wednesday finds

schmeebot@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:46:54 -0700

i had to go to sfo this morning. on the way home i thought i'd stop by scrap. i hadn't been there since april. i got some wool yarn, about two pounds, for $3. i also scored this deal:

by deal i mean free. it took some digging and untangling but i didn't mind. not one bit. schmee loves scrap.

rotten eggs

schmeebot@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:25:31 -0700

lassen volcanic national park 19 july 2008

lassen vnp

schmeebot@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:44:50 -0700

elev 10,500'

that's me and jg on lassen peak. we hiked up saturday afternoon. actually, jg leisurely walked up the trail while i got my ass kicked. this is how i looked after every ten steps:

downward ~~dog~~ schmee

isn't it embarrassing? it was the only way i could catch my breath. i nearly fell over several times. but i didn't care. i figured that if i dressed like i was going to starbucks, no one would notice how out of shape i am.

shirt should say: i'm colorblind

that picture was taken at about a half mile into the hike. i was not very happy if you can believe it. there was excruciating pain on the back of my right heel. i kept adjusting the laces thinking i had tied them poorly. at one point i folded the cuff of the sock down over the heel to double the cushion. it was still painful. i knew i was in trouble.

peak within sight

it was a bad idea to wear a skirt on this hike. the constant wind caused me to moon everyone all along the trail. jg was very embarrassed for me. but i didn't care. look what i had to deal with!

switchbacks at 15% grade

jg: i would like to snowboard down this glacier notch.

the peak you see beyond jg is where the first picture of this blog post was taken. if you look closely, you'd see there are people hiking down along the ridge.

jg on the highest point

too bad we couldn't see very far. everything was obscured by the smoke from the forest fires. we met a regular hiker who said it isn't any worse than usual. supposedly, the entire lassen area gets bombarded by smog from the valley. not hard to believe.

that was taken in one of the valleys in the crater on lassen peak. a very harsh landscape. i was disappointed to find snow packs instead of steam vents and fumaroles.

view of crater from peak

the hike down was relatively uneventful. it was already past five but there were still loads of hikers going up. sunsetters, i guess. not sure how enjoyable it would be with all the smoke. and constant wind.

jg yielding to the moonlight expedition (baby in tow)

jg back at trail head, dusting off

i enjoyed the hike despite the wind and the strenuous grade. the visibility could have been a bit better. i wouldn't mind going back on a clearer day. i wish the park wasn't four hours away though.

source of excruciating pain

my $40 pair of boots has finally made its worth known. nasty, huh? anyway, the rest of my lassen pictures can be found in this flickr set in case you care to look.

parting shot: lake helen