Tequila shots before dinner (left and middle), and dinner with Andi and Jeffrey at Central Market (right)
Playing dice at Volpi’s (middle)
Bringing in the New Year at Volpi’s
Spent a couple of days at the cabin last weekend, after a few feet of fresh snow and the temperature at 6000 feet staying below freezing for almost the entire week prior we figured it’d be a good chance to start the season at Bear Valley on Saturday. The snow was great, the cold weather made for great conditions and we managed to find plenty of untracked pockets in the trees in the front bowl. Justin, Mandy Baughman’s boyfriend, accompanied us for the day, nice to have a third body along for chats on the chair. Unfortunately his pass ripped off his pants the run prior to lunch, but it warmed up a little for him and he caught some rays while we finished up with a few runs in the early afternoon.
The fresh snow and cold temperatures made for some great scenes at the cabin, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Lakemont Pines lake look so picturesque. Managed to snag quite a few good shots on Sunday morning when Ellie and I ventured our for an early morning coffee.
Last summer we rode our bikes into a backcountry cabin near Bear Trap Basin, on Sunday we decided it’d be good exercise to try to make it through the wilderness to visit the cabin during winter. Unfortunately the deep snow made the couple of miles into Bear Trap Basin too arduous for the day, but it was fun to get off the beaten path and explore.
Lakemont Pines lake in the morning sunrise
The start of the hike into Bear Trap Basin (left), snow tracks (middle), and on the way up the ridge into Bear Trap Basin (right)
Still making our way up (left), and the view west down Highway 4 (right)
Group shot with Katrina, Matt and Luke with Bear Valley in the background (left), and halfway down from the ridge with Mitch and Sarah added to the snowshoe group (right)
It seems to have become a bit of a tradition that we take a trip to Arizona for Cheryl’s birthday each year, this year we didn’t spend our time in Scottsdale but instead Cheryl organized a trip to Sedona for us. Sedona’s an amazing place, an almost Martian landscape, the color of the soil (due to iron ore) is so vividly red. Once in the town the horizon is full of mesas and buttes, no cactus in Sedona like the lower elevations down in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
We spent our first afternoon on a 4X4 tour run by a company called Red Rock Jeep Tours. I think Tom Brown would have been in heaven! Lefty, our guide, kitted out with a knife that would have made Crocodile Dundee jealous and a real revolver on the other hip, was a wealth of information about the surrounds and history of the area. We toured up the Soldier Pass Trail in the Coconino National Forest on the northwestern side of Sedona, it was pretty fun, definitely got a good taste of Arizona off-road 
driving. The overcast skies didn’t make for the best photos, but got some good snaps all the same. One of Lefty’s tidbits of information that really stuck with me was his description of the agave (not the type that Tequila comes from) that’s native to the area. There’s a photo down below; the plant is colloquially known as a “cowboy killer’ because its spines are so stiff and as sharp as a hypodermic needle that cowboys who would fall off their horse onto one of these plants most often would be killed. We felt the spines and he was right, they’re about as sharp as a needle and very solid. Supposedly the Native Americans would peel off the spines and use them as a makeshift needle and thread.
Brin’s Mesa (left) and Cock’s Comb (right) on the Soldier’s Pass Trail
On the Soldier’s Pass Trail (left), the Seven Sacred Pools with Cock’s Comb in the background (middle), and a shot at the Pools in from of Cock’s Comb with Cheryl and Todd (right)
Lefty and Cheryl standing on the ridge of the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole (left), and an agave plant on the rim of the sinkhole (right)
Jeeping up to the Devil’s Kitchen sinkhole
We also had our first experience with Vacation Rental By Owner; Cheryl found the website and organized a three bedroom house in Oak Creek (the town next to Sedona) for the weekend. What an awesome find, a beautiful house with a spa and everything else you’d need for less than it would have cost the four of us to stay at a hotel. Any time there’s more than a single couple on a trip I’m definitely going to be taking a look at VRBO.com before shelling out for a hotel.
We spent Saturday morning on a hike recommended to us by a number of locals, the West Fork Oak Creek Trail about 10 miles north of the town of Sedona. We got the feeling that the trail was popular amongst the locals because it offered a bit of a respite from the desert-like surrounds of most of Sedona; the trail followed a river up a canyon bordered by huge red rock faces. But what we were really looking for was some vista views of the red rock buttes endemic to the area, so in the afternoon we took Cheryl’s Santa Fe wheeling down Fire Road 152 for the hike out to Devil’s Arch. The pictures speak for themselves…
Lee Mountain (left) and Courthouse Butte with Lee Mountain in the background (right) on Saturday morning
Cathedral Rock and The Nuns (left) and the Bell Rock vortex (right) on Saturday morning
Red rock vista on the way back into Sedona from the West For Oak Creek Trail (left) and Devil’s Arch (right)
The four of us atop Devil’s Arch (left), Todd on top of the Arch (middle), and Cheryl and Todd (right)
Our final morning gave us (well me, anyway!) the skies I was after for some landscapes of the Sedona surrounds. We hiked the first portion of the Bell Rock and Courthouse Butte loop just north of the house we had rented. Some of the shots below are definitely amongst some of my all-time photography favorites…
Courthouse Butte and Lee Mountain (left), and House Mountain (right)
Courthouse Butte and Lee Mountain (left and right)
The four of us with Lee Mountain in the background
Thanks Cheryl for organizing such an awesome long-weekend. Wonder where we’ll meet next year?
