The Week That Was

Mt. Sheridan (almost)

On Wednesday I set out to climb Mt. Sheridan. All 10,320 feet and 24 miles (total) of it. I ended up only being able to do 20 of those 24 miles, because I wore my new hiking shoes and got some wicked blisters. Two miles from the top, the one above my right heel popped and send me back down. So I ended up having to hike out 10 miles with, in the end, 2 popped blisters. Oh what a joyous day!!

But the scenery was amazing. At the base of the mountain is Heart Lake, and it's a huge and gorgeous backcountry lake.




Also I saw another family of Great Gray Owls. What luck. The first one I saw on the way to the mountain as it flew from a tree down to a small stream for a drink of water.

On the way out, blisters and all, I heard another one which turned out to be two of them. One adult and one fledgling. They were really neat and just stayed perched in some trees checking me out as I took their picture. Too cool.

Who's Hungry? Want a hotdog?

On Wednesday night, there was a hotdog eating contest at the pub and of course I was in it. Out of 10 competitors I finished a respectable fourth having eaten 7 hotdogs and 6 buns in 15 minutes. The winner had 7 3/4 hotdogs and 7 1/2 buns. Fortunately noone hurled!

Damn the Blisters!! Full Speed Ahead!! To Osprey Falls that is.

So because I'm either stupid or crazy, on Thursday I decided to hike to Osprey Falls with my friends Micaela, her boyfriend Robert, and Trevor. Because of the blisters, I couldn't wear shoes so I wore my sandals instead. Yeah real smart. Especially considering that the hike to Osprey Falls is 10 miles round trip and you have to climb down into an 800 foot deep canyon in only 0.6 miles which makes for one hella steep trail. But wouldn't you know it, even with the sandals, I was the only person in our group who didn't fall down. Score one for me! The falls were amazing and 150 feet tall. What was the neatest thing was that Osprey Falls actually starts the canyon it's in. Too cool. Check it out.

Random Fun Pictures

This is the biggest moth I've ever seen.

I have no idea what kind of moth it is. So help me out. It's about 4 inches long!!

After our hike of Osprey Falls we stopped in Mammoth for some refreshments and there were elk everywhere. I took this picture of a young elk looking at a magpie on its mother's back.