More Training Pix

Lately I upped the ante by increasing the frequency of hiking and climbing. Yosemite, Mt Tallac, Mt Rainier, Mt Tallac again and upcoming Mt Whitney. Hopefully I'll be in even better shape by the time South Pole expedition takes place

Mt Rainier (9/7/2009)

Mt Tallac (9/19/2009)

Commitment

I finally sent the huge check to ANI on Monday last week. Although this is supposedly to be a great news but the stress from a loan/spending this kind of money in one shot definitely overwhelmed my excitement. It took me a few days to slowly digest the matter.

So I'm fully commited.

There's only one direction I'm looking at now: The South Pole.

I just want to let everyone know I am still looking for sponsorship. Do let me know if you know one. Any tip/lead is really appreciated.

Weekend Pics

Yosemite:

Me at the Upper Yosemite Fall trail head

Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley

View from the top

Half Moon Bay:

Get ready for the beach

Carry the tire

Beach walk

Pull

A small hill to climb

Maneuver

Successfully pull the (darn) tire to the top

Weekend Activities

Weekends are for training as usual, i.e. hiking and tire pulling. This weekend was a little more fun.

I decided to go Yosemite National Park with my friend Peter, hiking up to the Upper Yosemite Fall. While this is not the most challenging hike in Yosemite for most people, it is for me because I had my 40 lbs backpack. Most people bring two or 3 bottles of water and snack which usually weight a less than 10 pounds.

The trail is 3.5 miles, with 2700 feet elevation gain. Average person can do it from 6-8 hours round trip. Upper Yosemite Fall trail is steeper than Mission peak which is 2.8 miles and gains 2100 ft.

We started out Friday after work, drove to Groveland, one hour away from the park. We got lost a little but managed to reach to our motel at 11:30pm. Earlier in the week we couldn't book a cheap room so we decided to sleep in a tent the motel offered. Apparently a lot of people do that too, to save some cash.

Saturday morning we got inside the park by 8. The park was pretty empty. We were told it would get packed later in the day. I couldn't complain. It was nice with less people.

We got to the trail head at 9 exactly. After a few photo ops, we started hiking. At first the weight seemed ok for me. I was used to it. But boy, about half way, the sun was out and it was hot, right at the section there was no shade. I was dying pretty much. At the beginning, we try to make a steady pace, and have 10 mins breaks every 50 mins. After the 3rd one, I requested more frequent stops. Good thing Peter drank a lot of water but that didn't help too much off loading the weight on my back. He asked me jokingly why I was torturing myself and that he found such a great deal on this trip. Usually carrying water up the trail is a big thing for people. I carried all our water (obviously) and when he finished his, I just refilled his. Never have to go stingy on water! About 2/3 of the way, i was pretty drag my foot. I was in exhaustion and Peter suggested me to dump some water. I refused. We finally made it to the top by 1:15. Man, it was such a relief, literally :) I could finally take off my backpack and lie down on the rock. Such a great bed at that moment.

We stayed there at the top of the fall for one hour and 15 mins to lunch and rest and enjoy the view. Beautiful view from the top though it could get better if there was sunshine.

On the way down, while I had no issue (now that my backpack was half the weight as I had dumped the some water), Peter was in misery. His knees couldn't cope very well with the descending, especially on the rocky trail like this one. It was his turne to request frequent stops.

We finally reach to the trail head at 5. We were glad with the result, though this trip was not to time ourselves, not with the backpack I had anyway. Peter runs but doesn't hike so this was his big one since forever.

We stayed Sat night in Groveland again. We took it easy as the town has nothing to offer.

This morning we drove back to the Bay area to "my" training beach. I told my friends how people react when they see me pulling the tire but none had joined me to the beach until today. As usual, some people looked and we ignored them, some were curious and talked to me. It's just part of the routine and in fact it makes the training less boring :)

Because this time I was with someone, I had a lot of pictures taken. I'll post some pictures and video of the hike and the beach tomorrow when download them to my computer.

All in all, hiking national park and beach bumming in one weekend is not too shabby, eh.

Fund Finding

The biggest challenge is getting funded for the trip. I haven’t done much on sponsorship. This year in particular is not a good year to go around asking for money to get a person to an unimaginable place. So if I want to go, I have to explore other options. I am exploring getting a loan. I am trying to work out the details on this plan, how much financial risk I can take and how I am going to pay back, and that how much it will affect me. I must have everything worked out by the end of the first week of Sept, before the deadline to send ANI the big cheque.

Let me tell you, finding funds is no fun.

Beachcombing

Part of my training is pulling a tire (or two). I have been slacking in this department but the trip is not too far away. I really have to get back to tire pulling training. So I went to Half Moon Bay yesterday.

It was such a beautiful day, not too hot (high 70's ~ 26C). There was heavy traffic to the beach at 2pm when I went there. I spent like 20 mins driving around along CA Highway 1 to scout for a relatively empty beach to pull the tire. Last time I did, people really looked at me weird. I did not want to explain to people what I am doing so an empty beach would be nice. Also I don't have to run into people or dogs every few steps. I finally found this beautiful spot, quite empty.

I donned my long sleeve shirt, attached my hiking pants' legs, slipped my feet inside the almost-6 lbs mountaineering shoes, applied some sun screen and voila I was ready for my first day back to pulling.

An ugly picture of me. You can see how empty the beach is

Along Northern California beaches are cliffs. This one is no exception. The access to the beach is quite steep, especially when you have stiff mountaineering shoes and carrying a tire. I managed to come down fine.

There was just a few people on the beach. Some with dogs. I started to pull the thing. I was surprised I didn't find it too bad as the last time I tried it. Maybe I have improved a lot? I combed the beach back and forth for about 1 hour 15 mins and I wasn't dead tired. I was very happy about it. Next time I probably could attach some weight to the tire or maybe add another one.

As I moved along the beach, there was a few people looked at me but I ignored them. But when I finished with my laps, I ran into this couple. The wife asked me what I was training for. I said to simulate pulling a sled. She then went on asking where I was going. I told her about my plan to the South pole. They showed their surprise and interest and asked me a lot questions. They seemed to be the active kind. The husband did some winter camping in Maine and the wife really worked out quite a bit. Anyway, they wished me luck when they left. I do need it in the Antarctica.

I have a tiny video clip. Enjoy the beach :)

Beachcombing