o7/13
3.5 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Virginia Lakes Trailhead to Upper Frog Lake
Today was amazing. My little girls became backpackers. After dropping Paula off at the airport we stopped at the dog park to let Tenaya run. Then it was up into the mountains. Bee slept for about an hour And Tenaya tried to get comfortable. I think the curvy roads were a bit much for her.
Got to the Bridgeport Ranger Station at about 2 and secured our permit without a reservation and without a problem. Drove to the trail-head from there and started walking in extremely windy conditions at about 3:30. Passing next to Virginia Lakes was a bit dicey with he wind howling and kicking up dust. Luckily we were both wearing sun glasses.
We gained a lot of elevation and just kept going up. Bee was amazing. She was so incredibly positive all day. She would announce how hard it was but never complained and never gave up. We saw very few people during our 4 hour walk. All were quite pleasant. Stopped before the sun went behind the mountain for a pasta dinner. Fed Tenaya as well. It was a nice and needed rest stop and enabled us to walk almost another hour before stopping.
Walking in early evening and early morning are my two favorite times to wander. The colors, light, and silence are spectacular. Bee was getting REAL tired but never gave up! She likes walking behind me and "hiking her own hike." Tenaya on the other hand was everywhere. Sometimes in front and sometimes bringing up he rear. She was off the leash the majority or the day and always responded to our voice commands. She is an amazing puppy without formal training. I can't imagine what she will be like trained.
After getting to a place with a tree that would work for a counter balance hanging of food, we set up our tent, purified some water and settled in. Bee is laying against me on my right... Inside the tent and Tenaya is laying against me on my left just outside the tent but in the vestibule.
Life is good.
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/13
2 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Upper Frog Lake to Summit Lake
How can one day just be better the last? Today was another terrific day. We climbed hundreds of feet and then descended even more. Bee was told numerous times by total strangers that she ROCKED! And she really did. I told her tonight that she didn't know another 8 year old who had ever done what she had accomplished in the last 2 days. We decided today that at the end of the trip we would add up all the elevation. It should be a pretty astonishing number!
This morning we had a big up. We saw a couple in a horse and then another couple at the top of the pass. We stopped and chatted with the husband/wife at the top and it turned out that they had been planning the same loop we were starting up on.
After talking for a while I began to rethink our loop a bit. These mountains were...are hard! And Bee is doing it! I don't want to squash the love she has on our first big trip... So I started to rethink it a bit.
Needless to say we are at Summit Lake and plan to be here for two nights... Somehow this campsite is even better than last night's. Tomorrow we will do a big day hike into Yosemite.... Shhh no dogs allowed!! We are headed into Virginia Canyon to see sites I've heard of a few times before. Enough times that I'm close enough to see it now!
Our campsite is silent. Last night the wind hid the sounds, but not tonight. The wind that blows only now and then is just one of the many things we hear including birds, bats, water flowing, crickets, frogs, occasional rockfall, and probably 20 more things that I can't identify. And it's funny...Tenaya last night was very clingy. She slept by the tent and wouldn't go anywhere. She actually ended up in the tent sleeping at Bee's feet from about 3:30 AM till about 8:00 AM because she was shivering laying next to me Tonight is the opposite. She is laying about 15 feet from our tent (on a 30 foot leash. She sits up at any sound she hears.... Growls once in a while and has started barking once as well. She went from the little clingy puppy to a guard dog in 24 hours.
My high point of the day was my time on a fallen log with Isabela. We sat there for almost 2 hours after dinner as the sun went further and further down before setting. We talked forever. We talked about my grandparents, Paula's grandparents, more family and friends. We talked about nature, and backpacking, the Appalachian Trail, and things that happened to ME when I was her age. It was so nice and she was so interested. She really wanted to know and she really listened. Her maturity astonishes me constantly. Paula and I are so very blessed. So off to sleep under the spectacular stars. Seems warmer tonight..... Wonder where Tenaya will end up sleeping in the cold hours of the night.
Life is good.
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/14
4.7 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Summit Lake-Return Creek-Somewhere just above Upper Frog Lake
"One time when I was 8 my dad almost killed me!" All day today I told Bee stories about my youth. Today she earned her first big, "If no one gets hurt it makes for a good story" day (thanks Stoneman from the AT) So... After waking up about 8 am we made breakfast before packing up to head down to Virginia Canyon in YNP. The hike down was beautiful. There were lots of wildflowers and the trees provided some terrific morning shade.
At the bottom we made the tough choice not to head up the canyon as we had planned. The fact that a lot of it was going to be uphill and the prize meadow was at the very end of all that up kinda put a damper on going further. So we headed back to Summit Lake. Up. Up. Up. It was all up. Two hours of never ending up. About half way up Bee was done. She was spent. She was ready to give up.
I felt terrible. I had done such a good job up till this morning about planning. This was a mistake and I felt terrible about it. I should never have decided to come down into this canyon on a day hike knowing how much up it would mean and how much up we still had left on our hike. It was my mistake and I felt awful. Poor Bee thought this was something she should be able to do because I took her down it. I was sending a really bad message and she was in no mental frame to understand that this was my fault not hers.
Finally, we made the top and our camp site. I immediately got her day pack off and food/water into her system. As she was eating I treated more water and got Tenaya to drink a bit too. After eating Bee was much better. She went down to the lake alone to wash up in her bathing suit and then came back to write in her hiking journal a bit.
While she was doing all this I was packing up our camp. During lunch we had talked about walking further in the afternoon today. We got our packs on and walked to the opposite side of Summit Lake where I took a short and very refreshing swim. After that it was down to a confluence of streams from snow melt and then up. We knew we would be going over another pass and just decided to get as far as we could with the idea of packing out to the car a day early. (This would be NO surprise to Paula as she knows I always come out of the back-country a day early--I like to plan in a cushion to all my trips.)
So up again we went. Unlike our morning up... This one went really well... For a long time. Bee had me telling her stories one after another. She walked in front and set a really good pace while I talked and she listened. At times she talked the pace would slow a bit. We made it to where we had talked about eating dinner but neither of us was hungry. We kept walking. The sun was getting lower and lower. Six o'clock passed by...then seven...then it was eight all of the sudden. And somehow some way we were at the top of the pass...at the unnamed lake we had talked about staying at. But the trees of Upper Frog Lake felt so close on the other side of the pass we had just climbed. The sun set. The wind picked up. Bee's hands got very cold in a matter of minutes. We hunkered down behind a rock and I got her dressed and gloved. I got some food in her and we decided to try for the trees on the back side of the pass. (there were no trees at the unnamed lake and we would have nothing to hang our food from)
Down. Getting darker. Cold. Moving slowly. Then it was time for a headlight. We hit tree line. It was too rocky and steep to set up a tent. Bee was done.
I threw her (wearing her pack) over my shoulder and walked another quarter mile or so to the next grove of trees. I left her and Tenaya on the trail and searched everywhere for a spot to set the tent. I finally found one. I set up the tent while the girls stayed on the trail. Tenaya wandered down while I was working. I went up and carried Bee to the tent Tenaya fell right asleep and Bee was soon after. I stayed up another hour or so to organize camp and hang the food. Even as she was falling asleep she was telling me she loves backpacking. And I've got to say that if she can say that after a day like today..she's officially hooked.
Tomorrow we head down towards our car passing a ton of lakes. Maybe we will stop and take a dip of the way out.
Next stop.... Bridgeport to get my girl a greasy burger and order of fries.
She definitely earned it!
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/15
3 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Just above Upper Frog Lake to Virginia Lakes Trail Head
Today we slept in until about 8:30. We both needed it! We awoke to a tree-shaded tent with Tenaya hardly moved from the place she was just the night before. After packing up we started down towards the car. Today was all downhill....but it was long...and warm. Isabela did a great job again. She was struggling a bit at the very end....but she had earned that.
After having a stranger take our "end-of-hike" picture we set out to the town of Bridgeport only to find ourselves at the Burger Farm...(what I can only imagine is an institution in the town of Bridgeport.)
Bee had her ceremonial Cheese burger, fries, and lemonade and followed that up with a chocolate shake. Again....he earned it.
Looking back on the trip..there are a few times that I pushed her a bit harder than maybe I should have.... But she tells me she loved every minute...even the hard parts.
Before she was born...my wish was that she would grow up to love nature and hopefully love backpacking as much as I do. I think we are on that path on both accounts.... I see Isabela and I doing MUCH more wandering in the mountains and I very much look forward to it!
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
Trip Totals:
Total Miles- 13.2
Total Descended Elevation- 4000 ft.+
Total Ascended Elevation- 5000 ft. +
TOTAL ELEVATION Climbed – 9000 ft. +
3.5 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Virginia Lakes Trailhead to Upper Frog Lake
Today was amazing. My little girls became backpackers. After dropping Paula off at the airport we stopped at the dog park to let Tenaya run. Then it was up into the mountains. Bee slept for about an hour And Tenaya tried to get comfortable. I think the curvy roads were a bit much for her.
Got to the Bridgeport Ranger Station at about 2 and secured our permit without a reservation and without a problem. Drove to the trail-head from there and started walking in extremely windy conditions at about 3:30. Passing next to Virginia Lakes was a bit dicey with he wind howling and kicking up dust. Luckily we were both wearing sun glasses.
We gained a lot of elevation and just kept going up. Bee was amazing. She was so incredibly positive all day. She would announce how hard it was but never complained and never gave up. We saw very few people during our 4 hour walk. All were quite pleasant. Stopped before the sun went behind the mountain for a pasta dinner. Fed Tenaya as well. It was a nice and needed rest stop and enabled us to walk almost another hour before stopping.
Walking in early evening and early morning are my two favorite times to wander. The colors, light, and silence are spectacular. Bee was getting REAL tired but never gave up! She likes walking behind me and "hiking her own hike." Tenaya on the other hand was everywhere. Sometimes in front and sometimes bringing up he rear. She was off the leash the majority or the day and always responded to our voice commands. She is an amazing puppy without formal training. I can't imagine what she will be like trained.
After getting to a place with a tree that would work for a counter balance hanging of food, we set up our tent, purified some water and settled in. Bee is laying against me on my right... Inside the tent and Tenaya is laying against me on my left just outside the tent but in the vestibule.
Life is good.
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/13
2 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Upper Frog Lake to Summit Lake
How can one day just be better the last? Today was another terrific day. We climbed hundreds of feet and then descended even more. Bee was told numerous times by total strangers that she ROCKED! And she really did. I told her tonight that she didn't know another 8 year old who had ever done what she had accomplished in the last 2 days. We decided today that at the end of the trip we would add up all the elevation. It should be a pretty astonishing number!
This morning we had a big up. We saw a couple in a horse and then another couple at the top of the pass. We stopped and chatted with the husband/wife at the top and it turned out that they had been planning the same loop we were starting up on.
After talking for a while I began to rethink our loop a bit. These mountains were...are hard! And Bee is doing it! I don't want to squash the love she has on our first big trip... So I started to rethink it a bit.
Needless to say we are at Summit Lake and plan to be here for two nights... Somehow this campsite is even better than last night's. Tomorrow we will do a big day hike into Yosemite.... Shhh no dogs allowed!! We are headed into Virginia Canyon to see sites I've heard of a few times before. Enough times that I'm close enough to see it now!
Our campsite is silent. Last night the wind hid the sounds, but not tonight. The wind that blows only now and then is just one of the many things we hear including birds, bats, water flowing, crickets, frogs, occasional rockfall, and probably 20 more things that I can't identify. And it's funny...Tenaya last night was very clingy. She slept by the tent and wouldn't go anywhere. She actually ended up in the tent sleeping at Bee's feet from about 3:30 AM till about 8:00 AM because she was shivering laying next to me Tonight is the opposite. She is laying about 15 feet from our tent (on a 30 foot leash. She sits up at any sound she hears.... Growls once in a while and has started barking once as well. She went from the little clingy puppy to a guard dog in 24 hours.
My high point of the day was my time on a fallen log with Isabela. We sat there for almost 2 hours after dinner as the sun went further and further down before setting. We talked forever. We talked about my grandparents, Paula's grandparents, more family and friends. We talked about nature, and backpacking, the Appalachian Trail, and things that happened to ME when I was her age. It was so nice and she was so interested. She really wanted to know and she really listened. Her maturity astonishes me constantly. Paula and I are so very blessed. So off to sleep under the spectacular stars. Seems warmer tonight..... Wonder where Tenaya will end up sleeping in the cold hours of the night.
Life is good.
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/14
4.7 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Summit Lake-Return Creek-Somewhere just above Upper Frog Lake
"One time when I was 8 my dad almost killed me!" All day today I told Bee stories about my youth. Today she earned her first big, "If no one gets hurt it makes for a good story" day (thanks Stoneman from the AT) So... After waking up about 8 am we made breakfast before packing up to head down to Virginia Canyon in YNP. The hike down was beautiful. There were lots of wildflowers and the trees provided some terrific morning shade.
