First is a trip with my friend Pujita to Desolation Lake - a tiny little lake in Desolation Wilderness that I've never been to and it was a great choice - EVERYONE we saw on the trail was going to either Lake Aloha or Lake of the Woods - like 100 people, but one guy, when asked "whereya headed?" simply said 'Canada' - a PCT thru hiker. But NO ONE was at our little lake but us...

yes, she's a tree hugger and proud of it


A small part of Desolation Lake near our campsite


a neighbor...


out on a day hike to other nearby lakes


a grassy pond we saw along the way...


looking down from the dam at Lake Aloha (made in 1913)


odd to see forged metal out here - lightening the picture, I saw the manufacturer, looked it up and found that the company was in San Francisco, folded in the 1940s and was most known for doing much of the steel work for the Panama Canal


From the top of the dam


Pujita's impression of Pyramid Peak


swimming in Lake of the Woods...


onto a solo trip from this last week:

heading up to Half Moon Lake and see this yucky brown pond is perfectly still


I camp at little Alta Morris Lake just above Half Moon Lake - this is the view in back of my campsite and a bit of Half Moon in the distance


some trees...


Rangers stopped by to make sure that I was a proper camper (I am) - they were very nice and the first time I had ever seen two female rangers out on patrol enforcing the rules - the mountain wilderness is not just a guy thing anymore. Used to be that 95% of all people out there were men. It's darned close to 50/50 now - way to go women!!


a little bird


some partial reflection off of Alta Morris Lake




total reflection...


What is stronger? solid granite... or a tree... you see trees growing out of solid rock all over the place out here...


another little bird


more trees


speaking of grrl power - check out these two! Grandmother and granddaughter out in the wild for a few days - AWESOME!!


Along the way on this trail just before entering the actual wilderness area is the Glen Alpine mineral spring - once a big deal - an actual town and resort was built up around it and this board here tells the story, but they could have done a better job of proof reading - the lower right area title "Ownership history" shows grey picture boxes with dates and names of each owner withe the following description: "A brief biography of the owner and the springs during this period. A brief biography of the owner and the springs during this period. A brief biography of the owner and the springs during this period." etc

What does that mean -"a proper camper"?

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ahs
What does that mean -"a proper camper"?

A proper camper doesn't camp too close to the water, leave garbage around, have camp fires (banned in the area for 20 years), etc...

Our next door neighbor is an avid wilderness/mountain hiker. She just had major knee surgery and already is planning her next hike.

I enjoyed your pictures. Thanks for sharing.

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gl @ Dana Point, CA

Looks like a great hike! What do you do for water? Use a filtration system?

Thanks for the explanation. As always, your pictures are great and informative.

It looks like you had a fun trip.

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Pam
Looks like a great hike! What do you do for water? Use a filtration system?

I'm using the platypus gravity works. Just fill up a 1Gal bag of water and it does the rest... beats the HELL out of muscle busting pumps and before that, yucky iodine tablets.

How does the platypus gravity works compare with the much less expensive LifeStraw Personal Water Filter?

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gl @ Dana Point, CA

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

I loved and hiked Desolation in my Youth. Did you go in via Horsetail Falls from Twin Bridges?

Great pix. hal! Glad to see you being active-like I should be...

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Disclaimer: This post is checked for correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Any attempts at humor are solely the responsibility of the author and bear no claim that any and all readers will approve or appreciate said attempt at humor.
My name is DP, and I approve this message.

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hal

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ahs
What does that mean -"a proper camper"?

A proper camper doesn't camp too close to the water, leave garbage around, have camp fires (banned in the area for 20 years), etc...

Ugh! I know you live in an area that's prone to wildfires, but damn! To me, it isn't the same without a campfire to sit around at night. Of course, around my neck of the woods we get rain once in awhile.

Cool pics, BTW. Thanks for sharing them.

---

Mr. Lahey: A lot of people, don’t know how to drink. They drink against the grain of the liquor. And when you drink against the grain of the liquor? You lose.

Randy: What the @#$%& are you talking about?

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ahs
What does that mean -"a proper camper"?

It means you stopped to pick up a wilderness permit.

Not too many places you can go in the backcountry anymore where you're allowed to camp without one - particularly in the Sierras.

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GeneL
How does the platypus gravity works compare with the much less expensive LifeStraw Personal Water Filter?

The gravity works is very robust and is part of a system to clean large amounts of water fast. How does one backflush the lifestraw?

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Ken Sp.
I loved and hiked Desolation in my Youth. Did you go in via Horsetail Falls from Twin Bridges?

of course not - I'm not insane!

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Rick-o
Ugh! I know you live in an area that's prone to wildfires, but damn! To me, it isn't the same without a campfire to sit around at night. Of course, around my neck of the woods we get rain once in awhile.

Cool pics, BTW. Thanks for sharing them.

That's not it - much of the area is in no danger because the forests are so thin (near treeline). The problem was that people stripped every camping area of anything that burned. Then they'd start chopping at living trees. I used to have fires every time I'd go out, but I saw that damage that was being done and by the time the forest service banned fires, I was fully on board.

BTW, I'm talking about backpacking, not car camping - fires are allowed in car camping areas except for extreme fire danger times.

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bfd
It means you stopped to pick up a wilderness permit.

Not too many places you can go in the backcountry anymore where you're allowed to camp without one - particularly in the Sierras.

