Lori and I took advantage of our neighbor Vera's gesture to use her condo in Kirkwood and spent the weekend hiking.
The first hike was a short hike to get us acclimated to the altitude (7,800'). We went around the Red Cliffs and along Caples Lake before popping over the pass and dropping back down into Kirkwood. We had a delicious dinner at Caples Lake Resort Restaurant with Lori's pickleball buds Eric and Sandy, and for desert, we walked home under starry skies undisturbed by gobs of unnecessary lights and soaked in the Milky Way!
We hiked to the top of Thunder Mountain on Saturday. We spent the first half of the hike with a group of about 35 women on mountain bikes. At first, I wasn't very keen on it, but they won our hearts and I felt very lonely on the way down. They weren't the only locals we gabbed with on the trail. We met a very colorful guy on a bike with a dread-lock beard that went down to his waist. Then there was a guy with the Pink Floyd Animals shirt and his dog and his son. And then another couple. We had a record two hours of non-moving time.
On Sunday we made it to the Covered Wagon Peak. We had no sooner said to ourselves on the descent that unlike yesterday, we hadn't seen a single person, we came across a woman and her dog (natch, everyone has a dog up here) coming up the trail to train for Half Dome next week. Her grandpa climbed Half Dome at 77, so I guess we have a challenge.
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Our first view of Red Cliffs as we drove into Kirkwood |
Hiking under the interesting Red Cliffs |
Lori enjoys lunch at Caples Lake during our acclimationn hike |
More of the Caples Lake shoreline |
Lori on the trail with a few nearby peaks in the background |
Lots and lots of granite! |
The original Emigrant Road signs were installed so long ago, the tree is starting to envelope them |
You can almost read Emigrant Road in this, the best preserved of the lot |
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Lori in front of the condo |
Lori, Sandy, Eric, and I have a nice meal at the Caples Lake Resort Restaurant |
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We've reached the ridge, yet the trail keeps going up, and up, and up |
Our feet enjoy the view of Desolation Wilderness at our lunch spot just below Thunder Mountain |
Lori and I recover from the effects of the altitude by sitting down, eating lunch, and enjoying the view |
The back side of Glove Rock |
Lori on the descent from Glove Rock in front of Martin Point |
Elephant's Back, Round Top, The Sisters, Fourth of July Peak, Melissa Coray Peak, and Covered Wagon Peak |
Warning: You Can Die |
Lori hikes through aggregate boulders and a Martian landscape |
Glove Rock through nearby aggegrate |
One of the Two Sentinels with the Desolation Wilderness in the background |
Lori and I in front of one of the Two Sentinels with the Desolation Wilderness in the background |
Lori between the Two Sentinels and above Kirkwood Lake |
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We weren't happy that AllTrails took us cross-country down a ski run |
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A panorama from our luncheon spot includes Desolation Wilderness on the left, Caples Lake, a few unknown peaks, and The Sisters on the right |
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Lor and I enjoy lunch and the view |
My feet enjoy the break, and the view |
Lori above Caples Lake |
Lori and The Sisters |
Lori, I, and The Sisters |
Covered Wagon Peak, where we had lunch and turned around |
A view of the saddle just above our lunch spot--next time! |
A cool old pine tree |
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Copyright © 2024 Bill Wohler Last modified: Mon Sep 30 09:08:48 AM PDT 2024 About photos |
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