On August 7th of this year, three women decided to take a trip on their horses from Tuolomne Meadows in Yosemite to Donner Summit. The trip was supposed to be 200 miles. However, after day 5, with equipment failures, terrain that is not horse friendly whatsoever, snow, and the extensive time it takes to pack and unpack each day at camp, they fell behind and knew they would be ending the ride for this season sooner than they planned.
Did this discourage them? Heck NO! They are going back next year armed with experience and lessons-learned to continue where they left off. I plan on hiking behind them filming each step of the way.
If you are debating weather to traverse this section of the pct on horseback, take a look at this film.
I was supposed to meet up with some lady PCT horse riders in the Sierra for their re-supply but they are two days behind because of snow and down trees in mid August! They are averaging about 7 miles a day. Getting over the passes is slow going for them. Hikers can get around these obstacles a lot easier than horses! They started in Tuolonme Meadows (Yosemite National Park) Aug 7 and was supposed to be at Kennedy Meadows North on Aug 13 (today). That’s not going to happen. So, with my plans for a mountain weekend on hold, I did this instead!
his is a cover song called Barton Hollow by the duo The Civil Wars.
In this episode of Twylaworld, we head to the Peter Grubb hut to deliver some trail magic on mile 1160 of the Pacific Crest Trail. While there, we meet a character long distance hiker that is literally working his way up the trail. We also meet a real thru hiker a hiker who hasn’t skipped any sections (she braved all the high Sierra this year) and is trekking her way North to Canada. We also find a lost day hiker. What a day! Oh and THERE IS SNOW lots and lots of SNOW!
In this episode of Twylaworld, we head up to almost 7000 feet to some nice and refreshing alpine lakes for swimming and toe dipping. It’s 107 degrees in the Sacramento Valley, so it’s time to head up into the Sierra for some cooler temps. The snow is FINALLY starting to disappear!
A six mile round trip hike didn’t sound like a big deal when I looked at the map, but you are going to climb 1633 feed in the three miles in and there are lots of boulder steps to traverse. You will really work for this swim, but its TOTALLY worth it! There are three large lakes that are very close together with a fourth smaller lake that is tucked between the second and third large lake. The second lake is the largest and most popular for backpackers. The water is clear and oh so refreshing!
Take your lunch, swimmin’ britches, sunscreen, bug spray and water. There is a place to filter water along the way if you run out. The views are spectacular and the lakes are crystal clear!
Wow what a snow year for the Sierra! As it’s kinda putting a damper on my usual day hikes this summer with crazy water crossings and slushy snow fields, I’m relieved we have the water for our ranch! Take a flyover with my husband and I as we fly over 11 thousand feet in a Cessna 172 SP then head over to the coast where it’s completely fogged in!
2017 is the year of record snow and raging waters in California. I’ve been hearing about hikers fording creeks and streams in the High Sierra and having near death experiences. Hiking in the mountains definitely has its challenges this summer! Fordyce creek is in Northern California portion of the Sierra just North of I-80 off of Hwy 20. As you will see be this vid, this creek is a flowing monster! Take a rainy walk with me as we hike from Lake Spaulding to Fordyce Creek Falls.
On this episode of Twylaworld, my hiking buddy John and I backpack to Coast Camp at Point Reyes National Seashore. This magical gem of Northern California is a MUST SEE place even if you just go for the day. Our hike was a little over 6 miles each way, however, the particular route we took was little steep in places and the uphills went on for quite a while. We went up and over a few ridges.
Coast camp is right next to the beach, nestled between some hills which protected us from the wind. The surf was just a 2 minute walk from our camp.
Day one was AWESOME. It was foggy, but there was no rain. However, at 2 am, it started raining HARD! The next morning, we packed our gear and hiked out in the rain, skipping out on a good hot cup of coffee. It rained on us most of the way back, but it was actually a lot of fun! ***On a technical note, I had a weird issue with my Rode external mic on my Sony Action cam. You can hear a weird clicking noise in places. I found out through some YouTube searching that I needed to turn the wifi off of my camera! I’ll know next time! I also need to re-work my mount and windscreen. Sorry for some crappy sound in places. I’m working out the bugs in my DIY rig!
Today on this episode of Twyla World we take a nice hike from the American River Confluence to the town of Cool. It’s only 6.2 miles round trip, however there is a little of a climb to get out of the canyon. You can make this hike much longer if you do the trails in Cool that loop around back to the trail into the Canyon. AND we met a rather large rattle snake!
This story took place 2016 on Labor Day Weekend in Lassen National Park
Lesson #1. Never-EVER take essentials out of your day pack even if you think that you are going on a “short” simple day hike in the woods, on a very established trail, and your plans are all laid out.
