Eastern Sierra Weekend 4-Bishop, Alabama Hills

On my previous 2 nights in the tent, I slept fairly lightly: I woke up at first light. But on this morning, I did not wake up until 9am.

We broke camp and drove down Route 395 to Bishop. As we parked at Erick Schat's Bakkery, H spotted an open air art fair in the park across the street. The art fair had some beautiful photos of the Sierras and we enjoyed browsing through the booths.

After a simple sandwich lunch at Erik Schat's bakkery, we went to visit Mountain Light Gallery. I was not familiar with the work of Galen Rowell, but H told me he was a famous outdoor photographer, who had tragically died in a plane crashed. There were several amazing photos of the Sierras and Patagonia in the gallery which I really liked.

Our next stop was Winnedumah Hotel in Independence. H stayed here on her her previous trip to Eastern Sierras and had wanted to show me the eccentric collection of stones/lamps/stuff in the lobby.

Further south on 395, we visited Alabama hills. The unusual rock formation was prefect for rock climbing! We hiked to a foot of a small cave in a stone and tried to climb to the opening. We made it up a crack, but without ropes/harness, did not feel safe continuing.

At this point, we were near the southern end of the Sierra range. Weather had been great and we decide to check on Tioga pass. Highway 120 was indeed open! We decided to drive through Yosemite to get back to Bay area.

H took the wheels on this stretch of the drive and I was very grateful. My last trip to Yosemite was almost 4 years ago, and I really enjoyed the early spring/snow tipped scenery. Highway 120 inside Yosemite was narrow and windy. There was also heavy fog, so if I was driving, I would not be able to enjoy the view.

By the time we left the eastern gate of Yosemite, it was getting dark. We stopped in
Old Iron Door Saloon in Groveland for dinner. Old Iron Door Saloon was supposed to be the oldest continuous operating saloon in California. Unfortunately, it looked that way too:(

The menu, however, was quite modern. I had a buffalo burger and garlic soup which I enjoyed. H ordered a southwest style shrimp salad. Watercress was used exclusively in the salad, which made the greens too peppery. She did not enjoy her dinner as much.

We had an uneventful drive from Groveland back to the Bay area.

Eastern Sierra Weekend 3-Hike out

We woke at day break. Venturing out of the tent, I was startled by the amount of snow that had fell over night. Where the grounds were bare when we went to sleep, there were about 3 inches of snow.

We debated a little about spending another night in the wilderness or start hiking out. H was concerned because weather forecast for Sunday evening calls for as much snow as Saturday evening. If the same amount of snow fell, the trails may be covered by so much snow that we would be unable to find out way out.

Given the safety concern, it was thus decided hiking out was the better option. We had a leisure breakfast, then started tearing down the tent.

When going into the wilderness, it was prudent to reach one's campsite before dark and setup tent/boil water. Coming out, the pace was more relax. As long as we could reach trailhead before dark, we would be fine.

The 3 inches of virgin snow overnight had partially covered the trail, so footing on the hike was not very good, but since we were mostly going down, it was not too tiring. Also, H brought along gaiters, so snow did not get into our boots.

We stopped for pictures several times on our hike out. Here one of me in front of some bristlecrone pine.Here's another at the foot of the rail tracks. Going down the tracks was quite an adventure. With less sure footing due to the new snow, I walked sideways down the tracks.

Since we had planned to spend two nights in the wilderness, we did not make hotel reservations. Given it is Memorial Day weekend, we decided to spend the night at a camp site opposite the trailhead.
There was still some daylight left, so we travelled around the Eastern Sierras. First stop was Mono Lake South Tufa. I was always fascinated by the tufa since reading about them in a few years ago, so this was quite a treat for me.
Snow began to fell again when we left Mono Lake. Our next stop was Mammoth Lake. Whiskey Creek restaurant offered a 5-6pm happy hour where food and drinks were half off, and we were there to take advantage of the deal.

