South Lake to North Lake via Lamarck Col

“made it back to the boring flat cornfields of home....it was a pleasure to meet everyone....i felt at home immediately thanks to phil and phil junior's hospitality and kindness....absolutely the best trip i've ever been on!!

california rocks!!”

“gonzo - Great getting to know you! My family really enjoyed your brief visit. (Email me your address...some of your laundry didn't make it in your bag!)

Working on my pics (tedious uploading) while I try to catch up on work!

It is hard to think about much else than the Sierras today and the great group of people we had!”

“Phil, we sang "Happy Birthday" to you at the Stockton dinner party. Did you hear us? Chris had the audacity to order one desert and eleven spoons, and we passed around your cake and each had a bite.”

“I had three bites! I think I had three of your cheese cake on Fri. too. Happy birthday Phil.(urp). Home..safe...what a great group of people. I got so lost..thanks for all the directions and the radio.”

“Got home safe after another wonderful trip to the Sierras.Beautiful views,great challenges and awesome company made the trip excellent.

Sir Naviguesser-many,many thanks once again for your hospitality and transport to and from the airport and trailhead.You made this trip very pleasant and easy for me.

Geologyguy-nice meeting you and thanks for getting this beautiful trip together.

LadyHiker-again it was so great to see you as I knew it would be.Hope to see you this winter.

Hikerchic-Great seeing you again.Hope to see you in the winter also.

KelleyKlimber- ; ) Thought I'd try..lol
You were a great addition to our group.An inspiration for sure.Great meeting you.Hope you hang with us again soon.

Wannabp and Landscaper-enjoyed hiking with you guys.We did spend alot of time on the trail together..See you guys at THE WINDS...WOOHOO!!!

Matt-It was a pleasure finally getting to meet you..even if it was in California..(We weren't in Tennssee anymore were we..WOW)
Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.It was great having a fellow Tennessean along,especially since it was the webmaster. : )
Thanks again for Trail Talk Matt.

Phil-you're the man..Hope you had a great BD.It was wonderful to see you again.

Phil's son- great seeing you again also.Keep up the good work and hope to see you next year.

Wind Walker-Enjoyed our talks.Your an inspiration to us all.It was great spending more time with you this time.

Hodge-Thanks for your experience and direction through the cross country sections.Very nice seeing you again.

JVZ- It wouldn't be the same without you.Hope to see you this winter also.

Gonzo-Very nice..Hope to see you at Mt.Rogers.

Rockman-nice to see you again..you're looking great man.

Cubfan-Really nice meeting you.Go with us again soon.

Eugene-You're most welcome for the first aid on the blister.That's me job..lol
I hope your future plans take you far and away to many beautiful places.

I can't say enough about the beautiful Sierras'.It is very challenging at times but that's what keeps me interested in hiking.

I say..Trail Talk people and Trail Talk Trips....ROCK!!!”

“Look what I found on the trail on Friday:

Phil”

“I'm glad you guys had a good trip. So, when are we going into Ionian Basin?”

“Hey Gang!

Went by Old Timer's place to drop LadyHiker off, then made it safely up to China Chas' place in Portland. ...... Loooong drive !!

We're having a look at some of the photos. Wind Walker, that morning shot at Dusy is fantastic !

LadyHiker - I pointed you out to Chas, in the group photo, but he still doesn't believe you are a real person LOL”

“wannabp- Thanks for askin'

One my kids is showing us signs of autism, but we're unsure about it. It's early, but the red flags are there. And the other child is somewhat delayed in development also. Discovered it last week and we've spent the last several days setting up one-on-one learning and social development therapy they need.

Raising twins is hard work. 8)”

“tekdude - Thanks for sharing. We will be praying for your family! Really missed you on the trip, but understand your priorities.”

“i almost hesitate to submit my snapshots since i was in the company of so many gifted photographers on this trip, but here they are....i'll add captions later when i have more time....

http://community.webshots.com/album/164670620nbjUyq

i'm new to this webshots thing...i think that this is the right address....”

