East Coast 2012

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Sarah and I took a 10 day vacation to the East Coast.  We saw New England then went down to New York and toured the city with my friend Emily.  We had a quick stop in Pittsburgh and then headed down south to visit Josh in North Carolina.

Tahoe 2011

These are some pictures for our trip up to Tahoe. Are friends invited us to share their weekend at this amazing cabin. In this instance, the word "amazing" isn't being overused. The place had a wood fire pizza oven. It doesn't get much cooler than that.

And here's the rest of the photos.

Backpacking in Yosemite - 72 Hours

I managed to squeeze in a solo backpacking trip after all.  It was a little late in the season, but I really wanted a chance to reset myself and there's nothing like three days of isolation to do it.

Day One:

Vernal Falls, much more tame since my visit in May.

Timeline:

5:30 AM: Left the house

11:05 AM: Started hiking

12:03 PM: Spoke to first animal (a squirrel)
12:58 PM: Arrived at Vernal Falls
3:30 PM: Last human for the next 24 hours.
6:00 PM: Set up camp
6:45 PM: Camera battery died
8:00 PM: Bed Time


Notes:
It was definitely cold, but I have some awesome cold weather gear.  Going to bed early was a bad idea because I woke at 3am and there's not much to do at 3am in the woods.

Total Miles: 10.7
Beginning/Ending Altitude: 4800/8600

Day Two:

Timeline:

3:00 AM: Woke up for no good reason

11:00 AM: Began hike
3:00 PM: Ditched the pack

4:30 PM: Made it to Toulumne Meadowns

6:30 PM: Stopped hike, setup camp in the dark

7:00 PM: Couldn't find where I hid my food

7:10 PM: Found my food

8:45 PM: Had to dig a hole (if you know what I mean)

9:30 PM: Went to bed later so I didn't wake at 3

Notes: In sore need of a comb.  I ditched my pack at 3 so I could do some hiking without the extra 30 pounds... so much better.  I made it to Toulumne Meadows but it made me get back to camp pretty late.

Total Miles: 16.3

Beginning/Ending Altitude: 8600/9600

There's Little Yosemite Valley

Day Three campsite: fire pit & great views

Day Three:

Timeline:

7:30 AM: Woke up
10:45 AM: Began hike - almost all downhill, yay
12:00 PM: Camera battery came back to life
1:00 PM: Tired of peanut sandwich & mixed nuts
5:00 PM: Stopped hike, setup camp in the daylight
6:30 PM: Made campfire.  Sweet.

Notes: In sore need of a shower.  I went about as far as I was allowed to go to shorten the hike tomorrow.  Camping has been great but I'm ready for civilization again.

Total Miles: 10

Beginning/Ending Altitude: 9600/7300

What an amazing mountain range.

Day Four:

Timeline:

6:45 AM: Broke down camp, anxious to get home
10:00 AM: Passed Vernal Falls.
10:55 AM: Got to my car.


Notes: The downhill was killer on the knees but it's easier than uphill.  Choose Del Taco for my first real meal.  I'd like to take that choice back

Total Miles: 9

Beginning/Ending Altitude: 7300/4800

Half Dome

Sawyer Camping, Burney Falls, SF Tour

The only sleep he got

Only took 2 seconds to get fithy, success!

Here's Sawyer on his first camping trip.  He did such a good job during the day time that he felt like it was okay to be a monster at night.  Once he figured out that we were in the tent with him he wanted to be held and soothed.  Poor Sarah, she took the brunt of it.  When morning came and I gave up pretending to sleep, I took Sawyer for a walk around the lake thinking that Sarah could get extra sleep.  Alas, there's no sleeping once the sunrises.

For the full album: Saywer's First Camping Trip

We gave up on camping after one night and met mom & Jim at Burney Falls.  It was beautiful.

This album also has pictures of a trip to SF.  We were showing Emily around the city.

And finally, there's one of him in his new kiddie swimming pool.

Sawyer Goes for a Walk

Sawyer is walking...finally.  The little guy took his time, but he's really getting the hang of it.  For like two months he'd walk but wouldn't let go of our finger or the wall or whatever it was he was using to stabilize himself.

SF Japanese Tea Garden

One of my favorite places in the city. So peaceful and tranquil and you're almost guaranteed a great photo op. See the album at click here

SF Christmas Lights Tour

We took a Christmas Lights tour in San Francisco. The home owners weren't in the spirit, but some of the businesses did it right.



Here is an awesome Ginger Bread House at the Fairmont Hotel



And here's the photo album from that night Click Me.