Toro's Last Wrestle!

Toro's Last Wrestle at Lake Tahoe from Jamie Servaites on Vimeo.

What an amazing weekend with a bunch of midwestern white boys.  Jammers made a great edit from that weekend.  Figured I should share.

Vid: Sly Guard Cabin...

Been having fun playing with the night shots from my NEX.  Here's a short 82 second vid from the weekend.

Sly Guard Cabin (June 28-30, 2013)

Had a great time up at Jenkinson Lake/Sly Guard Cabin a few weekends ago with Sigman, Stefan, Muriel, Kevin, Laura, Riro, Sully, SeaBass, Melanie, Kimbo, Mingus, Brioche, Hiccup and Kai!  Barrett also came by on Fri night for a few beers.  The weekend consisted of: slacklining, BBQ-ing, eating, drinking, canoeing, swimming, tubing, mtn biking, unicycling, laughing, and taking some pictures....

Enjoy!

Check out the cabin!  Sweet egh?  Sleeps 4 inside, with full electricity, running water, pots, pans, plates, games, DVD player... yadda yadda... And they also let you sleep 8 more folks on the property adjacent to the cabin for up to 12 folks!  

The kiddos loved the pool.  Thanx to uncle Kevin for bringing that up.

Kai & Riro eating turkey rolls!

Mmmmm.... 

The weather was beautiful the whole weekend and we could eat outside for every meal!  A great set up outside, where the three doggies would clean up after the kiddos, everyone would cook, clean, etc... while I slacklined.  Me likey.  

Kabobs, brats, sauerkraut.... mmmm

Hi Sully!

This was probably the best note left in the journal for the cabin.

Naked kiddos!

And not to mention, we could ride from the cabin 3 miles to Jenkinson Lake!  All on singletrack.  There's an amazing amount of trails around here that aren't on the interwebs...

Jenkinson Lake has a pretty steep entrance fee (10$), but it's probably one of the nicest lakes I've been to for kiddos, picnicking, etc...  there are numerous areas to chill out, but we'd usually head over here by these evergreens where it was always cool, no matter how hot it was in the sun. 

We got plenty of water time this weekend.  It was HOT.  95? or so?  Anyway, the canoe, the innertube all came in handy.  

There's a 9 mile loop around Jenkinson Lake, mostly singletrack... actually a fun ride.  Would be a good one on the uni next time.  On the N. end of the lake there is a waterfall that's a perfect stop for a dip.  

but first you gotta ask permission from the waterfall keeper... 

Sigman and I went on another ride the next morning.  On Fleming Meadows... lots of options here and some really fun riding... and you can connect it to the Jenkinson Lake loop for longer ride.  

After our second day at the lake, we went to the Knott Hole Grill, which has some great food and an awesome outside area in the back with horseshoes, misters, etc... Highly recommended stop.

Sly Guard info
http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev7_018784.pdf

Jenkinson Lake Weekend Sherpa
http://www.weekendsherpa.com/stories/jenkinson-lake-mountain-bike-ride/

A humble stumble... RAMROD: The Whites...

Going into the 30 mile hike we thought... "we got this, let's shoot for 10 hours, I can do 3 miles per hour no problemo.".. Funk compromised with, "I'll be happy with 12."

8 hours into the hike, and having only covered 10 miles or so... we came to a very tough decision to turn around.

Here we are leaving the car at 4:20 am...

And the summit. This building is part of the White Mountain Research Station... we felt OK here, and had no doubt that we'd make it across even though I had to double back to pick up my Spot beacon that had fallen off and lost a good hour or more.

http://www.wmrs.edu/aboutWMRS.htm

Then we encountered the ridge, scree, and things started slowing down drastically... and had to turn around at noon.

And even though we didn't make it, in many respects it was far from a wasted trip. It was quite a learning experience for me. Learning our limits, what we should have done, what we could do next time, etc. Also, we did summit the 3rd highest peak in California... my 8th 14er, putting me over the half way mark in climbing all 15. Previously, I have summited Shasta, Whitney, Thunderbolt, Starlight, Polemonium, North Palisade, and Sill. And the wildlife was super up yonder. Big horn sheep, marmots, red tail hawks, great horned owls, and a bunch of tiny rodents.

After our 16 hour ordeal (4:20 am to 8:20 pm)... we drove through Bishop to grab some food and to soak at some hot springs. This was our second soak the morning after.

... and after brunch at Whoa Nellie Delli... we stopped at Rainbow Pools on the way out... which may have cost us 50$ each.