Pt. Sal Hike

After Jesse graduated and before He, Lois and Caleb moved for the summer (for an internship), we were very happy to have them with us for about a month! One thing we wanted to make sure we did together before they moved on was to hike at our favorite local spot, Pt. Sal.

     Just getting started...Caleb has the best seat in the house:)

  Can you see why we love this place?  Only about eight miles from our house, as the crow flies.

  Gorgeous views everywhere you look!

 It's so green in the springtime!

It's so nice to share a place you love with the people you love:)

Happy Trails!

Mt. Whitney!

After all of his training, Jim(accompanied by his friend, Carlos) finally completed the trek to Mt. Whitney!!! This is a beautiful "postcard worthy" (as Jesse said) image of Whitney, on the approach:) ***I will probably be adding more details later(with help from the hiker himself), but I just wanted to get this posted before too much time passes. The adventure took place at the end of June***
Jim can't ever seem to pass up snapping a self-portrait (to prove his whereabouts?!?) and I can't ever seem to pass on posting one:) They crack me up! (This is one of a handful!)
"On the Road to Find Out..." is what Jim titled this photo:) One of my favorite Cat Stevens' songs! Up and up and up...
One of the many(96+) switchbacks on the ascent! Carlos is at the mid/right...he sort of blends in. (If you click to enlarge, Carlos is in the front in the white shirt:)
Woo Hoo!!! They made it!!! Jim signing the log at the top!
Mount Whitney summit! 14,497 ft.!!! Congratulations Jim and Carlos!!! You did it!!!

Go Take a Hike!

Doesn't he look like he's at the top of the world! Everest? Nope! Valencia Peak:)

Jim is climbing Mt. Whitney at the end of June, so has been doing many training hikes with a backpack. He started with a 25 lb. pack, but on our most recent hike the pack weighed about 55 lbs.! His strategy is that when he hikes Whitney with a 40 lb. pack, it won't be quite so bad, even with the high elevation. In the picture above(and below) we hiked(I have been joining him, without a pack) Valencia Peak in SLO. It was foggy and cold the entire hike until we reached the top...
At this point we were above the clouds and felt as though we had arrived in heaven:) Actually with this surface we felt that we were on the moon. It was very cold and windy, so it was nice to reach the car afterwards and crank up the heater!

This day we chose to hike SLO highest. It was so golden(and windy) at the top(almost). That's the Cuesta grade in the background.
Our most recent hike(besides the Orcutt hills yesterday) was in Los Osos. There were some very steep sections to scramble up...I don't know how Jim did it with his heavy pack! We were just above the town, but felt a world away! There were so many trails going every which-way up there it would have been easy for me to get lost(NO sense of direction!), but we made it out of there without going in circles! Thanks Jim!
Riley was with us...I couldn't resist this close-up of her cute cupcake collar:) Tres chic!

Big Sur!

Jim and I had a weekend camping getaway to Big Sur and had a great time! I especially enjoyed myself as Jim took over as "Camp Chef Extraordinaire" and handled ALL the food duties! His "killer" omelettes were blue ribbon quality once again! On the way we stopped at our favorite "secret" beach:) Our dog, Riley, had a good break from sitting in the car by obsessively retrieving the stick from the ocean...well, she is a Labrador retriever:)

To Karaline, Megan, Zeke and Jake...We tried to include the names of our grandchildren in the sand, but it was too difficult to read, so we settled for "We love U." XOXOXOXO

We did some geocaching while in Big Sur. Here I am in the "danger" zone checking out a clue:)

Jim and Riley on the trail to the cache.

On a rigorous hike, Jim stopped to munch on an appropriately named snack:)

View from our hiking trail...beautiful even with the fog rolling in!

On our way home...this is the typical view from the passenger side mirror whenever Riley is along in the car:)

KARALINE, this one's for you! :) XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO