Lost Coast Trail click here to see my pictures

The hike was incredible. Things have been crazy since the hike so I am just now posting the link to my pictures and Matt's. Let me know what you think! I will be posting a summary of the trip later today or tomorrow. I will also write about climbing Mt. Lassen and the trip to San Francisco. It has been a great week here. Here are the links to the pictures. You can also click the Harris's photos link on the right side of the page.

Harris's pictures
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=saundha&P=&AID=2759380&Show=Y
Matt's Pictures
http://www.dotphoto.com/Go.asp?l=saundha&P=&SID=42298&Show=Y

Lost Coast Hike

It looks like our next trip is going to be to hike the Lost Coast Trail. It is a 25 mile trail along the coast of Northern California. Click the title to read one guy's story about a close call on the Lost coast trail. Ignore anything on his site that doesn't have to do with the trail.

Staff retreat II and Napa Valley

The last week at the Ranch was kind of boring to me. We mostly worked on cleanup and end of summer projects because the group was not rafting this week. It seems like forever since the last rafting trip. Our second staff retreat was on the way to drop off the last of the staff in sacramento. We drove to the coast to Patrick's point state park http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=417 . It was a long, long drive through windy mtn roads (about 5 hrs). The park was beautiful with huge trees. I haven't seen anything like it. From there we hiked to the coast (not far). The coast was very rugged and beautiful. Much different from the beaches on the gulf coast. We also hike to Fern Canyon (4 miles) where scenes from Jurassic Park were filmed. It looked like a place dinosaurs would live. We camped that night and left for the sacramento airport at 5am the next day. It was a cool trip but a little rushed. I don't like to be in places like this.

After we dropped everyone off at the airport Ian, Matt, and I headed over to Napa Valley (about 1 hr) http://www.napavalley.com/ . I figured since we were so close it would be interesting to tour one of the wineries. Chef Bob is somewhat of an expert on Napa so he gave us some good tips on what to do. It was late in the day and the wineries were closed so we drove a little past Napa to the town of Calistoga (known for their bottled water) and looked around http://www.calistogafun.com/engine?action=main . The town had great restaurants and coffee shops and felt like an old west town from the 1800's.

The next morning we drove back to Napa (15 miles) and toured the Robert Mondavi Winery http://www.robertmondavi.com/AboutCompany/thewines.asp . It was a beautiful place. Our guide was great and I learned alot about wine and how it is made. After the tour we had to rescue the other van since we had locked the keys in it earlier. Ian and Matt took the window apart and Lassoed the door hand with a belt attached to a stick. Quite impressive.

Then it was back to the Ranch. It took about 4 hours to drive back. This was our first night to be back in the Green bean (where we lived this winter). It feels like we are home. It is weird the other 4 guys are gone. Pictures will be coming soon.

Cosmic Wall climb Castle Crags

The campers are gone for the summer. So Jim talked me in to climbing the cosmic wall at Castle Crags State Park. It is a 5.6 climb 800ft up a granite wall. Jonathan had climbed it before and told us it was a great climb to learn on. This was our first multi pitch climb ever.

We left the Ranch at 6:45am with all of our gear loaded into the volvo (of course. Castle Crags state park it about an hour and 15 minutes from the Ranch. Most guide books describe it as undiscovered and hidden with very good quality climbs. Jim and I have been there before to hike up the Castle Dome.

So we arrived at the trailhead by 9am and started to hike in. The hike according to the Falcon guidebook was about 2.5 hours. Our packs were heavy. We made good time to the rock but struggled for over an hour to decide where the route started. The manzanita bushes were very thick and we had to bushwack through them for over an hour to get to the rock. It was very frustrating. Finally, we found it and started climbing by noon. The pitches went by slowly. Jim lead the entire way. I had the easy job of "cleaning" the pitches meaning that I was at the bottom and did not have to worry about placing the gear. We took our time and resting at each belay point. The climb seemed to be taking alot longer than expected but it was still early and seemed like we had plenty of time. Jim ran out of water about the 4th pitch (of 6 total) and started to get dehydrated. He did a good job of pushing through it and didn't fall at all.

On the 5th pitch we rested on a huge ledge and called Mom to tell here we were alive. Jim called Vaughn to tell here he missed her. It was now 5pm, still not to late but we realized it was time to pick up the pace. We had 2 solid pitches left and then the rapell down. I really did not want to hike in the dark. I've had a few experiences I didn't want to do again with paddling and hiking in the dark. The 6th pitch went by fast and then we slowed way down on the 7th and final pitch.

Jim was still leading and had to take a route that was much tougher than the rest of the climb. Time flew by and we were still on this pitch. Finally we made it up and on to the summit. The wind started to blow fiercely while we set up the rapell. The sun set and it was starting to get cold. It was now about 8pm. I just wanted to get on the ground before dark.

