Aloha

Today I am suppose to go hiking with my friends but for reasons that do not really make sense and that cannot be explained the plans fell through. No worries though because I am watching Ax-men and I have been looking forward to recapturing a hike that I took back in May with some friends on the beautiful Hawaiian Island of Oahu.

We were in Hawaii from May 19 to May 27; there we have many stories of surfing, lying on the beach, snorkeling, visiting the beach from the TV show “Lost” and much more. We also did a hike up to Pauoa Flats that was about six to eight miles. We had initially planned to hike to a waterfall that was, well, less than spectacular, it was mostly just a drizzle down a cliff side, and I guess other times of the year it is better. So we hiked on.

The trail was wet and a little muddy and it cut through a thick bamboo forest. There were not too many people on the trail but we passed a few—no natives though.

At the top is a lookout point that is very spectacular to see the beautiful landscape of Hawaii’s mountains, peaks, lush green trees, shorelines and beaches.

Here are some other pictures from Hawaii:
"Lost" Beach

The Hotties

Snorkeling

Cliff Jumping at Waimea

Surfing at Waikiki

Sunset at the Lost beach, I was feeling a little vain.

Red Pine Lake

Last Wednesday (Aug. 20) my friend Steve and I talked about going on backpacking trip, two days later we were off. Red Pine is an overnight backpacking trip that we have done every year for the past five years. A few times we have not made it to the top, either because of snow or poor planning, but we have learned from our mistakes and we now always plan on going the latter part of summer. There were five of us in the group: Steve, Eric, Jessica, Jordan (thanks Caroline for letting us have him for a night) and me.

The plan was to leave at six. At seven we were off, an hour past schedule but early by our standards. The sun was starting to touch the Oquirrh Mountains as we set off for the three mile hike. The first guy we met coming down from the trail was an older fellow hiking alone. He smiled as we passed and he said “The bus is waiting for you.” I do not know what he was talking about; perhaps he was referring to Chris McCandless stay in the so called “Magic Bus” from the book/movie Into the Wild.

The trail up to Red Pine Lake follows the White Pine Lake trail for about a mile then it forks off. The trail is wide and rocky for the most part. The towering evergreen trees shadow over the trail creating thick green walls on both side and it opens up at top to a vast blue sky or magnificent spread of stars. There are a few spots were the trees open up and a V shaped portion of the Salt Lake Valley is visible through the cut of Little Cotton Wood Canyon. When we got to this view it would be the last we saw of the sun light for the rest of the hike up and we had to rely on our head lamps.

The last mile of the hike is very steep and the trail is not as distinct, there are a lot of places where the trail will split. I have learned through experience that if a log is laid across the fork of one paths then it is to indicate that it is not the main trail. This knowledge made it easy to stay on the right path and I did not get lost or have to backtrack and I did not lose the confidence of Eric or Jessica who were following me.

At the lake, if the sun is down, there is an optical illusion where the lake appears to be a hundred feet down and two hundred yards away—yet in reality it is only a few feet away. I thought my eyes were playing another trick on me, I looked and looked and I could not see any other campers! Red Pine is usually covered with campers. With our usual late arrival we have to roam around for several minutes looking for a suitable camping spot. This time it was just a mere survey for the flattest spot tucked away from the main trail.

Although we did not have any campers around us, we did not go the entire night without spotting another human, at about 11:15 pm we met a lady who was hiking. We did not catch her name but she was in her mid-twenties and she was planning on hiking though the night alone. She stopped to talk to us for several minutes and she told us of all the hikes she does, including her Canada trip she had just returned from. She was very nice and polite but to go hiking in the middle of the night by oneself is pretty extreme.

I slept great that night. I prefer blankets to sleeping bags, it is more comfortable but it is not as warm, luckily it did not get very cold at night. I woke up only a couple of time that night, once because of some coyotes howling.

Steve woke up early the next morning to go fishing; however, he did not have much luck.

Red Pine Lake was very beautiful in the morning; it is so calm except for the occasional splash heard from a jumping fish. It is one that has to be seen in person, the sun peering over the surrounding peaks really liven up the trees and it helps to display the contrast of the evergreens to the granite rock.

Gear Guide

Recently some of my friends went on a hike up to Twin Peaks, I was saddened when I could not go because of work. The four of them took off early in the morning and started up the trail. Twin is about four and a half mile hike one way, but the real clincher is that over the four and a half miles the trail vertically climbs one mile. A hard but very rewarding hike—one that I must to do.

This story, however, does not have a happy ending for all—two of the four did not make it to the top. The two that did not make it up are both in great shape and they have the drive to make it. Their problem was that they were not prepared, and one got bloody feet—in some way. She even commented that she wish that I was there; because I am always prepared for trail hazards (I guess boy scouts paid off).

This made me think that knowing what to take on the trails will help to be safe all the way up. I’m sure someone might see a sacrament talk undertone in this lesson: but it is a shame to not reach the top so it’s important to take what you need, you may not need everything but someone in your party might and it is better to reach the top together than alone.

The following is a day hike gear guild; it is intended for hikes that are about 0 to 20 miles, overnight backpacking trips require more. I do not claim that this list is absolutely everything needed for a day hike. A little research on your designated trail and tailored preparation will go a long way. The list has three parts: the “Essentials” are needed for every hike, “Conditional” items are not needed for every hike but are required for some and “Optional” lists some items that I like to take or that I see other people like to take.

