Tehipite (some more)

First off, you haven't seen any climbing yet because it took about 6 days before we got to do any. So, I am making you wait and giving you the details. Here is mike b sitting in the cold water washing off on our first rest day. Hiking and cleaning and jugging up and down the wall three days in a row crushed us. We could have gone to 4 and 5 days in a row but it wouldn't have been good for our bodies and we wouldn't have been able to climb the harder pitches first or second go. Mike, loves the cold water and sat there for a long long time enjoying the high sierra summer temps.

Each walk was through a burned out forest and every step was like walking through ash from a fire. We were very very dirty. Every part of our bodies were covered with ash and the only way to get rid of it was to wash in the creek at our camp.

We did pass by some beautiful wildflowers on our trail everyday and it was a nice contrast to the the burned trees and ash on the forest floor.

Yes my legs are that white and yes my feet were that dirty. I made the mistake of only bringing two pairs of socks and I made that first pair suffer until they died in the fire on the last night!

Ari passing one of the creek crossings on our hike to the wall. This water was clean enough to drink without purifying it but we did anyway. Most of the time we just filled our bottles and added a drop of bleach to it and called it good. Tasted just like home.

piz : )

Tehipite Dome Part 1

Mike B on his horse at the biggest creek crossing of the trip. Little did we know that our camp was just a few miles away. At this point of the ride, all of our butts were getting a bit sore and we were definitely ready to finish the ride. It was nice though to have a few minutes of walking around and stretching the legs by the crystal clear river.

Ari, taking it easy in the woods of tall trees and ferns on the forest floor. The outfitter (Clyde Pack Outfitter), put the littlest guy on our trip on the biggest horse. It was funny watching Ari trying to get on and off the horse during the ride in and ride out of Tehipite Dome. He wore is only blue jeans and a hand me down western shirt and a fisherman's hat the whole time!

This here is Allen Clyde and he knows these trails and his horses really well. He has been a horse packer in these mountains for over 30 years, he is a doctor of the feet, has a ranch near Fresno and is the man that you want to take you into the wilderness for any of your needs!

When we got to camp the evening before the ride into Tehipite Dome we had to explode the truck to repack all the gear in the horse pack bags. So we had to make sure that we had everything, ropes, harnesses, shoes, cams, nuts, toilet paper, stoves and cook sets, food, tents, backpacks, the whole works. It took over three hours to figure everything out and get the 6 pack bags equally loaded and all strapped down. As we did this the Pack station dogs joined us and sniffed our gear and we had a nice campfire going to keep away the bugs. It is always tough to pack the final amount of gear for a trip like this because you never really know what you need and it is always too late when you find out! We quickly realized that we forgot the bug spray!

Mike B and Ari just outside the Fresno airport where they picked me up. I was flying in from Canada and the Squamish Mountain Festival and they drove in from Colorado and Utah in my truck. Ari was wearing my warm weather gear to keep the 100 degree heat at bay while we walked to the truck. Notice the wind block hat and the woolen Arcteryx neck gaiter. I don't think that there is an outfit that Ari doesn't look good in.

piz : )