Crater Lake, Oregon: Not, in fact, formed by a meteorite hitting the top of a mountain!

Annotated Log Style

Friday, May 10th
9pm. After a weary work day for both of us, Sara and I met in downtown Oakland to catch the Coast Starlight [a 34 hour train route from Los Angeles to Seattle] at Jack London Square. As we boarded, the Coach Attendant directed us to assigned seats on the second floor of the Klamath Falls car. Our initial concerns that we'd be exhausted after the overnight ride eased upon reclining into our wide, soft chairs. It didn't take long before the gentle train rhythms lulled us to sleep!

Saturday, May 11th
6:30am. Awoken by a peaceful sunrise on the train near the CA/OR border.
7:45am. Early arrival in Klamath Falls.
8:30am. Bridget arrives. Coffee and bagels at a The Daily Bagel. Halfway decent for west coast bagels! On the way to Crater Lake we stop at some "viewpoints" where the waterfalls were just barely viewable and meet a family of roadtrippers who title us "City Girls," much to everyone's offense.
10:30am. Arrive at Crater Lakes's Rim Village where Beth and Trevor are waiting.

11:30am. During a descent down a relatively steep snowy slope, Sara and I decided to do some tricks: I basically do a summersault towards a rock and sara drops her massive water bottle into a more massive crevasse. We both survive and Trevor descends into the crevasse to retrieve the water bottle. We avoid crevasses/schisms/holes/pits/abysses for the rest of the weekend.

Trevor in the crevasse

On the return hike we mostly stuck to the road, which was was perfectly plowed next to 10+ feet of snow. Crater Lake is the third snowiest place in the U.S., receiving 483 inches (40 feet) of snow annually! It's a miracle the roads are plowed at all.

The interesting part: Crater Lake is a caldera lake, which formed when Mount Mazana erupted and collapsed on itself. It's the deepest lake in the U.S. and the 9th deepest lake in the world. For the hydrology nerds: the only inflow and outflow to the lake are precipitation and evaporation, resulting in a 250 year residence time. Compare that to ~ 6 years for Lake Ontario and only a few months for San Francisco Bay - that's old water! Wizard Island (pictured below) is one of many cones that have erupted since the major eruption. It's the only one that reaches above the water surface. And last but not least, a view of the spectacular lake!

~3pm. Return to cars and have lunch on a log overlooking the lake.
4pm. Arrive at Umpqua Hot Springs where we encounter large groups of free spirits who seem to be living at the hot springs. Although we found a nice campsite next to a beautiful river (see below), we decided to leave after a long-term-camper/panhandler asked us for money so he could buy cigarettes (I swear I'll only buy cigarettes!).

~6pm. We set up camp at Toketee Lake Campground and cooked up some pesto pasta and veggies for dinner. Beth treated us to some Korean sweets that she'd transported herself after her worldly travels.

Sunday, May 12th
8:30am. Rise and shine! Bridget spread the breakfast table with delicious muffins and bananas. Did you know that bananas naturally break into thirds, lengthwise? Fascinating.
11am. Start hiking up towards Diamond Peak. Hike around on a dirt trail until we reach snowpack.

Mount Diamond

1pm. Lunch-on-a-log followed by more snow hiking.

The lunch log.

~3pm? Return to cars and drive to Diamond Lake. Clouds of mosquito-like-buzzing insects surround us and swarm into the car. We sprinted towards the lake where it was windy and bugless. Bridget does her trademark dip in the freezing lake and we make friends with a fisherman on the dock. I sneakily hinted that we were interested in going for a ride in his boat, but he was oblivious to our hinting (or I'm terrible at hinting) and points us to the boat rental shop. At this point we parted ways, with Beth and Trevor heading north towards Chemult where Trevor was catching the train back to the Bay. Bridget, Sara, and I laid out on the bobbing docks and enjoyed the warm sunny weather for a little while longer.

Enjoying the sunny day on a bouncy dock, far away form the hoards of buzzing flies.

In La Pine we stopped at a diner to order milkshakes (which had been the topic of many hiking conversations). The milkshakes came in mason jars and we tried almost every flavor on the menu thanks to a convenient mistake by our server.
8pm.  We arrive at Bridget's beautiful house in Sun River where we pack our things, eat some rice cakes, and snuggle with amazingly comfy Costco blankets on the couch.

