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Devil's Slide - The Park

3/28/2014

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Devil's Slide Park opened Thursday

Devil's Slide is over on the coast on Hwy 1. 
Hwy 1 first opened in 1937 (?) 
It was first closed for a slide in 1940.
It has been closed dozens of times in the years since.
Pacifica, over on the coast, has jokingly been called the longest cul-de-sac in the world, since if Devil's Slide closes Hwy 1, the only way out is north Hwy 1 to SF.
(You can see Pacifica from up on Sweeney Ridge, near where the Portola Expedition first discovered SF bay in 1769.)

Well, last year they finally closed Hwy 1 through there!
They finished the tunnel through the mountain, (the Tom Lantos tunnel,*) and started turning the old Hwy into a park!
Thursday they opened the park!
Yesterday, I went!
It's beautiful!

You always used to want to look at stuff, but you couldn't take your eyes off of the road. 
I mean, you really couldn't! 
Twisty, turney, narrow road, with lot's of traffic, and sheer cliffs down to the ocean... you really, really couldn't; trust me.

It's about a 1.3 mile walk, all pavement, of course. 
Hiking, biking, dog's, horse's, and wheelchairs, are allowed.
I forgot to turn on my MapMyHike when I started, but I turned it on at the other end so I got the one-way stats. Only 321 feet of elevation gain, but, it was a nice walk.

I went after work, especially hoping for a really cool sunset, since we've had rain and clouds.Alas, no such luck. But I did get some decent pics and for the first time ever, I actually got to see Devil's Slide up close. 

Anyway, go check out the photo's or the hike.
             Later,
                  Jou

*(I went through this tunnel last August. The tunnel pictures are not worth posting but I'll stick one up anyway. Sorry.)


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Well, that's that! I'm in the Half Dome Lottery.

3/26/2014

0 Comments

 
I'm in the Half Dome Lottery!
Now it's just a question of waiting and hoping that I win.
I went for four Mondays in June, and three days during the fourth of July weekend.
Pretty obviously the fourth weekend is going to be slammed, but if I go then I can make it for four days instead of only three. How can you beat that? Of course I had to try, right? 
And, if I don't win a permit, I'm probably going to make it the fourth so I can get the four days.

I'll find out about mid-April if I win, and what day.
It's time to start exercising now, (if only it wasn't raining!)

For now, though...
I had a great trip Sunday.
I did Eagle Peak again; this time by the Donner Canyon route instead of the Mitchell Rock route.
It was great.
Especially since I spent a fair bit of time with my map studying the terrain so I'd know what I'm looking at.
I'm going to have to try the Back Creek Trail to the Bald Knob Trail, and on up that to the Mt. Diablo peak. 
They looked like real thigh-buster trails, going straight up ridges as they do. 
I could see the Back Creek Trail from above, as I was coming down the Eagle Peak Trail.
I got some good pics and I'll have them posted soon.
I've already got the hike itself published here, along with some of the pics.

Now, what to do this weekend?
Well, tomorrow afternoon the new, (Brand New!) Devil's Slide park is opening!
It's where they used to have Hwy 1 going past Devil's Slide on the coast. 
It was always awesome, but you couldn't see much of it, since you really couldn't take your eyes off of the road. 
Well, they opened the new tunnel, (the Tom Lantos tunnel,) and turned the old highway route into a park you can walk, bike, etc... and it opens tomorrow.
How ya going to beat that?
But, it's only a mile or two, and flat and paved, so it's not a Sunday trip. 
Maybe an after work trip one nice day.

Perhaps this Sunday, I will do the one Jerry and I were going to do last Sunday.
Especially since it's been raining and so should give me a great sky for photography.
Wonder if Jerry's feeling better enough to go with me?

Meanwhile - Eagle Peak via Donner Canyon:

In this pic, (-129) I'm on Meridian Ridge and that's Eagle Peak in the background.
First I had to go up this peak beside me, then down the saddle between these two peaks, and finally up Eagle Peak itself.
It was a great trip. 

