouri in 2007 and have busy fixing up the new nest.

We have not stopped hiking however.

After our trip to Mexico (the last post on here). We hiked in the Grand Canyon again

- Thunder River Trip down the rugged Bill Hall Trail with Maren, Sara, and Lucy. The five of us had a great trip in a gorgeous part of the GC. We also spent a couple nights at Toroweap - a spectacular area of the Arizona strip at the western end of the GC National Park - a very special place to say the least.

Mexico 2007

Another great trip to the Riviera Maya. Nan and I spent a week on the beach in exploring a few Mayan ruins - Tulum. We wandered around Playa del Carmin as well. Fun place to be when its snowing like hell in the midwest!!!

Welcome!!!

This blog is going to primarily be about Hiking in the USA (I might digress and throw in another trip or two!). Hope you enjoy and feel free to post comments and make suggestions.

Nancy and I enjoy backpacking in many of the great National Parks of the US as well as National Forests. We day hike a lot as well, but really look forward to those extended trips where we carry all we need on our backs for 5 or more days.

We are enchanted by the Grand Canyon and desert hiking, but have found a new spiritual connection with the Sierra Nevada range as well....who wouldn't? The place is just so spectacular that you finally realize why everyone wants to live in CA!!! Fortunately, we are not that enamored with all the people, crowds, traffic and congestion. We'll probably stay in the midwest and enjoy visiting as often as we can.

On our life lists are the following longer hikes:

John Muir Trail (JMT) - from Yosemite to Mt. Whitney (220 mi or so)
The Wonderland Trail - circumnavigating Mt. Ranier (90 miles or so)
Trekking in the Hindu Kush, Nepal and the Everest region.
Machu Pichu and the Incan Empire - Peru
Patagonia - trekking in this remote region will be a challenge - the fly fishing should be spectacular!

That's enough to get us started and keep us in shape!

Get on your treadmill, bicycle or whatever it takes to keep your ass young and hard and come join us on one of our adventures!

Next multiday trip: Rim to rim at the Grand Canyon May 2006.
Next next trip: Back to the Sierras - something in the Mineral King area. Have a suggestion for a 5 day backpack? Will you join us? Get turned on - read the book "Lost in the Minarets".

Peter