Tuolumne Meadows, Matthes Crest

We stopped by REI to exchange shoes on the way up to my moms house.  Both of us ended up with new shoes, which was a nice way to start a monday.  We stopped by the Berkeley Ironworks gym to test them out and kill some time afterwords.  New shoes are painful, but apparently I can still flash gym V6 so thats nice (and meaningless, as gyms grade so soft).

New vs. Old.  The old shoes had the advantage of numerous ventilation slits.

On Tuesday morning we left Berkeley for Tuolumne Meadows, after a quick visit to the Cheese Board and my moms house.  It's a few hours drive, but A Song of Ice and Fire on tape makes it not too bad. (Roy Detreese is amazing, and looks like he would fit right in with the Westeros nobility.)  The weather was much nicer than the last time we visited, and we managed to squeeze in a two pitch route before it got dark on us.

Athena rapping from 'Golfers Route,' as it gets dark.

Just before sunset in Tuolumne.  In many areas of Tuolumne, it's neat to think that the place you're standing used to be covered in a giant layer of ice.

'Knob Climbing' in Tuolumne ascends walls made up of this type of rock, although the embedded stones are frequently much farther apart.

Glacial polishing transforms the stone in the previous picture into this type of smooth surfaced rock. 

We decided to take three days and do the Matthes Crest traverse.  We were hoping to get to this climb on our last visit, but the weather had other ideas and so we opted for Squamish instead.  The Matthes Crest is a 0.8 mile long crest of rock, between 2-10 feet wide for the most part with a few hundred feet of drop-off on either side.  The traverse is usually done from south to north, and in most cases is only climbed to the 'North Summit,' which is about a half mile from the start.  The climb itself takes between three and six hours to complete, and is about a 7-9 mile hike away from the nearest road.  You can do the whole thing in a single day, but we thought it would be more relaxing to take three days to do it: day one hike in, day two climb, and day three hike out.

Bud lake.  Filled with dead fish when we arrived.  Nice clear water, beautiful setting, and a bunch of dead fish on the bottom.

The hike in was a bit strenuous.  When you add climbing equipment to camping equipment, it's like giving a teenager a piggyback ride the whole time.

After following the John Muir Trail for less than 1/2 mile, you take a left onto a climber access trail heading up towards Cathedral Peak.  Before the switchbacks to Cathedral, you cross the stream and follow a smaller trail up towards Bud Lake.  From the lake you head cross country aiming for the base of Echo Peak.  You want to skirt around the base of the Echo Peaks formation on a series of ledges which lead around to the south side.

It's nice to just have a direction to go.  You just walk towards echo peaks, and stay a bit to the right until you pass them to the east.

High elevation meadow with a stream, sub alpine forests a bit below, and some sweet granite mountains in the distance.  Most of the streams were dry this year due to the extremely low snowfall last year.

You can see climbers on cathedral peak from here, and a plane overhead every once in a while.  Other than that civilization just sort of disappears.  Once you round echo peak even the Cathedral climbers go away.

The tiny evergreen-ish ground cover looks a bit like a miniature forest.  I think this is  Purple Mountain Heath (Phyllodoce Breweri), but I'm not sure as it wasn't flowering.

Alpine Gentian (Gentiana Newberryi)

A wonderful alpine meadow.  Some species of plants use a single season to flower and take seed, while some spend years growing and surviving the snows until ready to reproduce.  These ecosystems are amazingly fragile.

Athena dwarfed by echo peaks.

Epic

Once you find your way around the base a faint trail leads down into the Echo basin area. This basin is bounded on the east by the Matthes Crest and on the north by the Echo Peaks.  Matthes lake lies in-between, with the apron of Echo Peak to the west giving way to forested slopes in the center.  The talus field below the Matthes crest takes over as the angle increases to the east until the lower slabs of the crest emerge.

The ground is frequently granite slabs, sometimes gravel, and sometimes sand.  It's a neat mix that looks desert like on occasion.  Depending on slope and aspect, you can get completely different little biomes just a couple feet from each-other. 

The crest at sunset.  The south face start is to the right, while the notch about 1/4 from the left edge is the north/south summit divide.

Campsite one.