“Tekdude, I hope it turns out to be an ungrounded concern, but I'm glad you are taking steps to get things evaluated and to get early intervention. I work with 0-3 year-olds and have seen impressive and consistent benefits with early intervention -- kids who show delays as infants and graduate from treatment before or at age 3. It works. E-mail me if you have any questions or want to know what's available. Much of what is available is free because the benefits are so well-established and pay off when started before school age. And I'll be holding your family close to my heart meanwhile.”

“Going back to work after a trip like that really sucks.
And I mean that in a TOTALLY different way.....”

“I agree about the work. My mind is in the mountains.”

“I AGREE!! Work SUCKS!!

What an awesome trip! So great to see so many old friends and meeting more new friends... and especially Eugene! (Hope we didn't lead you astray...:-)

Hodge - Always enjoy the road trips with you.. Thanks! I'm ready for the next one! Tell Charlie that after 3 tequillas, I AM invisible, so maybe he is right....”

“Hey Everyone,

If anyone knows how to contact Kelli, please tell her to go to (bearvault.com). They have a notice about the lid for her bear container. They are sending free replacements for a new redesign of the lid to people who have the old 2 piece design. The problem she was having with hers along the trail has happened to other people. All she needs to do is send them her mailing address, place of purchase and price and they will send out a replacement.

Thanks, Mark”

“Landscaper, you were right.

col (kl)
n.
A pass between two mountain peaks or a gap in a ridge.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[French, from Old French, neck, from Latin collum. See kwel-1 in Indo-European Roots.]”

“I really appreciate the birthday celebrations and birthday wishes...even the ones in absentia!!! Hodgeman gave me a calendar of awesome quality photos from the Canadian Rockies. It will be prominently displayed.”

“Glad you liked it, Phil

Just got home to BC. Fortunately, customs was a breeze. I doubt I'd have had much patience for a long line up..... getting a little too familiar with the front seat of my Jeep.

But what a great road trip ! 2400 miles round trip with 44 hours key-on

Thanks again too my TT friends along the way, for your gracious hospitality. Hikerchic, Old Timer & China Chas... you guys are the best
:-))”

“Gonzo, I like your photos. Good job! I just took a break from work to relive the trip with them.”

“SierraPalooza 2004

Days 0, 1, & 2

Days 3 & 4

Days 5 & 6

Enjoy!”

“Who were the 11 people at the Stockton dinner party??

...I think I did hear some ringing in my ears...it must have been your singing.”

“The Sierrapalooza II group web page is up and running !!

Keep those great photos comin'

I hope I can find some time to add my own shots

Feel free to email me the links, or just post them here and I'll try not to miss anybody.

If for any reason you would prefer not to have your links and/or headshot included on the page, just let me know

http://www3.telus.net/hodgeman2/galleries/04_sierra/content.htm" target="_blank">

Sierrapalooza II

”

“Stockton Dinner:
JVZ
Mrs JVZ
LadyHiker
Obi Wan
Hodgeman
Rockman
Pepperdog
Trail Bum
Hikerchic
Wannabp
Landscaper

I hope I got that right
;-)”

“WHAT AN AWESOME TRIP!!!! I don't even know how to express how awesome this trip was! Amazing people and inspiring sites. The pictures so far are phenonmenal!!! I'll have to spend a few more hours looking through them all. (oh, wind walker, congrats on the international sale!)

I'm almost done with the trip report. Gonzo: were you still going to work on that too, or should I roll with it?
Oh, and Cubfan, thanks for the info on the bearvault. As soon as I get home I will get myself a new one!

I can't wait to post the first installment of the trip report. I'll try and get it out tomorrow from the Tahoe Public Library or here at the Ridge Tahoe.

Have a great day all! Once again, you all are the BOMB!! and the Sierras, what can I say, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

“trail angel - OK. Do I need to change your name on my photo album? It would only take a few minutes. What's your pleasure?

Super having you on the trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And looking forward to the trip report. You can give it in installments, you know...lots of precidents set for that around here.”

