Montana, briefly

A few pics from a quick blast to Hookjaw in Montana...


Feasting 'coon


On the skinny branches


First batch of fall colors


The orange peel


Orange peel, part 2


Table Mountain from East Peak; no trails up here


Rain in the Tobacco Roots


Tobacco Roots, part 2


Tobacco Roots, part 3

Clouds Rest

Yesterday Ethel and I made a long day trip down to Yosemite to hike Clouds Rest with a little group. We stayed at Maud and David's house in Carson Friday night to facilitate the 4:45 am departure Saturday morning. After picking up a couple more people in Carson, we were 6 strong and on the road well before sunrise.

We were over Tioga Pass and on the trail at the west end of Tenaya Lake a few minutes after 8am. The hike is 7ish miles each way, and it's not very difficult, so it's pretty well-traveled.

Here are some photos. This is also my first experience shooting RAW files and pre-processing them, so these are a bit of an experiment!


Early in the hike; our first view of the huge granite formations in Yosemite

The hike starts flat, climbs some switchbacks, and drops back down into rolling flats for most of the route.


A little puddle along the way


Good neighborhood to be in


A more appropriate backdrop for the trail sign


Beaten tree

From here, the trail follows a very narrow ridgeline up to the summit. The views got better with every step along the exposed spine.


Our starting point, Tenaya, with mountains behind


A better view of the mountains north of Tenaya

Every step along the ridge showed us more and more of the huge slabs in the valley.


More Yosemite granite


Looking down into the Valley


Another view down the Valley


Cyclops


Half Dome

It was neat to look down on Half Dome. We could see the cables with our naked eye, and hikers on the top through the camera lens.


Looking east across Tenaya

We split up a bit on the way down. David and I made it back first, and I had come prepared. I scampered over to the lake, shimmied into my wetsuit, and swam about halfway across, pausing a few times to revel in the views. Even though it's an alpine lake, it was quite warm after a summer of sunlight.

We piled back into the minivan, drove back over Tioga, stopped at the Mobil station for fish tacos and whatnot, scattered once back in Carson, and were back home in Reno around 8:30pm.

Long day, but worth it!

Glenbrook flowers

On a gorgeous September day at Tahoe, and after a glorious dip in the lake, Ethel and I pulled over to get a few quick shots of a vibrant patch of flowers in the meadow.


Ethel behind the camera for this shot; Shakespeare looms above








Bees hard at work


Feasting


Moving on

Painsbury

OK, Kingsbury. Whatever.

Last Sunday was the final installment of the Sierra Nevada Hill Climb TT Series. I went for two obviously contradictory reasons: to have fun, and to shatter myself.

This one's 2550 vertical feet, leading from the flat farmland of Carson Valley up into the Sierras, ending in the neighborhood of Heavenly's Nevada side base lodges.

My only previous trip up Kingsbury had been a few days before Burning Man in the early stages of a loooong solo ride, so I was at least familiar with the layout. I was certainly not familiar with the minutae of the climb, though.


Waiting

I started fifth, so assuming I rode well, I wouldn't have an endless supply of people to chase.


Clipping in


Getting up to speed


And into the aerobars

The fastest section is the very bottom; had to work hard to take advantage of lesser grades, but not too hard; it's just the first few minutes, after all.

By about 9 minutes in, I had caught the four riders in front of me. Clear road ahead and no motivation to be gleaned from the prospect of catching people; this was new and was going to be tough.


Speedy Max Polin, picking off another one

Max, who handily won the first three events of the series, charged to a new course record (35:01) by over 3 minutes...the old record was admittedly a tad slow, but 3 minutes...damn.


The fun has only just begun

Of course, the steepest part is from the false summit to the finish. Lovely.


Hanging on for dear life; one turn left to go; ouch ouch ouch ouch ouch

I was definitely happy with my ride. I managed to put up 38:16. It hurt a lot, but it's supposed to.

And Max's ride was definitely impressive. The kid's a monster.

But most impressive, I thought, was a fellow named Alan. Alan is a big guy, although 100 pounds lighter than he was a year ago. He started first, by choice, since he knew he'd be slow. He'd climbed Kingsbury over 30 times this year, but had never done it without stopping, and his goal for the TT was to avoid taking a break.

It took him a while, but he did it, and that's huge. He was all smiles at the top, and went home a very proud guy.

It was a great way to start the day, and I even passed up my hard-earned reward of riding back down the the start. Ethel had the car at the top, and we dropped off the summit into the Tahoe Basin, quickly making tracks to the beach, the cool clear waters of Tahoe calling us for a dip...

Bulbous Flight Contraptions

The Great Reno Balloon Races were last weekend. Leaving our neighborhood for a run last week, Ethel and I spied a balloon rig and struck up a conversation with the owners, Orval and Bo. They told us that we could help them out Saturday or Sunday if we came out, so we obliged and got to learn just what it takes to get a balloon in the air.


First to light up at Dawn Patrol


The whole Dawn Patrol contingent


The basket, no balloon attached


Playing with fire, but not like Burning Man


The balloon on the ground


Neighbor balloon inflating


AT-6 fly-by


Eager crew


Orval tells me to stick the camera in here. Yes sir!


Another Orval-recommended shot


Rarely seen view: underneath the balloon, spreading the fabric out


Orval, minutes before launch


Last bit of motivation


And he's off


Neighbor balloon reaches critical density


Looking up


Looking up, but with Ethel


I'll spare the cliche


Lots of 'em

Thanks to Orval and Bo for letting us help out!