Santa Cruz Trail Backpacking

Reecy’s First Backpacking trip

Date: April 22, 2015

Location: Oceanside to Upper Uso Camp Ground
Distance traveled today: 0
Distance traveled total: 0

It took about 6 hours to get to the campsite.  Between traffic, stopping at Costco for backup poles, bathroom breaks, and more traffic.  The directions if you put in the address will take you to the wrong place but if you just follow the roads/signs it is easy.  There is a little creek/river to drive though in order to get to the camp ground and I stopped for a minute to try to figure out how deep it was before crossing.  We pulled in about 6:30 and found our spot.  It was right next to the bathrooms but very private.  The campground is awesome.  We went for a walk, set up our tent, and made dinner.  Got all my stuff ready for the next day, and opened my new poles (a backup pair from Costco because I have lost my normal ones). 

I found out I really need to practice starting a fire without a fire starter.  I got a small fire going but it didn’t last very long.  It was okay because I was tired and ready for bed shortly after sunset.  Once in the tent I was a little worried about Reecy because we could hear a lot of the people around.  She sat very alert in the beginning but by the time I got in my sleep clothes she was curled up on her bed and snoring.  I had a little jacket for her just in case she got cold.  I originally set an alarm to try to get an early start but ended up talking myself out of it and turning it off. 

Date: April 23, 2015

Location: Upper Uso Camp to Santa Cruz Guard Station
Distance traveled today: ~11 Miles
Distance traveled total: ~11 Miles

Our journey started out on a dirt road and I wasn’t very excited thinking we were going to be on the same dirt road as ATVs.  After about a mile the Santa Cruz Trail breaks off to a single track dirt path.  There is a place to register however all the pages were filled out and it looked like it was never looked at with a lot of people writing random things.  I decided to skip this part.  I made sure to watch the time so that I could be sure to give Reecy enough water.  We took a short water break about every 30 minutes and she was drinking a lot of water.  It was already hot but thankfully there was a lot of shade.  Once we got to the fields of yellow flowers there was very little shade and getting pretty hot.  This was around 5 miles.  I kept saying we would take a longer lunch break at the next shady spot but there wasn’t much.  Reecy was starting to fall behind so I took off her pack and attached it to my bag.  She had already gone through the water she was carrying so it was pretty light.  When I did this I must have dropped her water bowl or left it sitting on the rock.  Thankfully one of the guys who I saw when we first started came up when we were resting and had picked it up for us!  I was super thankful.  I had an extra one but of course love her pink one! 

Reecy was tucking herself under a bush and so I took off my pack and sat under my umbrella for a bit and waited for her to cool off.   By looking at my InReach  it said we were at mile 7… so I was thinking we would have 3 more miles even though the map didn’t look like we would have that long.   What I figured out later that night when I was reading the instructions is that my tracking was set so it would only track every hour so it was doing a lot of straight lines and missing a lot of what we hiked.  We really only had about a mile left to go!  We got back in a tree covered area and it was all downhill to a creek that we crossed to get to camp.   It was on these switchbacks we saw our 2^nd person of the day, a girl who was running to camp and all the way back in one day.  She had dirt all over the front of her from slipping on one of the areas where there was a lot of loose dirt.  I thought she was crazy.  Once at camp there were already 3 guys there and the guy who picked up Reecy’s bowl, John.  We choose a secluded spot that was next to John.  Our two spot where farther away from the group sites which was good because it looked like a small boy scout group came in about 2 hours after we got there.  Reecy and I filtered water I was noticing how much poison oak was around.  I avoided it as much as possible but think this is where she brushed up against it.  John came over and said hello and introduced himself.  He was from Santa Barbara area and just getting away for the night.  We talked about gear, he had a lot of fancy stuff – come to find out he was a doctor, and our next trips.  He would be doing part of the JMT with his 19 year old twin kids this summer.   He went back to his camp area and Reecy and I rested in the shade watching the lizards.  She didn’t successfully catch one. 

I made dinner for me and rehydrated some extra dog food Nature's Variety Instinct Raw.  She approves of this!  Expensive but felt she most likely needed the extra calories. 

I was super tired and watched the sun start to go down and crawled in the tent with Reecy.  She was on her bed and I was on my sleeping pad and we covered up with my sleeping bag.  We were nice and toasty!