We camped the first night closer to Echo Lake than we would have liked.  All the streams were dry, and so it was the closest place to get water.  A small field of dried grass and fallen trees made a nice camp far enough above the lake's marshes to keep the mosquitoes to a minimum.  The next morning we woke up with the sun ( then slept in for a while ) and hiked to the base of the crest.

The climb starts on one side of a dramatic pass through the crest.  This is the view standing in the middle of the pass, looking east.

The climb starts on a south facing ledge/crack system which forms half of a pass through the crest.  This start, along with the last few pitches, are the hardest parts of the climb.  For most of the traverse we were able to simul-climb, only needing to trade off about 9 times to redistribute gear.  We used a set of double ropes, with one tied as a backpack and the other doubled up so we were only 30 meters apart. This worked well, although on some of the easier sections it meant placing more gear than we would have liked just to keep at least one piece in between us.

Matthes Lake to the left, and Echo Lake to the right.

Athena leading, somewhere near the middle.  The north and south summits are visible in the distance.

The basin to the east of the crest is a nice example of glacier carved landscapes.  You can see where the ice has forced its way through and over the granite ridges.  Everything is nice and smooth, at least on the scale of a glacier.

A nice view of the east side of the crest.  Matthes lake is in the distance to the left.

The last pitches are the hardest, although still fairly moderate.  A sketchy down-climb from the south summit to the notch lets you begin the climb to the north summit.  A long reach onto a ledge (Athena had to use a cheater stone) and then a diagonal crack/knob lead to a 5.4 chimney.  We set a belay just below the chimney as I thought this sequence might give Athena some trouble.

The north summit register.  Filled with paper and a pen, so you can sign your name at the top.  Many popular climbs have these boxes at the summit.

After summiting, two full rope length rappels bring you down to the talus field below.  For much of the way the talus field is more like a steep sand box with a coupe larger rocks thrown in for fun.  Your shoes get filled with sand, and you spend a good amount of time trying not to dislodge anything that might reach your partner below you.

A very nicely colored species of wild buckwheat (Eriogonum sp.)  This one is probably E. Lobbii.  Although other species of this plant have a number of uses, the internet didn't seem to think this guy was particularly useful.  A different genus (Fagopyrum) of the same family (Polygonaceae) is the buckwheat that people usually eat.

A neat alpine succulent that does not want to be identified.  Some species of stonecrop (Crassulaceae Family) I think? Maybe even the Oregon Stonecrop (Sedum Oreganum)? I've spent nearly a whole night and a couple beers trying to figure this one out.  You win this time plant.

After returning to camp and refilling our water, we moved up towards Echo Peak to get a bit of the next days hiking out of the way.  All together the climb took us from 8:30AM to 3:00PM, with a 45min approach hike thrown in.

If your water filter has gone bad, do not drink from this stream.

Hiking out.

Camp the second night.

Cathedral Peak in the distance as you round Echo Peaks.

The third days hike was wonderful.  We had already done all the uphill hiking the night before and our trip in had shown us better ways to make the trip out.  We meandered across the slabs and meadows for a while, stopping to boil water at one point as our filter had gone bad.  There were flocks of Clark's Nutcrackers flying and feeding in the stunted pine trees all around us.

Sometimes the grass grows in these little circles.  To wildly speculate, I would guess that one plant took hold, and subsequent plants then took root in the stable soil the first plant's roots provided.  After a couple plant generations a ring is formed as the older inner plants die and the younger outer plants form on the fringes.

At one point I climbed a rock to try and converse with the birds.  This worked better than expected.  They would change their calls in response to mine, and sort of watch curiously as I attempted imitation.

Standing on a rock, holding still, trying to imitate the birds which I'm watching through my phone.

I even tried to take some videos with my phone.  These turned out about as well as cell phone footage of bird usually does.

Wee got back to the car about 11AM.  Unfortunately it was Friday in one of the countries most popular national parks, leaving no open campsites.  So we left.  Currently we are staying south of Lake Tahoe with the hopes of climbing at the Lovers Leap area tomorrow morning.  I-80 is fairly close to us, so after climbing we will hop on the interstate and start heading towards Wyoming.

With enough lens flare people will start thinking I'm a photographer!

The Bay Area and Pinnacles NP

It arrived! We sent mail to my mom and dad from Taiwan.  Apparently it only costs  $12 in taiwan (NTD) to send a letter across the ocean.  Thats a whole 40 American cents.

My dissertations arrived as well.  Looking all fancy and new.