The restaurant brewed its own beer as well. We had salmon and crab cake, buffalo wings and fish taco. Food was decent, and at half off prices, could not be beat!

Since it had continued snowing somewhat heavily, we were concerned how our tent would hold up. We left before dark back to the campsite to setup for the night.

Eastern Sierra Weekend 2-Hike In and Camping

I woke up at about 8am, then decided to take a hot shower and shaved. Given I will be in the wilderness for the next 48-72 hours, I will not be able to take shower or shave for the next few days.

After a satisfying smoke trout/mushroom/sausage omelet breakfast at Mobil Restaurant, located at the junction of Hwy 395 and 120, H and I were ready for action!

We set off to Silver Lake, located along Hwy 158 loop, off Hwy 395. We are going into Ansel Adams Wilderness, taking the Rush Creek Trail to Gem Lake. Distance from the trail head to campsite is about 4 miles, with about 2000ft gain in elevation. The peak elevation of the trail is about 9000ft.

After putting on our backpack, we started walking. H led the way, and I followed. After about 10mins, I sensed she was hesitant. Turned out, we took the wrong trail! We backtracked, found the correct trail head and set off again.

3 mins into the hike, we met our first obstacle, a small creek. A couple walking in front of us stopped, but equipped with hiking boots, we stepped on a few high rocks and crossed the creek confidently!

The next obstacle was a snowy slope. The first couple of miles of the trails were basically switchback along the side of the mountain. A patch of snow had covered the trail and we need to cross this slope.

Again, H led the way. She kicked the snow to form compact indention, then walked with the toe of her foot, using the small indention as foothold. Having no experience with snow transverse, I promptly fell and slided down the slope. Luckily the slope was not too steep and after a few feet, there was a bunch of stones and dried tree branches to catch me.

I "scrambled" along the edge of the snow patch and got back onto the trail. We crossed a few more similar snowy patches, but I now know how to give the snow a good whack with my boots to form solid foothold.

The altitude and the weight of the backpack started getting to me. I did not tighten the waist strap enough, so was putting a lot of weight on my shoulder instead of mostly on the hip. I was also inexperience with walk on trails. I would take a high step, where H tends to take 2 lower steps. This help conserved more energy.

We would cross another creek. I got careless and got one of my boots wet. While water did not penetrate the boots, H was concerned since there was snow in the forecast, and keeping oneself dry was a key to survival in the snow.

The Rush Creek Trail crossed an industrial rail car tracks, which was open, so we did not have to walk on more switchbacks. The rail car tracks went straight up a fairly steep part of the hill. According to H, the tracks were constructed and used for mining operations. I kept thinking about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom":)

Atop the tracks, we saw the first lake - Agnew Lake. Given the location and the weather, I was surprised to see 2 people fishing at the lake.

We continued on Rush Creek trail around Agnew Lake and reach Gem Lake. At this point, I was fair tired. My steps were shorter and I had difficulty keeping up with H. Luckily, we were fairly close to our campsite, so we took several water break and was able to reach our destination at about 2pm.

The first order of business at the camp site was setting up the tent. With 2 of us working together, it was quickly done. I sat down, chewing on a Cliff bar when H pulled out a plastic bottle, filled with a strangely familiar red liquid....

"Red wine?!" I asked. I could not believe it! H had packed the wine to help celebrate my first backpacking trip.

We sat around, enjoying the sun and the beauty of Gem Lake's snowy banks. Soon small dots of snow starting falling. We collected some lake water and retreated to warmth of our tent.

Since we did not really break for lunch during our hike, we decided to have an early dinner. H had brought along quite a feast! There's seaweed soup, instant noodles, spicy pickled vegetables, tea quail eggs and sliced turkey. For dessert, there's hot coco.

Given it was now snowing fairly heavily, and I was tired from the hike in, we slept at about 8pm, as soon as night falls.