Date: April 23, 2015

Location: Santa Cruz Guard Station to Upper Oso Camp to home              
Distance traveled today: ~11 Miles
Distance traveled total: ~22 Miles

I had an alarm set so we could start before it got to hot.  I hit snooze a few too many times.  I started to pack up my sleeping pad and change clothes and Reecy wasn’t moving much.  She got up, took about 10 steps, went potty, and went back to her bed.  She was pretty sleepy.  I made us both our breakfast even though I wasn’t very hungry, I did enjoy my Starbucks white mocha mix!  It didn’t mix perfectly and had little clumps but still was delicious on the cold morning.  Reecy was shivering so I put my down jacket on her while I packed up the tent and the rest of the bag.  John said bye and good luck on my JMT trip and was off pretty quickly.  I guess that is a benefit of not having a tent that it takes less time to pack up.  I am sure I will eventually get quicker at it.  Once everything was ready and cleaned up, I took off another layer and Reecy’s jacket and was ready to go!  The climb out of the camp was pretty challenging.  I forgot in just the one night how many switchbacks there were.  We stopped often to break.  Once to the top going around the mountain was easy and it was nice that it was still shaded and much cooler than the day before.  There was also a lot of cloud cover.  We were alone for about the first 3-4 miles until we passed the 3 guys who had left a bit before us.  I got one of them to take a picture of Reecy and I which was nice not to have to take a selfie!  We saw a lot more people today on the trail than yesterday.  About a dozen or so mountain bikers… thankfully most of them had bells so we could hear them coming. 

We made it back to the car – Reecy jumped in laid down and didn’t move.  I tried to have her walk a bit and eat more so she wouldn’t get to stiff.  At the very end of the hike she stepped on a sharp rock and hurt her paw, so I washed that out and she didn’t seem great.  I checked her again and found a few more ticks that I removed.  Once home I looked her over even more and found 5 more ticks.  I got them all out but was still worried about her. I tend to worry about her more than myself. 

Poison!

Later that night I started to notice a rash on the right side of my stomach and right arm.  It was super itchy and I knew I had the dreaded poison oak.  After a few google searches to make sure that Reecy was okay I found that the oil can stay in animal fur and transfer!  Well… that makes since because the majority of the places I had it was where we cuddled together under my sleeping bag.  I took another shower and washed even more, bathed her, and started to wash everything we may have touched.   I was pretty miserable with day 3 being the worst.  It has been over 2 weeks and I still can see a color difference and wake up scratching in the middle of the night.  I was really hoping I was the small percent that doesn’t have a reaction. 

Overview:
I love backpacking with Reecy.  She is an awesome trail dog and stays right behind me.  She is super quiet and I ended up putting a keyring on her collar so I could hear that she was still there and hadn’t stopped to take a break or go potty.  I would like to get a little bell or something that jingles for when we hike.  I also love her sleeping pad/bed Ruffwear Highland I got on REI’s outlet one year.  It is not super compact but soft and helped keep her off the ground and a little warmer.  I would like to get a bag that could be used for her more and possibly double as my summer bag so we do not have to share. 

The trail was really beautiful in the spring but would not attempt it in the summer months.  I cannot wait to do more trips with Reecy!

JMT Planning 3 – PERMIT!!!

25 days applying at the Yosemite Wilderness Permit to go Southbound – Unsuccessful
Mt. Whitney lottery with 15 option days to go northbound – Unsuccessful

Applying to go Northbound from Horseshoe Meadows – Cottonwood Pass to Yosemite visiting Mt. Whitney – SUCCESS!!!!!

I had an idea that the permit process might take some time but I had no idea that it was going to be this bad. Once I have received multiple denied requests for permits and was trying not to get to discouraged, I decided to apply for the Mt. Whitney permit lottery.   This would start at the south end of the JMT and head north. It is not my ideal plan because I would like time to acclimatize, end at the top of Mt. Whitney, and resupplying would be easier but I feel like it may be my only option. The lottery permit for Whitney was pretty easy to fill out and I could put down 15 different options in 1 application so I felt pretty good about it.  From the time the lottery closes until you find out if you get it is 9 long days… to make sure the next plan will work!  I woke up and immediately checked the recreation.org page to see if I had gotten my Mt. Whitney permit.  As soon as I unsuccessful I pulled out my laptop and found an available date for Cottonwood pass. Filled out everything I needed, paid, and done!  It was that easy to get this permit.  If you want to save yourself some stress and time… just plan to go northbound from here! 

