Happy Birthday Granny

Eagle Lake, Sequoia national Park

We have just returned from our first proper wilderness backpacking trip with the kids and as David and I got organized we realized it had been many years since either of us had done this kind of hiking. Contrary to our usual style of last minute impulse trips we did a fair bit of planning for this one (and spending) making checklists and pre-cooking meals to take! We had a fairly extensive choice of places to go what with the chain of the Sierra Nevada mountains nearby. We wanted a challenge and also to get to some place away from the crowds. David was also keen to see some alpine vistas in the Sierras. So we decided upon Eagle Lake in Sequoia National Park.
Its not in the main part of the park and has a seriously twisty hour and half drive on a narrow road with drop offs so we hoped it would be quieter. However we we're surprised by the number of folks out there and were lucky to get the last campsite (we spent the first night at a regular campground). However out on the trail the next day we mostly encountered day hikers.
We set out around 10am and began on a fairly flat-ish stretch through a lovely valley. This didn't last long however (the flat aspect-there were still stunning views) and we began our climb, quickly realizing that we would be going pretty slowly. I should add that we started at 7800 feet and would reach 10,000 by the end of our 4 mile hike. So we were already feeling the altitude and having huge packs on made it all the more apparent! So we took our time and stopped often to control our bursting hearts. The kids were amazing and didn't do any whining.....Sage did insist on talking the whole way up even though the rest of us had no breath left to answer him! After being passed by the day hikers (only carrying water and snacks I may add) we staggered (or David and I did..Sage was charging ahead at this point so we gave him something to carry to slow him down)... over the last part of the climb to our destination. It was a welcome site....a pristine alpine lake in a bowl of boulders, flanked by the peaks. We set about finding a good spot to camp on and finally settled on a site at the far end of the lake. There are various rules to be followed about picking a spot (like being 100 feet from water and the trail, not camping on any vegetation) and this made it a little hard to find something suitable as there wasn't much flat ground. Our site was pretty rocky and we had to strategically place the tent so we could all lie with enough space to avoid rolling onto the bigger rocks!
After getting some things set up we had a refreshing swim in the lake and then a much needed dinner. Any physical efforts made at this elevation were a challenge at least for David and I. Again the kids seemed pretty unfazed and did some rock hopping in search of their latest favourite animals,marmots. There were plenty to be found!! Not all that comforting as they like to chew on hiking gear! (I should also mention that hikers are warned about these cute little fellows being able to do damage to parked vehicles...they like to get under the hood and chew on hoses...so some cars were wrapped up like giant birthday presents to deter them...we weren't that prepared so hoped for the best)!

We hit the sack early and had a fairly restless sleep (some of us getting a bit more sleep than others)....we all ended up out of the tent under the awesome night sky around 4am and after spotting some shooting stars we watched the sun come up. Apart from a few fishermen down the other end of the lake we were alone up there and it was very magical.

The altitude was still taking it's toll on us and we felt the need to get lower down in order to feel a little more normal again so we packed up early and slowly made our way out. After dropping a thousand feet or so we all felt a lot better and managed to eat a proper breakfast! Going down was a lot faster but being so steep it had it's challenges too....my legs will attest to that! Going down made us pretty impressed with how well we had done on the way up....it seemed a lot steeper and longer than we had realized!

Now we could feel a little smug (only a little) passing those on their way up...we were the intrepid hikers, tired and dirty, on the home stretch! We returned to a non-marmot afflicted car and after dropping off our rented bear canister (which we had used to store our food) to the ranger station and a quick soaking of sore feet in the river, we headed out on the winding road dropping more feet and gaining more degrees in temp with every mile.
Despite still feeling exhausted (shoulders in serious need of massage and legs not able to walk without a waddle) we had a great experience and have already talked about where to go next...perhaps not at such a high altitude!

The Marmot Hunters! (spot them in the boulder pile)

Happenings In Our Neck Of The Woods

As we head out of town I thought I'd post some snaps to document our few weeks in Three Rivers ....yes we are on the move again...not as far..just to Fresno...decided the commute wasn't going to be fun for David!