We spent a couple days visiting my Dad in San Mateo after driving down from Canada last week.  For the most part we just relaxed, although we take a side trip to see Athena's grandmother in San Jose for dinner.

The tiles make a nice clacking sound when you shuffle.  I'm waiting for either another 9 or another little chicken to win.

On the way down we stopped at 'Planet Granite,'  one of the climbing gym chains around this area (there seem to be four or five of them spread around the bay).  Like other 'Planet Granite' gyms we've been to it was nice for bouldering and top roping, with just enough lead climbing for them to be able to say they have lead climbing.  This particular location had a fairly large outdoor bouldering area.  Probably it's strongest feature as a gym.  Of course if you like needlessly long tests, the belay certification was a winner as well.  Following the instructions of the staff directly would mean there are 16 separate checks to preform before beginning your top-rope adventure.  Then the usual "Belay? - Belay On! Climbing? Climb-On!" followed by "Tension? Tension! Lower? Lowering!" when you finally make it to the top of their nice and tall walls.  This type of safety check stuff isn't bad, it just seems like if you need verbal commands to know to take slack then lower after a gym top-rope your probably confused about whats going on in general.  Safety checks are good, but this was a bit much.  It took us 30-40min to get our red "Toprope Belay" cards.  Better than the death gym in Alabama, but still sort of annoying.

We also got to visit Aunt Ilene, who lives on 17 mile drive near pebble beach.  Non-residents have to pay to enter the area as it's a scenic drive with lots of neat houses.  Residents and their visitors don't, although it's sometimes a gamble whether the gate guards believe you are a visitor or not if no one called down to the gate house ahead of time or you.

Californians are great at donating their time to worthwhile causes.  If someone would only show this sand dune to the middle east, they would surely stop killing each other right away.

Seals and their pups, near lovers point.

On our way down we stopped to rent kayaks near lovers point, just south of the Monterey bay aquarium.  The sea was fairly calm and it was a bit overcast.

Athena questioning the wisdom in taking your phone out to photograph things while in a kayak at sea. 

Kayaking in this area lets you see the tops of the kelp forests, and all the things that live in that area.  This meant lots of seagulls, a couple egrets (who can just stand on the kelp floats), sea otters and a bunch of curious harbor seals.  We also saw a large number of what I think where Kelp Snails, or Brown Turban Snails (Norrisia Norrisii).

The supposed Kelp Snail.  Seaweed, algae and barnacles grow in the shells giving each a unique appearance.  They feed on the kelp, using their radula to rasp away at the kelps outer layers.  At the very least this is some sort of Norrisia species I think.

Trying to identify snails was much harder and less successful than I had hoped.  There where a pair of Kelp Crabs (Pugettia Productus) as well, although trying to capture them from a kayak while they ran down the kelp to escape proved fruitless.

I managed to catch a seagull being a fool as it took off.  In the third frame he misplaces his left foot and completely misses the rock wall, having to quickly compensate in the fourth frame.  This is a Western Gull (Larus Occidentalis).  It was hanging out with a group that included a couple adult, non-breeding Heermanns Gulls (L. Heermanni).

I have no idea that this thing is.  There were quite a few of them, and they have a ridge on the bottom bisecting  the top diagonally. They are extremely thin, like a sheet of thick paper, and sort of cartilaginous or something.  Sort of cool.

As the individual kelp blades become smaller, they eventually merge into one fan like structure at the end of the leaf.  If you take a look at the Monterey Bay Aquarium logo, you can see the same thing.  I always though it was just the logo makers way of avoiding drawing smaller and smaller elements. 

Wrangling a bull kelp (some species of Nereocystis).  Bull kelp grows in a single year, starting as a spore and reaching full size in one season.  This means it has an extremely fast growth rate at times (up to 10in a day).

From Aunt Ilene's place we drove over to Pinnacles national park again, this time to the west entrance.  There was one climb that we had missed on our last visit, as we ended up at the wrong entrance to the park.

The climb, "Lava Falls," ascends the fourth from right black streak which makes it all the way to the ground. 

Looking up the chute.  It's a conglomerate rock with lots of stones embedded in a not so secure matrix.

Athena sits at the crux.  The climbing in pinnacles is terrifying.  I don't trust the rock, and I don't trust the bolts.

