A girl in...Joshua Tree National Park

Drove out to Joshua Tree National Park for a rock climbing tour with the great folks at Joshua Tree guides. On the way to our meeting point at Intersection Rock, we couldn't resist the urge to stop and take pictures of the unbelievable scenery and awe inspiring rock formations.

 

Joshua Tree National Park encompasses two deserts - the Mohave and the Colorado desert and as such, the landscape at the North entrance varies from that in the South entrance. For this trip, we entered and exited at the North. It's such an interesting place and while one has the tendency to think of a desert as barren and well, deserted, there really is a lot of life and activity just underneath the stark veneer.

Our guide was Miriam and she was wonderful - a wealth of knowledge and really friendly. We started our first rock climb (a level 5) at a location close to Intersection Rock and got re-acquainted with tying the rope to our harness, belaying techniques and general safety procedures.

We then moved over to Reggie Dome. It's located east of the Key's Corner parking lot (about a 10 minute walk). There, Miriam led us through a variety of climbs: regular rock climbing using the rock's natural cracks and crevices to climb, rappelling, and slab climbing. We rock climbed up a route called "Pops goes Hawaiian" - gotta love that!

Slab climbing definitely took some getting used to since it involves putting your feet in small cracks on nearly flat, slab-like rock (hence the name) and slowly climbing up its face. See picture below:

All in all, a really great day - felt great pushing myself physically and mentally and couldn't ask for better weather. :)

A girl in...her spiffy Barefoot Merrells

I'm getting geared up for an upcoming trip to Costa Rica (so excited!) and one of the decisions I made was to purchase a multipurpose shoe that would be good as both a walking and water shoe. Our Costa Rica itinerary is pretty packed with all sorts of fun adventures, including a volcano hike, night jungle hike, canyoneering, white water rafting and zip lining.

In ticking off my mental packing list, I realized I'd be bringing five pairs of shoes: hiking boots, waters shoes, tennis shoes, flip-flops, and a dressier pair of sandals. That's a definite no-no for me, so I thought I should try and find a shoe that will serve multiple functions. Enter the Merrell Pace Glove Barefoot running shoe.

Though I was initially drawn to the shoe for its cool styling, light weight and breathability, the friendly gal at REI spoke really highly of the shoe and espoused the benefits of barefoot running. Granted, I'm not a runner by any means but even I was tempted to take the shoe out on a few trial runs around my neighborhood. Verdict: I still haven't developed a great love for running but did notice the difference in that I take lighter steps.

I also took the shoe out last weekend for a trip to Joshua Tree for a guided rock climbing trip. While I didn't climb with them on, they came in handy for running around and taking breathers from having my feet squished into tight rock climbing shoes.

The Merrells hanging out with our climbing ropes.

A girl in Mammoth Part Deux - Day 1

Had a great time in Mammoth again over the 3-day Labor day weekend. Although this was another back country backpacking trip, we took a different route and it was a little more physically demanding than last time.

We got started a little late in the day, arriving at the Mammoth shuttle area around 12pm with my dog Mandy in tow.

Tip for backpackers bringing their dogs: Dogs can't ride the shuttle without a muzzle! You can pick one up in the main lodge store for about $7.

We boarded the shuttle to the Agnew Meadows trailhead, where the high trail starts. The packs were a little heavier this time and the route was a little longer (the route from Agnew Meadows to Summit Lake is about 6 miles through forests and open meadows with switchbacks and inclines on the route in). The trail also starts at about 9,000 ft elevation and gains to almost 10,000 ft.

Mandy wore a backpack too and enjoyed the various stream crossings.







We reached Summit Lake around 5:30PM and though we were tired, it was a great feeling to feel the cool breeze, make dinner with the sun setting and just take in the fresh air.

(Doesn't she look soo happy in this picture?)

A girl in Mammoth Lakes, CA

A little late posting this...

Went backcountry backpacking at Mammoth Lakes at the end of July. The last time I used my REI pack was last August in Peru so I was itching to strap the pack on and get moving!

Drove from L.A. Friday afternoon to Mosquito flats (near Tom's place exit), a little past Bishop. The drive was about 4.5 hours long, taking 14N to 395. Mosquito flats is a nice campground area surrounded by picturesque mountains, gurgling streams and fresh mountain air. By the time we got there it was around 8PM. Got our gear ready, strapped on our 20lb packs, put on our head lamps, and started the 4 mile trek in. This was the first time I'd done any real backpacking, let alone backcountry backpacking at night, and it was quite an experience.

I was trying to stay tuned into my surroundings since I was a little wary of animals (bears, coyotes, etc.) hunting at night and didn't want to turn into a little tasty snack. As we walked, we clinked our trekking poles together to give the animals fair warning that we were coming. After a while though, the animals started to matter less and I was more intent on reaching our destination and setting up camp to bed down for the night. 

There was only a sliver of a moon out when we made our trek in, but our head lamps shone little pools of light on the path to help us make our way. We passed by several streams and lakes and enjoyed hearing the water gurgling past though we often couldn't see the source. We probably gained about a 1,000 ft elevation during our nearly 2hr long trek and finally reached our destination: a little hillside a stone's throw away from Gem Lake. 

That night we quickly set up our tent, rolled out our sleeping bags and washed up with water from the stream nearby as the soft buzzing of the mosquitoes around our head forced us back into our tent. It was a little chilly, but save for our weary feet, we were happy.

The next morning, I woke up to this:

The spot we found was perfect! It was on a flat hill with trees off to one side to offer shade and shelter from the wind, and from our perch, we could see that lovely, meandering stream with the picturesque mountain behind it. It was truly a picture postcard view and literally took my breath away!

We started the day by hiking through Morgan's Pass with small backpacks, a light lunch and our fishing poles. We did a fair amount of fishing, though we caught and released the trout. We must've caught 20 or so fish between us! While fishing, we couldn't resist taking a cool, refreshing dip in the lake. That was the highlight of the day for me.

All in all, a very relaxing, yet demanding weekend. Planning on going again in September when hopefully the mosquitoes swarms would be diminished. Would highly recommend a trip like this to those so inclined for a little physical challenge and adventure that's not too far from home.