Strauch/Bruno Web Photo Album

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Email us Tom, Laura, Matt or Kelsey. Search all the photo pages.

8/28&8/30-9/9/2024 Ramesh gets a new boat and we do a boat ride from Independence on the Willamette River with Josh; Celebrating Colin's 10th birthday with a visit to Chicago with Kelsey in for the weekend from New York; Colin's 4th grade teacher Mrs. Byers; party for Colin with Francesca , Lucas, Jen, BJ, Lola and Lolo; a day and night at the Navy Pier in downtown Chicago; architectural boat tour of all the cool buildings in downtown; Colin liked our cheese soufflé dinner on our last night there. Google Photos

8/19-24/2024 Larry's backpack in the Sierras with Leslie, Sharon, Afra and Mark. Google Photos

Tom's log of Larry's Sierra Backpack

Monday August 19 Leave after having lunch with Aaron, Addy and Laura (Julie and Tim were taking Liz down to the IntroDUCKtion at U of O where she will be starting her first year in the Honors College) for the 10 1/2 hour drive to Green Creek Trailhead 7,965 feet arriving at 11pm
Tuesday August 20 Meet Larry, Sharon, Leslie, Afra and Mark around 8:30am and then we backpack in to East Lake 9,462 feet 5.3 miles 1500 feet gain and set up camp for two nights. We all took a quick swim in the pond next the lake. It was still cold water but refreshing. Nice campsite spot on the peninsula but very windy.
Wednesday August 21 Day hike up to Par Value Lakes 10,483 feet 8 miles 2400 feet with everyone.
Thursday August 22 Backpack up to Hoover Lakes 9,855 feet 1.2 miles (These lakes are even more windy then East Lake) set up camp for the next two nights, have lunch then dayhike up to the pass 11,022 feet toward Virginia Lakes with Larry and I hiking up the ridge to a high point at 11,439 feet while Afra waited at the pass. Mark stayed in camp and Sharon and Leslie went part way up to the pass. Total for the day 9.5 miles 2200 feet.
Friday August 23 Down to freezing in the morning so Mark, Sharon and Leslie decide to hike out while Larry, Afra and I day hike up to Summit Lake and Pass then into Yosemite National Park dropping down to pick up the trail that goes to Virginia Pass. From there we pick up a side trail and bushwhack up to Return Lake. Larry and Afra hang out at the lake while I climb Grey Butte 11,385 feet (definitely challengin‌g with the last 500 feet of large boulders on a steep slope). Spam night and the three of us get double the serving since the other 3 hiked out. Total for the day 12 miles 3500 feet.
Saturday August 24 Wake up in the morning to an inch or two of snow on everything. Have a quick breakfast while it is still snowing then pack up everything wet and cold. Hard to keep the hands warm even though we have gloves (but not winter gloves!). There is snow down to Green Lake and still snowing but then as we backpack out the last 3 miles the weather clears and it is sunny again. Another great backpack in the Sierras along with some good challenges with the cold, wind and snow. Special thanks to Larry for planning all the hikes and backpack. We did this backpack with Ed, Neal, Ziv, John and Larry 14 years ago in the same area. It was fun going back again.

Larry's log and photos

August 18th through 24th was another adventure in the Sierra Nevada. Car camped our first night at the Trumbull Campground near Virginia Lakes and hiked to the pass above the lakes the following day to get acclimated. Also visited Moat Lake along the way.

Day 2 and 3 of our Sierra Nevada adventure we dropped off our bear canister, tents, and some there sleeping bags at the Virginia Lakes Pack station in the morning. We then drove to the Green Creek Trailhead and hiked in to East Lake where we would retrieve our gear dropped off by the mules and set up camp. The following morning we day hiked up to West Lake and then climbed off trail from there to Par Value Lakes. I had been to Par Value Lakes back in 2010, but had forgotten how beautiful this lake valley is. Then back to our camp with a stop at Green Lake where a few of us took a swim. Our camp on East Lake was windy making a swim in East Lake not so enticing, but east of our camp was a smaller body of water that was more wind protected so almost all of us took a dip there.

Now for day 4, 5, and 6 of our Sierra Nevada Adventure. On the morning of day 4 we broke camp at East Lake and loaded our gear into our backpacks for our trek to Hoover Lakes where we would set up camp. Originally, I had planned the trip to go to Summit Lake but since it had been cold and very windy, I expected Summit to be very very windy since it was on a pass. We found a great spot for camp between the two Hoover Lakes with a nice view of the lake. Only negative was getting water. The wind howled over the lakes so getting water was a cold experience. After arriving at camp some of us hiked up to the same pass we had hiked to on day 1 except we were coming up from the opposite side of the pass. I had wanted to try to climb a peak along the ridge north of the pass, peak 11568. Tom Strauch joined me for the attempt. I made it to a high point just south of the peak, about 11200 feet where the legs were tired and the climb ahead looked very rugged, so I stopped and watched Tom continue to the summit. Still worthwhile for me just to walk that ridge, the views were awesome. I guess I will have to start accepting that I'm getting old. Dohh!! Day 5 Leslie, Sharon, and Mark decided to hike out since the weather was cold, windy and the forecast for the following day was not to their liking. Tom, Afra and I day hiked up past Summit Lake going over Summit Pass into Yosemite NP. My favorite way to enter the park, no entry station, no fee, no people in site. From here we dropped into Virginia Canyon, my favorite area of the entire backpack. The vegetation in the canyon is lusher than that on the east side of the Sierra Crest. After dropping into the canyon, we continued up canyon to the outlet stream coming from Return Lake. From there it was an off trail climb to another of the many Sierra Lakes. From here my plan was to climb Grey Butte but again legs were tired after reaching Return Lake and to get back to camp we still had a 900 foot climb back up to Summit Pass. Once again, I'm no longer a young man. So, while Tom climbed the peak, I hiked around Return Lake and Afra took a nap along the lake. Back at camp we had our traditional fried spam dinner. Tom always serves the group spam on the final night of the trip and this time since three of the group elected to hike out early we had a double serving. We always look forward to it. During the night it snowed and was still coming down when we awoke in the morning. A cold wet, not so fun, packing up camp experience. But the hike out in the snow was special. It was like you were hiking out on a new trail as everything looks so different covered with snow with the visibility limited. Much more snow and it would have been very difficult to follow the trail out. The end of another wonderful Sierra Nevada Trip. Ohhh, and on the way home Afra and I stopped at Mohagany Meats in Bishop for lunch. If you have never been there make a point of it on your next visit of Bishop. The sandwiches and soooo good.

Larry's Day 1 Photos

Larry's Day 2 and 3 Photos

Larry's Day 4, 5 and 6 Photos

Mark's Photos

https://photos.app.goo.gl/NpYmPDpa7detjnHw9

8/4&5&6-8&12&18-20/2024 6th Annual Kayak and Paddleboard with Mary, Jennifer, David, Jessica, Brian, Diane and Will; We started at the Spring Valley Willamette Greenway and paddled 8 miles down to Duke Bar on the Willamette River; Fun time! Hart's Cove hike 3.4 miles 700 feet on the coast; Wanlu, Chen and their new baby boy at our Top Golf event; Jessica and Kira at the Yard with our D & A Group for dinner; a flight to the coast in a Cessna Skyhawk 172 with our pilot Ramesh and Jennifer and Ramon; 4-in-One-Cone hike 10 miles 1500 feet with Brian in the Cascades; Salem Carousel with Aaron and Addy trying to grab the brass ring while Liz, Julie and Tim our at the IntroDucktion down at U of O where Liz will be going to the Honors College, Google Photos