So what’s next…

Start walking/backpacking more
Do a rough plan of my miles/camps for each day
Figure out food plan/resupply


I knew this would be happening this year and super excited I have a plan!

JMT Planning 2 - My Great Gear debate

This is likely the HARDEST decision I am making for this trip! I have the excel chart with everything that I think I need/want to take and likely some things I will want to drop off. Everything has its weight in ounces. There are very few things that I am extremely confident on.

Of course I have color coded my chart! J The main things I am pretty set on include: Sleeping bag, sleeping pad, down jacket, water purifier (with backup drops), my purple spork, shit shovel, umbrella, and headlamp. I am planning a more weekend backpacking trips which should help me with my gear list and becoming more confident in what I have and the weight. I have a 3 day weekend every other weekend so I can get some decent trips! If you have any suggestions for where to go please let me know! I am always open to new places (especially if the permit is VERY easy to get or if one is not needed).

JMT Planning 1 - The idea, the plan, and the permit proccess

JMT has been in my head for a while. After backpacking in Yosemite last year, reading more books, blogs, and learning more, the JMT has become a mission and one of my bucket list items. I have decided I really want to do it solo. Mostly because it will be a major accomplishment and I enjoy being alone but also to be honest… I am not sure I could be on the trail with someone for that many days. There are so many factors… how fast will I want to go one day, what time will I want to start, what if I just want to sit or take a dip in the lake, or if I am feeling good and want to do extra miles that day. I want to make all of those decisions by myself.
There have been SO many questions on my protection and the crazy looks I get when I say I am going solo. I often get asked if I am worried about the bears, the people, or the what ifs.
The only things that keep me up at night thinking are my feet and the weather. If you have ever hiked with me or seen my feet almost any day of the week then you know why. I get blisters and hot spots SO easily! I have tried different shoes, different socks, glide, moleskin, tape, and blister Band-Aids. The only thing that I have found to help is a combination of them all. Injini socks, the kind that go between your toes that I use to find SO annoying, prevent blisters between my toes – so they are a win. However, I still get blisters on the bottom of my big toes and heals on the inside and outside. So I typically do moleskin until it comes off due to sweat and then glide. I recently heard rubbing alcohol helps make the skin tougher… so yes I will be trying that. Any other suggestions are welcomed!
Then the weather! You can't control it, I am terrible at predicting it, and I am not a fan of thunder/lightning storms. So hoping there are not too many of these.


Planning this trip has become a little obsessive. Most of my free time and even some of the time that I should be working is spent:
Looking on blogs about what others did
Watching YouTube channels on people, girls, and anyone who has done it
Reading multiple of reviews on the “best gear”
Debating my pack situation
Debating my gear situation
Planning hikes I can do now
Calculating my “base weight”


Before any of this can really happen though I had to create a rough plan. I know I want to hike Southbound, meaning from Yosemite (ideally Happy Isles) to Whitney. So, how many days? To take or not to take zero (days with no hiking) or nero (days with close to zero miles) days? So this is about what I have decided. 18-20 days. Depending on how I feel will depend on the zero/nero days. Now that I know I want to do 20 days or less I need a plan A, B, and C.  And the calculating begins. How many hours will I really need off work. Will I really want to get off the trail and being alone that long and come back to work at 100%? Last time after 5 days, the noise level in the office drove me nuts. I have decided if I can afford the time that I will plan a couple half days. Days to ease back into it. I would also love to be able to work with my Friday off work schedule. My schedule is awesome, but also doesn’t really do much good when you are taking off about 3 weeks. Plus, I will need the additional travel time to Lone Pine and to Yosemite. Then maybe a night in Lone Pine when I finish and then back to my house! I figure I need about 133 hours of vacation time. On the day I am currently writing this – I only have 44 hours. I do the math for each week to figure out the EARLIEST I can do this trip is starting August 12th – but then I do not get an extra day off with Labor day holiday… so that pushes my start day would be August 18th. However, my ideal date would be for my permit on August 21st. I am really worried about getting a permit and starting too late in the season. In order to have the largest window of time to apply multiple days - I will be applying for my permit to start on August 15th. My ideal permit would be starting at Happy Isles with pass through. However, I am listing multiple trailheads are listed on my permit. I also need an exit of Donahue… which only 45 people get per day (which may sound like a lot but there are a LOT of people who do not get permits and all the exit permits are by reservations). From the Happy Isles group only 20 people per day get them. Because I am applying for only 1 spot I do have higher chances. I can also apply for the half dome permit with this… which I am not sure. I have done half dome 2 times already and it was awesome but at the same time I think I would rather try clouds rest (no extra permit required). For now – I sit and wait. I will have all my permits filled out and ready to go for about 5 days and get ready to start the process!

