After our drive/hike to Robb's Hut atop a nearly 7,000' peak we discussed what to do next. Actually I was the only one to hike to the top of the peak; Hawk waited in the car at the locked gate 1/2 mile down from the top. She'd been up half the night with stomach pains (*not exactly stomach but I'll leave it at that for simplicity) and ran out of ( Read more... )

Last weekend I visited Robb's Hut in the Eldorado National Forest. It's one of those things you probably wouldn't find except for SMUD's nice map of the Crystal Basin. Getting to Robb's Hut, which is an old cabin next to a fire lookout atop a peak, entails a drive of about 3 miles up a 4x4 route then hoofing it for the last .5 to .6 miles past a ( Read more... )

After we visited Bassi Falls, below the falls and above the falls, and drove back out the road with the challenging short hill climb at the end- people walking up the dirt 4x4 path expressed amazement at us so easily driving down it- the question was where to go next ( Read more... )

When we hiked at Bassi Falls last weekend of course we also climbed to the top of the falls! A trip to Bassi Falls isn't complete without hoofing it up through the forest to the edge of the granite ridge, then scrambling up the bare slickrock. The views at the top make it all worth it.

Click to view

I've sticked together this video, just under 2 minutes, from a ( Read more... )

Last Saturday we went to Bassi Falls... again. It's again because we cut short our trip 6 weeks earlier when Hawk got injured on the trail.

It's kind of a thing with us that when we lose an opportunity to do something, whether because of weather, or injury, or not having planned far enough ahead, we don't just say "Oh, well" and forget about it. ( Read more... )

This past Saturday morning we headed up to Bassi Falls up in the Sierra Nevada. The drive was pleasantly short at about 60 miles. We knocked out the majority of the driving from home with our Friday Night Halfway to FolsomWhile Bassi Falls was the main event for the day, getting there was part of the fun. The journey is part of the adventure. This ( Read more... )

One of the fun parts of visiting Bassi Falls (previous blog, with more pictures) is scrambling up the granite ridge to the top of the falls. Some people think to climb up the prominent rock face to its right. That's just barely possible in low flow years. In a super high flow year like this, nobody was even trying. It's obvious folly ( Read more... )

Saturday we hiked to Bassi Falls. Yeah, we got a later start than we intended (previous blog) but that would be okay. There's plenty of daylight this time of year. We'd be able to enjoy the falls for a while and then try a few other short hikes in the area. And after it all we're not even going all the way home. We're following up last night's ( Read more... )

Wrights Lake, California
Saturday, 17 Jul 2021. 3:30pm.

I had a slow start this morning when I felt ill for no particular reason I can figure out. I chose to wait it out rather than pull the plug on hiking today. "Plan for success" was my motto. The second half of that, BTW, is "But be ready in case of failure." We figured we'd take the trail one bit ( Read more... )

Wrights Lake, California
Saturday, 17 Jul 2021. 9am.

Our hiking trip today is in jeopardy. Shortly after I woke up this morning I started feeling sick. I slept okay while camping last night. This morning I slept in, unexpectedly, and when I did finally get up within moments I felt sick to my stomach. I took a swig of water and immediately heaved it ( Read more... )