“So whats up for next year as I CANNOT MISS IT???!!!!
(missed you guys but did end up going into Pioneer Basin and Fourth recess and OHMIGOD! It was incredible)”

“Thanks Trail Angel...looking forward to your report!
Did Jack's Place have enough bacon? ;)”

“hey there trail angel....

you just go with it....you were writing everything down in your journal as we were hiking....should be much more accurate than my memory....”

“Great pics Gonzo & Phil. I've been thinking about the trip all day today and I'm ready to go out again!

I have finally uploaded my pics but will add captions in the following days.

They can viewed here -
Sierrapaloosa II pics

Thanks to everyone who went. You made the hike a fun one!”

“Rockman - Awesome pics!!! (except for #138)”

“trailtrekker - Two ideas for next year floated around after the trip: Something in Yosemite or something out over Whitney. Research will begin soon!”

“wonderful pictures everyone!”

“Whew doggy! From the reports and the OUTSTANDING pics so far, this trip looks like it lived up to, and even exceeded its expectations! It's one of the most beautiful sections of the High Sierra. You guys rock!”

“In one of the photos I saw a note from Snow Nymph saying she passed through and was on her way to Rock Creek? Well hot-diggity-darn, I was at Rock Creek last weekend when she was there. And I didn't even know. Hmmpphh!”

“Looking forward to the trip report, Trail Angel.

Nice shots Rockman. The close-up fish and flower pics are great. You've been added to the group page”

“Hey Rockman, those are some pretty sweet golden trout! Were those from Evolution Lake?”

“that's a nice likeness of rockman on your group page, hodge....”

“Hodge, thanks for adding me BUT you do know my pic kinda resembles the infamous Chuckee Cheese! :)

Buck, it was an awesome hike with great scenery and peeps. The trout were caught at the outflow of the 3rd lake in Darwin Canyon. These are the first goldies I've ever caught and I thought they didn't grow larger than 8". Two of the trout are mine caught on a fly and the rest caught by Phil and Phils Son with a lure.

Oh, and if anyone wants a photo of higher resolution just let me know. I can email it to you.”

“Cool! I was wondering because I've caught lots of goldens out of Evolution Lake but they seem to be overpopulated and stunted and I never caught goldens of that size there. As for goldens getting big, oh yaaaa, man, I've caught 'em up to 20" and seen them quite a few inches larger than that!”

“Hey Rockman - Yer right, that shot does make you look a bit like Chucke Cheese. I'll see if I can find a better one..... hehehe
;-)”

“Buck - My son caught 4 goldens at Evolution lake that were too small to keep. I caught 4 there, but never got them in. They were keepers though.

At the second Darwin Lake we caught those nice big ones! Rockman's was the biggest on the string, but I would say that 7 of the 8 were 11 inches or more. They almost tasted like salmon!”

“Come on people. Where are all the pics?”

“Phil: I do like my new name, but if it's too much trouble to change, no worries. Thanks ;)

Rockman: Awesome pics! I like the flowers too, they are top quality photos dude.

Okay, trip report... still didn't make it to the library, but I'm heading down the mountain first thing tomorrow morning. Hope you all enjoy. I plan to send the whole thing to Hodge so he can put it on the trip web page and just put installments on TT for those less inclined to read the whole novel all at once.

Will that work Hodge?

bye ya' all!”

“

Took this in the early AM @ Dusy Basin 8)”

“Sounds good Angel - Go ahead and email it to me. Can you post the installments, or did you want me to? I'm on the trail again Friday morning, for the weekend. Don't want to miss the wildflower show in the Cascades.

It will likely be next week before I get through all of the email and photos etc. Then I'll hopefully have time to put together a page for the report”

“http://community.webshots.com/album/165518819GhRAGi

I've uploaded some of the pictures. I'll try to get the rest loaded tomorrow, plus captions...

Rockman... Interesting Muir Hut picture I have... Send me your email and $$$$$ for bribery.. :-)”

“I was at Rock Creek , too. Coming out of Pioneer on the 18th.”

“ Windwalker's Photo Journal

I have only gotten up to "Lake Eugene" I'll try to finish the rest tomorrow....I'm tired.”