I did over 6 miles and about 1,850' elevation gain total. 
Yours will be less, unless you backtrack for additional pictures like I always do.
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Looking over at Eagle Peak
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Looking back from partway up Eagle Peak
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OK, it's coming down to the gate now...

3/19/2014

0 Comments

 

Well, it's getting there

I have to start figuring out for positive, just exactly what I'm going to do for my Yosemite vacation?
I've been waiting for this vacation since I started this job two years ago.
Which dates should I apply for for my (hopeful) Half Dome permit?
And what else should I plan, in case?

I was going to apply for Mondays, (mostly,) so we don't have to shut the shop too much, (since if I'm not there, it isn't open.)
That way with my Oct day off, plus my current month's day off, plus a Sunday, I would have three days off.
Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
A day to get there and get set up.
A day for the hike, starting very early!
Plus a day to get home and rest up for work the next day.
And if I left direct from work Saturday, I'd already be there for Sunday morning, so I could spend the day doing other things!

I also figured that I'd apply for my birthday, which, (unfortunately,) is a Wednesday. That would mean I would need one additional day off. I could make two of those three days off with my Oct day, plus my current day off, but I'd still need one more. But, how could you resist the thought of celebrating your birthday on top of Half Dome? 
(Especially since it would also be exactly my 9th anniversary of getting out of prison and trying to build my new life!)

But, if I take the 3rd and the 5th of July off instead! Try to get a Half Dome permit for the 4th or the 5th, (Friday or Saturday.) I could use my 2 days off and get a 4-day trip! Then I could also do some other cool stuff.

I'm interested in at least once, doing the Tioga Pass road and seeing Half Dome from that side, among all the other unknown wonders that I've yet to discover! 
Or, the back-country... when will I ever get time for more of that? 

I've seen some in the Rockies, when I hiked above the tree line for a few days, (back in the '70's,) but mostly I've been in city streets. Well, there was  woods in Santa Cruz, (in the '80's,) but that was within walking distance of downtown, so that's not back-country. We did live in a cool hooch, and had indoor Bar-B-Que pits, with no smoke, but, that's because we only needed two walls and a roof. The climate here in California is so mild we could live year-round with no more than that.

The upwind walls and roof protected us from wind and rain, the Redwoods really protected us from wind and rain, and the two downwind walls were non-existent.  We had this beautiful view of the Redwood grove itself, we were breathing the open air, and had our open-air ashram in the next small grove below us. It was fantastic, but it wasn't back-country.

Anyway... if I get to do Half Dome, I'll do Half Dome.
That's all their is to it.
I'll do it, and I'll make it.
I've decided.
And, if I can't do Half Dome, what shall I do?
Forget Yosemite Falls! 
This has been too dry of a year. It will be dry. 
Save it for another year.
But what else?

The Mist Trail, maybe? 
It's actually the first part of the Half Dome trail, and it goes past Vernal Falls, the Emerald Pool, and Nevada Falls. 
You can actually go most of the way to Half Dome without a permit. 
You only need it for the last part.

But, there are also so many other ideas!
Share yours!
What should I do?

Thanks for your time and consideration,
Jou Baur

Happy Trails to you.

Half Dome from Glacier Point

Glacier Point
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Apparently, this is where you go up to get behind Half Dome.
The Mist Trail, and the John Muir Trail.
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Near as I can figure...

,,,I'm going to come up the Mist Trail next to the lower waterfall, (Vernal Falls,) and then somewhere along there cut left to go up behind Half Dome to the far end, and then finally come up from the opposite side from what you can see here.
15 miles round-trip and 4700 feet of elevation gain from down in the valley below.
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El Capitan

See the people?
Lower right side.
You see them better in the second pic.
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And now a little something about your hikes...

3/18/2014

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Hikes come from somewhere.
The question is, "Where?"

Well, my hikes come from lots of places, but one of my favorites is the stuff from Weekend Sherpa. Every week they send out a newsletter with cool stuff in it to do. Unfortunately, some of it is crap! You know, restaurants and other stuff. However, most of it is some pretty cool stuff. I definitely recommend their weekly newsletter; just ignore the crap and the occasional stuff from real far away, like S.L.O., CA. That might be OK if you get multiple days off, and have lots of money to make the trip, but that puts it out of my range.