At the bottom we made the tough choice not to head up the canyon as we had planned. The fact that a lot of it was going to be uphill and the prize meadow was at the very end of all that up kinda put a damper on going further. So we headed back to Summit Lake. Up. Up. Up. It was all up. Two hours of never ending up. About half way up Bee was done. She was spent. She was ready to give up.
I felt terrible. I had done such a good job up till this morning about planning. This was a mistake and I felt terrible about it. I should never have decided to come down into this canyon on a day hike knowing how much up it would mean and how much up we still had left on our hike. It was my mistake and I felt awful. Poor Bee thought this was something she should be able to do because I took her down it. I was sending a really bad message and she was in no mental frame to understand that this was my fault not hers.
Finally, we made the top and our camp site. I immediately got her day pack off and food/water into her system. As she was eating I treated more water and got Tenaya to drink a bit too. After eating Bee was much better. She went down to the lake alone to wash up in her bathing suit and then came back to write in her hiking journal a bit.
While she was doing all this I was packing up our camp. During lunch we had talked about walking further in the afternoon today. We got our packs on and walked to the opposite side of Summit Lake where I took a short and very refreshing swim. After that it was down to a confluence of streams from snow melt and then up. We knew we would be going over another pass and just decided to get as far as we could with the idea of packing out to the car a day early. (This would be NO surprise to Paula as she knows I always come out of the back-country a day early--I like to plan in a cushion to all my trips.)
So up again we went. Unlike our morning up... This one went really well... For a long time. Bee had me telling her stories one after another. She walked in front and set a really good pace while I talked and she listened. At times she talked the pace would slow a bit. We made it to where we had talked about eating dinner but neither of us was hungry. We kept walking. The sun was getting lower and lower. Six o'clock passed by...then seven...then it was eight all of the sudden. And somehow some way we were at the top of the pass...at the unnamed lake we had talked about staying at. But the trees of Upper Frog Lake felt so close on the other side of the pass we had just climbed. The sun set. The wind picked up. Bee's hands got very cold in a matter of minutes. We hunkered down behind a rock and I got her dressed and gloved. I got some food in her and we decided to try for the trees on the back side of the pass. (there were no trees at the unnamed lake and we would have nothing to hang our food from)
Down. Getting darker. Cold. Moving slowly. Then it was time for a headlight. We hit tree line. It was too rocky and steep to set up a tent. Bee was done.
I threw her (wearing her pack) over my shoulder and walked another quarter mile or so to the next grove of trees. I left her and Tenaya on the trail and searched everywhere for a spot to set the tent. I finally found one. I set up the tent while the girls stayed on the trail. Tenaya wandered down while I was working. I went up and carried Bee to the tent Tenaya fell right asleep and Bee was soon after. I stayed up another hour or so to organize camp and hang the food. Even as she was falling asleep she was telling me she loves backpacking. And I've got to say that if she can say that after a day like today..she's officially hooked.
Tomorrow we head down towards our car passing a ton of lakes. Maybe we will stop and take a dip of the way out.
Next stop.... Bridgeport to get my girl a greasy burger and order of fries.
She definitely earned it!
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
7/15
3 miles
Hoover Wilderness
Just above Upper Frog Lake to Virginia Lakes Trail Head
Today we slept in until about 8:30. We both needed it! We awoke to a tree-shaded tent with Tenaya hardly moved from the place she was just the night before. After packing up we started down towards the car. Today was all downhill....but it was long...and warm. Isabela did a great job again. She was struggling a bit at the very end....but she had earned that.
After having a stranger take our "end-of-hike" picture we set out to the town of Bridgeport only to find ourselves at the Burger Farm...(what I can only imagine is an institution in the town of Bridgeport.)
Bee had her ceremonial Cheese burger, fries, and lemonade and followed that up with a chocolate shake. Again....he earned it.
Looking back on the trip..there are a few times that I pushed her a bit harder than maybe I should have.... But she tells me she loved every minute...even the hard parts.
Before she was born...my wish was that she would grow up to love nature and hopefully love backpacking as much as I do. I think we are on that path on both accounts.... I see Isabela and I doing MUCH more wandering in the mountains and I very much look forward to it!
Peace, love, courage....
Dreamer, Bee, and Tenaya
Trip Totals:
Total Miles- 13.2
Total Descended Elevation- 4000 ft.+
Total Ascended Elevation- 5000 ft. +
TOTAL ELEVATION Climbed – 9000 ft. +