MudNCrud Forums
Climbing and ... Climbing => Everywhere Else => Topic started by: Brad Young on March 28, 2016, 07:49:15 AM
-
We tried for three of the "private property" California County high points and got two of them. And then we joined the Cooks in the Alabama Hills for five days of desert hanging out and climbing.
Part One:
Since 2005 I've been trying (fairly casually) to summit each of the 56 California County high points (for 58 counties; there are two high points, including Whitney, that are each the high point of two different counties). This is commonly attempted variation on the 50 United States state high points goal.
Several of these county high points are on private property, and each such has it's own access issues (usually a tangled mess varying from "no way" to "OK every once in a while"). Tactics vary from trying to get permission, to night-time ascents, to just going and hoping to not be seen. Tricia and I opted for the third tactic on this trip, thinking too that off-and-on rain would likely help us avoid any human contact. All three high points we attempted were in the central, western part of the state. One of two we got done has a reputation for being the hardest to get to of all the private high points. One of the successes involved a 13 mile round trip, and the other an 11.5 mile, up and down hike on difficult terrain.
The first success (the high point itself is in the sun):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1673/25478797264_7ea7176301_c.jpg)
Our entire 13 mile hike was on fire roads:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1695/25991031762_f6dab3d0c8_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1474/25480963313_958b07c266_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1605/26057635356_b3a7e2f672_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1642/25991037052_f17ebb5250_c.jpg)
High point number two required hiking way up and down again and again in this type of terrain (note the rocks; they're tough hiking when one has to do, in part, miles of them through tall grass):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1446/26001865432_8921be58a7_c.jpg)
Here it is, still in the distance:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1499/25821559490_889079ac1e_c.jpg)
At and coming down from the summit:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1448/26001885322_3379c9ea8c_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1674/26094415375_6014585cc3_c.jpg)
On the way out we got pounding rain, finished the hike just as Vicki pulled back up to the start point, hopped in, and drove away:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1698/26028079641_926c0e8751_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1489/26094418965_89c1ddc24e_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1684/25821577750_3b336420c6_c.jpg)
Tricia took some shots too, but she hasn't downloaded them yet.
-
Part Two:
I don't take very many climbing shots on routine, "cragging" trips any more. Too many "butt shots" and "head shots" result. But J.C. and K.C. took some and will likely add to this collection. I think they especially took shots of Tricia's brilliant and smooth lead yesterday of a 98 foot high, sustained, 5.7 face climb (my palms haven't been that sweaty because of a lead in a long time). Tricia had her camera too.
Meanwhile, my favorites start with this shot of our campsite with a small mountain range in the background:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1463/26017506181_03d8367fba_c.jpg)
I usually get up at first light on these trips (especially when the nights are long). Here I caught the moon-set at first light over Mount Whitney:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1662/25481267463_300f1d4721_c.jpg)
Here, four out of the five beautiful girls in my life prepare breakfast:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1523/26057944496_b675680229_c.jpg)
Meanwhile J.C. and Halifax engaged in "the great mooch out" (J.C. is really, really tough - he didn't give her even a scrap):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1699/25991338632_ef22292a54_c.jpg)
Smiles in this morning view to the east:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1563/26057946476_4ae93fc1b7_c.jpg)
And finally, our youngest punk turns 14 years old this coming Friday (yes, no fooling, she was born on April 1st). So isn't it about time to get her used to driving?
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1520/26057941626_e901bbab38_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1671/25811017330_30e4b3c255_c.jpg)
When I emailed the second shot above to older sister Katie, her only reply was: "Good thing she's watching the road...."
To be continued/supplemented....
-
Fun trip all around. Wow....kids still growing like a bean
-
Cool trip. was surprised to see T driving.
-
nice work on those harder to reach objectives!
Miss the Bamas. Mrs Munge was just talking about going again and how much we enjoy the place.
Looking forward to more pics, especially of T's lead.
SHE'S DRIVING NOW?????!!!!!
-
This shot from Tricia's set of photos shows the initial steep uphill cross-country on the way out to our second high point:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1442/25500591053_ba730624e0_c.jpg)
Starting to drop down into a valley with that second high point in the background:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1588/25498338684_ecc2f16ece_c.jpg)
A fascinating volcanic plug (?) visible from the hike to the second high point:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1510/26103097615_d5aae0983c_c.jpg)
Texting Vicki about pick up timing from the summit block:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1450/26103098935_f7d2cdb4b1_c.jpg)
The sticky, gooey, miserable mud that clung to our shoes for much of the hike out:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1615/26010576982_a7ae9bcf38_c.jpg)
And this final shot from her high points series showing a fun sign we saw while driving out to the third high point (the one we did not get to summit):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1562/26077174076_43fd173e7a_c.jpg)
AND YES, SHE'S DRIVING NOW (AT LEAST ON UNCROWDED DESERT ROADS).
-
:)
-
More of Tricia's photos, starting with this unique view of driving into the crag:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1561/25500806303_3c08a0a56f_c.jpg)
Eastern Sierra morning light:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1538/26010904672_54eb5b2997_c.jpg)
K.C. leading:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1582/26103425395_eba2c02c39_c.jpg)
Vicki looking on:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1572/26103438225_f38a5d8386_c.jpg)
And, bonus, this shot of... what?
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1496/26010903162_ae220b28a6_c.jpg)
-
show me smore!
-
Tricia driving and leading. Cool :)
Wish I could have been there with you all, especially the trespassing. Great pics.
-
We were at Dominican Hospital recently and there was a crucifix above the bed. A man dressed as a priest was visiting people. A man dressed as a security guard was handing out visitor passes. People dressed as doctors and nurses were giving excellent care to folks in all stages of bad shape.
After 5 days we left in much better shape than we entered. I din't check out a single credential or read the thesis that the security guard must have written prior to allowing him his trusted post, but I do believe in Dominican Hospital.
The crucifix above the bed gave me an idea to make exorcisms easier. Throw a good seance next door, which is like a party for spirits. Then in all but the most extreme cases all the priest would have to do is slam and bar the door after it(they) leave(s) the afflicted.
I also advised my daughters that when breaking up with a schizophrenic, to say "It's not you, it's them".
Considering all that transpired the week before, we had a good family time on Easter weekend. My Dad turned 75!
Next year we hopefully will be Eastsiding it.
-
I really like the "looking through the tent" shot and the one of Kat on Burnt Bacon and Beans - you both have an eye for the camera.
Yesterday Kat was convinced the routes I was looking at by The Mare were not on Blazing Saddle and it turned out she was right. The double crack I was pointing out has been done but I had forgotten the name. It is Pony Express 5.5.
Brad - It turns out that you could have knocked out 8 new routes that are not in the book simply by walking from camp.
There are still two in that batch that I need to do. Next time...
-
Brad - It turns out that you could have knocked out 8 new routes that are not in the book simply by walking from camp.
Like you said, next time. Unlike some places, most of the rock in them hills isn't going anywhere.
-
Post some of dem pics I sent ya brah ;D
Gives us a zoom of Elephant Hunting - I mean how often do you get to climb bullet holes! :o
-
Post some of dem pics I sent ya brah ;D
Gives us a zoom of Elephant Hunting - I mean how often do you get to climb bullet holes! :o
They are your photos, don't you want to post them?
And yeah, the route Elephant Hunting is unique in a sad way: the 5.10b climbing is only possible by using bullet scars in the rock. Here's a shot of me leading with L.V.S. belaying (the "trunk" of the elephant can be seen as can a whole machine gun's worth of bullet holes - as J.C. so eloquently put it):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1615/26052550652_c5de7e1fb7_b.jpg)
-
They are your photos, don't you want to post them?
I'm in Hell trying to update everything. >:D
-
There is a quarry near Portland that has some similar climbing.
Nice pic, area looks cool.
-
Here are some shots from our trip.
Tricia leads Burnt Bacon and Beans 5* on the Totally Noobular Tower
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cm7GoV8ulBEN6A-NxacFTx5m4j1PCZTgveVPVpWjtMq42PaL2WMa6pdNlwOgyHW83abqYpmYhG_0bjNZjMuMUzIaZRUbhaJMeqvxXflEs2KYutaqStouDfGBlYmTqsQTku32LeK4b_Gt8uEOKt5Dya=w469-h625-no?authuser=0)
Trica and Kat on the summit of Hammerhead 6*
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3fNxif3ji4jcOsi4tag9lUgI8rDi-qsr8I-nsBm8FD9vCjofjrT7rbSvVN9E0MXhixpITYERzK0FlI8oTx6NnFFiKca7wBxGIPPxRUBvTxKNTbuLrlLwYMN5La8cq1WloD05aAIoyZllaAICueH6CTo=w834-h625-no?authuser=0)
Tricia leads Rotten Bananas 7****
This is perhaps the best and definitely the longest 7 in the Hills.