They do have lots of local hikes, though, plus a summer contest each year. I've got a couple of nice 'Weekend Sherpa' t-shirts from them, and show them off whenever I get the chance, (you'll see them in some of my pics.)

Some of my hikes come from this other website, Bay Area Hiker, where hikes are rated on distance and difficulty. It's really great, but it's harder to find a hike there by name or location. However, distance and difficulty are great ways to present hikes! (At least for me.)

I'll try to start tying hikes back to some other source, although that's not always possible. Sometimes hikes come from multiple sources or from offline sources, such as a hiker I ran into on the trail.

Other things like Day-trips and events also come from somewhere, and one of those sources is Funcheap. Funcheap gives me all kinds of interesting things like the 'Superhero Street Fair' and the 'How Weird Street Faire', and many, many more. 

I definitely recommend you sign up for both of these free emails if you live in the bay area.
If you don't like them you can always unsubscribe, but you won't.

Speaking of Half Dome...
I'm trying to figure out which days to apply for, for my Half Dome trip.
I've only got about 2 weeks to get my application in so I'd better get busy.
I'm going to apply mostly for Mondays, since I can take Monday and Tuesday off along with my Sunday for three days total. That gives me a day to get there and set up, a day for the hike, and a day to drive home and recuperate.  I can live with that.

I am, however, going to apply for one Wednesday... my birthday. If that gets drawn, my boss is just going to have to live with me taking Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off. The chance to sit atop Half Dome on my 9th anniversary of getting out... WOW!  
I'm sure as hell not going to miss that if that day gets chosen!

In the meantime, I'm still working at updating and posting, although you may not always notice what I've done since it may be on another page than the one you're looking at, or it might not even be visible yet.  Nevertheless, keep coming back. It gets better with time.

Meanwhile, have a happy hike, buddy.
Here's looking at you atop some cool peak.
May you always climb another mountain.
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A little something for today...

3/17/2014

1 Comment

 

*Update, 3/19/2014: I posted the This Is True's, True-a-day story, but it didn't work. Yellow print on a white background just doesn't get it. I'll try again later and figure out what I did wrong.

I've been working on the pages here and there in the background.
If you get curious, there's no specific place or thing that's been updated... except this:

"This Is True"

I recommend, (make that, "STRONGLY RECOMMEND",) that you subscribe to This Is True, link here.
Randy Cassingham provides a thoughtful newsletter every week, that really makes you think!
Sometimes it may make you exuberant, sometimes sad, or even angry, but if you pay attention, you'll be a better person when you're done. 
Because, it makes you think!

Get the 'Free' edition for FREE!
Or, get the Premium edition cheap.
The premium edition is well worth it, but get the free edition for a while to suit yourself.
I did.
Then I upgraded and won't go back.

(P.S. No spam! I've been a member for years now and it just doesn't happen.)

So, I'm including his 'True-a-day' freebie to get you started.
Check out his 'Jumbo Joke', or especially his 'Honorary Unsubscribe' for those unsung heroes of the world he honorarily unsubscribes from his publication since they've died and the world didn't notice.

Awesome! 
Trust me.
Jou Baur
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The Donner Canyon trip with Jerry

3/12/2014

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Well, I've finally posted the Donner Canyon trip. 
The Hike is here, and the pics are here. 
All-in-all it was a great trip. 

We took several hours and made it a leisurely trip instead of a race. 
Jerry's not in quite as good of shape as I am, (which isn't all that great!) 
Still, we had a really nice hike.
I especially enjoyed this one stop where we sat for a while.
Here's Jerry sitting there.
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It didn't seem all that long while we were there, but when I look at my MapMyHike record it shows us sitting still for about an hour and a half.
Altogether, we did about 5.68 miles with 1,104 feet elevation gain.

