Yosemite bound

The weekend following our Desolation Wilderness trip we took the opportunity to go somewhere that we've always wanted to go, Yosemite! Being a climber, naturally, I've always wanted to go to Yosemite. By any climber's standards it is an ueber-Mecca. Despite the multitude of rock this trip was to be, however, a trip to see the sites. Holly and I had three days, and with three days one can barely scratch the surface of a park as varied and beautiful as Yosemite. We stayed at Tuolumne Meadows campground, which is closest to the eastern entrance of the park near Tioga Pass. Despite staying at Tuolumne we spent most of our time down in the Valley. One thing about Yosemite is that probably every tourist who goes there has already seen countless images of the place. So you'd think that the seeing that many images would detract from the whole experience. On this note, I'd have to strongly disagree. Driving into Yosemite that first night was nothing short of amazing, and it is little wonder that people like Muir and Adams devoted their lives to documenting and saving this sacred place. The first evening we arrived just in time to see the sites of Yosemite Valley.

The second day we decided to go on a hike. We picked a trail that started at Olmsted Point just down from Tenaya Lake and descended down into the valley. We figured that this was sort of the ultimate trail where we could enjoy the best of both the high country and the valley. As it turned out the trail was absolutely spectacular with straight-on views of Half Dome. However, the moment it reached the edge of Yosemite Valley it dropped down 3,000 feet of switchbacks. We ended up underestimating the rigor of going downhill, which was especially hard on Holly's knees. Trying to hike as fast as we could we just barely missed the bus back to Tuolumne by 10 minutes. Now we were stranded and we needed to get back to our car and campsite. Our only option was to hitchhike so we caught the shuttle to Camp 4 and stuck our thumbs out. It took about half an hour before a car pulled over. Most surprisingly it turned out that that car was a taxi. In a near state of disbelief we walked over to the taxi expecting the taxi driver to charge $100 for the ride, but as it turned out two hikers on the John Muir Trail had bailed out early and had hired the taxi for the day to bring them back to their cars at Tuolumne. We enjoyed the ride back up to the car and gave the backpackers $20 to help cover our part of the trip. The final day we spent looking at the falls and swimming in the Merced River, before leaving the park in the midst if a major rainstorm.

Holly's first backpacking trip

I know that a blog is supposed to be chronological, but every once in a while I get out of sync. This posting goes all the way back to 4th of July weekend when Holly, Chester, and I went into the Desolation Wilderness. Most of you hard core wilderness types know that Desolation Wilderness is not desolate. In fact, it is probably the most crowded wilderness area in the Sierra., but it is also extremely beautiful. Given the crowds at Tahoe that weekend, we were happy to be in wilderness enjoying part of nature. This was also Holly's first backpacking trip, as well as Chester's. Holly got a new backpack that she was testing out, ans we got Chester dog panniers.

Our trip started off at the Bayview trailhead near Emerald Bay and led us up to the peaceful Lower Velma Lake. Holly did very well carrying a heavy pack, but unfortunately she ended up with blisters. The following day we did the short hike to Middle Velma Lake where we found a great camp spot alongside the lake. We took the day easy, went for a swim, and by the evening the smoke had almost already completely cleared. At this point in time northern California and northern Nevada were experiencing large wildfires that led to many hazy days during the months of June and July. The final day involved an extra loop that went up past Dicks Lake. This was probably the scenic highlight of the trip although it is difficult to compare one amazing vista to the next. We hiked back down to Eagle Lake where we went for a brief swim before returning to civilization.

Matterhorn Peak: First High Sierra Rock Climb

The Sierra Nevada has some of the finest alpine rock climbs around. Naturally, I've been dying to get out climb long routes, and finally I got my chance. This past weekend Newton Debardeleben and I set out to climb Matterhorn Peak, the high point of the Sawtooth Range located just outside of Bridgeport, California. The Sawtooths are steep jagged spine of mountains that extend along the Sierra crest and are considered by many to be the northernmost of the High Sierra.

We decided to make the trip in two days, which meant that we needed to set up a high camp the first day and then make the climb, hike back to camp, descend to the car, and drive back to Reno the second day. This was all quite doable, although it amounted to a good workout. On Saturday we arrived at US Forest Service Ranger Station in Bridgeport at 7:15 am just in time to snag the last permit for the Horse Creek unit. We enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and then headed up Horse Creek Trail from Twin Lakes. We arrived with plenty of time at an awesome campsite next to a small lake with beautiful views of the mountain and decided to scout the route. Hiking up 2,000 feet of scree proved to be slower than we expected, however, it gave us the opportunity to re-calibrate our expectations for the next day's demands.

