John Muir Trail 2009

John Muir Trail - 2009

We are back after a 19 day adventure through the back bone of the high Sierra mountains. The JMT is a trail that starts in Yosemite and ends at the top of mount Whitney over 200 miles of walking to the south. Our adventure was one of beautiful high mountain lakes, steep passes and lots of mosquitoes. We are both so grateful for the prayers and support of everyone. The Lord blessed our trip in just about every way that it could be.

A lot of the passes still had a lot of snow and we had fun working our way down some of them. There was nothing too crazy, just some careful stepping and a little bit of sliding.


Yes, the Sierras are having a big bug year. Most evenings it was more comfortable to be in the tent and away from them. Our first evening in Yosemite I counted over sixty mosquitoes on the mesh door to the tent, waiting for a meal. The tent time actually turned out to be a real blessing. Lina and I were able to do a bunch of reading out loud together and came to really enjoy those times of quiet and rest... much more relaxing than keeping up with the frantic pace of the big city!













One of our favorite locations was Evolution valley. Some of the most majestic peaks and views to be had on the whole trail are found there. We had a great time watching the colors of the sunset paint the mountains with all kinds of different hues.
































We have learned a lot about thru hiking over the past two summers and this time we were able to go lighter on our food thanks to Lauren and her dad Glenn. They resupplied us on day 15 making our trek that much lighter. It was great to see friends again on the trail and we especially enjoyed the fresh fruit and cheese they brought with them. Thanks again Matts!


We decided to come out a day earlier to have some extra time before Dom and Sarah's wedding in Ohio. Here we are walking up to Mt. Whitney and finishing the trail through the Mt. Whitney portal. It was another amazing trip! We have already began to plan the next backpacking adventure. Perhaps the PCT, AT?!?! Maybe in years to come but one thing is for sure, God willing, we will do some sort of outdoor camping each summer.

Here is our before and after shot. We lost some pounds! Mark about 15 and Lina about 8. Now our challenge is keeping it off:)!!

Thanks to everyone who was praying for us and supporting us, you guys were such an encouragement!

JMT... the night before

Well... Lina just took off to bed and I am just behind her. Our bags are packed and plans are made. Tomorrow we drive up north and then on Thursday we start walking. The bigness of what we are doing is starting to settle in a little more. It is kind of like seeing that cool roller coaster and really wanting to ride it, and then actually being strapped into it with the cars clicking up the rails for that first big fall. We are locked in and heading out. There is a lot of excitement with us both right now. Every time we head out for something like this there is a real transformation that happens in us during the time. Being in the wilderness, being saturated in natural beauty for long periods of time does wonders for the soul. I think we are both looking forward to encountering God and each other in a deeper and different way. Hummmmmm.....

Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts during our time in the woods. Pray for safety... blisters, bumps, sore legs etc... but also keep our spirits in your prayers. Pray that God would meet us during this time. Pray that God would work in our lives individually as well as working in us as a young couple. I think that more so this year than in years past our goal is not just to accomplish the trek but rather to be spiritually transformed by the process of doing this trek. The walking and the miles are only a part of what our desire is for the time.

We love you all...

Welcome Summer!

Summer has finally arrived and we are soaking in every moment of it before our long awaited John Muir Trail trek.

We've gone on a couple more training hikes in preparation for the JMT

Here we are on Memorial Day weekend before heading to Coloumbine Springs for the night. We thought it would be super crowded but thankfully were the only ones at our site.

My lovely husband Mark showing off some of his new hiking gear!! Straight out of a REI magazine!







In true Bear Grylls fashion, Mark dug to find a water source. He followed the dry creek bed and when he saw a damp spot, he dug down and found a good amount of water. We were relieved to have a good flow!

Here we are on the top of Limber Pine Bench.

Mammoth and more!

The spring has found us busy (as normal it seems) with more trips and adventures. We trekked once again to Mammoth for the annual spring snowboarding trip. To our surprise we were actually met with blizzard like conditions on Friday and then were able to enjoy fresh powder for our Saturday snowboarding. It was incredible!!! We enjoyed the trip with a smaller group and we are sadly hanging up our snowboarding things until next year.
April was the month for visitors. We were blessed to have some wonderful friends and family come and stay in our extra room. My mom came down to stay for a few days and helped buy our first spice garden and house plants. We have invested in the hanging tomato branch and eagerly await yummy, ripe off the vine tomatoes. Mark and I were trying to keep a picture journal of all our guests but have so far only taken pictures of my mom and Nate, Katie, and family (sorry Davii). We have loved playing host and invite all of you out of countiers to come down for a visit:). Mark is a fabulous cook so you'll be well fed!So now we are trying to prepare for our next adventure... The John Muir Trail. Marriage has been good to us and our bodies have enjoyed all the good eating and relaxing we have done. They will not be so happy when we get on the trail and die from lack of training. So..... we are beginning a semi-strict regimen, or at least some sort of activity from climbing our one stair on our porch or walking the steps at a near by stadium to smaller backpacking trips on the weekends when we can. We are excited to be out in the wilderness for a good chunk of the summer. We are on the trail by July 9 and can't wait!!!!

