Hi Folks,
We are back home, the kids are showered and asleep and all the equipment is cleaned and put away. (Yes, I took a shower too)
The morning started out early, Linda up at 0445, me at 0530, and the boys at 0540. Trying to get on the road from Palmdale at 0630. 0626 we were pulling out of the garage, all was good.
Cruising up the 395 towards Independence to hike the Kearsarge Pass Trail (or somewhere in the area)we were making great time. Too good I guess, according to the nice CHP lady, oh well a good lecturing and I was on my way. So much for the 0900 start..
Got to Onion Valley and it looked like the Disneyland parking lot, we thought for sure we would be winding are way through the ropes to get to the trail head. Should of brought a "fast pass"
0945 we were all on the trail, 0947 Nik (7) started the "how long are we going today? Zak (10)had woken up with a cough and a stuffy nose so we were going to see how far. Two weeks ago we were in Lassen Volcanic NP and all had done Lassen Peak and Broke Off Mountain so altitude shouldn't be an issue.
We climbed up to Gilbert lake and had lunch on the "Big Rock" Thanks for the tip Richard. Some other hikers were kind enough to take a family photo for us and we returned the favor for them.
After lunch and counting every fish in the lake we pressed on.
We decided to cut over to the Matlock Trail to see the lakes. Thanks Paul.. We ended up at Matlock on the rock on the far side and took in the views. Oh, and for those that remember last years TR to Lone Pine lake where Nik fell in at the 1st creek crossing... he did it again this time on the second crossing. 2 for 2!
The boys wanted to get wet so we surprised them by actually having their suits and a towel. Wow how minds change when you have the goods in hand! Getting dressed was an adventure, they thought every hiker and animal for miles was just waiting for them to drop their drawers. After convincing them that no one cared they changed.
Now the fun was about to happen! Boys, water, slimy rocks, and dares. Toes touched the water and they suddenly remembered where all this water had come from.. SNOW!
Well being the good dad that I am I talked the oldest one into jumping in for the price of $1.00, yes just $1.00. (hey, he's only 10 and hasn't figured out what things are worth.)
He did it.. Now as I stated earlier, I'm a good Dad so we preplanned the jump. We looked at where his entry point should be and what exit options he had for getting out of the water. We also talked about how the cold water would affect him and his judgment and to stay calm.
So, on the count of three...JUMP, It went something like this: Ahhhhhh Dad........help me its cold! Dad! I can't get out!
I'm laughing telling him to calm down and figure it out and he does. But so much for pre-planning. I guess all those "Man Vs Wild" demos on how to get out of the ice didn't help... should of watched Survivorman.
Well for the price of a dollar he did it twice.. yeh, I'm out 2 bucks but the best part..while eating a snack he fell in by accident, that one was free.
After the swimming fun (Nik never went past his knees) they explored around the lake looking at all the frogs. Awhile into it I hear DAD!! Come quick! I think the worst and Linda and I get up off the rock and head towards the noise, then we hear "bring your camera its a snake!" Ok, well at least no one is drowning or bleeding. They came across a garter snake while walking the shoreline, had to have pictures of it. At least all the time in the desert helped with identifying the good ones from the bad ones and how not to freak out.
Well after an hour plus we got everyone dried off and back into their hiking gear and walked around to Slim lake and explored. We came up from the lake shore and ran into a Buck and Doe not more than 30 yards from us, the Doe was lying under a tree and the Buck was eating. We watched and took some pictures till they wandered off.
So much for my earlier post of scaring all the animals away for at least a mile. Trout, Frogs, Snakes, and now Deer.. Better than the zoo.
We made it back to the parking lot without incident. (except for that little "we lost the trail coming from Matlock Lake)but we won't discuss that, nothing a map couldn't fix. I'm glad those lakes are drawn the same shape on the maps as they look from up high!
Well that was the end of the Dayhike, Gas and Carls Junior in LP and we were on are way home. No CHP action and a DVD for the boys and they were fine.
Thats are little adventure for this year, I know its not Summiting Whitney but its our adventure and we are working up to the other stuff. Stay tune for next years.
Thanks for all the tips and hope you enjoyed the TR because its all true!
Oh, I almost forgot, Zakary had an adventure with packing out something very personnel of his.. yes we train them young and no Linda or I were not going to do it for him! Note to self: even double zip locks don't keep the smell all the way out.
Enjoy!
Ron
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9alwFo3AMfU