Happenings:

David had a full page whopping great review in Entertainment weekly

Sage lost his first tooth

Dolphin attempted deer hunting

Mum hunts the black widow unintentionally

Storm troopers do some class VI rapids and lose one team member

Heading down to the river for cooling off at the end of the day

Brazilian Capoeira Batizado

I posted way back in February about Maya and Sage getting their new cords at a special Capoeria ceremony well we took video and it has taken me until now to figure out getting it onto the blog...not much to figure out as it turns out....but here it is....the kids 'playing' capoeira in the roda with an experienced mestre (master) and some of the adults showing off there stuff!

More Cali pics

Just a little selection of pictures from our neck of the woods. Went to see some friends kayak on the Upper section of the Kaweah in Sequoia National Park. Kevin in yellow and Amicaya in Blue....some scary looking drops.....not my idea of fun...but fun to watch nonetheless! Supposedly the bigger drop (with Kevin in Yellow boat) becomes a flume like water slide that people scoot down on their bottom! As you can see Sage is already getting some practice in for the BIG ONE! In case you're wondering the shot of Kevin out of his boat is when he became the human target for the kid's archery practice....that guy lives an adrenaline filled life!

Unloading In Three Rivers!

We found us a home! It is situated right on the main fork of the Kaweah river. The House is fairly retro in style (which means it's a little dated inside) but the views are awesome and it has great decking outside with lots of great seating in order to absorb the atmosphere!



























We've already done our IKEA trip (3.5 hours to L.A.) and stocked up on furniture to fit in with our 50's/60's house! David got the fridge and washing machine today and we even have DSL again and I can use the desktop online again (with National Public Radio playing in the background) after 9 months. It's all good!!
This snake was not seen by our house but we are told to watch out for the Copperheads! The kids already found a scorpion on Maya's bed this morning!! Things to think about while listening to the rush of the river!

Three Rivers

Well we packed up once again and amazingly it all fit in our 5x8 trailer perfectly. (David is a master of packing at this point). We drove for three days....the kids got through Return of the King, Revenge of the Sith and Princess Monoke more than once on D's Laptop....I did plenty of knitting...Dolphin snoozed most of the way and realized early he'd just have to deal with it.....and D did lots of driving and we all arrived without any hitches in Three Rivers. It truly feels like we are in California....the dry heat and the rushing sound of the river (which was the first thing we headed for). There is a rapid out the back of the motel which we took a look at (photos show it in the background)....actually I should say David salivated over it. We splashed around at the water's edge (ok...again I should say that D took the plunge and swam across the river-couldn't resist the cheesy picture of D in front of the rapid)....and it felt really good! That was the first evening! Then we saw 4 different rental properties on Saturday morning-one with absolutley amazing views from the hillside overlooking the valley, however the inside wasn't so charming...two not so nicely located ones....and then one right on the main river! We think this last one will do us for now and have put in an application (should hear tomorrow). The inside is kind of dated and not our style but it has huge windows looking out onto the river and great outdoor spaces and decking and even a sunken hot tub in the deck (which needs serious cleaning), so we'll just spend most of our time out there. Needless to say David headed straight for the river and felt satisfied he could play in his boat there (it's a bit too swift for swimming right now but could be good when the water is lower). We met up with a contact David had made from Cal State Fresno ( a student who lives out here and knows some of the same rafting folks we know here). She kindly took us around and filled us in on various locals and swimming spots. Then we dropped by the house some rafting friends of ours have bought here (which is very close to the rental we're interested in) and surprised one of them (Amicaya) and caught up a little (the others are arriving next week) before he headed off for a rafting trip. Ate pizza and drank a beer on the rocks by the river for dinner (bit sick of pizza now but the beer was good). It's Sunday morning and we have interent connection in our room for the first time in two days (wireless hasn't been working)....the forcast for the forseeable future is sunny sunny sunny .....and so far we're having a lazy Sunday! We'll let you all know when we have an actual home again...hopefully soon!