This was one of those priceless moments people talk about.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3elSl-sucsvI5CGF8OR655D1LXh6cTNP5x8jALYEElEUUzQ9BzdqvU0VvIhtYiERSLORXguZjVzwso9FmIVkvLbnBIyYozmci2E5J_M_ZiOwrwq66hCF2TKvsCmeG3Fr0dgP34Dgn8Ma0Z7QZsipqUZ=w469-h625-no?authuser=0)
T on Rotten Bananas from the front.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3d6Zcg7D6jZBDpzAtl7do1soQ05WXzOWt4pQYxx_LuwuRkanzmdXa1LfH0UlQdqZ9lbowGFoiUASPcRTyRyDGKE1TQe4eRc8W5ERLir0H8Mx_RAre0-L4ZMjapZ3EEhN7gdzscF3JTV8_8PLPAZ6q4f=w469-h625-no?authuser=0)
And a closeup for effect
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ACtC-3cz9tlgHBwpBGXI40YfYEmmz13SlvTdGpIyU-eV2DVn_gMgszuAnvKr5i3YC-FXXLu5tUe2o7QdCL9wkNQChzLn9Jf9zdPN1b31kSHSY7UvAMrYn914-71Wl-UCFp1T9lfCy1VyhsPX4h0dRI9yRpXn=w587-h625-no?authuser=0)
-
great shots JC!
-
great shots JC!
Thanks dood. I got Brad on Back in the Saddle - actually he forced me to follow it late on the first day :D
-
Got the summit we didn't get last year. Now to get back out without being seen!
-
Success! Out safely and another one checked off the list.
-
Success! Out safely and another one checked off the list.
Nice.
We saw a couple old buzzards in the parking lot this morning and got two checked off the list :lol:
-
If one were allowed to walk the dirt roads directly to the summit, this county highpoint would take five hours round trip. It took us 7 hours 45 minutes and the cross country travel was brutal at times. Still nothing succeeds like success and we're pretty happy.
Photos when I can get to them.
-
When we highpoint across private property we don't mean any harm. We're passing through and we leave nothing but footprints. Some private property owners have made it clear that they don't mind. Others… well let's just use the phrase "status unknown."
The third county highpoint we looked at last spring, the one we did not summit, was our first and primary goal this year. We drove to Kettleman City Saturday to spend the night as close to it as we could. Then, we were up at 5:00 a.m. so as to do the drive and then start the hike at very first light.
An excellent fog helped us get a stealth start (and the heavy, heavy dew on the grass made sure that our feet got instantly wet - they stayed that way for the whole 7 hour 45 minute hike):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3773/32870312683_afb3e1c52e_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3894/32870319743_fe5058bd7c_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2907/32870315333_d73f22e431_c.jpg)
Once we hiked through the flats we started a gentle climb through grassy hills. Oh, and flowers too. Lots of flowers:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3795/33527297142_37d6f18ae1_c.jpg)
Higher elevation equaled better views:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3934/33527310012_9d60ea6e8b_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3715/32840805554_180d350d32_c.jpg)
Soon the highpoint (more of a plateau than a peak) was visible half a mile away:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2869/32840812544_ea2a967b67_c.jpg)
Once we got there, the day's goal didn't take much searching. But it wasn't exactly spectacular either:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3863/33299679840_cc686f450a_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/776/33299696650_b2c25817e8_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3759/33299689730_f768aed8e1_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2813/33527379962_66a149c135_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3739/33299747700_a62110c00d_c.jpg)
There were two summit registers (the second one, placed in 2016, describes another common way of doing private highpoints - by full moon):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3784/33527362972_4b4670d2d5_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/747/33527370282_2c002c27ed_c.jpg)
Tricia signed us in:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/597/33299736140_345298ec9b_c.jpg)
The hike out was mostly uneventful (as described below though, I had a close call though about half a mile from the pick-up point):
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/568/33527400092_0fc5b6830c_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3679/32840894894_8ff9d69320_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2932/32840896744_f60b86e004_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3782/33527432342_9166e805fa_c.jpg)
