Marc's Public Blog - Hiking / Backpacking


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This is a collection of my blog entries about hiking
You can find all the pictures I've taken here, and read below for the more recent trips that I have recorded in blog entries

Table of Content for hiking:

More pages: April 1999 June 2000 August 2003 March 2006 May 2006 July 2006 November 2006 May 2007 July 2007 August 2007 July 2008 May 2009 July 2009 June 2010 November 2010 July 2011 September 2012 June 2013 October 2014 January 2015 February 2015 August 2015 October 2015 July 2016 August 2017 September 2017 May 2018 January 2019 June 2019 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 May 2022 April 2023 September 2023 November 2023



2020/06/17 Hiking to Black Mountain from Russ Ridge and back to Rancho San Antonio
π 2020-06-17 01:01 in Hiking
Here is the garmin connect page:

We got to the Rhus Ridge parking lot s bit late (10:00), and unfortuately it was full (it's small), but we got lucky and people left not too long after we arrived.


hidden villa was still closed
hidden villa was still closed



interesting view of stevens creek, 280, and the spaceship
interesting view of stevens creek, 280, and the spaceship

chipmunks are almost cute enough for me to forget that they are also rats with bushy tails
chipmunks are almost cute enough for me to forget that they are also rats with bushy tails

almost cute
almost cute

getting higher
getting higher

nice lizards
nice lizards

view is improving
view is improving

new google campus being built
new google campus being built

wait, what is this?
wait, what is this?



dragonflies
dragonflies


After a while, we finally got to the top and went to check out the multiple kinds of transmitters:



more antennas
more antennas


And what goes up, must come down. The way down was steep and slippery. Unfortunately Jennifer fell and hurt her shoulder and elbow. We should have taken hiking poles:

the quary is by the trail
the quary is by the trail

eventually made it by the PG&E trail, which we heard was miserable, so we didn't take it :)
eventually made it by the PG&E trail, which we heard was miserable, so we didn't take it :)


By the time we closer to the bottom, the trails were one way, we kind of had to take one the wrong way to get back to our car without a long detour:





And eventually, after a longish hike, we made it back to the car, although it was a long detour back to the car (almost 14 miles in 5h45).

2020/06/23 Emigrant Wilderness Lakes Loop from Crabtree, Mosquito Heaven
π 2020-06-23 01:01 in Hiking
I can't believe it had been almost 3 years since Arturo and I went hiking in 2017, but it had been.

Here are the garmin connect pages:



Here are the stats:

                        Move Ovrl      Max Avg
     Dist    Time  Move Avg  Avg  Cal  HR  HR  Climb Desc
Day1 11.49   6h22  5h12 2.2  1.8  1848 157 114 2747  1120
Day2 19.95  11h50  8h05 2.4  1.6  3161 147 115 2351  3983
Tot  31.44  17h11 13h16 2.3  1.7  5009         5098  5103

I tried to be lighter this time, this is what I had:

  • 3kg Fanny pack
  • 16kg backpack including 2kg water and 1.5kg ursac food
  • 19kg total or 42lbs
  • Day 1: Drive from the Bay, Quick Stop by Dodge Ridge, and 11.5 miles to Mosquito Heaven Toejam Lake

    close to our destination, you could already ride horses
    close to our destination, you could already ride horses

    i01*|Dodge Ridge, I went twice with Jennifer, but Arturo hasn't yet

    We were at the trailhead ready to go by 11:00, no mosquitoes, everything was fine :)


    smiling and happy, not knowing th hell we were going to walk into :)
    smiling and happy, not knowing th hell we were going to walk into :)







    nearby thunderstorm that we avoided
    nearby thunderstorm that we avoided






    Eventually we got to Toejam Lake, which looked nice, except for the tens of thousands of mosquitoes that spent the entire time trying to suck all the blood we were carrying:







    Arturo said the smoke the fire should have scared them, sadly it made no difference
    Arturo said the smoke the fire should have scared them, sadly it made no difference

    I got the tent up as quickly as possible, and went to hide in it, the blood thirsty mosquitoes that had apparently just been born, were biting through layers of clothing

    Got the tent up as quickly as possible, and went to hide in it
    Got the tent up as quickly as possible, and went to hide in it

    Was that about 50 mosquitoes trying to get through my 2 layers of clothes and get in the tent with me?
    Was that about 50 mosquitoes trying to get through my 2 layers of clothes and get in the tent with me?

    they also did their best to try and get inside the tent
    they also did their best to try and get inside the tent

    and they also tried to eat my pack
    and they also tried to eat my pack

    Arturo stayed outside, good for him :)
    Arturo stayed outside, good for him :)

    Day 2: 12H / 20 Mile Escape

    Honestly, I have no idea how Arturo dealt with the swarms of mosquitoes (and it was really swarms). Once I was outside the tent the next morning, I packed and left as soon as possible as the mosquitoes were just biting through my clothes as soon as I stopped moving:



    the river crossings were easy enough, only one was a bit tricky
    the river crossings were easy enough, only one was a bit tricky

    interesting to see bacteria make oil
    interesting to see bacteria make oil









    nice balancing
    nice balancing


    We took a few quick breaks in places were the mosquitoes were not as bad:

    my new vivoactive 4 has a body battery feature, which seems to say I was running low :)
    my new vivoactive 4 has a body battery feature, which seems to say I was running low :)








    locust sex
    locust sex








    this was likely the only place without mosquitoes, so we took a break
    this was likely the only place without mosquitoes, so we took a break

    We had a few lower elevation camps where we considered staying, but by the time we got there, they all had mosquitoes, so we kept going:


    Arturo found this nice snake
    Arturo found this nice snake









    We eventually got to camp lake, and it, too, had too many mosquitoes, so we pushed on back to the car, almost 12H and 20 miles:



    the mosquito net was definitely helpful
    the mosquito net was definitely helpful



    Eventually we got back to the trailhead, and by then, a mere 36H later, it was also overrun by mosquitoes. This proved that they literally were hatching as we arrived, bummer:

    just shy of 20 miles.
    just shy of 20 miles.

    I guess it was a long day :)
    I guess it was a long day :)

    the vivoactive 4 did great, despite 12H of GPS tracking, it had 20% battery left
    the vivoactive 4 did great, despite 12H of GPS tracking, it had 20% battery left

    Thanks to Arturo for the trip planning and ride.


    More pages: April 1999 June 2000 August 2003 March 2006 May 2006 July 2006 November 2006 May 2007 July 2007 August 2007 July 2008 May 2009 July 2009 June 2010 November 2010 July 2011 September 2012 June 2013 October 2014 January 2015 February 2015 August 2015 October 2015 July 2016 August 2017 September 2017 May 2018 January 2019 June 2019 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 August 2020 September 2020 October 2020 November 2020 April 2021 May 2021 June 2021 July 2021 May 2022 April 2023 September 2023 November 2023

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