July 17, 2010 GMR by night

Left the house just about 7:45 PM, Saturday night. Thought since it was too hot to ride during the day, may as well try a ride with the light I bought 6 months ago and had not used yet. Ride up was nice , using a less powerful light that used throw away batteries. Seeing how I climb like a snail, I did most of the ride up in the dark, only turning on the light when I saw approaching headlights. The views of the basin, once I got high enough up on the road, were nice, with the lights of the cities quite bright. Once up top, I put on a jacket I brought, not so much to stay warm as to make my self more visible to cars and such.(Bright yellow is good for that). Ride down was fun, if not just a little slower than on a daytime ride. The new light ( a Night Rider something or other) more than lit up the road. There are lots more powerful set ups, but I liked this one for the price I paid for it. Ride down went off without a hitch and I was soon down on Loraine, Just a few blocks from where I live, when after hitting a bump in the road, mt tail light went flying off into the gutter and shattered into pieces. Oh well, it was over 15 years old, so I guess I got my monies worth out of it. All in all, GMR by night turned out well, with lighter traffic than I expected and views worth the effort of going up in the dark. Will be doing it again as the weather stays too warm to ride during the day.

July 7, 2010 GMR with Fred

The shed at the top of GMR Still just a little bit of snow on the side of Baldy

Halfway point on GMR

GMR Met Fred at the bottom of GMR, running late due to work. Was cold and cloudy when I left the house, so as usual, I over dressed. Had long sleeve shirt under my jersey, and brought along a wind jacket and extra shirt to change into. Needless to say, the clouds broke way before I expected them to. At the halfway point, had t stop and dress down. The ride for the most part was nothing to write home about. Was first time in over 2 months for me, which showed. Was glad I went.

June 20, 2010 Mt Williamson and Tyndall (part 2)

Warren with summit ridge way above him. Warren chasing the rising sun down towards me and the tent. Warren with Tyndall in background.

Williamson Bowl and Mt. Williamson

Planet coming out in Western sunset.

Williamson and Tyndall (part 2) Sunday morning, we got a late start, as we were pretty worn out from the previous 2 days. We didn't get going towards Williamson until about 10:30 or so. It ended up taking 3 hours just to cross Williamson Bowl and get up to the beginning of the blackwater stains that marked the beginning of the route. Warren was hiking well, but I was having the problem that I seemed to have the entire trip. Tired and out of breath most of the time. Seems I was always looking up and outward, seeing Warren a good distance in front. Oh well. can't win them all. At least I had gotten my old, fat, out of shape ass up to the base of the peaks yet one more time. Warren picked up on my body language that I was not feeling in Olympian shape, and mentioned that maybe we should save Williamson for another day as it was 1:30 PM already and we had 3 hours from where we were just to get back to the tent, without going any higher on the route. After deciding that the top was going to wait for another time, we sat for about an hour just enjoying being at 12, 700 feet of so up in the HIGH SIERRA. What an incredible place it was, complete with the offending crow or raven that kept circling above us and yelling to get out of his space. At least we found what has to be the best way getting into and around inside Williamson Bowl, so that next time we will be prepared. After hiking across the bowl and getting back up to the top of the northern side of it, we found the right way to get into and out of the bowl from where our tent was. Live and learn. We got back to the tent and had dinner and melted some snow for water. Slept well that night, not even getting up once to take a pee. Monday morning we were up around 6 AM and heading up towards Tyndall by about 7:15AM. There was no way I thought climbing Tyndall would take us as long as it did when Chuck and I did it a couple years earlier, but it did. Once again, Warren was in the lead all climb, and I was slower than shit. But once again, I was there, and digging the HELL out of it. We had an unremarkable climb up, and I was only worried about the top of the chute that leads to the summit ridge being filled with snow and being steep. Just below that spot, when we got there, Warren went one way and I went the way Chuck and I did on the previous trip. At one point I remember looking over to see Warren with his hands and feet horizontal to each other. I sort of laughed to myself, think, how the fuck is he doing that? But he made it and met me in the summit chute a little higher than where I went into it. As usual, looking at a route from down below made it look a lot harder then it actually turned out to be. Anyway, we got up the chute and hit the summit ridge. From there it took about 20 minutes to get out to the top of the peak. At this elevation, we (at least myself) were not moving as fast as let's say on Baldy. 14, 000 feet is 14,000 feet, in any ones book. Took pictures on top, hung out for a little while, and headed back. Just before getting back to the chute that leads back down the rib,I looked down and saw 2 guys flying up the ridge towards us. These guys did the entire climb in less time than it took Warren and myself to get even up to the summit ridge. These guys were good. We sat at the top of the chute and waited for them to hit the top area of the chute before we started down, as we didn't want to cause any traffic problems on the rib of the North Face. We met them and talked for a bit and headed down as they hit the top. They flew past us on the way back down, and ended their climb by glissading down the last 600 or 700 feet. We tried to get over to do the same, but couldn't get off the rock, so we down climbed the entire rib. Back at the tent, we hemmed and hawed about leaving that night or hiking all the way out in the morning, but decided to head down to Anval that night. Packed up, we got down the pass a lot easier than I thought would happen, but the snow stayed soft all the way down, making things good. Got into Anval just as it get dark, and spent the night. Tuesday morning we got going early and got down in time to have Subway sandwiches and beer just out of Independence at a campground that was just what we were looking for. Another great trip.

June 18, 2010 Mt. Williamson and Tyndall

Warren on summit of Tyndall High camp under Tyndall at 12, 500 feet

Warren on top of Shepherd Pass entering Sequoia

Mt. Williamson from Symmes Saddle

Bill at the beginning, not knowing what he is in for.

Here we go. Part one.

We got to Independence in time on Thursday night to watch the Lakers beat the Celtics in game 7 for the NBA championship. The lie was that we were going to hike some that night after the game, but we knew that would never happen when we sat down to watch the game. Friday morning we started out about 8 AM or so. Not too hot, and once in the canyon, quite nice actually. This being my 4th or 5th time up the trail, it was old stuff to me. But for Warren it was new territory. We made decent time up to Symmes Saddle, where you get the first view of Williamson's North face. We were caught at the saddle by 2 guys from the Bay area, Mike (from Scotland) and Scott. Once they took off up the trail ahead of us, we only saw them one more time the entire trip, coming back down off of Williamson near our tent the second night out. We did the downhill drop off the saddle and headed up to Mahogany Flats. I will admit to being totally blown out by the time we got there. We hemmed and hawed over whether to spend the night there or head up to Anval. which eventually won out. What a mistake that was. Carrying all that weight up almost 5,000 feet in the non condition I was in almost killed me. I did the last hour staggering like I was drunk and felt that way too. Have not been that blown out since the ending of the Shasta climb almost exactly one year earlier. Anyway, we made Anval and spent a nice, fairly warm night there. Left for the Pass about 10:30 Saturday morning. Looking back, the first of two late starts we made that we shouldn't have, both my fault. Saturday. after leaving Anvl, the trail was snow covered almost immediately. We did good by staying way to the left of where the trail went under the snow. All in all, Warren did a good job of playing Indian guide for us. Got to the base of the pass and put the crampons on. Not sure they were going to be needed, but did not want to fuck with them half way up the pass. About 2/3 rds of the way up the pass, warren in front, he decided to see if I was paying attention and dislodged a nice size boulder down at me. Saw it coming and got out of the way in time, but almost got a cramp in my calf moving so fast. Had a couple of times on this trip where I almost got full blown cramps in the legs. They started but never fully developed. Made the top of the pass without much adew, and had an easy walk over to where we finally pitched the tent. Never did find any open or running water. Gas, having enough to melt snow, was on our minds but was never a problem. Had dinner and took some pics before turning in for the evening. Was a lot colder for only being 2,000 feet higher than the night before. End part one.

June 8, 2010 GMR with Justin and Maricio

Justin being Justin Maricio tilting a cold one

Colors near the top of GMR

The Leaner, Meaner, Mr Beanz after his accident

Grrlyrida and Mr Beanz

Seeing how I was suffering from a bad cold, a bout of the GOUT, meaning very painfull knee, and had an infection in my eye, I decided to drive up GMR with Justin and Maricio instead of riding the bike. While up there, we had a few cold ones. Nice day but very hazy.

May 23, 2010 Jason's Birthday at Fullerton train station

Incoming from San Diego People on the platform

Jason shooting video

Lead engine on a South bound

People boarding for L. A.

Being today was Jason's birthday, what else would he ask to do besides go to Fullerton and shoot videos of incoming and departing trains. Picked him up before 10 A. M. and was at the station before 11. By his count, we saw at least 12 trains, including a couple freights going through. Good day for train watching.

May 21, 2010 Tour of California Stage 6

The Peloton goes by HTC team going by

First good view of the main group

The break away in front

Couple of interested viewers

Went up on Thursday with Steve and Jim and found the site at Table Mountain that Chuck had reserved. He got up there around 7:45 PM or so, and dinner was prepared. We got up the next morning and Jim made his usual great breakfast for everyone before we headed out to watch the race. Seeing how Lance had crashed out the day before, expectations had been dimmed some, but it was still exciting watching these pros coming up Angeles Crest. Great time in the mountains.