Enjoy.
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New pages are now up

3/8/2014

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I've been getting more of my pictures posted. 
In fact, I've started a couple of new pages. 
I've got 'Lighthouses,' 'Waterfalls,' and 'Selfies,' under photography.
I figured you don't need to see my ugly mug on every page, yet I need these pics for showing I was actually there.
Also, I like Selfies as much as the next person... wait: no I don't! 
If my ass looked like Kim Kardashian's I'm pretty sure I wouldn't take a photo showing it off and post it, so I guess I can't claim to like Selfies as much as her and her ilk.

Nevertheless, I'm getting things posted and organized finally.
Bear with me if things change from one visit to the next. 
I'm updating things as I go.

I can hardly wait for tomorrow morning. 
I haven't been on a hike with Jerry for quite a while now.
Not since Carson Falls, (of which there's a picture or two now up on Waterfalls.)

Enjoy
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Donner Creek Falls, with Jerry

3/6/2014

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I was talking to my buddy, Jerry today and I think he's going to go to Donner Creek Falls with me this Sunday.
It's been raining more since the last time I was there, plus, I'm aiming for a little later in the day to get better lighting on the falls, I hope.
I was just now checking it out on MapMyHike and it's about 4 miles with about 868' elevation gain. That's pretty mild, but I'm not sure what shape Jerry is in. I'm not trying to make it hard, well, only slightly. That's what makes something fun, pushing yourself a little. 
He did about 3 miles with me a while back.
We went to Carson Falls together. 
I'll have to start getting some of those pictures up. 

This is Jerry.
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Wait until he see's my hat. 
It's this cool hat like his except it has the neck piece, (see it in the Mitchell Creek / Donner Canyon series.)
Here's what Donner Creek Falls looked like when I was the two weeks ago. 

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Anyway, we're supposed to go do Donner Creek Falls on Sunday. 
I wonder if we'll see any Ladybugs?
I saw this when I was there a couple weeks ago.

Sure sounds like fun.
I wish I had more time to hike.

Jou Baur
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Well now, here I am.

3/6/2014

0 Comments

 
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This is my new blog to go with my website.

I'm focusing on hikes and events, etc... the same things I'm already focused on, but now I'm getting it organized. Before I was just posting pictures with a few notes and no particular plan. Now, I'm going to focus on the hikes and events; how to get there, what the route is, and cool things to see along the way, so that you can duplicate it for yourself.

I'm setting this up with three sections to start with: Hikes, my Blog, and Photography. Check out the section that interests you.
At the beginning of the hikes section you will find a map with places pinpointed. On other pages you will find individual hikes with directions and other info about the hike or getting there.
 
I've got some of my Point Reyes pictures here, some of my Yosemite pics, my SF pics, my Marin headlands pics, Big Basin, Big Sur, Mt. Tam, Mt. Diablo, Mission Peak, Eagle Peak, and so much more, and I'm just barely getting started. 

I never realized just how many pictures I've got until now. In fact, I still don't know as I've only had time to sort a little bit of my last few albums. I've got a few pages up from the Superhero Street Faire, the How Weird Street Faire, The Folsom Street Fair, Angel Island, and just recently, the beginnings of my first Dream Machines album from 2009.

I've also got lighthouses, waterfalls, mountains, the Pacific Ocean, great events, and Day-trips up and down the coast, or over to Yosemite. All in all, lot's of wonderful things to do and places to see. Have fun.
Enjoy yourself and let me know of anything else you want.
You can contact me through the 'Contact me' form on the profile page.

Thanks,
Jou Baur

P.S. This picture is from my Eagle Peak trip up at the north end of Mt. Diablo State Park.
It goes past Mitchell Rock, and the Twin Peaks, and then up to Eagle Peak to finish.
The hike will be posted soon under Hikes.

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    Jou Baur

    I like hiking, backpacking, day-trips, cool events, and photography.
    ​
    These go well together.

    I also like cooking, and I make some cool, homemade spices.
    ​

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    "How to get your Half Dome Permit"
    If you want to do Half Dome and you get there without a permit, you are NOT doing Half Dome.
    Watch this video 6-months in advance and prepare before you go.
    ​

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