Eastern Sierra Weekend 1-The Drive

H and I left Bay Area at about 5pm for a 3 days backpacking trip in the Sierras over Memorial Day weekend. This is my first backpacking trip since coming to the Bay Area, so I was excited and concerned at the same time. I have little wilderness survival skills, and there was snow in the forecast.

The Memorial Day "get out of town" traffic was surprisingly light, and we were making fair good time. We are going to Lee Vining via Hwy 120 East, which had just opened a few days ago and we figured we would reached the motel by 9pm.

Unfortunately for us, it started snowing on Friday night in Yosemite National Park. When we reach the park entrance, we were informed Tioga Pass was closed. We had to turn back on Hwy 120, and take Hwy 108 instead.

We reached the Hwy 120/108 split at about 10pm. The drive through Sonora Pass on Hwy 108 was very tiring. The road was narrow, winding, steep. To make matter worst, there was some light rain and heavy fog.

This detour set us back several hours and we finally reach Lee Vining at about 1am. H arranged for us to spend the night at El Mono Motel/Latte Da Coffee Cafe. Both of us were so tired from the drive that we hit the sack and fell asleep almost immediately!

Maifestival at Toursits Club

An online newsgroup posted a gathering for Mai Festival at Tourists Club of San Francisco. While I unfamiliar with the event and location, Germany beer and sausage in beautiful Muir Woods sounded like something I would love doing on a weekend:)

H and I left southbay at about 9:30am. Unfortunately, our trip through San Francisco was greatly delayed by Bay to Breakers. We did not arrive at Muir Woods until almost 1:30pm.

The private parking lot off Ridge drive was full when we arrived and we were forced to park off Panoramic Highway. A steep paved trail led from the Ridge drive lot to a Bavarian style lodge. The area is not as secluded as I had imagine, with several residential lots next to the Tourists Club's lodge.

A Bavarian band was playing traditional German music as we arrived. We found a seat on patio and watch visitors danced. Some visitors were in outdoor clothes/hiking boots, others in street clothes and a few in traditional German costume.

A small dance troupe performed an interesting Austrian dance called the "May Pole Dance" that I had never seen before. The dancers danced around a pole which had red and white strips attached to the top. Each dancer held on to the free end of the strip. Male and female dancers were paired into couples facing each other. The guys danced clockwise and the women danced anticlockwise. As they meet each other, the gentleman and ladies alternately go inside each other. With this motion, the dancers formed a quilt with the strips at the top of the pole.

I found this video on YouTube which showed this dance.


There were more dancing performance, and audience participation. Even I got into the action! The band played the Chicken dance music, and I had remembered the dance from college. I taught H the simple dance routine and did a few rounds. For those of you that did not go to school in Wisconsin, here's how what I was talking about!



After the dancing, we quickly refueled with some German beer and cabbage. Since we were already in Muir Wood, H took me to the top of Mountain Tam. From the parking lot, it was a short hike to the top. We sat there looking at the fog came in from the ocean, through the small opening of the Bay. The weather was perfect and it was beautiful.

Soon the sun began to set and we headed back towards south bay. Since we had to drive past San Francisco, we decided to stop for dinner in the city.

We ended up in Kan Zaman Cafe for a little middle eastern food and belly dancing performance. H had never seen belly dancing and was interested.

We had a simple dinner of pita bread, hummus, dolmas(grape leaves), tabouli, falafel and kibbeh. Then the belly dancer started performing. In addition to the usual belly dancing routine with the hand bell, she did a special routine where she balance a plate with several candles on top of her head while dancing.

Both the food and the dancing was better than my previous Kan Zaman experience, so we left satisfied!

Napa Weekend-Sequoia Grove, Oakville Grocery, Opus one

Woke up late again after a relaxing evening. H was kind enough to get waffles for me, which I wolfed down after a somewhat light dinner.

