End of the Year

December has been a happening month. We visited my aunt and uncle in the Santa Rosa area, visited a friend in the Chico area, and then hosted Jack's folks for the Christmas holiday. Now, with New Year's Eve on the horizon, we're possibly hosting some trail crew friends but will otherwise keep it pretty low-key. Jack has said no visitors in January, and I'm actually looking forward to having a bit of a social break. Although no visitors doesn't mean no traveling, and some of that may happen.

These last few days it has been beautiful and sunny, but there's snow predicted in the forecast for early next week. If it happens, we'll have been lucky enough to be in Crescent City for a rare event. Depending on who you talk to, it sounds like the last time there was snow on the beach was around a decade ago. Figures that this winter would be so cold the year I decide to buy a bunch of winter garden plants. ::sigh:: At least I mulched, and so far only a couple things have wilted.

I can't help but get extra retrospective right now since we recently had the life-changing job offer from Stanislaus National Forest and that means we will be moving come April. We drive around town and view everything as if it could be the last time - elk in the meadow by our house, sunsets over the ocean, roads with very little traffic. Yet I'm also starting to get excited dreaming about what may come. What will my new job be like, what kind of home will we live in next, what new trails will I be able to hike? I think I am most excited about the relative closeness of my former life in the Eastern Sierra. I am already planning a meet-up with one of my many friends for a hike, and I'm sure I will make it over to Bodie at least once or twice over the course of the summer.

Things are about to get very busy for me. Now that I have a student position, the goal is to finish my degree as quickly as possible so that I can hopefully get converted to permanent and then be able to start moving on with my career. That means that instead of doing one course at a time, I will now be taking two. Not too big a deal during the winter, but come summer that will certainly require me to be extra focused with my time. At least for the brief two months that is the summer semester.

In some ways I regret shaking things up so badly - when I applied for this position I really didn't think I would get it. On the other hand, I feel a wave of relief because getting this position has helped to rid myself of that horrible stuck feeling that I've had this year. As hard as it is to move after being in a place for 2 1/2 years, I really think that this should be a good thing for us overall.

Alright, I'd better get to bed - I've been trying to get to bed on time and workout plenty (and in a variety of ways - gym, yoga, swimming, walking, skating, depending on the weather), plus reading and other free-timey things while I'm on break between semesters. In mid-January things are going to pick up for me again and then it will be school and moving and transitioning to a new job... hopefully it all goes well! But for now, it's good night.

Until next time!

One trip down, one in progress

Fallen leaves atop a stream.

October is a month of travel for me. In the entire 31 days I will have been home for 7 and some change. First was a visit at the end of September and beginning of October to Sequoia to visit Jack and catch up with Trail Crew family and other parkie friends. It was the perfect time to be there: the weather was fine and autumnal, the tourist levels were relatively low, and the fall colors were filling the canyons with extra beauty.

I did a little bit of hiking, though perhaps not as much as I had planned. I took a short hike up the Tokopah Falls Trail and saw a little water in the falls yet, and took a dip in that fork of the Kaweah river (Marble Fork, I think).

Ants in a chunk of bee hive.

 My other hike was a good haul up to Crystal Lake in Mineral King - about 11 miles roundtrip, and lots of uphill! It was a beautiful fall morning, and sunny, but unfortunately after I took a dip in the lake an autumn breeze kicked up and froze my hair into icicles. Oops. I started hiking right away to keep warm but definitely felt it! I suppose October is a bit late to be swimming in alpine lakes over 8000 ft in elevation. Mineral King Valley is one of the places where there's aspens - it's actually a lot more like the Eastern Sierra in the way it looks. And those aspens were golden and glowing in the sun when I was up there - absolutely beautiful.

Crystal Lake

Mineral King Valley

Mineral King Valley

Hole in the Wall

 One of the days Jack and I went to Kings Canyon to Hole in the Wall, where the trail crew there has their home base, and he cooked dinner while I hung out and played music with the folks there. We slept out under the stars (so beautiful) and I woke up to the sunlight spreading over Hole in the Wall - a beautiful and peaceful sight.