Some photos from Alexander Mountain. Man, it’s been cold here this week, probably one the coldest weeks in San Fran I can remember…
Below is what happens when your PCV hose collapses, voltage regulator decides to give up the ghost and distributor wire intermittently goes open circuit. Who would think enough unburned fuel could make it into the muffler to start a little engine of its own down there?!
Kinney Reservoir (left) and Mosquito Lakes (right) alongside Highway 4
The Carson Iceberg Wilderness
Wii Boxing (left), mashing potatoes (middle), and The Bird (right)
Greg carving The Bird (left), Carol and me (middle), and Luke with a problem olive after a few beers (right)
The Young’s were kind enough to host a party last night to celebrate the end of the 2008 vintage, I think we counted something like 25 people from seven countries in attendance. A great night had by all, so nice of the Young’s to host us all for the evening… The 1999 Indian Summer, what nice drop that one was!
The 1999 Indian Summer Cabernet Sauvignon (left), Graham and Carol sampling the red (middle), and the Indian Summer disclaimer (right)
Dinner festivities (left), Crave doing something familiar: getting ready to eat (middle), and Crave doing something else familiar: eating (right)
Riley enjoying some cream (left), Mick and Riley (middle), and doing the dishes with Gabriel (right)
We had Tariq and Andrea visit us last weekend; with their recent move to New York City I’d been encouraging them since they moved to take a trip out to the west coast so we could show them San Fran and our digs. We planned a trip to what I think is northern California’s most awe-inspiring natural wonder, Yosemite National Park, only to get rained out and turn our two day, three night adventure into a one night, afternoon-only trip. Que, sera, sera… We did get to take them into the park and quickly walk into Bridalveil Falls, view Yosemite Falls through the clouds, and have a drink at the Ahwahnee. But Half Dome was cloaked in clouds and we could only venture out of the car for short periods without getting drenched. Ah well, at least they got to experience some of Yosemite’s grandeur, even if we couldn’t do all the hikes we’d planned…
Upper Yosemite Falls (top left), the eastern side of Yosemite Valley (top right), fall colors in Yosemite Valley (left), the Merced River in Yosemite Valley (right), and where we unfortunately spent most of our time whilst in Yosemite National Park (below left)
We cut our losses and headed back to the Bay Area with forecasts of rain and more rain in the mountains, on our way back stopping off at Muir Woods National Monument in Marin to show Tariq and Andrea some of our giant redwoods and also in Berkeley to show them the UC. Luckily it had cleared up and we were able to hike through a good portion of the park as well as the university. Cafe Intermezzo on Telegraph Avenue still doesn’t disappoint, good memories of many a lunch eaten there during 2006 and 2007…
Tariq and Andrew at the beginning of the Ocean View Trail (left), Muir Woods ferns and redwoods (middle and right)
Mossy tree trunk (left), the Muir Woods canopy (middle), and Tariq and Andrea on the Lost Trail (right)
Mossy tree trunk (left), enjoying the sun after hiking in the damp shade (middle), and steps down the Fern Creek Trail (right)
Redwood Creek (left), and an amazing breeding ground of ladybugs alongside Redwood Creek (middle and right)
More ladybugs (left), clover along Redwood Creek (middle), and the Hillside Trail (right)
The Muir Woods canopy (left), feeling like a dwarf amongst giants (middle), and the forest along the Hillside Trail (right)
Sprinkles greeted us again the next morning, but we decided to tough it out and venture to Point Reyes National Seashore to hike out to one of our favorite spots along the coast: Arch Rock. We started the 10.5 mile loop with relatively overcast but friendly-looking skies, they unfortunately turned to a torrential downpour about halfway through our hike! Luckily we all had jackets or ponchos but still arrived back at the car with some very wet feet and pants after hiking for the better part of five miles in the rain. Sorry about the rain guys, you’ll have to come back some time when it’s a little more friendly on the weather front!
Walking in on Bear Valley Trail (top left), Tariq making his way up Old Pine Trail (left), hiking into the redwoods on Old Pine Trail (middle), and the Sky Trail canopy (right)
Wet lichen hanging across the trail (left), a lone mushroom sprouts through the moss (middle), and the Sky Trail canopy (right)
The group on Sky Trail (left), and Tariq at final destination Arch Rock [at which point the camera went away due to rain!] (right)