At 4:30 am we woke, packed up quickly, and started the hike to the base of the peak. The route that we had our sights set on was the North Arete of Matterhorn Peak, which is the most prominent route as seen from Bridgeport or Twin Lakes area. At 7:00 am we got on the first pitch which consisted of mostly loose blocks of rock. The route totalled six pitches according to the guidebook, although the last two pitches we split into two to reduce rope drag and there was a third pitch of 3rd class scrambling along a knife-edge ridge. the weather proved to be cold, with a steady wind blowing, and most of the route being in the shade. The few sunny wind free spots felt like a godsend. The climbing proved to be enjoyable with no single move greater than 5.7. In classic alpine style there was some routefinding to be had and all but one pitch featured loose rock. At 1 pm we topped out and were greeted with gorgeous views of the northern part of Yosemite Park as well as extensive views into the Great Basin to the east.

Photos 1) View of the Sawtooth Range from east of Twin Lakes 2) Closeup view of Matterhorn Peak. The north arete is the prominent route in the foreground. 3) View of Matterhorn Peak from camp 4) Newton at the bottom of the third pitch 5) Sunrise on the Sawtooth Range

Keep on climbing

Despite my lack of posting on this blog this summer I actually have been climbing, although not nearly as often as I'd like to be. This summer I've made forays to the usual climbing spots: Lovers Leap, Donner Summit, Sugarloaf, Phantom Spires, and River Rocks. However, I don't have any photos to post. The latter half of the summer I plan on focusing on long trad routes and alpine routes in the High Sierra, so hopefully I'll be back here with some good photos. the last two weekends I've been spending time with Holly. We did a great little backpacking trip in the Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe and spent the last weekend at Yosemite where we did a hike that led from near Tenaya Lake down into Yosemite Valley. Expect a couple of posts on those trips in the near future. I've also been busy doing fieldwork in the Walker River Basin of Nevada and California, usually going for 3 to 4 days at a time and returning home on the weekend. That doesn't give me much of an opportunity to climb during the week, however, I do get to see some great places when I go in the field.

Photo: Wassuk Range located just east of the terminus of the Walker River, Nevada.

R & R on the Coast

After spending a wonderful week with family between graduation and our wedding reception Holly and I decided to head out to the California and Oregon coasts on our honeymoon. We started our trip from Reno driving directly to Fort Bragg California. From there we worked our way north along the California coastline visiting redwoods and beaches and camping along the way. Chester got his first taste of the ocean while we got to try some of the North Coast breweries finest. Along the way we took our time to enjoy the sights the sounds and the smells of this wonderful country. At Crescent City we decided to head north toward the Oregon Caves National Monument. As we drove along we noticed a sign pointing toward local vineyards and decided to check it out. When we went in we were surprised that the owners happened to be a good friend of Holly's dad, Terry Benndock, who had retired from Fish & Game and had moved to Oregon to open a vineyard. After sampling some fine Oregon pinot noir we moved on to the Oregon Caves National Monument where I got to go inside of my first ever cave. It was very cool (not just in the literal sense). Perhaps someday I'll give spelunking a try.

From the Oregon Caves we returned to Crescent City area staying at campgrounds along the beautiful Smith River, perhaps the finest river on the northern California Coast. While in the area we did some hiking and walked through the redwoods. Turning north we went into Oregon to discover deteriorating weather. Throughout the entire trip we hadn't had a single day of rain, but once we reached Oregon the rain came down pretty hard. The positive side of this is that we ended up discovering that Oregon State P arks have yurts, probably a great option for future early summer trips in this area. While in Oregon we explored the Sea Lion Caves and the Oregon Dunes. Chester, especially, enjoyed the running down the dunes at full speed.

In Oregon we also got the opportunity to see my mom, grandma, and uncle who live near the central part of the coast. It was nice to see my grandma and uncle and to have some time to catch up. After spending a few days with family before we headed north to Washington State where my climbing partner from Alaska, Sean Bemis, was getting married. Sean and his bride, Shannon, although married two weeks earlier on the east coast but held a beautiful reception ceremony near the shores of Hood Canal. Several of my good friends from Alaska were there to visit, some bringing newborns in tow. It was a great opportunity to see good friends that I hadn't seen for quite a while.

Photographs: 1) Holly and I aboard the Dixie on Lake Tahoe the weekend of graduation. 2) Holly and Chester stand in front of the Chandelier Tree, one of three drive-through redwoods. 3) Photo from inside the Oregon Caves. 4) The beautiful Smith River was so clear that one can see every rock. 5) Heceta Head lighthouse along the Oregon Coast.

Graduation and wedding reception

The last couple of months have been busy ones with me presenting at two conferences in April and Holly finishing her masters program. Last weekend our family came to visit for our graduation ceremony, which was held on the historic quad at the University of Nevada, just in front of the building where the Geography Department is housed. It has been really nice having family here visiting. This upcoming weekend Holly and I are having our wedding reception ceremony at Rancho San Rafael.