That's where it starts, but there is a long list of regulations to be followed as well.

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DP
Great pix. hal! Glad to see you being active-like I should be...

You gotta just go out and do it. I whine and complain the whole way up the mountain. It aint easy - I wish I had this kind of equipment and DRIVE when I was 25.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/08/2015 07:30PM by hal.

Great photos, thanks.

You do know there is only one mountain range called the Sierra Nevada. Admittedly, the range does include a plurality of mountains.

Todd's pedantic keyboard

Further discussion about why one should say the Sierra, instead of the Sierras can be found below.

[www.englishforums.com]

Thanks for sharing Hal. Enjoying those beautiful pictures from the other end of the lake.

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“Live your life, love your life, don’t regret…live, learn and move forward positively.” – CR Johnson
Loving life in Lake Tahoe, CA

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hal

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GeneL
How does the platypus gravity works compare with the much less expensive LifeStraw Personal Water Filter?

The gravity works is very robust and is part of a system to clean large amounts of water fast. How does one backflush the lifestraw?

Quote
Ken Sp.
I loved and hiked Desolation in my Youth. Did you go in via Horsetail Falls from Twin Bridges?

of course not - I'm not insane!

Quote
Rick-o
Ugh! I know you live in an area that's prone to wildfires, but damn! To me, it isn't the same without a campfire to sit around at night. Of course, around my neck of the woods we get rain once in awhile.

Cool pics, BTW. Thanks for sharing them.

That's not it - much of the area is in no danger because the forests are so thin (near treeline). The problem was that people stripped every camping area of anything that burned. Then they'd start chopping at living trees. I used to have fires every time I'd go out, but I saw that damage that was being done and by the time the forest service banned fires, I was fully on board.

BTW, I'm talking about backpacking, not car camping - fires are allowed in car camping areas except for extreme fire danger times.

Quote
bfd
It means you stopped to pick up a wilderness permit.

Not too many places you can go in the backcountry anymore where you're allowed to camp without one - particularly in the Sierras.

That's where it starts, but there is a long list of regulations to be followed as well.

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DP
Great pix. hal! Glad to see you being active-like I should be...

You gotta just go out and do it. I whine and complain the whole way up the mountain. It aint easy - I wish I had this kind of equipment and DRIVE when I was 25.

25 year old Hal wouldn't appreciate the intensity of the experience. You'd be too busy with 25 year old Sally to pay attention. BTW I really enjoyed the long form video a bit back. Love these photos.

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Todd's keyboard
Great photos, thanks.

You do know there is only one mountain range called the Sierra Nevada. Admittedly, the range does include a plurality of mountains.

Todd's pedantic keyboard

Further discussion about why one should say the Sierra, instead of the Sierras can be found below.

[www.englishforums.com]

<eyes rolling> are you one of those people that stops the flow of conversation to point out that, "it's Los Angeles not L.A."?

It's the Sierras because I say so... My intended meaning is understood by 100% of my audience, so my usage is perfectly proper... again, because I say so... A bunch of nerds arguing about proper grammar isn't going to change that...

you're talking to the son of an english professor who corrected my language every day until I finally exploded and demanded the right to speak as I choose. I KNOW the language and I like to play with it (I instructed the OS to accept ain't as a correct spelling). If you don't - fine, but leave me alone.

<not an angry tone>

Sheesh, hal, it's not like he requested pics of the skinny dipper as she emerged from the lake.

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hal

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Todd's keyboard
Great photos, thanks.

You do know there is only one mountain range called the Sierra Nevada. Admittedly, the range does include a plurality of mountains.

Todd's pedantic keyboard

Further discussion about why one should say the Sierra, instead of the Sierras can be found below.

[www.englishforums.com]

<eyes rolling> are you one of those people that stops the flow of conversation to point out that, "it's Los Angeles not L.A."?

It's the Sierras because I say so... My intended meaning is understood by 100% of my audience, so my usage is perfectly proper... again, because I say so... A bunch of nerds arguing about proper grammar isn't going to change that...

you're talking to the son of an english professor who corrected my language every day until I finally exploded and demanded the right to speak as I choose. I KNOW the language and I like to play with it (I instructed the OS to accept ain't as a correct spelling). If you don't - fine, but leave me alone.

<not an angry tone>

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Hals ands alls,

Glads thats wasn'ts ans angrys tones.s

Anys others geographicals features yous haves changeds thats Is shoulds knows abouts?s

Tsosdsds'ss keyboards

Quote
Todd's keyboard
Great photos, thanks.

You do know there is only one mountain range called the Sierra Nevada. Admittedly, the range does include a plurality of mountains.

Todd's pedantic keyboard

Further discussion about why one should say the Sierra, instead of the Sierras can be found below.

[www.englishforums.com]

It's actually extremely common usage.

One visits the "Sierras", the "Rockies", the "Poconos" etc..
It's a contraction: (range name) with the "s" from "mountains".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2015 08:05PM by DeusxMac.

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Todd's keyboard
Hals ands alls,

Glads thats wasn'ts ans angrys tones.s

Anys others geographicals features yous haves changeds thats Is shoulds knows abouts?s

Tsosdsds'ss keyboards

Glad I thought to include that at the end - I looked it over and thought, damn, that sounds really persnickety - should have added <a silly tone, not an angry tone>