Day Hike Gear Guide

Essential

• Day Pack, Camelpak or Backpack
• Water—usually a 2 liter Camelpak bladder is more than sufficient.
• Small First Aid kit—these can be purchased at REI, Cabela’s or any outdoor adventure store.
• It should include: Band aids, Ibuprofen, moleskin, gauze, sterile wipes, Neosporin, tweezers, Ace bandage wrap, first aid book, and emergency blanket and so on.
• Bandana—there are many uses for these, I usually take two.
• Pocket knife
• Compass or GPS and knowledge on how to use either.
• Map of the trail
• Snacks/fruit/Powerbars/Powergel/backpacking meals.
• Camera—not a life or death item but it is essential to capturing the memories.
• Sunscreen and insect repellant
• Extra pair of socks
• Sunglasses
• Flashlight or head lamp—especially if the hike goes longer than planned and it gets dark, or if you want to explore that undiscovered cave.
• Poncho or rain coat

Conditional

• Rope or webbing
• Bear Spray
• Snow Shoes
• Warm clothes
• Tools: shovel, saw and so on. Only for trail repair.
• Water purifier

Optional

• Ipod—this is good while relaxing at the apex of the hike or if you need a little morale or motivation when fatigue sets in. HOWEVER, it is very inconsiderate to listen to an Ipod while hiking with others and it can be dangerous, it is important to use all your senses to know what is going on around the trail. Besides, listing to nature is very therapeutic.
• Camp Stove
• Hiking pan and eating utensils
• Book/scriptures—for that extra ounce of relaxation or inspiration in nature
• Walkie-talkie
• Cell Phone (a lot of trails have cell phone service), but PLEASE turn it on silent, it is even more distracting and irritating to hear a cell phone go off in nature than it is in a movie theater. It is wise to have a cell phone for emergencies.

This list may seem long but it can easily fit into a pack and with careful attention to detail it can weigh less than 15 lbs. Also, one day pack can be sufficient for 2-3 people.

Good luck on your next hike and let me know any great trails.

"Billy will you go get the mail?"

One of my favorite comics is Family Circus; I especially like the ones where Billy’s mom asks him to go get someone or something. The illustration shows a bird’s eye view of their house and surrounding area and traced dotted line shows the haphazard trail that Billy blazes to accomplish this simple task. The journey of the dotted line: weaves in and out of flower beds, there is usually a tight rope style traverse atop a fence, walking around and around a dizzy looking dog, climbing up a tree and down a rope swing, and other various twirls and carefree saunters. The comic ends with Bobby returning to his mom to inquire on that simple thing that was asked of him in the first place.

Bobby’s trail looks pretty darn similar to the trail my GPS traced of Dave Mecham and me as we tried to find the trail head to Lake Blanche last Saturday. The trail head is a little tricky to find: there is a wide asphalt-paved path that leads to a sign that reads, “Lake Blanche Trail.” Clearly it was too difficult to find, right? So Dave and I walked past the sign that was practically screaming “You Idiots, where are you going?!” And we made our way into a maze of thick brush and deer trails that lead to many dead ends. After several minutes of frustration we decided to back track, and behold we saw a sign… well the trail sign.

The Hike

The Lake Blanche trail is 2.8 miles one way and it vertically climbs nearly half a mile. Not an easy hike yet many people, young and old—fit and fat, populated the trail. At first we passed many people in their golden years coming down, it seemed that the higher we got the younger the crowd got. We also passed up a few people who were heading up. The total time it took to get to the top was one hour and 37 minutes.

The hike alone is beautiful. There were purple and yellow wild flowers that speckled the green terrain, boulders that stood immovable among the vegetation and the towering evergreens providing welcomed shade from the hot sun for most of the trail. I stopped to take a few pictures of the grand landscape knowing that my simple 4.1 mega pixels camera would only take an insulting picture, yet enough to trigger the memory of it.

Lake Blanche

Lake Blanche appears after hiking across long rock slabs. The lake is very pretty but it is not as big as I thought it would be. However, surrounding Lake Blanche are peaks that spire into the sky. I wished I had planned time to hike to these peaks.

Dave and I found a place to relax by the lake. Many hikers were spread around the lake doing the same. I pulled out my hiking stove and the eggs and bacon backpacker meal and boiled up some water to make our lunch. I don’t know if I would enjoy the grainy eggs and bacon if I was at home, but it sure tasted great up there and I would have gone for seconds if it was available.

After lunch, taking a few pictures and enjoying the surroundings we started the hike down. The trail follows the along the lake then takes a right angled turn down the mountain. As we were about to take that turn, we crossed paths with two young ladies. I decided to turn on some Jacob charm and so I joked by saying “Keep going, you’re almost there,” they were nice enough to give me a courtesy laugh that had a hint of effort.

We made great time getting down, we did not stop once to rest and we passed up a lot of people heading down as well. It took an hour and two minutes to get to the bottom. On the way down we saw people hiking up to the lake, they looked tired. Knowing how great and beautiful it is up at the lake I felt obligated to encourage them to keep moving. I am sure they would have made it anyways but it is nice to get a little bit of motivation once in a while.

. . .

I did not think I would really get into blogging, but I have found that it has really encouraged me to get out and pursue my passions in life. When my alarm went off Saturday morning at 7:30 I almost just turned it off and rolled over to go back to bed but then I had the thought that I have to blog about my hikes, so I got up. I guess this is a good thing after all.

P.S. I’m always looking for new hikes and people to go with, please let me know of any good hikes and if you do not mind me tagging along.