Training Log Archive: biggins

Back up to Sawtooth Pass, over and up Empire Mt., then back down to the car.

Spring is marmot season in Mineral King, and when they wake up they like to chew on stuff, mostly car parts. So when you get back you always check your engine compartment for fuzzy things, scare them out, and hope they didn't chew out your brake lines. So I scared the one out, picked up the firewall insulation shreds he was munching on, checked the brakes, and drove 90 minutes down the 25 mile windy dirt road to the highway. Not two minutes down the highway, I hear a good thunk, the power steering goes out, and all the lights on the dashboard start blinking. Digging under the hood a bit, the serpentine belt was loose, and after trying to pull it loose a second marmot fell out under the car. Turns out he rode all the way down the mountain (90 very bumpy-windy-dusty minutes) sitting in the engine compartment (probably sitting on the $300 plastic guard piece I just had reinstalled last week...) and then when I got onto the highway he freaked out and jumped headfirst into the belt. The belt wasn't broken (his head was) so it just needed to be wedged back on, but all the mechanics were home or drunk for Memorial Day, and even if they weren't AAA couldn't tow me anywhere because they shut down the highway because of a forest fire. So many hot smokey hours later me and my new marmot friend finally got towed to don quixote's chop shop where somebody managed to pry the belt back on. Then I drove home and promptly got stuck in traffic until midnight.

photos and map.

C • Yeah, I like the part about th... 3

Down over the lake into Lost Canyon, back below snowline through some high meadows, around the bears, up and down and around lots of lakes, and finally up the face of an unnamed 12000 ft peak, hereby named Mt Biggins. Then off the back side, around some crappy scree to Black Rock Pass, and back around everything again to get back home to my lake. Note that in the crappy scree photo, the home lake is between the tall pointy black peak in the back and the snowy one to its right, but to get here from there I had to go well off the photo to the left (about another full picture width) because the terrain in the middle is totally impassible without more snow.

Hike in from Mineral King up to Glacier Pass, then over Sawtooth Pass (all dirt) at 11,500, then down the north side of the pass (snowfield) to some rocks above Columbine Lake.

apparently all those big plastic pieces I've been tearing off the bottom of my car for the last year on the dirt roads were actually important. and if not important at least they're expensive.

new shoes! home from the car shop.

C • I couldn't help but notice tha... 3

saw two squirrels fighting two birds on the chainlink fence outside my door when I got home. not even hawks or crows or anything, these were just songbirds of some sort. it went on for quite a long time. looks like the birds won in the end.

and in non-squirrel related news: hotness

C • You're the most famous relativ... 1

about a bazillion degrees outside.

Dayhike in the San Gorgonios. Lots of off trail up and down through some crappy footing (sand/blowdown). Very clear day, hot and dry. Two of the peaks (the southern two) were out of the way and often ignored, so they still had the original registers from the 70s (most places near LA you're lucky if you can find one from the late 90s). About 13 hours total. photos

C • Sandy ground is so white it lo... 2

after a short break, its good to know we're back on top.

C • you guys are the best! 1

C • CF on TV 2