Hiking back we took the loop through the caves.  These are areas where large boulders have fallen into narrow gullies.   It's a really unique cave experience, although for most of the way light does filter down to the bottom.

Driving across to Pinnacles from pebble beach you get to pass near the sight of the old family ranch outside of Monterey.  There’s a new development going up on the land that was once owned by my great grandfathers as described in “To The Hills,” an article in the local paper here (The Monterey County Weekly of course).  The developer, one Mark Kelton, is thinking of naming it “The Ferrini Ranch,” although the Ferrinis who lived on it called it the Rancho Del Toro.

My great great grandfathers on my fathers side (swiss italian families the Ferrinis and the Gadottis, who’s name I’m not sure how to spell) immigrated to California to start some of the first dairy farms in the area.  This was not that uncommon, as private companies where looking for people to run these ranches.  They came over by boat, bypassing ellis island and arriving in San Francisco directly. (At the time this meant traveling around the southern tip of south america, as the panama canal was not a thing.)  After working for the dairy farms long enough, they where able to buy their own land.  So the two families, the Ferrinis and the Gadottis, bought their first plots of land on opposite sides of what is now highway 68.  The two families eventually joined through marriage (my great grand father Art Ferrini, father of my Great Aunt Ilene, who I’m visiting), and the farina land became Rancho Del Toro, or the “Ranch of the Bull.”  There are a couple landmarks near Monterey with “Toro” still in the name, and this is why.  “Toro Park” is one of the more notable, which was a chunk of the ranch sold to a neighboring cattleman so he would have access to the highway.  Part of the agreement was that the land be kept in its then current state, which was honored when it was gifted to the county to create Toro Park.

Toro Park.  It was a bit rundown, and I didn't want to pay to enter, so here's a photo of the outside.

Art Ferinni ( who married Claudine Gadotti ) was the last to work Rancho Del Toro.  He had managed to put all four of his daughters (aunt Ilene whose obviously not strictly my aunt, Mae, Jean, and my Grandma Lou) through college working as a cattleman,  as well as supporting two aunts he had picked up along the way.  When he passed, the ranch was split between these aunts and his daughters.  The aunts wanted to sell for money, while the daughters didn’t want to beggar themselves buying-out the aunts.  And so in 1968 or so, the land left our family.  

Mr. Kelton, the father of a Mark Kelton, bought the land.  It was to be a ‘project’ for Mark, as the undeveloped nature of the plot might interest him.  Mark was at the time off in his yacht, I assume galavanting about searching for folk art as he is now one of the foremost south american (or south pacific?) collectors.  Since the ranch was sold in 1986, wayward son mark has returned to the family business, and decided to develop the plot of land.  Unfortunately for him many people don’t want the golden hills of California transformed into suburbs, so he’s had to jump through a couple hoops along the way.  Regardless, he’s going to name the place “The Ferrini Ranch”, in honor I assume of the Ferrini family that the land was purchased from.

Some of the family doesn’t like it being called “The Ferrini Ranch”.  Some of the family think that if that’s the only way the family name gets remembered, it’s OK.  Either way Rancho Del Toro’s ownership will soon be slipped among a number of wealthy new home owners excited to live close to the city while maintaining a rural feel.  A development with a rustic name like “The Ferini Ranch” seems to fit this image perfectly, so it seems likely the name will remain unchanged.  (It’s fun to note that the new home owners won’t be the first to commute into the city from Rancho Del Toro for work. My Aunt Ilene and her husband moved back to the ranch after college and commuted to work many many years ago)

So thats the story  of the “The Ferrini Ranch” development, at least as I heard it. Sort of sad to see such a pretty place built over.

We ate dinner at Dorris Day's restaurant in the Cyprus in.  Dorris Day was an actress and singer who's a bit older  than my generation would know about.  They had a neat display in the restaurant with a bunch of pulp novel type things.  I'm curious how well "The Giant Girl Spy" did at her job, which I assume required a fair amount of stealth.

Flash Gordon! Here he is, probably battling for some fair maidens virtue on the planet of Mongo.  Mongo of course was ruled with an iron hand by the usurper Ming The Merciless.

We are on our way north again, with a quick stop in Berkeley first.  From there we will likely head east to Tuolumne again.  The weather is still too hot in most places,  so we'll try and stay at the higher elevations or further south till it starts cooling off again.