Mammoth Lakes Adventures Day Three and Four

Day 3

On Saturday morning we packed up our gear for the trek out of the park. We started early and passed through some gorgeous scenery with clear blue skies. The route was somewhere around 6 to 7 miles to the shuttle pick-up site and included a barefoot river crossing. During our trek back to civilization we kept talking about what our first meal would be. We finally made it to the shuttle stop and after waiting a long 20 minutes, the a near capacity bus arrived. By far we were the dirtiest and smelliest bus riders. We definately got a lot stares with the hidden message of please don't sit by me. After a short ride we made it back to the CR-V, loaded our packs and motored in search of a good meal. After several indecisivie minutes we finally made it to a sports bar for the best hamburger and fries (hunger makes everything taste great). After munching we headed over to the nearby campsite to find a place to set up camp for the night. After spending 2 nights backpacking a campsite with running water and flushing toilets was luxurious. We made camp and made our way to the local brewery for some delicious beer, appetizers, pool and darts. Dave is quite the pool player and managed to win the majority of games. After the brewery we made our way to Vons for some food and more beer for the evening. Camp fires were allowed at this site and we were able to make some smores and play some cards.

Day 4

The last day of the trip was pretty much driving back to LA and the OC. We did stop at Bishop to pick up some delicious pastries at Schats Bakery. I was amazed by this bakery and the large variety and high quality of their pastries. The apple turnovers and chocolate dipped macarroons were delicious.

Our last stop was at Red Rock near Mojave. Although it was at least 100+ degrees, we were able to play some wiffle ball (Dave's backpacking luxury item) in the desert. Afterwards we loaded up again into the CR-V and made the last leg of the journey to LA. Alas our trip was finished.

Mammoth Lakes Adventures Day Two

We woke up at sunrise and quickly began to undo our camp. We repacked our gear and got ourselves ready for the next stretch of the adventure. Before we began our hiking, we spent about an hour fishing the lake again. Once again I had no luck with the fish.

We started our treking and circled around the lake to find a pass over the mounain to take us to our next destination at Garnet Lake. There was still snow along a section of the mountain and Jimmy was able to make a snowman. The hike was no where near as long as the first day and we finally reached our destination sometime before 3 pm. We made camp and assembled our rods and reels for some fishing. Erick, Dave and Ryan were able to hook some good looking trout. Dave was nice enough cook the fish up for dinner and it was delicious. Afterwards we finally had the chance to hang out, relax and unwind. I hooked one brown trout but it came off the line as I tried to get it out of the lake. Fishing isn't fishing when you don't catch fish.

Mammoth Lakes Adventures Day One

The trip began early Thursday morning with Ryan, Jimmy, Dave and me meeting at Erick's house in Los Angeles. We all arrived around 2 am and quickly loaded our gear into the CR-V. Erick drove most of the way there and we got a couple of hours of sleep on the road. We arrived in Mammoth shortly before sunrise, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed over to the ranger station for the bear canisters (essential in bear country). Next we headed to Mammoth Mountain ski area to park and catch the shuttle to the trial head. Our starting point was Agnew Meadows and at 10 am we started the 10 mile hike to 1,000 Island Lake. The scenery was stunning and the weather couldn't have been better. Lunch was awesome as Erick had bought sandwiches at Panera Bakery and we ate on an overlook to the valley.

We finally arrived at the site around 4pm and my shoulders were killing me. We set up camp and unpacked all of our gear. The rest of the daylight was spent fishing and Ryan and Erick managed to hook some rainbow trout.

It was great to finally get to bed even though we had some uninvited guests throughout the night. We slept as much as we could considering the wild animals and the cold night kept us from sleeping like logs.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Ryan recently celebrated another birthday. We had the chance to get together with him and Christina the Saturday before his actual birthday. We met up in Ryan's old stompin' ground --- Pasadena. We ate some delicious food at Barneys and had a chance to catch up with old friends.

Ryan started riding motorcycles and has recently upgraded to a faster bike. This was the first time that I actually saw him riding a motorcycle. Here's a picture of him and Christina with his new motorcycle.

Magic Shoe 5000

This past Sunday we participated in a local 5k run. It in Irvine which is close enough so we didn't have to wake up too early to participate. The morning was nice and cool and lots of different runners participated. Two OC Sheriff Academy cadets ran in formation for the entire race. Also, Flagman (he's like 60 years old) ran the course carrying two American flags. I have a picture on my cell phone that I'll try and post. This was the fastest 5k that I've run so far and I finished in 23:22.
At the event they had a live band that was playing a mix of reggae, blues and rock. The name of the band is Roman Alexander and the Robbery. They were giving away demo CD's and I've actually listened to it a few times. They have a myspace page in case you're interested.

Peter's Canyon 5 Mile Trail Run

This past Thursday I participated in a local race event after work. The start time was @ 6:15 and the weather was perfect. It had been a warm summer day but the air had started to cool. In total there were around 300 participants that varied in age and size. The race started on time and the first leg was a mild ascent into Peter's Canyon. Once in Peter's Canyon the course changed over to hill climbing. This was the toughest portion of the race and I had to walk up a couple of the hills. It was to my advantage that Maria and I used to hike this canyon during the summer so I was pretty familiar with the course. After the hill portion the trail descended to a flatter course and it was time to run towards the finish line. Overall this was one of the funnest races I've done and there is one more race scheduled in early August. My final time was 42:14 which averages out to 8:27 per mile.

Fourth of July Wrap UP!

This year the 4th was celebrated with a little more excitement then the last couple of years. Our morning started at 5:30 am in preparation for the Lake Forest Fourth of July 5K race. We got ready and made our way to Jorge and Melissa's house (a few blocks from the race) and walked towards the start line. Because the race was a fundraiser for El Toro High School there were lots of kids and teenagers running the race. I almost took out a few of them once the race started. It took some maneuvering to finally get around the kids and get on pace.

It was a fun race a great way to start out the 4th. Final Time: 25:15 which works out to an 8:09 pace.

Later in the after noon we headed to HB for a bbq with Jess and Howie. There was a ton of great food and a keg full of delicious Strawberry Blond from BJ's pizzeria. I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate the 4th!!