Kauai, Hawai'i, 2009

Getting there

Both Lina and I were so ready for a break... we were so ready that we didn't even mind the 5 hour layover in Honolulu. The first hour was spend here waiting for them to be able to take our bags

The next four hours were spend watching the final four games at the little airport bar...
HAWAI'I

My parents have a timeshare at the Marriott and this year my mom decided to make a family vacation out of it... if you will remember, we were going to go last year but all the airlines went out of business right before we left and we couldn't go. Not a bad view huh? We slept with the sliding door open and enjoyed the lulluby of the waves.

There is a lot of good surf during the winter out there. The guys in the back are riding paddle boards where you stand up the whole time. Our little bay was a hot spot for them... a nice slow break.
We took a day trip up to blowing horn, one of Hawai'i's state parks. We caught some "shave Ice" on the way home at a place called Jo-Jo's... You were right Lance, it was phenomenal!



Tons of good fun was had by all hanging out in the room and chillaxin. Lina found some random child to toss around... oh.. nope sorry, that is my little niece Rily.

A highlight for me was getting out for 18 holes at the Lagoons Country Club. No Angel Cabrera, but a score of 88 is not bad for a windy day at a new course with rented clubs.

THE NAPALI COAST
Our hiking day

Lina and I had heard so much about the beautiful Napali coast and the incredibly beautiful hiking trails they have there. We had originally planned on camping out there overnight, but permits are hard to come by over spring break, so we took an 8 mile day hike out to the Hanakapiai water fall.
The trail was super muddy with lots of river crossings, but so lush and beautiful... a real tropical paradise.



The waterfall is about 1000 feet high and falls into a beautiful clear pool. We both took a refreshing dip after the two hour hike in.




Yup!... Lina (the fresh fruit addict) was thrilled to find this little farmer's market on the ride home. That is a coconut in her hand.


The trip was really good family time as well. We all missed my dad, but had some great time sharing and talking and connecting as a family. Any suggestions for next year's family trip?

Mammoth ski trip, Feb '09

So, we took off a day of work and headed to the hills for some snow boarding. The trip was arraigned by our friend Karen and a group of 10 of us took off. I can't believe how good Lina is getting on the snowboard. She even made it down the treacherous Cornice bowl... the most difficult groomed black diamond run on the mountain! Way to go babe!





On the top of the mammoth with all the beautiful Minarets in the back ground. This summer these are the same hills we will be hiking through.



Mammoth is a dormant volcano... There is strong fumes coming from this roped off area... one of the vents!





On the way home we stopped my the Manzanar detention center where the US government detained and held over 100,000 Japanese Americans during the second world war. President Reagan issued a formal apology.

And.... we're off to Seattle!

Life can be rather spontaneous at times. Take for example last week. We had planned on using last year's plane tickets to Hawaii (which we couldn't use because of all the airlines shutting down) on this year's trip. A great plan we thought. So, I called up the airlines last Tuesday, February 10th, to settle everything BUT the agent I spoke with informed us that we actually had to be flying in the air before February 20th!!! So a quick decision was made. Valentine day's plans in Orange County were canceled and next thing we knew we were off on a plane to Seattle to visit Dominic and Sarah. Never mind the fact that we were invading on their first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple. They were gracious to show us around Seattle and were wonderful hosts!
When asked what we would like to do when upon our arrival and what are plans for the weekend might be, our response was simple..... Hang our with Dom and Sarah, maybe get a hike in and visit the REI Mecca! If you have ever been to the REI there, you understand. It is ENORMOUS and so of course we needed to check it out. Oddly enough, we also found some things we wanted to purchase. I found some winter boots (much needed because the old ones have a 5 inch slit in them... see previous posts) and Mark scored some new, more snug low tops for the trip this summer. We are hoping for a miracle with my boots. Perhaps they won't make my feet a blistery mess.
Then it was off for an afternoon hike. We drove out about 20 minutes from the city and strolled along this beautiful green trail. We fell in love with the place and dreamed of having a house there. (NO plans on moving as of now, but it was fun to imagine:))

It was great hanging out with Dom and Sarah. I was able to get into a little bit of all the wedding planning excitement with Sarah and was able to go with her to try on dresses. Dom and Mark, in the meantime, hung out at a coffee shop. We are so excited to have Sarah as a part of the family. She's great!
We had a lovely Valentine's Day dinner with Dom and Sarah and a couple of their friends. It was neat to explore their neighborhood and see their lives in Queen Anne.
We returned to the OC on Sunday and enjoyed the rest of our three day weekend putting the last things away in our house. It is sooooo close to being done:)!!!!
Thanks Dom and Sarah for the fun, last minute visit!