Strawberry Junction Gear Shakedown

Feb 27-28
Gear Check!

I recently got into a couple facebook groups for hikers/backpackers because I wanted to gain more experience and love reading from other people! My parents were in town but planning on going to Arizona so I had a last minute free weekend come up. Someone posted about doing a Saturday/Sunday trip and I jumped in on it. We started a little late because I had to get gear ready and take my parents to get a rental car. I met her at her house and we went to Idyllwild/ San Jacinto area. We stopped by the Ranger Station and picked up a permit for $5 each.

She said that we may be the only ones staying at Strawberry Junction. We didn’t start hiking until later afternoon. We made it up to Strawberry Junction a couple hours before sunset. We got set up. Enjoyed the sunset from the top of a boulder and made dinner. It was still pretty cold so we ended up going to our tents pretty quickly after dark. I read a little on my phone and ended up falling asleep pretty quickly. I hadn’t been feeling well so it was nice to go to sleep! I woke up in the middle of the night to what seemed like something smelling my tent. I am not really sure what it was but the ranger did report a mountain lion was spotted around the area recently. In the morning we debated heading up to the peak or not but we both were not feeling great. We made breakfast, packed up, and headed back down. It was a perfect quick trip to make sure I was happy with all my gear in the colder weather and everything worked out great! It was great to meet someone else who loves the outdoors and backpacking and hopefully we will be able to do another trip!

Trans Catalina Trail

My 32nd birthday wish was to hike the Trans Catalina Trail (most of it!)

 

We took the ferry across from San Pedro to Avalon. We checked into our hotel, got our permits, paid for the 3rd person at our campsite, got water to fill our packs, and got ice cream! It was a beautiful hot day and would have been a perfect for sitting on the beach and playing in the water all weekend. Instead I had a genius plan to hike about 50 miles in 4 days! 


We found a cute Italian place to have an early carb load dinner at and went back to the room pretty early. We made sure our bags were all packed with everything we needed and all of our phones charged. 

Saturday morning we got up, loaded everything in our bags, and headed for breakfast. Leaving a little later than planned we were off. After reading a lot of reviews many said that the first 5 miles on the exact trail were not really worth it so to shorten the first day a bit we went from Avalon to Black Jack via Hermit Gulch. It was still a long first day with a lot of uphill. We made it to camp with a couple hours before sunset. We set up camp. Rinsed off in the outdoor shower, which was so cold but still awesome! Black Jack had very few people besides a squatter who came to visit us with his beverage. We cooked dinner, watched the sunset, and headed to our tents for an early night.  

The next morning all of us were feeling the day before but knew we had a long day. We made breakfast and started to pack up. We only had a couple miles to get to the airport and it was already HOT! The airport was really cool. We got drinks and ICE for our water and AMAZING! We got snacks and cookies! One of the girls got a Bison Burger to go. This was genius and the bites I had at little harbor were heavenly. I enjoyed little harbor the most. We went in the ocean and had our lunch here. This is where I also realized my feet were worse than I thought they were. I had blisters between my toes and on both heels about the size of quarters. It was painful and I wasn’t sure I could walk much more.






After more moleskin, new socks, and pain from cleaning them we were off with the pain of every step up the next part which I felt was the steepest part! This day was incredibly hot. I used my umbrella a lot this day and the rest of the trip. It was a must have item for me and I am so glad I had it!