Monday, May 13th
12am. Still awake, thinking about having to return to Oakland and brooding how to move somewhere safer as soon as possible.
3am. Alarm. Empty the toilet bowls. Did you know that if you dump a bucket of water in a toilet it will empty completely? Fascinating, especially at 3am. Apparently the iron-heavy water leaves stains...
4:30am. At the Redmond Airport
5:30am. En route to San Francisco

Upstate NY reflections

A week ago Caurie Putnam, a reporter from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle (D&C) stumbled across nakedkayaker.com as she was researching kayaking for an article called "Do It: Paddle sports taking hold." The Do It series encourages people to try new "obscure" sports [no offense taken :)].We spoke briefly about beginner-friendly kayaking spots  and why kayaking is so wonderful, and she kindly linked my blog. She also wrote about BayCreek and paddling opportunities on the Erie Canal, Genesee River, and others. See page 2 here!

I must admit, reading through past posts stirred up a mean bout of nostalgia and longing for the upstate NY kayaking environment: wide open freshwater lakes that feel just as vast as San Francisco Bay (if not more - SF Bay can feel somewhat confining when you're surrounded by boats and traffic and city noises), silent 6am paddles when the thin layer of fog still hovers and the boat leaves a perfect V-shaped track behind you in the glassy water, and the rolling rainbow hills that surround all the lakes in the fall.

Anyways, I've just been reflecting on the beauty of upstate NY kayaking. 

Saranac Lake, Adirondacks NY,  Spring 2009

No pun intended.

Kayak caroling?

Every year, the Bay Area Sea Kayakers (BASK) and the Environmental Traveling Companions (ETC, more on them later) get together for a night of rambunctious kayak caroling. Here's how it works.

Prepare and decorate. Nena and Alice meet up in a commercial parking lot in Mill Valley with a large sign that says "NO BOAT LAUNCHING..." or something along those lines. We gradually unload our boats and prep them in the lawn by the water. Prepping, in this case, involves wrapping them in [expensive] red and green ribbons [from Whole Foods] and taping [very expensive] fake non-waterproof candles [also from Whole Foods] to the deck. Next, strap [cheap] wine under the deck lines. Alice's lights are waterproof and twinkly. I'll be more prepared next year. Couples pass us on their evening walk and say "can you launch from here? I didn't know you could put your boat in here?" We smile and tell them to have a nice walk. Fully outfitted, we stealthily move our cars to the back of the crowded restaurant parking lot next door. 

Find the other carolers. We launch from Mill Valley and paddle south under the Highway 101 bridge toward Schoonmaker Point Marina in Sausalito. We know we're at the right beach when we see dark figures scampering around with lights. We drag our boats onto the sand and find Doug, Eddie, Joël, and Amy decorating their boats in the dark. Eddie and Joël have very shiny christmas tree ornaments that are, unfortunately, completely invisible in the dark. Jackie promptly provided them with their own set of twinkly lights. Others have entire mini christmas trees perched on the sterns of their boats. It is a festive scene!

Back of my boat under the Highway 101 bridge, just after sunset.

Alice's lights are very twinkly. 

Rehearsals. When caroling, it is important to know how to sing. Jackie (fellow BASKer and ETCer) rounds everyone up and passes out perfectly laminated songsheets. We circle up on the beach and begin practicing. The first attempt is quite painful - not enough has been imbibed (ok, I may be one of the only ones imbibing) and people are feeling a bit reserved about belting out Joy To The World. A few iterations later, we are singing loudly and happily (albeit out of tune).

Eddie and I at rehearsals. Photo by Joël Thai.

Identify Targets and Commence Singing. Freshly decorated, the growing group of carolers (~20) launches from Sausalito and heads north towards the boathouses. Many of the houses are dark, but as soon as we spot a light, Jackie yells out a song number and starts to sing (we all join in a few seconds later). Inevitably, more lights turn on and a pleasantly surprised or fully confused tenant steps out onto the deck. Most often the response is awkward standing/smiling until we finish yelling [singing], at which point they say "Merry Christmas" and promptly shuffle back into their homes. A man turns his back on us when we begin singing only to return moments later, joining in with his trombone. Every once in a while, we find a jolly group of residents who shouts "Encore!" or tops off our cups of hot toddies.

This was the same night as the annual Christmas boat parade, so we were surrounded by very jolly and extensively decorated sailboats and motor boats for the entire night.

A successful endeavor. An hour later, a few fake candles short, and fully caroled out, Alice and I split off from the group and head north towards our unconventional launch site. The tide is much lower (we hadn't really considered this...) but we don't have too much trouble getting back to the parking lot. At some point in the dark transit we crack Alice's boat on the rocky revetment, but she's become quite a boat-patching expert so it isn't too big of a deal (I think...)!

Date: Saturday December 8, 2012

Time: ~3 hours

Distance: ~6 miles

Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach and then some.

I've been a bit scarce over the past six months thanks to a lovely series of exams to become a professional engineer (fingers crossed!). Even before the exams were over, Alice (new paddling friend in the Bay) and I were scheming to do a coastal paddle from Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach (just north of the Golden Gate). Even though we've both done a bit of coastal paddling, we were a bit nervous to head out by ourselves. Alice posted her first trip to the BASK (Bay Area Sea Kayakers) list-serve, and five other expert BASK paddlers joined us (Gordon, Don, Joe, Bert, and Ross). Gordon offered to carpool with me since we were both coming from the East Bay, so I had the exciting experience of getting a ride in his old sand-yellow mercedes station wagon!

Where Redwood Creek meets the ocean. The Creek is currently undergoing a restoration project to restore some of its natural pathways and habitats after years of farming/development.

The path to the ocean is a bit long, but we shared some wheels and hands to transport boats along the sandy trail to the beach. We gathered on the beach for Alice's first safety talk. We felt safe:

From Joe (arms wide open) clockwise: Don, Ross, Nena (me), Gordon, Alice, and Bert on the camera.  Photo by Bert V!

Even though conditions warned of a small craft advisory, the expert BASKers had never experienced a calmer day on the water at Muir Beach. We launched through a little surf and headed south along the rocky coast. We paddled rocks, the swell lifting us up and down between steep spires on either side.  I mostly avoided the narrow spaces, but a few of us did a bit more rock gardening.

Photo by Bert V.

Three miles down we reached Rodeo Beach. The northern end of the beach is known for dumpy waves that make landing tricky. Even though conditions were calm, we decided to have lunch on the south end.

Lunch spot on Rodeo Beach. Photo by Joe P.

After lunch we headed back north towards Muir Beach. At the rocky point just before Muir Beach most of the group chose to paddle close to the point between the rocks. I chose to paddle out and around, which turned out to be a bit bumpier than I expected. The waves were pretty "confused," coming from two different directions and yanking my boat side to side. Thanks to some quick braces I didn't have to practice my roll, but it was certainly exciting!

There are some fantastic arches and caves along this route. Photo by Joe P.

We passed Muir Beach and continued north "just to the next rock" three times :). When we returned to Muir Beach it was completely transformed - covered in people enjoying the sunny day. We were dodging babies to land on the beach, and had quite the reception. "Where did you come from?" asked the kids with wide eyes, as they scrambled into our boats. I guess we do look like aliens in all our gear...

At the end of the day Alice, Gordon, Ross, and I stopped by the Pelican Inn to enjoy some drinks in the sunny lawn.

Obligatory post-trip Muir Beach factoids
[I should really start doing this before I go on trips]:

• Muir Beach lies in the Marin Headlands on the Pacific Coast of Marin County (ok, I knew that). 
• Before Europeans arrived, the area was a wild and dramatic landscape, with bears, bald eagles, mountain lions, bobcats, elk, and many Coast Miwok people who moved from village-to-village.
• The Portuguese began arriving on whaling ships in the 1850s from the Azores to start dairy ranches. The beach and entire hillside was (apparently) purchased for $10 by a Portuguese settler who built a hotel and some cabins. (How big is a $10 gold coin in the 1850s?)
• The Old Tavern on the beach used to be a dance hall and host "psychedelic bands," until it was removed in the 1960s and the beach was acquired by CA State Parks. A few members on our trip remembered this Tavern fondly.

See you again soon, Ocean.

Approximate route (Muir Beach at the red marker, Rodeo Beach at the south end of the red line):

Date: Sunday, April 28, 2013

Time: 5 hours
Distance: ~10 miles