It didn't happen. The rapell was 2 100ft sections to get to the ground. We had to get out our headlamps for the second section. It was now very dark. The moon was half full but did not help very much. As soon as we hit the ground we threw the gear in our bags and began the tedious hike back to the base of the climb to get out big packs and hike to the car. Sounds easy right? That's what we thought until we got lost in the Manzanitas because it was to dark to see any landmarks. Thats when the 2 hours of pure torture began. At this point we have been out of water for several hours and are starting to feel the effects of dehydration. My legs are completely ripped up from the manzanita bushes.

Finally we emerged from the Manzanita maze onto the main trail. This really took 2 hours. From this point the hike was a minimum of 1.5 more hours. We were hiking fast, ready to get back to the car. Slowly dehydration made us more and more dizzy. Fortunately, there was a natural spring 2/10's of a mile off the trail. Jim had a water purifier with him so we took time to pump water. We sat and drank water for about 20 minutes. It was now 12:30am.

I can't explain why it seemed that time was flying by so fast. From then on I didn't even want to know how late it was. I don't think we would have made it back to the car without the water, probably one of us would have passed out. The water was refreshing. We continued on

the trail for what seemed like an eternity. It took another 2 hours to reach the trailhead and the car. The volvo was a beautiful site. We climbed in and drove to Denny's in Yreka where we ate some great food at about 3am. Things were crazy at Denny's. When we arrived they were arresting 6 guys for fighting in the bathroom. It was probably rowdy there since Denny's is across the street from all of the bars in Yreka. It seemed like the whole town was on that one corner outside of the bars. We got back to the Ranch at 3:30am went to sleep and then woke up the next morning at 8am for turnover day at the Ranch (work day).

It was a full day to say the least! The climb itself was awesome. I hated the hike in and

out. Another great brother bonding experience! First Shasta, now the cosmic wall. I was sad to see Jim go today. We had a great summer on the river. I wish he could be at the Ranch for the next few weeks. There is so much more we could go do. I'm sure we will be back. It was definitely an adventure to remember. Right up there with getting stuck in our tent on Shasta at 10,000ft in a snowstorm back in April.

Today the entire staff (what is left) went to Applegate church in Oregon and then to Ashland and bowling in Yreka. It was a fun, relaxing day.

Out with a Bang...

I just found out what all we are going to do in the weeks before I leave the Ranch. It is definitely worth staying for a few extra weeks.

1) Camping in the Redwood forest and spend the day at the coast
2) Visit Chad in San Francisco, he is going to take us Sea Kayaking and Mtn. Biking in Marin (the birthplace of Mtn. biking)
3) Bella Fleck Concert in Oregon
4) Matt and I have the 18-25 of august to plan a trip. We haven't decided what to do yet.
5) 3 day 2 night rafting trip on the Rogue River Class IV and V Rapids
6) Climb Cosmic Wall at Castle Crags with Jim (800ft, 8 pitch climb 5.6). This is our first multi pitch climb. Yes, I know this is a big one to start with.
7) Kayak the Klamath one more time
8) Napa Valley

and I'm sure we will think of a few more things to do...

Scott Valley is beautiful

I have been really tired lately and just kind of out of it so I decided I need to exercise more. Usually when I start to feel like this it is because I haven't been very active. I left after dinner last night to ride the miner's loop. It is a great ride that takes about 45 minutes. On the first turn I took I was struck by the beauty of Scott Valley. There were 2 horses playing in this field with the sunset and the entire valley in the background. Around the next corner a huge 8 point buck in velvet jumped right in front of my bike. I rode further and passed to many deer to count and about 25 turkeys in a field. For the next 4o minutes or so of my ride I felt so blessed to be here and reminded myself I need to take advantage of this wonderful place as much as I can in my last month here. This is truly an incredible place.

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Another Mt. Shasta Climb...

This was the first Shasta climb I have actually enjoyed. There was no snow until after horse camp. The hike to Lake Helen (10,400 ft.) was not to bad other than we arrived a little late. There were many groups camped there. Brian went with us to. It rained all night and my tent started to leak. Fortunately, my gear did not get wet. We woke up at 2am to a white out. We continued to check the weather until 6am which was the latest we wanted to start. We decided after talking to one of the forest service guys that it was ok to climb. We made good time to the summit, arriving just ahead of our turnaround time (12 noon). The trip down was fast. We glissaded most of the way. Glissading made the entire trip worth it. I felt really good after the trip. I may even want to do it again. Overall it was a great trip. I think Jim was very excited to finally make it to the summit. I got some great pictures to. Check out my photo site for more pictures.

Yes, I am coming back...

It is official. I will be leaving the Ranch on September 14th to drive back with Matt Nolan. This is a few weeks later than I originally planned. There are a few church groups we are going to hang around to help out with. We plan to pack in as much kayaking, mountaineering, and rock climbing as possible before we leave. Jim is leading a group of staff up Shasta today.