We made it to two harbors and I think we were a little crazy at this point. There was another buffalo on the trail and he didn’t look happy to see us. We went around and through a fence and would be happy if we were done seeing them. We went straight to the restaurant/bar! We found a table outside and dropped our packs, got drinks, chips and salsa, and charged all of our phones. After we figured out where the camp site was the sheriff offered us a ride to the campsite once we were done! Sweet we would take it! It was my first time in a cop car! We stopped at the top of the hill to watch the eclipse. It was really beautiful out there.  

Once to camp we realized we either didn’t get our firewood or someone snagged it before we got there. It would have been nice to have a fire but we also were ready to shower and get to sleep. We set up our tents, cooked a little food, cleaned up and went to bed. The next morning was incredible. We were one of the closet sites to the water looking over the main harbor. We wanted to pack up and leave but everything was damp. They had washer and dryers so we decided we could throw all of our damp stuff in to dry and it shouldn’t take too long. We got bottled water and a large bag of ice to fill up our camelbacks. Everything took much longer than planned but we finally got everything packed up and were off. The ice water was perfect.


I went the whole day with my umbrella and even applying sunblock often we were all getting some crazy tan lines. The day was pretty long getting to Parson’s Landing but wasn’t as bad as the day before. We got there a few hours before sunset and met a couple girls who came up on their kayak. The other two girls borrowed their kayak for a little bit to go play while they set up camp. We made a fire, dinner, and watched the sunset. Crawled into our tents early and planned to wake up early to finish the end of the trail to starlight beach.

Our alarms went off pretty early and we had a quick snack and headed towards starlight beach. It was a hilly up and down all the way to Starlight “beach”. I was honestly expecting this beautiful untouched beach. It was more of a cliff that you could climb down into this small rocky cove. I was not really impressed. We stayed for long enough to collect some sand and a couple rocks and headed back to pack up camp. We were planning on walking most of the road back because it was mostly flat but still had to put in a few miles. Most of the coves where beautiful and the water was very clear and blue. After a few miles in we saw our friendly sheriff again who offered to give us a ride back to Two Harbors! We took it! Our feet were aching and it would be good to get a drink and a real shower. We stayed at the Banning House and it was perfect. There was a buffalo just up from the house and it was like he was saying buy to us. We all got showers and headed to dinner down the hill. It was great and I even got dessert for my birthday! Even the server played in on it and gave me a little gift. I absolutely loved my trip there and would go back and hike again. It is a beautiful challenging Island and I am happy to say I have seen almost all of it!



The next morning, we took our time getting up and getting to the ferry. It was a nice ride back and I fell asleep. The drive home was pretty quick and we all went back to our life. It was a little odd trying to get back to our life at work and surrounded by more people when it was just the three of us for about 5 days. There were days when we talked very little or just put in our headphones to help making up the steep climbs a little more enjoyable. It was a change going back to day to day life and I realized on most of my trips I may want to get back into real life a little slower.

This birthday definitely goes down into one of the best!!

Money 
Ferry ticket                  $75
Hotel in Avalon           $250
Camping                      $66
Hotel in Two Harbors $270
Food/drinks                 $80
Experience                   PRICELESS!

Backpacking trip to Yosemite!

This was my FIRST backpacking trip and I am so glad that it finally happened.  After much time researching, looking up gear, shopping, and preparing it was finally here.   And I had planned all of this for the first choice dates I requested on the permit... NOT the actual dates that we got!  AHHH!  I couldn't believe the permit that I had wasn’t going to work!  I was really worried that my trip was going to be ruined.   I called the Yosemite Wilderness office and they said I would have to come in the day before and wait in line to get the permit.  There wasn’t much we could do.  On Friday we started our drive towards Yosemite stopping in  Bishop for lunch at Erick Schat’s Bakery (highly recommend) and then staying at Lake View Lodge in Lee Vining for the night.  There is very little in this town.  If you need anything make sure you stop in Bishop first!

Saturday morning we drove into Yosemite and down to the Yosemite Valley Village.  We found the wilderness office and got in line about 10am.  They start issuing permits at 11am.   There were only about 7 people ahead of us so I felt pretty good.  We were pretty open to the trailheads we were willing to start at so I was pretty sure we would get a pass one way or another but we really wanted to get Half Dome permits again.  Finally it was our turn to get a pass.  I said what our ideal trail heads and route would be and we got it with Half Dome permits too!  The wilderness pass was free and Half dome passes were only $8/person.  We had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted and to make sure we had everything ready.  With the wilderness permit we could have stayed the day before and after our trip in the backpackers camp for $6/person would could have made our trip a lot cheaper.  I already had reservations for Curry Village so we headed there to check in for our canvas tent.  We got our keys put our stuff in the room as it was raining and got back in the car to head up to glacier point.  There are amazing views from here!

