This past Saturday I went into Visalia again with Sean and
RJ to do the last of my (our) shopping for the upcoming Sixty Lakes
mobilization. We went to the farmer’s
market again, then Target and WinCo and back home.
Sunday Sean, RJ, and I went up the hill to the Giant Forest
area (where the sequoias are!) to hike up to Alta Peak, which is a peak that
you can see from the entrance to the park (behind Moro Rock, for those who have
been to Sequoia National Park before).
The hike ended up being 15 miles long, starting at 7200 feet and ending
at 11,204 – not too shabby! Sean and RJ
are fast hikers, and I kept up with them for the most part, though they were definitely
faster in the steep parts and going downhill (they are both really tall). This morning I was only slightly sore too –
not too shabby! Now I just have to
repeat that feat when we go to Sixty Lakes (14-16 miles, over two 11,000ft
passes), except I will be carrying a lot more weight this time.
I currently have about 10-12 boxes of food in my house to
feed me for ~80 days in the backcountry, as well as ~3-4 boxes of clothes,
dishes, books, and other misc personal items.
This year we were never given a weight limit (there is a weight limit,
we were just never told what it is), so I am hoping that all of my stuff will
be able to be flown up to Sixty Lakes.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will being all our stuff up to the HeliBase to be
weighed and stored, and the HeliTac Crew will tell us if we can take everything
or if we need to take some things out.
This would mean that I would need to hike additional food up to the site
over the next few months – which would be unfortunate, but not the end of the
world.
Tomorrow we will also drive over to the east side of the
Sierra Nevadas, and Wednesday we will hike up to Sixty Lakes. I absolutely intend on hiking to Sixty Lakes
in one day this year, especially because I do not intend on hiking with a tent,
and there is a tent stored at Sixty Lakes right now. The weather forecast is for no rain for the
next week, so I don’t think having a tent would really matter anyway, but my
boss did not agree with my decision to not hike with a tent. Personally, I just don’t want the extra
weight. The main thing that gets me down
(cranky, upset, unhappy) with hiking is when I have too much weight on my
back.
The crew:
·
My bosses: Danny and Isaac. Two awesome bosses (I’ve been very lucky in
this respect in the Park Service world; I’ve always had great bosses)
·
Sixty Lakes Basin: me and Christi
·
Center Basin and Kern: Sean and Rosa
·
Pinchot and Amphitheater: Emma and RJ (Mary the
last month)
Danny is the backbone of the frog project, and seems to do a
great job with finding funding for the project, which he has spearheaded for
the past 10 years (I think it’s ten years…).
He has a quirky sense of humor and a really nice wife and a really cute
daughter.
Isaac did his master’s thesis on salamanders, and always
seems happy, so he’s pretty cool. On top
of this, he and his girlfriend have two cats that they let me cuddle – one of
which is a Siamese, so that’s extra awesome.
Christi is pretty cool, and I think we’ll get along well
this summer. In a way we seem like
complete opposites sometimes, with her being more independent and free, and me
being more ready to settle down. She
doesn’t watch TV or movies, and actually has an allergy to dairy, so those are
different too, but I really only quote movies and TV shows with my sister, so
that’s no big deal (and dairy doesn’t do well in the backcountry). Personality wise, she is very upbeat and
excited about seeing new things, especially in nature, so it will be fun to
experience Sixty Lakes with her this year.
Sean is a returning frog crew member from last summer and is
pretty fun and quick with the puns. At
times his puns take on a crude manner, but he is fun to hang out with laugh
with. He spends his winters at
Antarctica at the South Pole, which is pretty cool, and is originally from New
Hampshire, so he flies in and relies on the other frog crew members for his
transportation needs.
Rosa and Emma are twins.
Emma is a returning frog crew member (third season) and is very fun to
hang out with. She’s fun and easy going,
especially when school gets out and she doesn’t have other responsibilities
(moving, studying, etc) to deal with. I
don’t really know Rosa, but this week she has been pretty sick, with a tentative
diagnosis of mono, so it looks like she will be missing at least the Sixty
Lakes mobilization, and maybe more if she doesn’t recover.
RJ seems pretty cool, but he is pretty quiet and reserved –
seems like the type to observe and take everything, but I’ve only known him for
a week now. He goes running every
morning and is a stellar hiker, so he’ll do fine on the frog crew.
Anyway, I’m going to sign off for the next ten days – be back
on the 29th or 30th of June, I believe. By that time, I may have a PO Box for mail
(!!!!) and more fun pictures and stories.
Hope everyone is doing well.
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