On the road again

At long last I am going to resume my blog for an upcomming road trip.  I plan to hit the road on about Sept. 12 and will be traveling for about two months.  Plans are to make a clockwise tour of the US with a side trip over to Nova Scotia and down the east coast then back across the south.  My trusty camper & I have no set schedule so this will be a supprise as to where / what I do.

A big home project that I completed in the spring of 2014 is a cactus garden in part of my back yard.  It measures about 35` x 25` and has over 50 different plants.  It is a good thing since we are in a drought situation this year.
Been hiking in the Sierras and still bicycle riding (1,500 miles this year).   Got up into the northwest / into Canada. 
Of course still doing small jobs for regular costomers and having a good retirement.

It has been a long time since I have posted anything due to a busy retirement.  I should be up and posting starting about the end of August.  I will be hiking in the Sierras before that so I will not have the connection to blog.  After that I should have some new pictures to share. 
I was back east for a month helping family with a wall building project.  Also too many projects for others (what I use to call "side work" but since I do not have a regular job, I have to call them projects) causing people to comment that I am unclear on the concept of retirement.  I guess they are right but I have to keep busy somehow. 
I hope to be taking a "road trip" with my camper this fall and will have lots to share. 

 

 

 

Above is the "old wood" wall that we replaced around the pool at my family`s house.  Below is the after picture to compair.  It was about 400+ blocks and was completed in the heat & humitidy just to make it more fun.

Enough for now and thanks for checking the blog every once in a "long" while.

Fall Drive - 5

For those of you who are following this disjointed travel log, all I can say is thanks for waiting.  I have been a little distracted and as you noticed, have not been keeping up with my blog.
I will add a few more pictures from my fall drive which went up through the eastern Sierras / into Nevada (to visit my brother) / over to Great Basin N. P (still in Nevada on the east side) and then down to Zion N. P. for some hiking.

This is Saddleback Lake (elevation 10,066`) which is just off the east road into Yosemite N. P.  I decided to camp here one night and hike around the lake (the big one) - this is taken from the far end of the lake.  The smaller lake at the left is Hummingbird Lake.

Above is a wierd shot I noticed while standing on a sloping granite rock which is why it is so distored.  Whatever!

The next day I took a hike (in Yosemite) starting at Tenaya Lake ( elev. 8,150`) up to Sunrise Lakes (elev. 9,427` pictured here).  It was about a 10 mile round trip and the day was perfect.

This hike started at Virginia Lake (just north of Mono Lake and yes we are still in California).  My starting point is below just out of sight and I am looking east and my trail (seen on the left) leading up to this overlook.

This is Blue Lake which is the last lake I passed on my way back down.

I could not resist this shot of a large rock that someone had painted  up Lundy Canyon- it is about 7` tall.

 This is a shed in the RV park in Lee Vining where I stayed before heading into Nevada.  I took this one is for Mary to give her ideas for "yard art".
That enough for now.......

Fall Drive 2012 - 4

I bought a new internal frame backpack last December and have been wanting to try it out.  This means a self supported hike carrying all my gear, something I have not done for many years.  As you may know all of our hiking trips along the John Muir Trail and others have been with packers toting everything but a small day pack.  So I needed to see if I could still "do it alone" and carry a 25-30 lb. pack.
This hike was from the end of Rock Creek Canyon at the trail head called Mosquito Flat Trail Camp.  My destination was Morgan Lakes which are over Morgan Pass (elev. 11,155`).

The trail at this point is good and follows around Long Lake.

I found a great camp spot which was off the main trail and sheltered from the wind by these trees.  The day was overcast and cool but nice hiking weather.

This is the view from camp of a small (unnamed) lake. 

Panning to the right this lake offered a perfect reflection of the surrounding hills.

The next morning the sun was out and the wind was gone - perfect day.  This is one of the Morgan Lakes which are quite barren,

One last lake with Morgan Pass in the background.  Great hike and I made it ok.

Fall Drive 2012 - 3

Today I hiked up the trail toward Bishop Pass (which is west of the town of Bishop, Ca) but this was only a day hike.  The aspen trees and fall colors are just at their peak and the weather is cool in the morning and pleasant during the day.

These are a few of the beautiful lakes I passed.  You can make out the trail along the right side of these lakes, partway up the hill.  I truned around about 2:00 PM and covered about 5-6 miles (round trip).
Thats all for now

Fall Drive 2012 - 1

I headed north to do a little hiking in the Sierras.  The plan is to hit several trail heads and see some new country.
I started with a drive up the road west out of Bishop, Ca. up towards South Lake.  The aspen trees are changing colors and I could have spent the whole day taking pictures.  So here are a few.

With a  waterfall / rocks & fall colors, how can you go wrong!

I hope you enjoyed those, but some time you need to see them for yourself.  I found a great camp forest service camp up the same canyon and decided to spend the night.  It put me closer to the next days hike up the trail toward Bishop Pass.  More next time.

problem with blog

I am not able to post anything right now.  It might be a month before I get it fixed......