Adventures in Onionism

Pretty underwhelming trip to the Sierras this weekend. Since I taught this summer and will be traveling most of September, this was perhaps my best and possibly only opportunity to turn it into something really big. My next race is in three weeks (Plain--fire gods willing), so I thought this would be good timing for big training miles, too. So I drove an extra couple hours (5+ instead of the normal 3+) and headed to Sierra National Forest. However, the Rough Fire was uninterested in my plans, and the views in the normally stellar Kaiser, Ansel Adams, and John Muir wildernesses were terrible, as was the air quality. Friday afternoon I did a short run to Potter Pass. I intended to bag Kaiser peak and do a fairly significant loop, but the trail signage was sub-par so I went the wrong way, and the trail was really sandy (and heavily horse-traveled?) so I wasn't really feeling it. Also, cows.  The lakes were pretty though. Saturday I drove out to VVR and the end of Kaiser Pass Ro...

First, a very important question. I am in search of a high-altitude, wifi-enabled, dog-friendly coffee shop on the western slope of the Sierra between HWY 108 and I-80. Where is this magical place only a few hours from Berkeley where I can go to work for a few hours, still bring George, and easily get in an evening run, camp in the truck, and get into the wilderness the next day? Towns along 49 are too low and too hot in the summer, and not very close to real wilderness. I guess Truckee is probably a good option (I do have friends there), but I'd prefer more access to granite, which is mostly further south. Kirkwood on 88 was OK this weekend, and it seemed like there were a couple potential places on 50 on my way home today. Anyway, I'd love some recommendations. Now to the point: I braved holiday traffic to get to the mountains. I drove up 88 on Friday. Set up camp near Caples Lake (Schneider Camp) and hiked up Little Round Top for an excellent sunset. Saturday I had big pla...

Didn't manage to get out of town on Friday, since I was exhausted after my first week of teaching and writing an RFP at work, so it turned into an overnighter to Carson-Iceberg Wilderness. Saturday wasn't amazing, as Lake Alpine is crowded and the trails near there were either non-existent or just hard to figure out near the campgrounds. I headed south past Duck Lake, Rock Lake, and over to Elephant Rock Lake and back, a burn made navigation difficult, but the lakes were pretty. Just wasn't really feeling it--hadn't fully recovered from the race last week, and didn't eat enough breakfast or lunch before starting the run, so it turned into more of a hike. Rock Lake Exiting Dardanelles off to the south, I think Duck Lake Looking south from Cape Horn, on HWY 4. Same Sunday was better. Drove further east to Highland Lakes, which are really pretty. Not at all crowded, and I picked a decent 21-mile loop. George saw his first bear, but ...