Lesson #2. Make sure that the plans for your ride home are well established and known by everyone involved. Make sure everyone repeats back in unison said plans and there are no misunderstandings. Draw a map if necessary.
The Hike and “Plan”
At noon, three of us set out to hike to the top of Mt. Harkness where there is a lookout tower. This is a 4 mile UP hike with a 3000 ft elevation gain. It kicked my butt pretty good, but the view at the top was spectacular! Our plan was to hike to the top (4 miles) then hike down to the other side of the mountain (2 miles) to Lake Juniper where our friends were kayaking. They would then drive us the 25 miles back to the cabin in which we were all staying.
This is where Lesson #2 comes into play. I don’t want to get into specifics, but there was a huge miscommunication about the plans and we didn’t have a ride when we reached the lake at 5:30pm. We were stuck 25 miles away from the cabin in the woods with NO cell service.
It’s starting to get dark and we are only wearing our thin day hiking clothes and this is where Lesson #1 comes into play. NEVER TAKE YOUR EXTRA CLOTHES AND OTHER STUFF THAT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE OUT OF YOUR DAY PACK! EVER!!!
The Wait in the Cold
We waited by the side of the only road that came into the lake area near some campgrounds. There was a ranger station at the entrance but it was CLOSED! Labor Day Weekend and nobody at the station? Seriously? What if someone at the campground needed medical help? It’s getting dark and the temp is rapidly falling. Now it’s pitch dark and we are freezing! Do we start hiking the 25 miles? Well, we gave it a good thought but, not knowing if our ride was coming we could have been out there all night walking and freezing in the pitch dark forest for 25 miles. Do we hike back up 2000 feet in the pitch black rugged wilderness where there were signs of bears to the lookout tower? My tired aching body said no way. It would have taken a few hours as the elevation was brutal. My teeth were chattering and I sat down against the ranger building holding my knees trying not to become hypothermic!
Trail Angels! – MULE PEOPLE ARE THE BEST!
Near the ranger station, we spot a corral with a two mules eating hay. Next to the corral was a couple enjoying a beautiful and WARM campfire. We walked over and asked if we could stand by their fire while we waited for our friends who surely would be coming to look for us at the lake! Dan and Abigail were very accommodating and let us warm by their fire. It’s now 9:30 pm and nobody is coming to our rescue. We hear a helicopter over head! Is that for us? Nope. It just kept flying! Abigail said that if our friends didn’t come for us by 10:00pm they would break down camp and drive us back. At 10:00 pm, Dan and Abigail broke down camp, which required them to secure their camper and put away all sorts of stuff for the long bumpy 25 mile ride on a dirt road in the pitch dark. About half-way back to civilization, we spot the folks from our cabin rambling up the dirt road in search of us, completely freaked out and moments from calling the sheriffs office to initiate a search and rescue operation. It was midnight when we finally reached the cabin.
Moral of the Story
There are wonderful people in the world like Dan Sehnert and Abigail Madden. They live by the Cowboy code for sure! You can’t go wrong with folks who ride mules!!!
My HUGE lesson in all of this is to be prepared to spend the night out in the cold (it was in the 30s and I’m sure it got even colder as the night progressed) even if you are going on a day hike in the wilderness.
Update 2022: The Dixie fire ravaged this area in 2021. The lookout is gone as well as our friend’s cabin never to be rebuilt. It burned almost one million acres.
A while back, I bought the cheapest Compass that was hanging on the rack at REI. It was this little thing that hung off the strap of my backpack that didn’t have dials or anything. It just gave you a direction. I figured I could at least use it to get myself north, south, east or west. Sounds easy enough! If I keep walking West, I’d eventually hit the Pacific Ocean and then I’d know for SURE where I was. Of course I’d probably die before I got there and never see the Ocean. So I bought a map. A large fold out piece of paper of shades of green and tan with a gazzillion squiggly lines and numbers. I look at the map then at the compass, look at the map, then at the compass. Hmmmmm.. Nothing made sense.
So, I did what every person thirsting for knowledge does… I go to YouTube. It’s there I learn from some fine compass reading YouTubers that I have to account for Declination in order to use the map with the compass. Something about the curvature of the Earth, True North, Magnetic North.. WHAT? THERE ARE TWO NORTHS? What the hell is going on here?
I needed to get to the bottom of this Two Norths thing (sounded hoaxy to me) and signed up for a class from REI.
Now, I can read a Topography map (sort of-need practice) and read my compass and I know the difference between the “Norths.” Oh, and I learned something VERY IMPORTANT. I had to keep “Fred in the Shed.”
twylaworld.com 
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