I have developed a little hiking bug....I just decided that I want to hike more and I'm fixated on hiking Half Dome at Yosemite National Park. Now this is no easy thing - first of all, you gave to have a special permit to do it. You apply for a permit in the month of March, they hold a lottery, and they let you know in April if you were successful and got one of the permits. I was very disappointed when I didn't get a permit, but one of my coworkers was lucky enough to get one and we tagged along on her permit.
Now that we had a permit, the training had to begin. We consider ourselves pretty fit, we exercise regularly, but the Half Dome hike starts at approximately 4,500 feet in elevation and climbs to 8,839 feet in just 6 miles. Sooooo, we decided to do some hiking in the Lake Tahoe area to practice. We live just an hour and a half from Tahoe so it was very convenient for doing day trips to hike.
We started with Castle Peak near Soda Springs. This was not an easy hike due to the pretty steep climb and slippery terrain. The wind was also a factor, blowing about 40 miles an hour at the top. We made it up and back in exactly 4 hours which we thought was pretty good and no trouble with the altitude either. Altitude at the peak is 9,104 feet, elevation gain from the trailhead is just about 2,000 feet. The hike itself provides some good scenery, especially impressive as you stop to look back at how far you've come.
Next training hike was Horsetail Falls near South Lake Tahoe. We felt this was a pretty easy hike with nice scenery. We were surprised that the falls were still flowing really well despite it being early August. Most of the hike parallels Pyramid Creek so you could stop and enjoy the water if you wanted. We did see a really big rattlesnake on the trail which surprised us because we thought they didn't live at those higher elevations. Wrong! Lots of people doing this hike, families with kids too. Elevation is 6,700 feet with an elevation gain of just 600 feet. We did this one in just a few hours as well.
We were feeling pretty confident we could handle Half Dome after doing well on these hikes. Next up: the reality of hiking Half Dome!
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Monday, September 5, 2016
So....after a long hiatus from the blog, here's what we've been up to. Whale watching in Monterey, hiking in the Sierra Nevadas around Lake Tahoe, and an all day hike up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.
We were in Monterey in May and there had been lots of sightings of whales, so we decided to go whale watching. Mike has not been whale watching since getting very seasick the last time we went out, but he decided to give it another go. Daughter #2 and her boyfriend went along with us. The two days prior to our trip, the water had been smooth as glass but the day we went the water was pretty choppy.
We usually go with the same company each time because we like their boats and because the owner works with National Geographic. Unfortunately they recently acquired a catamaran and we went out on the catamaran instead of one of their regular boats. I think that if the water had been smooth that day, there would have been no problem with the catamaran, but the choppy water combined with that type of boat made for a very rough ride. About 95% of the people on board got seasick including our poor daughter. Luckily Mike did not get seasick this time.
We did see some whales - a couple of blue whales pretty close inside the bay, and then a couple of humpbacks too. We took off across the bay toward Watsonville and found a humpback that breached really close to the boat, a sunfish or mola mola as they're sometimes called (first time we've seen one of those in the wild), and several dolphins came to play by the boat.
Not the greatest day of whale watching due to the rough water and everybody getting sick but I did get a few good pictures. Our daughter swears she will never go again, poor kid!
We also went to the Monterey Aquarium and Point Sur Lighthouse while we were in Monterey.
Next up: Hiking!
We were in Monterey in May and there had been lots of sightings of whales, so we decided to go whale watching. Mike has not been whale watching since getting very seasick the last time we went out, but he decided to give it another go. Daughter #2 and her boyfriend went along with us. The two days prior to our trip, the water had been smooth as glass but the day we went the water was pretty choppy.
We usually go with the same company each time because we like their boats and because the owner works with National Geographic. Unfortunately they recently acquired a catamaran and we went out on the catamaran instead of one of their regular boats. I think that if the water had been smooth that day, there would have been no problem with the catamaran, but the choppy water combined with that type of boat made for a very rough ride. About 95% of the people on board got seasick including our poor daughter. Luckily Mike did not get seasick this time.
We did see some whales - a couple of blue whales pretty close inside the bay, and then a couple of humpbacks too. We took off across the bay toward Watsonville and found a humpback that breached really close to the boat, a sunfish or mola mola as they're sometimes called (first time we've seen one of those in the wild), and several dolphins came to play by the boat.
Not the greatest day of whale watching due to the rough water and everybody getting sick but I did get a few good pictures. Our daughter swears she will never go again, poor kid!
We also went to the Monterey Aquarium and Point Sur Lighthouse while we were in Monterey.
Next up: Hiking!
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Graz - Landeszeughaus
Wednesday, Sept 30
This morning we visit the Styrian Armoury in Graz, then head back to Vienna as we have an early flight back home to California tomorrow.
Mike had found info on this Armoury museum online and thought it sounded really interesting, so we decided to check it out. They say it's the world's largest historic armoury with 32,000 pieces of armor, weaponry, etc. It is still housed in the original building, which was built in the 1600's. During WWII, all the pieces were moved and stored in 3 different castles in remote parts of Styria and when the war was over the pieces were returned to the building which had escaped damage in the war.
It is truly an impressive collection: armor, helmets, swords, sabers, pistols, long guns, halberds, mortars, cannons, there is even a full set of horse armor on display. One of the incredible things about this museum is the building itself, very fancy on the outside and these great wooden floors inside (third floor). Very little of the collection is in cases or behind glass, they just politely ask you not to touch anything as you begin your tour. Another incredible thing in regards to the pistols is that 90% of them still work! Many of the pistols have beautiful handwork with inlaid design made from animal horn. Some of the armor also has wonderful etched detailing on it.
Well worth the small entry fee and definitely worth seeing.
This morning we visit the Styrian Armoury in Graz, then head back to Vienna as we have an early flight back home to California tomorrow.
Mike had found info on this Armoury museum online and thought it sounded really interesting, so we decided to check it out. They say it's the world's largest historic armoury with 32,000 pieces of armor, weaponry, etc. It is still housed in the original building, which was built in the 1600's. During WWII, all the pieces were moved and stored in 3 different castles in remote parts of Styria and when the war was over the pieces were returned to the building which had escaped damage in the war.
It is truly an impressive collection: armor, helmets, swords, sabers, pistols, long guns, halberds, mortars, cannons, there is even a full set of horse armor on display. One of the incredible things about this museum is the building itself, very fancy on the outside and these great wooden floors inside (third floor). Very little of the collection is in cases or behind glass, they just politely ask you not to touch anything as you begin your tour. Another incredible thing in regards to the pistols is that 90% of them still work! Many of the pistols have beautiful handwork with inlaid design made from animal horn. Some of the armor also has wonderful etched detailing on it.
Well worth the small entry fee and definitely worth seeing.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
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