After a rather cold night with just barely enough to keep myself warm, I packed up the stuff I'd want dayhiking and gathered the rest in one spot in the campground before heading up the trail some more.  There was a lot of frost along the way, some of it had gathered like snow in places.  There wasn't any for me getting up because it was, as I said ( Read more... )

I headed up the upper north fork of Matilija so that I might finish off the trail in an overnight backpacking trip.  It was frosty in the canyon, but dried out a little as I climbed.  At the first climb, I stopped to draw a bit of the canyon downstream and even a bit of the stream visible nearly directly below.


( Read more... )

We get up to a beautiful sky with just the slightest threat of something more to come.  We scramble around to actually get up early and manage to leave before the sun hits our campsite.  The moist will just have to be carried today.  We load up on water and finish packing and head out again.  We climb to the stream running down from Army Pass, the ( Read more... )

We had a plan to meet the two going back to Sky-Blue Lake at Soldier Lake, although it was a rather short day for them so didn't really expect to see them there.  We also weren't sure how far we needed to go to be in range of hiking out by 2 PM, the next possible meeting.  With route not quite decided, we left Crabtree Meadow heading south.  We ( Read more... )

I got a little bit of sun among all the clouds that were already forming for the day up on my perch where the sun comes first.  Things got a little dried out before they had to be packed.  I got breakfast down, ugh that oatmeal even with the cranberries that were meant for lunch (but really, I was needing more breakfast and less lunch) just isn't ( Read more... )

Another rest day, but I hope for maybe camping up at Wallace Lake instead of down in the fat trees by the meadow, so pack up as we head up.  Turns out no one else will be at the lake where we expect to meet two more of the group who started a couple days late.  One has decided to come down and try to go to Blue-Sky with one who was with us while ( Read more... )

From where we are along the Crabtree Lakes, there's a bit of trail that was once maintained.  We dry out a bit more, which takes longer than it has so I have time to sketch some in the morning.


( Read more... )

We got up with the appearance of drying sun, again.  Getting everything better dried as we breakfast, we watch another group head out to go up the drainage.  They were there for fishing and peak bagging.  We pack and head out up the drainage as well.  We make our way up more waterfall, but since one had scouted a bit the day before and found little ( Read more... )

We climb out as the sun hits us, a rather late time to be getting up.  We dry off from the night dew and have breakfast.  I pulled down my shelter, but it seems that today is going to be a rest day with day hiking to Arc Pass.  We discuss the mountains near it and that we could maybe go up one of them although we don't know the route.  We head out ( Read more... )

The Meet-Up group heads out early in the morning to go up Langly for the day.  They'll come back and pack and then be gone by evening.  We wait for sun and then set things out to dry and have a leasurely start.  I find the bivy worked great except for the obvious flaw that there's no way to keep the rain off your face.  Breakfasted and packed, I ( Read more... )