At the end of Tokopah Falls Trail

 And now I'm in Moab, after a very brief stint home, and apparently I got a bit overstretched because the two nights of less-than-optimal sleep during travel out here nipped me in the butt and I came down with some sort of flu as soon as I got here. So again, not as much hiking as I hoped, but I'm enjoying just being in Moab and exploring around town. The library here is gorgeous, and there's lots of cool bike/hike trails that go under the roads so you can pop up in different places around town. There's a pool in her neighborhood and I've gone swimming a couple times; there's a rock wall traverse right around the corner and I've climbed around on that a couple times. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be up to a little longer hike(/bike combo?) where Alyssa drops me somewhere on her way to work at Arches.

Which, yeah, I haven't seen yet. Hahaha! Hopefully I'm feeling more energetic soon that I can explore the famous arches before I leave! Eek!

But honestly the biggest goal in all of this is to not get Alyssa sick. I'm pretty much quarantined to my room (and private bathroom) and one chair in the living room. I'm not allowed in the kitchen at all. She's taking immune boosters and regularly wiping down things that she's touching, and I'm taking immune boosters and regularly wiping down things that I'm touching. Hopefully all this caution works out or it's gonna be a total flop of a visit!

I'm here until next Friday and then I start my trip home. On Wed/Thu we're going to go to Alyssa's house and do some hot springing (so excited!), and Friday I take a bus to Green River and twiddle for several hours until the train leaves for Reno.

Autumn Heat

I was up at 3 in the morning today. The moon and stars were beautiful outside. Got out of bed at half-past, finished packing, and hit the road by 4:30. It wasn't enough. 30 minutes later than I'd hoped, plus a 30-minute cat nap at a rest area around 7:30 and I had lost all my advantage. I drove through the first several construction zones with no or little delay, but I hit several big waits further down. By the time I got to Redding I was a full hour behind schedule. And the day was already getting hot.

Hot air, plus a hot truck with no air conditioning, with a poorly sealed clutch area that spews hot air on your legs as you drive. I tried to stop that last bit by wrapping a blanket around the gasket... it sorta worked. For awhile, at least. But the real deal-breaker was when I realized that my flouncy thin cotton skirt didn't make it into the bag. And I was in jeans. Talk about overheating.

Fifteen minutes north of Sacramento I messaged my cousin Amanda and asked if she would mind having me over. She is amazing and has always said yes and been the best host ever. This time was no exception. I really hope we can return the favor someday. Stockton was just another 1.25 hours of hot driving down the road. I stretched it to 2 hours with a quick run to Trader Joe's for some food (I never had a decent meal all day), and asked my cashier where the nearest thrift store was. In spite of scanty directions, I found it just a little ways down the street in the milieu of the city and walked in, found the skirts, found a cute, lightweight cotton skirt in my size, tried it on (just in case), wore it to the register, and purchased. It was half off. I was outta there in 5 minutes.

Now I'm enjoying the cool of Amanda and Jared's home. They're not here yet, but will be soon. The sociable cat is eying me from its perch; the scaredy cat I think I caught a glimpse of a little bit ago. I am sipping watered down limeade from Trader Joe's and have a pack of TJ's sushi in my belly. There's a salad in the fridge for later, and dark chocolate honey mints (my new favorite thing). Amanda said she's going to pick up some ice cream for us tonight. :) I think it's practically tradition that we have ice cream whenever I'm over here. Amy and I are gonna watch the presidential smackdown... I mean, debates... this evening and chill and catch up. Pretty sure it was roughly a year since I've been here. I'm curious to see how big Kyle is now!

Alright, I think I will go rinse off in the shower before Amanda gets home.

On my way up to see Jack for a week or so! I can hardly wait to see him! I'll be up in the mountains tomorrow and out of this heat, but I won't get to roll in my sweet baby's arms 'til Wednesday. I'm so looking forward to it, though, and I know he is too. Hopefully we both stay safe on those crazy mountain roads.

Until next time!