More flowers (in places one couldn't avoid walking right on them):
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2896/33527478692_f8f95c5d85_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2861/33299832280_553041d6c0_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/710/33643209956_9f17ff11a3_c.jpg)
Notice the still-wet feet:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3853/33299845080_411dcb0bdc_c.jpg)
And then, wading through deep grass, gently uphill, I caught myself in mid-stride about to step on this (and, naturally, I let out my customary little-girl scream and absolutely levitated to the side):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3788/33527436212_e5e2eca1ea_c.jpg)
Careful planning/map reading allowed us to stay down in drainages and on reverse slopes until we reached a point 75 feet from the road. We then summoned Vicki who'd been waiting miles down the road (to avoid a suspicious car near our ingress/egress point; and note Hurricane Halifax helping navigate out the car window as usual):
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2811/33683843695_8ba1af402d_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3707/33643257796_b92be89fdc_c.jpg)
We finished by 3:00 p.m., having taken only photos and left only footprints. We still had time enough to visit the nearby hamlet of Parkdale and then drive to King City for an excellent tri-tip, potatoes and salad dinner with the Waltons (thanks again for the hospitality). The day ended with a drive to Caleb and Nicolle's house (still barely in daylight) where we visited and then stayed the night (and thank you two too for the hospitality).
With our feet sore from too much wet-foot hiking, we took a rest day today exploring the gorgeous Arroyo Seco area. Tomorrow is a Pinnacles day followed by one more (private property) highpoint on Wednesday.
-
Rules are made to be broken.
-
Flowers and snakes. Very cool.
-
if you don't say private property, then we don't have to bear witness to your confession. Nor does mud have to be subpoenaed or provide a declaration... 8)
-
if you don't say private property, then we don't have to bear witness to your confession. Nor does mud have to be subpoenaed or provide a declaration... 8)
I don't recall
-
I don't recall, senator.
Standard protocol response ^^^
-
Said with such legal ease.
-
I like the starting pic with T and her track coming out of the fog.
The 3rd one of you with the sun trying to break through is cool too.
Looks like you guys had a fun day and damn that is a big snake! :yikes:
-
I like the starting pic with T and her track coming out of the fog.
i agree, cool pic.
The pick of Brad pointing at the benchmark is a good one.
-
(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t395/JCwKCredux/get_off_my_lawn_tshirt-r838cfca1b845454db10326f5db977303_jg5wu_512_zpsvb9tiilx.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/JCwKCredux/media/get_off_my_lawn_tshirt-r838cfca1b845454db10326f5db977303_jg5wu_512_zpsvb9tiilx.jpg.html)
(http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t395/JCwKCredux/trespassers%20will%20be%20shot_zpsvo4be3fp.jpg) (http://s1057.photobucket.com/user/JCwKCredux/media/trespassers%20will%20be%20shot_zpsvo4be3fp.jpg.html)
I don't believe that you'd shoot Tricia under any circumstances ;)
-
...and damn that is a big snake! :yikes:
Holy, holy f#$king f$#k it was big. Scared the crap out of me. And the snake never even moved; not when I almost stepped on it and not while I took photos. The look in his eyes though... he and I reached an instant understanding, a quid pro quo: "you don't hurt me and I won't hurt you."
I was happy to keep my end of that bargain ;D
-
I don't believe that you'd shoot Tricia under any circumstances ;)
Of course not but I had to post those.
I remember my mom telling stories about getting shot at with rock salt when they were kids raiding an apple orchard.
She spent part of her growing-up years in Texas.
I bet Mud might have a story or two to tell. clink and Noal might too. :yesnod: :lol: :out:
-
Some of our juvenile delinquency tendencies remain thinly veiled.
-
yeah this stuff happened in Wa. This one orchard we used to cut through on our motorcycles fairly regularly the owner ( or whoever he was ) would take pot shots at us with his .22. We rode fast through there. I always figured he could not be trying to hard. What bothered me more than anything, walking and riding bikes between towns, were the dogs. Some you could get to know, some were just mean.
My brother-in-law shot or got shot by rock salt. I forget how that went. His Saint Bernard died when it ate a bunch of weed then proceeded to eat the cushions in his trailer. But, that is a different tangent.
Of course not but I had to post those.
I remember my mom telling stories about getting shot at with rock salt when they were kids raiding an apple orchard.
She spent part of her growing-up years in Texas.
I bet Mud might have a story or two to tell. clink and Noal might too. :yesnod: :lol: :out:
-
yeah this stuff happened in Wa.
I knew I could count on you dude :thumbup: :biggrin:
-
Got it.
-
I remember the "l found it" bumper sticker. What did you get?
-
What did you get?
Another private highpoint. This one located 25 miles west of Patterson and 20 miles east of the Mount Hamilton's Lick Observatory. A routine 10.3 mile hike and we didn't see another person ;D ;D
-
Got it.
You migh want to see a doctor and get rid of it. :lol:
-
You migh want to see a doctor and get rid of it. :lol:
Wait until you see the views from the summit.
-
JC, as a geologist you should...
-
Puns for Educated?Minds
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian .
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris , you'd be in Seine .
21. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'
25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No pun in ten did.
Compliments of SteveW
Very Bradish
-
#26 pretty much sums it all up. Groan.
-
#26 pretty much sums it all up. Groan.
pun·dit
ˈpəndət/
noun
1.
an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public.
"a globe-trotting financial pundit"
synonyms: expert, authority, specialist, doyen(ne), master, guru, sage, savant, maven;
:D Correlation?
So punny!
-
Stan County's highpoint is fairly nondescript. It starts with flat hiking for two miles through oaks and grassland (hard to hide across this stuff - we counted on sheer remoteness and got away with it):
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3754/33346342870_277735c516_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2903/33346344840_a83500f9d9_c.jpg)
Slow elevation gain up a creek followed:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3838/33346346260_f9448b389f_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3898/33601981871_64d012f1b0_c.jpg)
Past several small ponds:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/706/33601980811_d2610af2ce_c.jpg)
Then two miles of serious uphill through warm chaparral:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2829/33601983121_8fc7a78c32_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2812/33601987881_6dc1ec10e3_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2880/32917644833_fefe016187_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/688/32917644083_9dcfd1da4b_c.jpg)
Looking back at how we came up:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2813/32917645643_a423e5fd63_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3678/32917654843_6bb18e4166_c.jpg)
All fairly routine, if a little hot. And then we broke out over to the east side of the ridge that makes up the highpoint:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2882/32917653103_a897326cd5_c.jpg)
That white line on the eastern horizon? For the un-initiated, that's the entire Sierra Nevada (across the entire Central Valley):
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2833/32917655613_3ab6876c92_c.jpg)
We were back to routine for the highpoint itself:
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3898/32917660093_7b7258e1ed_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3938/32917656313_73373abecb_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2929/32917657273_16a95e1399_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2830/32917659173_37153a85c8_c.jpg)
(https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3718/33574627122_4658b2640e_c.jpg)
The hike back included some nice moments:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2913/33574634892_2e57622ac7_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2940/33574638702_ffe118627e_c.jpg)
And then there was the gate and Vicki:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2860/33574637702_673ae2bf9c_c.jpg)
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2890/33574639752_23d428aaba_c.jpg)
That was it. We've now got two more private property highpoints left to do and then we're down to more that are publicly accessible (I've got about eight more to do out of 56 total and Tricia has about 20).
Of the two more on private property, we're on a wait list for one - the property owner lets 10 people come on the property twice a year, tag the highpoint - apparently it's 100 feet from his house - and then leave (one wonders what the owner thinks of all these nut-job list-checkers). The other we'll try today. It's off Highway 35, about 500 feet off the pavement, on an old, now disused Christmas tree farm.
-
nice views
-
Looks like at one point you were up a creek without a waddle :lol:
The rock that survey marker is in looks metamorphic - either slate, phyllite or schist - hard to tell for sure without being there.
You guys look uncomfortably warm in a few of those pics.
-
The other we'll try today. It's off Highway 35, about 500 feet off the pavement, on an old, now disused Christmas tree farm.
Seems kinda local? Hwy 35? I'm assuming we're meeting for beers afterward? mmmmm, kay
-
Seems kinda local? Hwy 35? I'm assuming we're meeting for beers afterward? mmmmm, kay
Yeah! If I am not working.