This morning, we drove down south. Along the way, we stopped by Sequoia Grove. I had wanted to stop by this winery to taste their Gewurztraminer. It was my sister's favorite wine and was once served on Singapore Airline first class cabin. When we arrived though, we were in formed Jim Allen, the founder of the winery had sold the winery. Since Allen Family was his label, they had stopped the label and had not made Gewurztraminer since!

We were disappointed, but decided to try the new Sequoia Grove wine. We were the only part in the tasting room and had a generous pourer. We enjoyed a flight of red wine and another flight of white wine in the outside garden and got a little tipsy.

We decided we had enough wine for the morning and stopped by Oakville Grocery for a simple picnic lunch of grilled polenta cake, cheese, and salad. Weather was great as usual in Napa valley and we enjoyed out time in the sun.

After lunch, we decided to stop by a winery with a beautiful building. Turned out, it was the famous Opus One label. At this time, both of us did not want to drink anymore wine, so just toured the winery. The building had a update-classical look and was quite handsome.

My original plan was to go to downtown Napa and purchase a wine tasting card. This card cost $20 and at 10 different downtown tasting room, initial tasting cost only 10 cents. But, we were all "wined-out" for the weekend. Instead, we browsed the shops a little. The downtown area was fairly quiet on Sunday afternoon, with many stores closed, so we decided to call it a weekend and head home.

Napa Weekend- Franciscan, Heitz, Lavendar Hill, Ubuntu

H returned safely from her trip through the Sierras, and we decided to have a relaxing weekend off in Napa Valley. Since her trip was physically demanding, I had made arrangement for spa treatment as well.

We drove to Calistoga on Friday evening and spent the night at the Lodge at Calistoga. The hotel offered free breakfast, which included freshly made waffles. It was a good start to the morning.

Unfortunately, our day was interrupted by a flat tire, which we discovered when we left the hotel to start travelling. We had to wait for AAA to come change into our spare tire and drove the car down to Napa for replacement tires.

Since we were already in Napa, we decided to have lunch in downtown. We happened upon on Caffe Cicero and enjoyed a steak sandwich and pesto chicken sandwich.

After lunch, we drove back up towards Calistoga as I had made spa appointment in the afternoon. We stopped by Franciscan and Heitz for wine tasting. Heitz was a great stop because they made a finest wine in the Napa area and tasting was free!

We arrived at Lavender Hill Spa right on time for our appointment. Located just off Highway 29, Lavender Hill looked like a old Victorian house at the side of the road. But it was charming and the garden was beautiful.

Both H and I chose Volcanic Mud bath for our bath. The mud is one time used only and it was not very thick. Lavender Hill had couples facing each other during spa treatment, though we did not try to talk over the flowing water and our eyes were covered by cold cucumber slices. Classical music played softly in the background while we soaked and the atmosphere was serene.

After the bath treatment, we were wrapped in towel and given a foot massage. Then we were ushered to separate massage rooms for our massage treatment. The massage rooms were closer to the road, so there was some vehicle noise, affecting the atmosphere. But the massage itself was relaxing and I came out of the treatment refreshed.

Dinner was at Ubuntu, a chic restaurant and yoga studio in downtown Napa, which had been getting rave reviews for its vegetarian cuisine. We ordered the asparagus salad, baby beets and avocado and cauliflower in a cast iron pot. The asparagus were lightly boiled and all the woody portion shaved off. It was served with a lemon dressing. The baby beets and avocado salad included diced red and yellow beets served with bitter greens. The best dish of the night was the cauliflower in cast iron pot. The cauliflower was soft and sweet and surrounded by a fluffy, creamy sauce. I liked this dish a lot.

Dessert was a bowl of frosted feuilletine, served with vanilla ice cream and warm coconut milk. The dessert was made to look like a bowl of breakfast cereal, and the warm milk and ice cream made for a interesting contrast in temperature. I enjoy this dessert very much too.

Overall, the dishes were carefully prepared and the taste delicate. The cold salad rely too much on the ingredients. Also, portion sizes were small.

After dinner, we drove around downtown Napa a little and headed back to Calistoga for the night.