Fishing boat and SUP camping Tomales Bay

Andre’s getting wed. For his last party as a bachelor, we drank beer, fished and camped on Tomales Bay.

Friday night’s festivities in S.F. shall not be mentioned.

Saturday, we ever so casually packed boats and headed to Nick’s Cove. It was somewhere near six p.m. when I stepped on my board for the paddle to camp. The beaches were remarkably crowded. I wonder how many people were there without permits. Or perhaps it’s that Blue Water’s commercial-use permit in addition to the individual permits made for the neighbors.

Ernie made killer tacos. He’d brought a grill that sat on top of my Whisperlite. Beans were cooked at home. Salsa was super spicy. Nicely done Ernesto.

Frying fish encrusted with gold fish crackers, toast and sour cream and onion pretzels.

Frying fish encrusted with gold fish crackers, toast and sour cream and onion pretzels.

It was damn great to have a college reunion with just the guys.

The bioluminescence was strong. It was incredibly neat to paddle around in the pitch dark with every disturbance of the water sparkling like the stars.

Thankfully, we didn’t pack up on Sunday. The day was spent fishing and goofing around. We had no luck from Brent’s boat but we did catch and release a large bat ray from the beach. Warren’s boat left the bay and caught a half dozen or so rock fish (dinner) but had no luck with the salmon.

We stayed up late. Finished the beer. Ate most of the food. Walked the beach.

I’ve kayak camped on Tomales many times – usually leading college kids. This was far more fun.

A week backpacking the Ruby (Nevada) and Sawtooth (Idaho) Mountains

Dani and I took an eight day trip. It was pretty darn perfect.

Lunch in the Rubies. Lake two of four.

Lunch in the Rubies. Lake two of four.

We’d been planning a cross-country trip around the Sierra’s Blackcap Basin. It was snow free and I’d always wanted to go. A day before our trip, we shifted gears and decided to head east to new mountain ranges.

Tea time. Dani playing with his new camera.

Tea time. Dani playing with his new camera.

The Ruby Mountains of Nevada met my excited expectations. We walked through big peaks and past many lakes. We car camped and backcountry camped. We visited the crest and saw the desert on both sides of the range. We crossed a snowy pass and left the day hikers behind. It was casual, relaxing, and beautiful. I scored a 15 mile downhill through the beautiful Lamoille Canyon on my new road bike. We drove the “backside” of the range. We’ll go back for the rest of the crest trail.

Early season trips often mean wet shoes.

Early season trips often mean wet shoes.

The second leg of the drive brought us in to Idaho. We landed in a friend of a friend’s backyard in Ketchum. BBQ, bluegrass band practice, welcoming locals, a campfire, a shower and a bed – it was an excellent stop between trips and drives.

With our new beta, we backpacked two nights past Alice, Toxaway, Imogene and Hell Roaring Lakes. We crossed three snowy passes. We had absolutely stellar campsites. On our first backpack in the area, we did Sawtooth Wilderness right. Snow travel makes for wonderful solitude.

On the summit of Sand Mountain, looking out towards where we came from. Sawtooth Wilderness, Idaho.

On the summit of Sand Mountain, looking out towards where we came from. Sawtooth Wilderness, Idaho.

The area is crowded with hot springs. After tacos at Redfish Lake, we found a soak on the Salmon River before a night around a fire at our next trailhead. The region is absolutely decimated by beetle kill. There was plenty of wood.

On the 4th of July we had three things on our agenda: hike ~10 miles to Sawtooth Lake, soak in a secret off-trail hot spring, and drive 10 hours to Lake Tahoe. Dani set a runner’s walking pace to the alpine zone. The lake was frozen and beautiful. The spring, apparently the best around, was a quick stop before hitting the road.

Sawtooth Lake. Five miles up in an hour and a half. We were there when the backpackers we just starting their days.

Sawtooth Lake. Five miles up in an hour and a half. We were there when the backpackers we just starting their days.

Highway 95 across Oregon between Boise and Winnemucca was one of the straightest that I can remember. It felt like we’d go 20 miles between turns. Driving, I was reminded of these places to visit: the Jarbidge, Toiyabe and Santa Rosa mountains and the Owyhee River canyon.

Sometimes road trips and backpacking trips can be tiring. Re-entering California with a stop at Dani’s home on Lake Tahoe, filled with family, friends and food helped make the week a true vacation. We SUPed, swam, played bocce, and took the boat out. Capped it off with a nice dinner out with just us “kids”.

Dani, dude. It was a fantastic trip. Looking forward to doing it again soon.

SUPing Baldwin Beach to Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

Sim and I paddled to Emerald Bay on a Saturday Tahoe day trip.

Waiting on Baldwin Beach after the sheriff sent us back to shore to find PFDs.

Waiting on Baldwin Beach after the sheriff sent us back to shore to find PFDs.

Lava Beds National Monument, Tule Lake, Glass and Medicine Lake Mtns.

For Memorial Day we played north of Mt. Shasta. It was really nice to car camp and dive into the region. The trip was skewed towards visiting lots of locations as opposed to breaking a sweat. Especially for me, as I sprained my ankle on Sunday in a cave. I’m nicely bruised and will limp for the next few weeks.

We: looked for shooting stars, ate well, went in caves, walked the battlefield of the Modoc War, sat at a fire lookout, hiked to a butte and lava field, drank, saw petroglyphs and the pacific flyway, napped in hammocks, visited small towns and drove the back roads onto a shield volcano to walk a pumice and obsidian flow and sit at a lake.

Tips: bring armor for the caves (pads, durable clothes, helmets); there is a seasonal canoe trail on Tule Lake; LBNM’s ~35 campsites didn’t fill on the busiest weekend of the year (and there are plenty of great dispersed camping outside the park); it’s hard to find out information about ~680 of the park’s 700 caves.

Climbing Whitney Butte to look at the lava flow, Mt. Shasta and much of the park.

Climbing Whitney Butte to look at the lava flow, Mt. Shasta and much of the park. This was my second trip to Lava Beds.

The Lost Sierra: Sierra Hot Springs to Quincy

After the National Scenic Trails Workshop, my mom and I took a Mother’s Day weekend tour north of Truckee.

It was wonderful Mom. Love you.

I'm ready to go back.

I’m ready to go back.