Bravo for staying over night in Kettemens....
-
well, I got no calls. So hopefully they are ok.
-
Sorry, I meant to reply. I finished my deposition in San Jose and we ran up there in the afternoon. About as boring as it gets. We walked uphill 500 linear feet to the top of a rounded plateau, spent 15 minutes making sure we walked over every point that could be higher than another, and then beat it to my sister's house just in time for a family dinner.
So, no beers with you today. How about tomorrow up at our house, or join us and the Dawsons for dinner Saturday? Are you coming up this weekend?
-
ah, glad it was uneventful.
Tomorrow I may be asleep by 6pm. Early rise Sat am and working on plan for being on skis during the day. I'll touch base in the afternoon. thx!
-
The county highpoint for the county that the Cooks and Cochrans live in:
(https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2918/33748845475_d9289e918c_c.jpg)
-
And here I thought the highpoint was hanging with us.
-
About as boring as it gets. We walked uphill 500 linear feet to the top of a rounded plateau, spent 15 minutes making sure we walked over every point that could be higher than another
So you didn't find the benchmark?
I can imagine you walking in circles wondering if you touched the exact spot :lol:
I did a better job than I thought disguising it. :devildevil:
Could this become the new Mystery Spot? :thumbup: :biggrin: :yesnod:
-
Where is everybody?
Did I step in it again unbeknownst to me?
-
So you didn't find the benchmark?
I can imagine you walking in circles wondering if you touched the exact spot :lol:
I did a better job than I thought disguising it. :devildevil:
Could this become the new Mystery Spot? :thumbup: :biggrin: :yesnod:
What an odd comment. Almost like you were there watching us? Or you know me very well ;)
Gary Suttle describes a benchmark in his California County highpoints book (written in 1993). And that benchmark was the highpoint. Suttle gives directions to it as "12 yards east of a four foot high metal pole." We found the pole easily; but we found no benchmark.
However, the whole area 12 yards east of the pole was covered with fallen logs and branches. So it may have been buried under them (which also goes back in an odd way to your comment).
Also, reports since 2000 are that the previous highpoint was bulldozed lightly to make or expand a parking lot for the Christmas tree farm. These state that the now-current highpoint is 20 yards north of the pole. It was obvious to the naked eye that the area 20 yards north of the pole was the highest point on this rounded plateau (it's what I showed in the posted photo). But we thought it would be nice to stand on anything remotely close to the highest elevation (we did) and to find the benchmark (we didn't).
We didn't walk in "circles" to do these things though :P :P :P
-
Where is everybody?
Did I step in it again unbeknownst to me?
I don't know about "everybody," but Vicki and I are now back home, and Tricia is in San Francisco with her schoolmates at an Associated Student Body, Northern California conference (which she was really, really looking forward to). Unfortunately she'll be spending her 15th birthday there without us (it's tomorrow, no foolin'). I'm going to miss her :'(
I assume you'll be heading out to Pinnacles yourself tomorrow? If so I'll really, really miss you too.
-
I don't know about "everybody," but Vicki and I are now back home, and Tricia is in San Francisco with her schoolmates at an Associated Student Body, Northern California conference (which she was really, really looking forward to). Unfortunately she'll be spending her 15th birthday there without us (it's tomorrow, no foolin'). I'm going to miss her :'(
I assume you'll be heading out to Pinnacles yourself tomorrow? If so I'll really, really miss you too.
Yep, we miss you guys too.
I have been spending most of what should have been my Spring break in the Hills with you guys and Kat here at home dreaming of choss. Next week looks like a wash too as I have classes starting back at West Valley while DeAnza is out.
I also have appointments of one type or another on my days off from DeAnza. Weekends are looking good though.
I'll post up all the behaps as time allows and as dreams become reality... :thumbup: :biggrin:
-
Gee Brad, you drove right by our place on your way to your sisters (Mary/ California).
It is a small world (smaller for them SC folks).
Mungie, you are welcome too.....
-
Unfortunately she'll be spending her 15th birthday there without us (it's tomorrow, no foolin'). I'm going to miss her Cry
Happy Birthday Tricia!
-
Yeah, forgot as well...Happy Birthday!
-
Happy Birthday