Fun & Adventure

Exploration, outdoor adventure, activities, new things

Yosemite Explorer Website Launched (sort of)

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I've been taking so many Yosemite pictures lately (about 1000 this summer, but most were junk), that I've gotten it into my head to do something with them. Of course, I only seem to be able to manage to put something here once every few months and Theresa is even worse, but such are delusions. … Read more

Glacier Point Ski Trip

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Our tracks
Our tracks on
Sentinel Dome
Larger version – 41kb

The Yosemite XC Ski center (YXC), the winter incarnation of the mountaineering school, runs a ski hut out at Glacier Point. It is the same building that houses the retail shop at Glacier Point during the summertime, but is converted to hold 22 bunk beds, several couches around a wood stove (hidden behind the counter during the summer) and a dining area. YXC stocks the hut with food (enchiladas, lasagna, pasta, salad fixings, crackers, cookies, cake etc.) and drink (ranging from water, to OJ to wine and brandy). The 10.5 mile ski to the hut is along the Glacier Point road, which is closed beyond Badger Pass ski area and groomed for skiing, making it easy terrain to negotiate, even for fairly inexperienced skiers with packs on.

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First XC ski trip of the season

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Tom and I drove up to Badger Pass (our local little ski area) today and got our first short XC trip of the season in. The road to Badger is still closed, but we went up to check on the XC ski building there and “familiarize ourselves with the XC ski rental gear and nearby … Read more

Autumn is here

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In the last week the park as exploded with fall color. It's still nothing like a hillside of maples out east, but the change is still beautiful and exciting. I'm hoping to add some pictures that Tom and I took later sometime.

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Still there?

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Surprising that you're still reading these since we haven't managed to update the site in so long. So, there are a couple of new things going on in our lives.

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Updated Birthday Challenge for Tom

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I finally committed to doing the Valley Rim Tour on June 6. This will no doubt be a stunning hike but for the fact that some will be in the dark. One cool thing about is is often on the hike you can look across at where you're going or where you've been. It's a long hike – significantly more than 50 miles with over 10,000 feet of total vertical rise.

I also have this idea that I will try to get people to pledge to make donations to the American Safe Climbing Association. For more on that, click on the “Read More!” link or just email me with yer pledge.

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10K challenge

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Our housemate, Hans, set up this great little exercise challenge. Who can be the first one to do 10000 pull-ups, 10000 push ups, 10000 Ab Rollers (this requires one of those wheels with handles. Starting from your knees you roll out to full extension and then back in), and 10000 each of two other exercises? That's 50000 repetitions in all. Hans is maintaining a website with running totals for everyone who is playing.

Although we have little hope of winning, Tom and I have decided to join in just for the challenge of finishing the event. It's great motivation.

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Leconte couloir descent

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1000m vertical right in our backyard (sort of) View 41kb image I've been eyeing the Leconte couloir for quite some time, but I never took the time to hike up and see if it was really skiable. It's hard to get a decent look at it from the bottom, but yesterday I finally strapped my … Read more