Next Month, Last Year (NeMo LaY) - Feb 2011

This lack of snow has got me thinking what a huge difference a year makes!  I mean this season is crazy... as it not so crazy.

So that I know what kinds of activities I know is possible this time of the year, I'm gonna try to start blogging about what I was up to last year, in a short series of posts...

Skied a LOT:
Sugar Bowl - Feb 3
Backcountry - Feb 3-6 (Bradley to Benson), Feb 20 - Jake's, Feb 23 - Fallen Cham,
Squaw - Feb 6, 18, 21, 22,
Alpine - Feb 19, 24, 25, 26, 27

Jan 30th, 2011 - the first snowfall since Jan 1st... I guess this Jan was better than last year...
http://snowymonk.blogspot.com/2011/02/back-to-ski-season.html

Feb 3 - 6 Benson to Bradley Hut to Hut with the Miley Bros...

Benson and Bradley Huts (Feb 2011) from TeleK on Vimeo.

mid - Feb - TONS of SKIING...

Feb 14 - Kayaking from Albany Bulb
http://snowymonk.blogspot.com/2011/02/kayaking-e-bay.html

Feb 20th - Jake's

Feb 23 - Fallen Cham - This might have been my highlight of the season.
http://snowymonk.blogspot.com/2011/02/fallen-angel-baby-cham.html

Skiing!!!

Is SOOOOO much fun.

Went to Alpine this weekend on a day trip to catch some of that white stuff falling from the sky.  My 2nd day of the season... was planning to take it easy, but this was my 3rd time off this drop, saw a kid do a backflip off of it... and Funk & Toro got their cameras out so.... yeah.


Vid from Toro...

Busy B-day Week!

Had a great week last week. Partly due to the nice weather, partly due to me having extra energy as it was my b-day on the 11th, and partly due to my loving wife who let me go out and do crazy things no matter how sleep deprived I was.

But boy was I tired when Kai decided not to sleep.

• 7th (sat) - went on a 10 mile run in Redwood with Hoeft, Kevin, B-ral, & Moses ( http://ridewithgps.com/trips/480238)
• 8th (sun) - played a soccer game in the senior league, then rode Morgan Territory with Patrick and Jeff (forgot my garmin, but here's Jeff's... which is longer).

• 9th (mon) - Went on a moonlight paddle with Seth & Vogelstein  http://ridewithgps.com/trips/488906
• 10th (tues) - Morning road ride with Khalid -  http://ridewithgps.com/trips/488907 then went to Yoga at Flying Yoga.

• 11th (wed) - my B-day! - went on a sunrise run up Mission Peak with Sol, Funk & B-ral!  

This weekend, Kimbo, Kai & I went up to Lost Trail Lodge, where there was no snow... and the trails turned into luge courses... so I finally got my rest that I've been wanting.  

NYE trail run in Yosemite! (Dec 31, 2011)

Dave, Danielle, Stefan, Jasper, Kevin, Funk, Sol and I had an AWESOME run at the end of 2011.  A very memorable end to a great year! (by the way... Stefan, I think you are looking at the wrong camera...)

Starting in the valley, we ran up the four mile trail up to Glacier Point, then on the Panorama trail to Vernal Falls, and caught the Mist Trail/John Muir Trail down to Happy Isles where we met up with Kimbo & Kai, Laura & Riley, and Pia & her bruised cheek.

Although I think the elevation is off on the map below, it was still quite a tough hike/run... and towards the end the group was going into survival mode.

In the valley... we were staring at the Sentinel all the way up to Glacier Point.  When we thought we were almost there, the Sentinel would look down at us, and start mocking...

Funk molesting El Cap.  

The Crew running up the switchbacks on the Four Mile Trail.

Maybe 1/4 of the way up?  

On to the Panorama Trail... where Funk was licking Half Dome.  

My first view of Illilouette Falls.  Really amazing sight.  What a cool waterfall.  

Looking down at one of the many sheer drops we encountered on our run.  

Weekly Pano: Waimea Canyon (Hawaii)

Some views of the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"

Timelapses from Hawaii

Redwood Papa's Runs.

Wow... what a difference a year makes.  Last year by this time I already had 10 days of skiing in.  Mostly in the backcountry.  This year has been breaking records everywhere for how dry it has been.  So... yeah, it's been a good year for having a baby, but I sure do miss me some POW!

Anyway... because it's been so dry around here, the trail running and the cycling season has been extended.  We've had some great Redwood Runs recently, and thought I'd share some here.  No pics, just the GPS tracks... and not even all the GPS tracks as I usually forget my Garmin.

Jan 7, 2012 - I started my watch a bit late on this one, but this was our longest yet (10+ miles for sure).  Hoeft, Alexis, Moses, B-ral, red-dog, Graham, Kevin, & I.  Hoeft became a single man on the ropes on this run.

Josh, Alex C., Kevin, Moses, Red, Sol, & I... got a nice time lapse from this one, as we started at 7:30 am... BURRRRR



The rope discovery run!  Red, Moses, Kevin, Patrick, Funk, Hoeft, Sol & I.

Forgot who went on this one...

Secret Falls (Hawaii)

The not-so-secret "secret falls."

From our house on the Wailua river, we could paddle up river 2 miles, and hike another mile to the "secret waterfalls.  Another awesome adventure that did not require getting in a car...The waterfall is actually quite popular and several kayaking companies offer guided tours up to the waterfall and back for 50 or so dollars.  

7.4 miles round trip... which includes my short re-tracing as I forgot my sunglasses when I was using the ropeswing. You can see that if you click on "speed" above... those would be the spikes.

The hike is definitely the highlight of the trip as the kayaking is rather dull actually.  Not much to see on the paddle...  But the hiking is spicy from the start.

Cross a not so small river...

And through the jungle.  

The canopy is gorgeous.

Crazy Tree Roots

Muddy hiking... my VFFs worked perfectly.  

You pass this smaller waterfall on the way up to the big one.

Some steep sections as well...

Up the Sleeping Giant! (Hawaii)

The Sleeping Giant (Mt. Nounou).  Hawaiian legends say this giant was tricked by villagers into eating a vast amount of rocks hidden in fish and poi. Sleepy from the meal, the giant took a nap and hasn't woken since. 

Mt Nounou (the face) from the East Trailhead.  

View of the ocean from Mt. Nounou. 

Mt. Nounou makes a great run from hte house we stayed on.  Past a waterfall on Kuamoo rd, up the South Trail then down the East trail.

A few days after my run, I went back up with Kimbo, Lorene & Ko.  

Kimbo & Ko on Nounou's chin!

 A few more panos on my second hike to the top.