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| Backpacks, Check! |
Hi all,
We are just back from a fun overnight backpacking trip with Tom to the Sunol Regional Wilderness! The kids' first backpacking trip, and we think it was a success (i.e. the kids will do it again with us - Yay!).
We started the hike after Carson's baseball game - we drove over to the trailhead, which was about 40 minutes from Mountain View. The hike in was about 3 miles, mostly along fire roads and the beautiful rushing Alameda creek canyon. We stopped for a snack at Little Yosemite, which is a small boulder-filled gorge which really doesn't do justice to its name.
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| Eagles' Aerie at 1500' Elevation |
Then up the steep incline to the campsite, at about 1500 feet in elevation. I was testing the new backpack, and it worked great. The kids wore their own school backpacks, but instead of books they carried their sleeping bags and clothes. Tom used my old backpacking tent and my day pack, which worked out fine.
The campsite itself had a beautiful view of the canyon and ridges up towards Mt. Rose at 3800'. Hawks circled in the thermals, and we passed a flock of wild turkeys gobbling on the way.
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| Go Fish in the Tent |
Later that night, after a meal of pasta and homemade brownies for dessert, we played Go Fish in the warm tent until we got tired and went to sleep. An owl hooted outside the tent, which the kids found very cool.
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| The girls - Ruby, Maggie, and Maggie |
The next day we met our neighbors, each having daughters Maggie's age, and one even named Maggie! They were instant friends, pretty much, sharing pop tarts on the rocks.
The wildflowers are in full bloom at the moment too, lots of poppies, lupines, and yellow daisies.
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| Spring Wildflowers |
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| Found the Cache! |
We then went Geo-caching, in search of nearby treasure - we found it after some searching, and added our names to the registry. There being somewhat not-so-desirable booty in it, the kids decided to save their contributions until the next time. But it's always fun looking for buried treasure!
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| Back from Sky Camp |
Back to camp to pack up the tents and head down to the valley along the McCorkle trail, with beautiful views over the peaks and meadows.
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| Tom's Backpack |
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| Lunch break at W Scramble |
We stopped for lunch along one of the many still-rushing creeks and replenished the water supplies.
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| Mt Rose and the ladies |
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| Hiking boots have had it! |
By the time we reached the valley, we were pretty much all tuckered out, and Annett and my hiking boots had nearly disintegrated! We hadn't used them for at least 5 years and the rubber soles had essentially broken down. Thank goodness they held together until we reached the parking lot...now to convince REI to fix them :-)
Anyway, this was one of the "experience gifts" we gave Tom at Christmas, and I think he even had a pretty good time! Carson was a trooper, the first one back to the car, and Maggie even made it almost the entire way with her pack on her back (Papa helped a teeny bit).
Now for Yosemite! Carson said "I can't wait to climb Half Dome!"......
OK take care all and enjoy the spring time!
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