Tahoe - Northstar

Gallo Sale Company Management Outing

March 4 - 6, 2011

Marcie and I joined a large group from GSC this year at the annual Northstar Ski Weekend. Neither of us skied, but we had a great time visiting with a lot of the managers I don't see on a regular basis, eating great food and just enjoying a weekend away.

We did have the option to snowmobile, which we took advantage of, and ended up having a far better time then I was expecting. The people running the show split us up into two groups, the more "sporting" group, which M and I signed on with, and the ones who wanted to take it a little slower.

After about 1/2 hour of getting to know the sleds, the guy leading our group pretty much opened it up and let us ride. There were times I wouldn't have wanted to go any faster. We had a great time, as did everyone else from what they were saying.

Marcie and Bobby.

The sled shed.

Sam, Marcie, Randy, Bobby, Janet, Barry.

Marcie waiting while the guides dig out a stuck sled.

A break overlooking Lake Tahoe.

M and S.

M.

another view while digging out the sled.

M taking a break.

Lake Tahoe.

Others in our group.

* Ishi Wilderness

Mount Diablo - North Peak

Lake Sonoma - South Lake Trail

Nevada Camp

Yosemite - 2010

Update in progress

* Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes Cycling

Actual Date: 01/15/2011

We made another January trip out to Point Reyes, this time for some mountain biking. There are not many MTB trails in PRNS, but one I've been wanting to ride for awhile is the Inverness Ridge trail.

Marcie took me up to the Mt.Vision parking area and dropped me off. She then drove back down to the Marsh Trail near the visitors Center and waited for me. A short climb from the parking area takes you to the top of Mt. Vision and the trail head. The first section is fast, fun single track with a few uphills that are manageable. After a fast mile or so, the single track dumps you out on a narrow paved road, which I thinks is Drakes Summit Drive that comes up from Inverness Park (I could be wrong though). Then through a gate onto a dirt fire road for the rest of the ride to Limantour Road.

I peddled mostly uphill for a mile to the top of Limantour Road, then ripped (well, went as fast as I could with 2.25 29er wheels - about 35 mph) back down to Bear Valley Road and Marcie waiting for me at the Marsh Trail parking area.

Time: 00:45:00

Miles: about 6.0 (my bike computer malfunctioned)

Tomales Bay from the upper section of the Inverness Ridge Trail

We loaded back up and drove out Sir Francis Drake Hwy, through Inverness again, past the Mt. Vision road, to the Estero Trail head where the plan was to ride the Estero Trail/Drakes Head Trail (+/- 10 miles round trip) out to Drakes head.

We knew going in it was going to be wet and muddy, that's why we (I ;) ) went. But once we crossed the bridge at the Estero and tried to climb the first incline we knew we weren't going far. The trail was sticky slime from the recent rains. We didn't want to drop off the other side because we knew we would have to walk our bikes back up because of the conditions, so we turned around.

M at the Estero

Hikers on the Estero bridge. Fast hikers and very nice people.

Drakes Estero from our turn around point at the top of the first hill. The dark lines in the water are the Drakes Bay Oyster Company's oyster beads.

Muddy bikes

We cleaned as much crud off the bikes as we could, loaded 'em up and headed to the shack for some fresh oysters.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes Hike

From past outings, I've found January to be a good month to visit Point Reyes. Between storms the weather is actually pretty nice and the crowds are about 1/10th of what they are during the other seasons.

I was looking for a long hike with a lot of "up" to get an idea just how out of shape I was after the holiday season. I ended up linking up seven different trails for a 10 mile hike and got my first summit of "Twenty-ten", 1,407 ft. Mount Wittenberg, the highest peak in PRNS.

From the Bear Valley Visitor's Center parking lot, I took off down the Bear Valley Trail for about 500 ft. and turned right onto the Mt. Wittenberg Trail. From Here it's two miles of continuous up to the Mt. Wittenberg summit.

A section of the Mount Wittenberg Trail.

From the meadow below Mt. Wittenberg, where several trails merge, it's a short climb to the summit.

Sam on the summit. A coastal range peak with no views from the top. A clearing, a USGS summit marker and fir trees. I got there about the time the fog burned off so it was still chilly and damp.

The meadow below Mt. Wittenberg. The two trails on the right are the Z Ranch Trail. I took the one straight out to the right which will link me up with the Sky Trail.

The view opened up fast and I got the first sighting of the day of Point Reyes. The Limantour Spit and a portion of the Estero de Limantour are at the lower right. Point Reyes, left center.

A typical section of the Sky Trail as it nears the Woodward Valley Trail cut-off.

The Woodward Valley Trail descends a ridge down to the Coast Trail. Here the Farallones came into view. The Farallone Islands lie 20 miles south of Point Reyes and 27 miles outside the Golden Gate.

Lower down on the Woodward Valley Trail with the Coast Trail visible at the lower left. Coast Camp, a popular hike-in campsite at PRNS, is up a little draw just to the right of the shaded bluff at center right. Another good view of Limantour Beach and Point Reyes.

Along the Coast Trail near Secret Beach.

Point Resistance and Point Reyes.

Some Fungi encountered back on the Sky Trail.

A section of the Sky Trail as it nears the Old Pine Trail. I followed the Old Pine Trail down to the Bear Valley Trail and back to the trail head.

Point Reyes National Seashore info

Mount Wittenberg info

Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association

Iron Canyon Fishing

Northern California

Trip Date: 10/17 - 10/18

The first big storm of the season had passed, the Fall weather was perfect and I was itching to get on some water. It took only a quick mention of a fast trip to get Matt M. on board, so we headed up to Iron Canyon Reservoir near Burney.

We used the sit-on-top kayaks to get around the lake. Did some shore fishing. Caught a lot of fish (a few on files, most on bait).

Looking up the Pit River from Big Bend.

We are there!

We got this when we got to the campground. Clearing weather.

Yak Attack!

First morning on the lake.

Matt distracted by rolling fish.

Old buoy near the dam.

Fall foliage along the shore.

Foliage along the road on the way around to the in flow.

Sunday morning.