Tag: sierra nevada

First Maltby Descendant’s Journey to Historic Maltby Lake

Leave a comment

17:44Now playing

HISTORIC ACHIEVEMENT: First Maltby Descendant Conquers Maltby Lake

In the early 1940s, the owner of Maltby’s Resort at Upper Twin Lakes in Mono County, California, ventured high into the Sierra mountains. Hal Maltby, on a scouting trip for deer to benefit his lodge’s customers, stumbled upon a hidden gem: a pristine lake sitting above 9,000 feet that wasn’t marked on any Forest Service map.

Fast forward 81 years, Hal’s great-grandson, Carson, undertook the same challenging trek to locate this family legacy, now known as Maltby Lake. This journey not only retraced Hal’s footsteps but also forged a new chapter in their family’s history.

Watch the video, edited and narrated by me, to delve deeper into Hal’s discovery and Carson’s epic, albeit arduous, journey to Maltby Lake.

New Hiking Trail near South Lake Tahoe | California Ranch Move

Leave a comment

My time is getting short in California! In between all of the house projects for the upcoming sale of the ranch and move to New Mexico, I’m trying to find some time to get Sierra hiking in. Here is a trail near South Lake Tahoe that I haven’t done before! This trail is considered moderate at 7.2 miles round trip and 1300 feet of elevation gain, but you are rewarded a nice cool lake to take a dip!

I Get a New Trail Name? NO!!!

What a difference a year makes in the Sierra. This time last year, there was about 60 or more feet of snow, completely burying homes, cars and of course trail signs! This year, there was beautiful snow, but all trail signs are prominently visible. Let’s go for a snowshoe up to Castle Pass!

Trees with Tumors and Jumping Fish! Desolation Wilderness Delight

It’s day onehundredeleventysomeningorother of the pandemic so onward I hike. On June 29, 2020, my niece Jenny (trail name Legs) and I head off from Wrights lake and find out way up the granite to Twin Lakes.

The trail goes on for miles deep into Desolation Wilderness, but since we took our time and really savored every moment in this area, we turned around at Lower Twin Lake which made for a 6.5 mile day.

The route up to the lakes is mostly granite so there isn’t much of a trail. We lost the trail many times, but having GPS on my phone, we were able to find the trail easily again. Going up, it was hard to see the cairns and the lines of rock in places that marked the route. Going back down was a piece of cake as you can see the cairns a lot better.

We were treated with many waterfalls, small lakes and exceptional views. I want to go back and explore further in, maybe with my overnight bag!

Because of the Pandemic, the Forest Service has suspended the need to get a day hike permit, but you still need one if you are an overnight backpacker.

In Search of a Monkey and a Swing at Lake Tahoe

It was a photo on one of the Northern California hiking FaceBook groups that brought my attention to this trail. In one photo was a monkey carved out of granite keeping a watchful eye over Lake Tahoe, and in the same post was a girl on a swing hung from the branch of a pine tree with nothing but sky and the lake surrounding her. She was literally in thin air. I had to see these things for myself. So, with my trusty map of the area, I plotted a course and called out to hiking pals Lee, “Bunny Hop” and “Pokey”

The trail starts just outside of Incline village. You can’t miss the parking lot at the end of the Tunnel View Cafe. It’s the same place where the old Ponderosa (Bonanza TV Show) theme park used to be. (It’s been gone since 2004) Take the Tunnel Creek trail for a couple of miles (all uphill) to see the granite monkey and swing. Continue on the uphill climb to the Marlette Flume trail for the most spectacular views of Lake Tahoe. Thankfully the Flume trail is flat. Beware, this very narrow trail is shared with bikes so be prepared to move out of their way! The bikers were courteous and at no time did I feel I was going to get run over or shoved off of the cliff. Those bike riders are braver than me as that trail is Narrow!

PS. Don’t forget to do the email sign-up thing on the right so you can get notified when I upload an episode!

Adventure at 11 Thousand Feet

In the epic episode, John (Trail name Pokey or Sloth , Paige(trail name Badass)  and myself (Trail name Sparkles) head up to the Cottonwood lakes area of the Southern Sierra.  We got more of an adventure than we bargained for!

Make sure you SUBSCRIBE to my channel to see more epic hiking and music videos!

2018 The year of Peak Bagging

As I was training for a big Pacific Crest Trail section hike, I decided to see how many mountains I could get to the top of! The section hike was cancelled because of forest fires, so I continued to climb peaks. I hope to climb even more peaks next year! I have new goals!

We are Fleas on a Dog.. but WHAT A DOG!

During all of my hikes over the Sierra the past few years, I’ve had soooo many questions about how and why things are the way there are, geologically speaking.  I’d see a huge lava outcropping and I’d wonder when that got there and how?  Was it blown to it’s current resting place from a distant volcano? Did it pop out of the ground from an ancient fissure?  Just how old are the Sierra anyway?

I’m finally taking some time to seriously study Geology.  I have some answers and my hikes are that much more interesting!   This Earth has been evolving for 4.6 billion years and we’ve only been here 200,000 years of it.  Heating up, cooling down, over and over again with many variations of life forms that have come and gone over the millions of years.  Continents moving around, and still on the move. The Hawaiian Islands are moving in a Northwest direction about 4 inches a year! Eventually, they will join up with Japan! Australia is moving Northward about 2.7 inches a year. All the plates are moving, some faster than others.  Don’t believe me? Study Geology!   I would love to drive to Australia..  Mountains pushing up and STILL getting higher.  Think Everest is high now? Just you wait!   What will be here a million years from now? Us? Something else?   Nothing?  Hmmm…..  things I think about when I hike!  Geology is COOL!

Today, we take a short hike up to an ancient lava flow plateau that was formed during the creation of the Sierra Nevada when the entire range was bubbling with volcanoes and molten lava being pushed up everywhere!!  Here is some interesting reading about the Sierra.

With winter around the corner, the trees are singing their songs and a warning that a big change is soon to come.