We were supposed to get Vini Vicci, but unfortunately he got covid, so the show had to be cancelled. Instead, our trusty local DJs took over for the night, and gave us a great show (thank you)
Thanks to Arturo for planning the trip and Johannes for getting the permit. This was a challenging hike, a bit over 50 miles in 4 days, including some cross country that was quite tough (steep elevation, progress of half a mile per hour was not unusual). I'm always a bit self conscious because I like not to be the weakest link, but they are both stronger hikers than me, and I managed to show up with a cold that got worse and turned into a bacterial infection due to exertion and high altitude.
It took a lot of caffeine pills and bags of energy goo to get through most days, and especially on the first day, my body really rebelled at the end as I pushed it way beyond what I should have (but we had to make camp, so that was the only way out). The other days were a bit less tough but still kicked my butt, and I was quite thankful to have antibiotics on the 3rd day.
22lbs backpack without water or food (33lbs with water and 6lbs food)
total load was 38lbs, probably too much but the lightest I've been
But it was still overweighed compared to Arturo and Johannes, so I was the weakest link, before adding the part where I got sick. Ooops.
Day 1: Wolverton to Alta Peak Cross Country Short of Moose Lake
Arturo and I drove to Fresno the day before to be a lot closer for the next morning:
very low water level
That next morning, we drove from Fresno to Kings Canyon and had a look at the visitor center and some big trees:
We then started the hike early enough as it was going to be a long day.
We joined the High Sierra Trail
It was all nice and good, so sine we were doing well enough (although I wsa already using caffeine and energy gel), so we climbed Alta Peak:
By the top, my body was kind of running on fumes, but with a few breaks, I made it up there. Unfortunately, by then we got some bad intel and the people with more of a brain than me, From there, going cross country, which was quite tough when I was:
terrain was tough
day was getting late, and I was really exhausted with the cold
going down was tough
I was the slowest in the group
finally arrived
I tried to smile, but damn, I was exhausted
this is what we came down from
home sweet home
OMG, such a cute pikka
Dinner time
Day 2: Alta Peak Lake to Roaring River
The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and ready for a long hike day and another tough cross country:
basic accomodations for Johannes :)
another Pikka came to see us
Johannes raced us to the lake
found a nice frog
I was still sick, my SPO2 was pretty low, I hope it was not that low
found this weird thing slithering in the grass, what is it?
multiple fires, one of the planes fighting the fires
still more cross country
beautiful lake after lake
time for another swim
lovely valley
finding the trail back was a bit rough at the end
day was getting long, but I wanted to push on to catch up on the time we lost the previous day and my being slow
finally setup camp
Day 3: Roaring River to Lost Lake
good morning
roaring river ranger station, we hung out for a bit
astronaut ice cream snack
he got to lost lake
time for swim
long day
Day 4: Lost Lake
Last day, I was on antibiotics, which helped a bit, but I was happy to get out. It was my fastest day, except for losing the trail and going backwards for a while:
back to civilization
yeah, I'm done!
Thanks a ton to Arturo and Johannes for making this happen, and putting up with the slowpoke that I was :)
It was nice to be invited to an FoC event and join a large amount of supercars. Cynthia was happy to join me to enjoy all the cars. We met them at a parking lot in Milpitas:
We then went for a short and slow-ish drive to Joseph Frant Ranch County Park, where we got more pictures:
From there, we drove back down to Grandview Restaurant for a nice buffet lunch:
From there, people left but there is no way Cynthia and I could just leave while Mt Hamilton peak was 35mn away up the road according to google maps. The road was totally empty, we made up in 22mn, it was glorious :) (google says 14 miles, so that's 38mph average, just under the 40mph speed limit, so it's all good, right? :) ).
The way down, we were just as lucky, we made it all the way down in 26mn flat and only had to pass a single car. Woot! (google says 18.8 miles, so that's 43mph average)
This was my first time at Public Works, and it was great to be there for a TFSF event, Aly and Fila's Fadi no less. Last time I saw him was at ADE in 2019 pre-covid.
Another night to test/debug my next version prototype LED outfit
Hi Niko :)
Fadi took over and did a nice 3H set
Dave Neven closed the night after Fadi
Thanks to all, it was a great evening, and it was lovely to see public works
After my first set of lovely foster kittens, I got a 2nd set where two abandonned kitties were added to the litter (yes, they look different), and the mother was accepting enough to fed all 6. The smallest one was very small and a bit sickly when I first got it, and was weighed every few days until she finally was able to eat solid food.
so small
the mother was very nice and nicely agreed to feed 2 kittens that weren't hers
the whole family of 6 kittens
Eventually, it was time for a fair amount of travel, so I had to give them back for them to go to the next foster family, but that month was a lot of fun:
