Rig bags his first peak!

Every time we go on a family hike Rig complains it isn't long enough.  So I had been promising him an extended backpacking trip. (One night)

We set out for the 12 mile hike up the 9000-ft Cucamonga Peak after school on Friday.

Here's Rig at the trail head.  His hat pushes his ears down and makes him look like he is waiting for the 'short bus' to pick him up and take him to the top.

First break, one mile in, trail mix and water.  Rig wore his LA hat to be like uncle Rhett.

The hike itself was prettier than I expected for being right in our backyard.

The whole hike Rig was either picking up a rock to throw, a stick to carry or something to take home to his sisters. 

Rig was excited for his first chance to pump water.  Luckily we filled everything we had because we didn't find any water after this.

There was a nice place to pitch a tent right next to the water hole, but Rig and I decided to hike to the next spot we found.  It was mostly dark and we seemed to be in a never ending series of switch-backs when we finally had to pick the widest section of the trail we had seen in a while to camp on.  

As we were making dinner, we noticed at first a couple of "giant" ants and then 10 or so, and all of the sudden a full on army coming for our dinner.  

 

This is my hand because Rig was 'playing it safe.' He didn't want to get bit.  We both decided  the best place to be was in the tent. 

Tommy Boy quote #1:

"Run for your lives! Your firearms are useless against them!" 

We packed some Uno cards.  Rig had all of his cards spread out behind him and was having to turn around and go through his pile every turn.  It was taking forever.  I was trying to teach him how to fan them out (pictured.)  When his frustration was released "Dad my hands are too little and the cards are too big!"  He eventually resorted back to the pile method.  

Needless to say our tent didn't quite fit on the trail.  Rig and I were both a little worried about slipping over the "cliff" in the night and rolling in the tent until we hit a tree.  I thought I would sleep on the side by the "cliff" because I trusted myself more than Rigdon in my sleep.  Rig had the realization that he should sleep by the cliff, because if I rolled over, I would pull us both over, but if he rolled off, my weight would keep us on.  Maybe he isn't going to ride the short bus.

   We woke up still on the trail and no sign of the ants so we enjoyed some oatmeal in the fresh air.  After we got home Sara asked Rig how the food was to which he answered "Delicious!" 

(Mom sent the plaid pajama pants.) 

The delicious food led to Rig's first back country number 2.  Which I probably should have checked to see if he buried it well enough but I decided to take his word for it.

Tommy Boy Quote #2 (Mormon Version):

"You can get a good look at a T-bone by sticking your head up the the bull's rear, but wouldn't you rather take the butcher's word for it."

2.4 miles to go.  

Rig posed in a log.

Finally at the top, we were able to spot Rig's school and approximate where our house was.

We stayed on the peak for about a half hour and had it all to ourselves, the whole time.

Rig thought there was ice on these pine-cones, maybe 6 months ago Rig.  He did manage to get that ice all over his whole arm.

 

We found an old mining shaft and explored it with our head lamps.  It went a lot further back than I thought.  We were both a little freaked out.   

Classic So Cal scenery.

Rig with a pretty big Sequoia.

Parts of the hike felt like a national park.

Rig was pretty tuckered out for the ride home.  Hopefully that hike was long enough for him.  It was definitely a blast for me.

Labor Day '08 (Swimming Hole, So Cal style)

I always do my homework on the internet before I plan a family outing.   I had been intrigued with Malibu for a while; so we mounted up the bikes to head for Malibu Creek State Park.  I had read about an awesome swimming hole that we could bike to.   

We got Subway for a picnic.  

Poor Rig, looks like his IQ has gone down by 2o points since he started losing his teeth.  

The girls were twinners, soon to be triplets. 

We were enjoying our nice little spot in the shade.  Until....

The 'Spanish Acquisition' happened.  These folk apparently liked our spot so they invited themselves right up.  I guess they figured since we didn't speak the same language, we wouldn't mind if they shared our log.  It was awesome!

The swimming hole was actually really cool, but the crowd was not.  Apparently the publishers of "The Guide to Southern California Swimming Holes" must have released a Spanish Edition, because they were all there.  Complete with the Mariachi Music on the Boom Box.   

We felt a little out of place because I didn't wear a 'wife beater' and our kids had swimming suits. 

This is like Where's Waldo, see if you can spot Rigdon.  He is the only Caucasian.

Despite the crowd we did do a little swimming, and I think we will go back again on a weekday. 

 

Guys Trip '08 (Grand Tetons)

This summer the "guys" agreed on the Tetons as a place with ample adventure opportunities. Originally we had planned to climb the Grand Teton but we eventually realized that was out of our league. So we shot for the Middle Teton but that ended up being a bust too. The trip was a riot despite our short comings.  Here is the trip log.

Everyone was optimistic at the start despite being at the Death Canyon trailhead. 

Rhett and I were the So Cal contingency.  He rocked the LA hat for the 30 plus miles.

Meanwhile little brother Rourke rocked the Gatorade.

Which eventually led to a "leaky" faucet.

Day one saw 3000 ft of elevation gain.  Rourke was wondering what he had got himself into.

Our first campsite probably wasn't within 10 miles of where our permit was for.  We took an intentional wrong turn to find some serenity.  It worked.  We were all by ourselves and without water for dinner.  

Rocky made due by cooking freeze dried stew with the only purple gatorade Rourke hadn't already drank.  We stretched it by putting it on tortillas and calling it a burrito.  Yeah, it was horrible, and we all went to bed thirsty that night.  

Bram represented the cougs well by powering down his purple burrito.  (Rocky and I ate half of ours and then hucked them into the forest for the bears.)

After passing a group of 12 adolescent girls the next morning, who all looked like they were handling things at least as well as we were, we all felt the 'manliness' of our trip was at stake if we didn't up the ante.  

So when we got half lost an hour later, we decided to just go with it.  We began "route finding." 

Since Bram had the most formal education we put him in charge of the map.  He attempted to guide us up the Middle Teton.  At the time it seemed like a good idea.  

We started with some small snow fields.

That eventually gave way to massive snow fields.

(We are the black dots in the distance.)

The good news was I finally felt justified in my crampon purchase of 3 years ago.  Prior to this day they had never seen the snow despite traveling in my pack for 90 miles plus.

  

Happy cramping!

Snow fields conquered but still no trail in sight, Rourke was starting to have some second thoughts about Bram's plan to make it up Middle Teton (visible in the top right corner), but the rest of us just ignored him.

   

Soon we were in more snow fields.

Some we were able to descend on our rears.  The only problem was we were suppose to be going up the mountain.

Because of blisters Rhett gave his feet a rest by wearing his chacos.

The snow fields gave his feet some intense "brain freezes" as he called them.

Rhett said this picture alone was worth the airfare. 

Eventually the terrain got pretty steep and we were all starting to have our doubts.  We had been climbing on all fours with full packs for a matter of an hour or so when a boulder was accidentally dislodged and nearly hit Bram.  This was the straw that broke the camels back and some explicatives began to fly (only in one direction) between a certain pair of brothers on the trip. (Me not being one of them.)  It was the kind of moment that you go on these trips for.     

Once out of harm's way, the heated temper subsided and the brothers made up.

(Brothers don't shake, brothers gotta HUG!)

Rocky led the way as we bushwhacked our way back to the nearest trail. 

 

That night Rhett let me sleep in his bivy.  Those things are not for the mildly claustrophobic.  I didn't think I was, but the panic I woke up in an hour after I fell asleep told me otherwise.

That night at camp Rourke had to dry his socks out.  He called it a tribute to Mr. Krugar's Christmas.

Day three we got back to traditional back packing and cranked up the mileage in an effort to get out a day earlier than planned so we could run the Snake river. 

Rhett pushed the pace and we all fought to keep up. 

We saw more epic country.

Rocky at Solitude Lake.  Rocky and I hiked ahead of the others so Rocky could hitchhike to get the truck while the others finished.  It worked out perfectly.

As usual we exaggerated our level of experience to convince a reputable company to rent us a raft.  The river was a little too mild for us and we eventually resorted to throwing each other over board as a means for excitement. 

Sara's favorite restaurant is The Cheesecake Factory and it turns out my new favorite is only two syllables different.  That's right "The Cheeseburger Factory" in Alpine, Wyoming. 

Check out that burger and tell me it wasn't worth the two years it shaved off my life.  No guys trip is complete without an eat off, and on this trip it was the big brothers from So Cal who dominated the rest of the field.  Although Rocky gave a valiant effort that ended in the alley behind the restaurant.   

All in all it was another epic guys trip!