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

Misc.

I haven't posted as much as I want to lately. Been so busy with work project. Finally one was done last Friday but a new one started today, lots of new material to digest. Its good to be busy in recession, as everyone says.

I still stick with my training program, at least trying to. Still climb the boring stairmaster, lift some weight and hikings on the weekend. Yesterday I carried almost 45 lbs (20.5 kg) of weight to Mission Peak. It was pretty hot but I started out early at 7:30 so it wasn't too bad. There was a little bit of breeze so it helped tremendously. This time around I learned my lesson, carry cold water. I put lots of ice in the two bottles. It definitely felt good to drink cold fluid on a hot trail. With all that, I managed to cut down the time to the peak by 30 mins. Still have a lot of room for improvement but I wasn't panting to go up. I did make a few quick stops for snacks and drinks. Some people jokingly asked me if I planned to stay up there for a week. The pack is half of my height and not too far from half of my weight! Some people got heat stroke or got prolem hiking up without a backpack. Ambulance sighting on the trail is not unusual. A few weeks ago, I even spotted a helicopter come for a rescue (see videos)





But yesterday there was this little kid, around 8 years old made it to the top with his dad and uncle. Amazing kid. He made it to the top shortly after me and got back down at the trail head at the same time as me. Amazing thing is he didn't appear too tired, and full of energy. I don't know what his dad feeds him with but I could see a potential great athlete. A lot of adults can't even make it half way, let alone the summit and back down with energy and in such a hot day (at the time we were at the trailhead, it was over 90F - 32+ Celcius)

Today I checked Eric Larson's blog. Eric is the polar explorer who is doing the 3 poles this year. He just did Denali early July as a training for Everest. Apprently he was in the Bay area to promote his Save The Pole program and some advertising for Sierra Designs gears at REI. I couldn't believe I missed his presentations. I could have connected with him in person. Oh well. But anyway, we still plan for the polar training. He was thinking of Yellowknife or Colorado or even Churchill. That would be in late Oct or early Nov when it's cold enough. He'll let me know the time and location. Hopefully there are other people as well, to cut down the cost. The training will be about 6 days.

In less tha a month I'll be climbing Mt Rainier. This is going to harder than Mt Shasta. I have bought quite a few more gears for this, all top of the line. Hopefully this will be the one time investment deal. I do not want to spend more for the same item later. The only thing that I am looking for is a light 4-season tent. I know the models I want to get but they are really expensive. Guess I can wait on this. Another item is an expedition parka. I do have one, in fact two, one from the North pole trip and one I just bought recently. The one from North Pole is was too heavy for mountaineering cuz it is filled with synthetic material and not so good. The one I bought recently is down filled parka, a decent one but I think that one might not cut it for extreme cold. Will see when I test it in the training.

Shasta Climb - Part 3

It wasn’t a pitch black night (or morning) to start the climb. On the contrary, it was beautiful. The moon was near full. The sun light bounced from the surface of the moon to the surface of the snow created strange, but beautiful, may be with a little bit of eeriness. We each donned our gears on, soft shell pants, crampons, helmet, head lamp, ice axed and of course the backpack. This time the pack was lighter, about 20+ lbs, because we left everything not needed for the climb at the camp.

We were divided into two teams. Jason led Walter and Burr while Lynnette took the rest. This is their usual practice. They would group climbers based on their performance up to Helen Lake. I was in the stronger performance team. Honestly, it’s difficult to tell how the altitude will affect people. Burr and Walter practically did not have any AMS symptoms. They took Diamox. I had headache in Horse camp and David had been complaining about his headache since dinner. I have to say I was a little concerned too, due to David’s AMS. If one of the team member could not make it, everyone would have to come down. This was a team, we climb as a team. There is no “I” in the word “team”, as Lynnette repeated to me the slogan in her high school gym. I agreed with her.


We took Avalance Gulch to the summit

Four of us were roped up and started to climb the steep slope. We went pretty slow I thought. The goal was to gain about 500 feet per hour. This is about the average speed. It was a little cold up on the mountain at the wee hours. I sweated a little in my shell jacket as we climbed. At the first break, we found some exposed boulder to sit on. There we eat and drink to recharge, and the Jason’s team joined us after 5 mins. They left for the slope about 10 mins before us. I was surprised. It turned out Burr had some problem with his hip. They probably had to break somewhere. Since we were two teams, we said hi to them and on our way to higher ground. About a few mins, Jason was on walkie-talkie Lynnette saying that they would go back down to the camp. Jason (and Burr) decided that it was too dangerous for Burr to climb further due to his hip problem. At that time, David still had his pounding headache. Lynnette asked us whether anyone would want to join them to come down because this is the only chance. Obviously I wanted to continue. David replied that he could handle it at the moment and that in 10 mins, he might have different answer. Not a too comforting answer. We moved on.

We took two more breaks before we reached to the Redbanks. At this time the sky started to brighten up. It was cold. It was at this altitude I started to feel my headache. And It was cold and windy.

This is a little gross but I found strange was at higher altitude, I produced a lot of gas J At first I thought because my pasta meal or carbs. It turned out it was HAFE (High Altitude Flatus Expulsion -- they even have a scientific name for this as it happens to most people). The air pressure outside is less than the pressure within human body, so our body need to have an equilibrium, and hence, the gas expulsion. At first I was roped in the 3rd position and Kate was behind me. I did has some gas but really embarrassed and hoped she didn’t have suffer from it. Good thing there was the wind. Later I was roped at the end and I could gas my way up. Maybe that’s why I could speed. :)

After reaching to the Redbanks was the steepest section, the Chimney. At this section, we really had to work twice as much. Every step was 3+ feet high. We had to use the ice axe. And lots of kicking in the snow to secure ourselves. This was the most technical section in the climb. Once we passed it, it was morning sunshine and a plateau from where we could see the pinnacle. We were so please to see it. But it got so windy and very cold that we couldn’t enjoy the view. My jacket was helpful but I definitely could use a warmer one.

The next one big challenge was Misery Hill (13,200’) . It was name as such for reason. At this time, my AMS didn’t get much worse but about to. David was in even worse shape. I had to rally the team, especially David that we could make it and I joked that this was a piece of cake. He said I was too optimistic while he didn’t have any delusion. I think being optimistic helped. I learned this from my North Pole trip. After all, I did not want to go down without summit the mountain. I guessed the rally helped. David and us scaled the Misery hill, even though he was very slow and started to get more severe AMS.

It was short hike to the pinnacle after Misery Hill to the summit. Kate seemed to be ok. Of course Lynnette was fine. My headache was getting worse as we went higher. I tried to ignore it. I know it’s dangerous to, but that’s a way to make it. It was not too much more before we could reach to the top. Also, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. David on the other hand, started to a little disoriented, but he kept going.

When we reached to the top at around 11am, I was so excited. A great view from the top. It was a sunny day, but really windy at the summit. There was this guest book that climbers signed their names at the top. We quickly signed ours and took a few photos. I congratulated David and said I was so proud of him and that he was my hero (It’s true. If he decided to go down, all of us must go down without reaching the top.) All I got was a blank stare back. I thought it was weird. It turned out he got overwhelmed and also due to his disorientation. We spent about 5 mins total at the peak before we rushed down to safer altitude for David.

Climbing up is only half of the way. Descending was not less difficult. We rushed down to Misery hill and took a break. David felt a slightly better.

We were supposed to go down the same way we climbed up but apparently it was cold that day so the snow had hardened and would be too slippery to us to glissade. Lynnette decided to take us to different route, through the gravel instead. The gravel was not fun to walk on. I was pretty gliding down the slope on my feet. I fell a few times too. It was very difficult on this kind terrain. I told Lynnette this was my least favorite section by far. Finally we reach to the snow slope, from the right side of the Heart. We needed to cut across a little bit before we could reach to the glissade section. Here Lynnette decided to make me go down first and she last. We were roped up. This way she could anchor us if we slipped. I didn’t think I was a great leader. I couldn’t see too far because I didn’t have my glasses on. But we managed. This section was very steep so I fell on my butt two times and Kate, who was behind me fell a few times. But the hard part was paid off when we got to the glissade-able slope.

Glissade is a term in mountaineering to describe going down my sliding on your butt. While it can be fun but it is quite dangerous. You need to be able to control the speed using your ice axe. We learned the technique in the snow school but this was the real deal. I was quite nervous. Anything with fast speed and not much of control I would be. Good thing Lynnette was in the front. She would be our cushion if you went out of control. Apparent we did need her. I was the 3rd in line and Kate was second. I bumped into Kate a few times and she bumped into Lynnette. It was really fun. Much like riding water sliding in a theme park. I had such a great time. I acted like a kid too :)

We reached to the camp after glissading our way down the slope. At this altitude, my headache was gone. It could be the glissade fun I had too. We got to our tents and I was not surprised to see Jason’s team already left. It turned out Walter was very pissed that he couldn’t go further. I would be too but again, he was told about the team policy. Apparently they went back and hung out the whole day. They were bored so they did not want to wait. At first I didn’t see my tent, I was happy and thought they were nice enough o pack the tent with them. Turned out they only took the poles and the tarp. And my portion is the whole tent. While this actually was my portion that I carried up, the still, I was so tired to carry more weight. What could I do except pack the whole thing up. The backpack was back to normal weight, ie, back breaking weight.

We spent about an hour at the camp to rest. In fact I thought we rested too much. But David needed it. It was here that I got to talk to Lynnette more. She made a comment I thought very nice of her that she wonder how she could last the weekend without me. I thought she was a great guide, not because of this compliment. I learned a lot from her, the techniques and the attitude on the mountain.

On the way down to the trail head, we were pretty much gliding down the snow. Again, it wasn’t too easy for me, but it was much better for the knees on the snow than on the ground. Struggling my way down, we got to the Horse Camp and then wound down to the trail head.

It was shortly after 8pm that we reached to the Bunny Flat trail head where I parked my car. I was so happy to take off my shoes and it was time for flipflops.