2008 In Photos PDF Print E-mail
Written by Daniel Hienzsch   
Friday, 16 January 2009
Page 2 of 3

June
Interstate 5 near Weed
Interstate 5 near Weed
It took a lot of patience throughout June to finally get to the day I departed on my Summer Grand Tour.  I had originally planned to leave at the beginning of the month, but one thing led to another, and I didn't wind up leaving until June 18th.  I had to reroute myself too, due to unexpected weather that rolled late into Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, so between the waiting and the replanning, I was more than ready to be off.

It really was a new experience for me.  I camped off the bike, ate off the bike, hiked off the bike, etc.  It's a definite challenge learning how to do all those things when you are limited to what you can latch, strap or velcro to yourself or your Triumph.  Just learning where to put store ice and how to get firewood back to the campsite each day became adventures in and of themselves.

In the end though, it was Yellowstone, specifically Hayden Valley that set the trip apart as an experience.  I'm sure my friends and coworkers will read this and make fun of me, but I did sit on my bike and watch a sunset at Hayden Valley, listening to Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony and felt it to be a perfect moment.  It was the moment that has precipitated the "goal making" and challenges that I've put myself to since then.

July
Rattler on the Trail
Rattler on the Trail
Ever since I returned from my Summer Tour, I've been energized to go camping, hiking, climbing, diving, etc.  It was on one of those weekend days in July when I was trying to figure out what to do, that I decided to go hiking with Robyn in El Moro canyon along a bunch of fire roads cut into the state park.  The roads and trails seem to double as access roads for telephone poles out there, and where man laid telephone poles with helicopter, the hiker does not find easy trekking.  There was a particularly steep 35° pitch that I ascended while Robyn took an easier path, that I recall as being quite a leg breaker.

At the top of the canyon rim, we descended along the canyon wall and ran across this little guy hanging out on the side of the path looking like he owned the place.  It's a wide trail up there, with plenty of guys descending rapidly on mountain bikes so with some gentle nudging from a looooong stick, we convinced the serpent to go back into the tall weeds after his close up.

August
Monarch Divide
Monarch Divide
King's Canyon and Sequoia National Parks.  I have a love hate relationship with those places.  Joined at the hip, they are an easy one, two punch of National Park, if you can get to them.  I haven't had much luck in that regard though.  The first time I attempted it, the weather was so uncooperative I had to ride completely through without stopping on my way from the north to the south.  The second time, Robyn and I got about 2/3rds of the way into Sequoia National Monument, before the road was closed off due to snowfall.  On August 1st, I decided early that morning before work to load up the bike and do some camping that weekend.  I guess I managed to catch the parks off guard because they let me in... but they did make it nearly impossible to find a camping spot.  That place was PACKED.

During that weekend getaway, I attempted to hike to the summit of Lookout Peak only to be completely laid bare by exhaustion about 5' from the summit.  It was after that, that I decided to ask JD to train me so that I could climb Grand Teton in the summer of 2009.  I'm coming back for you Lookout Peak... and this time I'm bringing more than just a cliff bar and a little bag of jerky. 

September
The Needles
The Needles
Another month, another weekend camping trip, this time into the Giant Sequoia National Monument.  I convinced Robyn to go camping (didn't take much work) which meant being able to use her car.  We'd tried going camping over Labor Day but had gotten totally screwed by storms and 40 mph winds that tore ass through our campsite. 

This time we stayed up in the Sierras in a campground across from the Trail of 100 Giants.  After hiking around that (rather easy) trail, we packed up camp and headed out to see what we could find that might be a little more challenging.  I talked Robyn into driving down a dirt road to the trail head for a place called Granite Dome.  Robyn only made it half way down that road in her Mini before she decided she'd had enough with my asinine ideas about how much ground clearance she may (or may not) have.  We hiked up onto Granite Dome and had a beautiful view of The Needles (a formation I had previous brief experience with). A quick look through my California Trail Guide indicated that there was another access road that led to The Needles trailhead, but Robyn demurred on any further offroading in her Mini.  The Needles lies out there still as a 2009 goal.

I guess that was also when I started thinking that I should get a truck.  No sport touring bike in the world was going to get down and back these fire roads if I wanted to go hiking, and the 350z I had been covetting had as much ground clearance as the Mini.

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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 05 January 2010 )