 

 

 

 

 

It was pretty cold and raining and we sat in the car a bit to study our map and figure out where we were planning on going the next day! Back to Curry Village to have dinner from the pizza place which was pretty good! We made sure all of our stuff was ready and got ready for bed.  Slept in a bit the next morning – put our food back in our pack from the assigned bear locker and our extra scented items we were not taking in a public bear locker.  Had a quick breakfast, checked out, and started our trip to Little Yosemite valley about 8:30am. 

It was about a 6 mile trip to little Yosemite Valley from Curry Village via the Mist trail.  We took our time, took a lot of pictures and breaks – and I am slow! We made it to the village a little after noon.  We found our spot and set up our tent, filtered water, and had lunch. 

We were done with everything by 2 and I decided we should go up to half dome that evening.  It was not my brightest ideas.  We were tired and it had already been a long day.  We started just before 3 and headed up.  At the JMT /  Half dome trail junction we saw a coyote which was pretty cool.  He didn’t seem to care about us at all.  Saw a few deer along the way as well.  Once we were on sub dome there was a father/daughter duo coming down.  They said that no one was up there and we had the mountain to our self.  That was pretty cool. 

We took a long time to get to the top up the cables taking a lot of breaks.  Once to the top the views were amazing and we took the diving board pictures.  It would have been nice to have someone to take a picture of both of us – but was really cool to be the only ones up there.  We had a snack and face timed with my family from up there!  I had full service and 4G.  We wanted to make it back before dark so started down.  I preferred going down facing the mountain.  It was not as scary to me.  We made it back to camp about 7pm adding a little over 7 miles to our day.  We filtered water again, had dinner, sponged off, and went to bed.  We didn’t sleep very well but it was good to be laying down. 

The next day I originally planned to do clouds rest but the day before kicked my ass.  We decided to take a trail following the Merced River.  About 4 miles of our hike was the area that was burned in the Meadow fire last year so there was very little shade.  We sat by the falls for a bit, stuck our feet in which was so cold and then continued up the river.  We found a cool Lunch spot by Bunnell Point and enjoyed the afternoon before heading back to camp.  

For 9 miles we saw 6 people and 2 snakes – one rattlesnake.  It was a relaxing day!  This evening the park ranger came to check our permits and informed us about a Momma bear with her 2 cubs have been in the area.  I really wanted to see a bear so was a little excited.  We headed to bed without a hearing or seeing any bears. 

The next day there was rain in the forecast and our trip had been perfect for weather so we got up and started packing up to be able to make it back to Curry village before it started.  We started about 9am and took the John Muir trail down.  There were very few people until we got to Navada Falls and then a LOT more people by Vernal Falls.  I already missed the wilderness.  Back at Curry village by about 11am we got our items from the Bear locker and thankfully everything was still there and tried to check into our room.  It wasn’t ready yet but we were still able to shower and get lunch before the rain.  

It was a great trip and good learning experience.  As far as gear, we wish we would have brought flipflops or some type of sandals with us.  I am not in love with my pack – the Kelty PK50 – because it is a pain to get something or put something back in it quickly like gloves, jacket, or anything you do not really want in the side pockets.  I do like that I can take off the front part and use it as a day pack for our little hikes even if it is too big for that.  I will likely try to find something lighter.  My Sleeping bag, Feathered Friends Egret UL 20 – was AMAZING!  Super comfortable and SO warm – maybe a little too warm for this trip but I loved it. 

For trip planning - I worried way too much about a permit.  It was much easier than what I thought it was going to be.  I think starting our backpacking on Sunday helped along with no holidays.  If I did it again I would start in one spot – Sunrise, Tenaya Lake, or Cathedral Lakes and finish at Happy Isels to be able to see more.  I am thinking Yosemite will be a yearly trip!  I am excited to plan my next backpacking trip!