New weblink

Last December I helped my mom start a blog about her artwork. Since retiring from teaching about five years ago she has re-discovered watercolor and has made it into a second career of sorts. I've added a permanent link from my blog to hers. You can view her artwork and she has instructions for contacting her if you would like to order card sets and/or watercolors.

Spring or winter, I can't tell

Lately I've been a bad blogger. I haven't posted once since December. However, just because I haven't been posting doesn't mean that I haven't been doing stuff. This winter I got out ice climbing with Gwen Linde at both Lee Vining Canyon and Horsehoe Falls near June Lake. Horseshoe Falls is a great early season climbing spot, but the climbs aren't too steep. Lee Vining Canyon was lacking something this year; the entire Bard Harrington wall! As a result Chouinard Falls was very crowded, and because Lee Vining seems to be the only reliable waterfall ice in California it get packed with guided groups and clubs. I have nothing against guiding, and I think that clubs have a right to climb, however this year things got to the point of absurdity. One weekend a guided group and a mountaineering club each hung four ropes on Chouinard, which can only support nine climbs squeezed in. Guess where we were? Right in the middle. However, the most unfortunate thing is that every other small party was run off. Apart from the crowds the ice was in great shape, and I'm gradually getting better at leading. Perhaps, next winter a trip to Lamoille Canyon, the Wastach, or even Ouray will be in order.

Christmas this year saw Holly and I travelling to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where we spent the holidays with family. Holly's brother, Paul, proposed to his long-time girlfriend, Lacey on Christmas Day. Needless to say we'll be traveling back this fall to attend their wedding. Jackson Hole ski area rocks! It is probably my favorite large ski resort, because of its size and the variety of the terrain.

After returning to Reno I got a few good ski days in at Northstar-at-Tahoe. At first I was dismayed about the lack of difficult terrain and the crowds. However, later in the season I got up there on a storm day and discovered that when the weather is the stormiest that is when Northstar shines. The ski area, which is entirely below treeline, seems to be pretty resistant to all but the fiercest winds. As a result, when other places shut their lifts Northstars are still running.

This winter was also our first winter with Chester. I ended up taking Chester on a number of snowshoe hikes, which he absolutely loves. I really enjoy the opportunity to get away from the ski area and climbing area crowds.

This winter has also been a busy one for me at work. Next month I've got two academic conferences: the first is the International Assocation fo Landscape Ecologists in Madison, Wisconsin, the second is the Association of American Geographers in Boston. In between I'l be stopping off in DC to see Cara and to check out the cherry blossoms. Happy spring.

End of Autumn, Begining of Winter

These past two weeks we've really seen a transition from autumn to winter here in Reno. Prior to Thanksgiving I had a couple of opportunities to get out and go hiking. Scotty Strachan and I did an afternoon hike up Snow Valley Peak, which overlooks Carson City and Marlette Lake. I'd highly recommend the peak. It can be accessed from the Spooner Summit trailhead of the Tahoe Rim Trail. Alas, with the recent snow that will probably be one of my last hikes of the season that doesn't require snowshoes.

This last week we received our first major storm of the winter in the Sierra, which included a little dusting down here in Reno. The snow seemed to be perfectly timed to make it feel a bit more holiday-like. Most of the major ski resorts are open now, but it will still take quite a bit more snow for them to open all of their terrain. Next weekend I'm planning on doing a little skiing at Northstar, which is the resort that I chose to get a season's pass for this year. The following weekend Holly and I will be headed to Jackson Hole for Christmas.

I filed all of the paperwork for graduation, so now I'm official. Although I'm graduating this semester I won't walk in the ceremony until next semester. Also, I've submitted my first manuscript for publication in an academic journal: the Annals of the Association of American Geographers.

Back in the mountains

For the first time since this summer I went hiking in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, near my home in Reno. It was nice to get out in nature once again after such a long absence of outdoor activity. Holly and I took Chester to the Davis Creek Park end of Ophir Creek Trail, just south of Reno. We had a nice hike up to a small alpine lake, which we had all to ourselves.

In other news Holly and I got ski passes to Northstar-at-Tahoe this year. Being lower in elevation than the other ski areas means that it tends to get less snow, so it is sort of a gamble. However, I wanted to try something a little different this year, and the pass also includes access to the cross-country ski trails as well as the downhill ski lifts.

Successful thesis defense

Last week I defended my master's thesis, which included a public presentation of my research. Fortunately, things went well, and there were no hiccups. The title of my thesis was "Morphometric characterization of artificial post-mining landforms and natural landforms using a Geographic Information System", which is quite a mouthful. However, the premise is fairly easy to understand. Gold mining in Nevada produces large landforms, hills really. The goal of the thesis was to use GIS to determine how artificially-produced terrain differs from natural terrain, in other words, to quantify the shape and form of landforms. I've got a few minor revisions to the thesis before I submit it to the graduate school and then I'm done!

Thesis defense scheduled

I've scheduled my thesis defense for 4:00 pm November 6th in Mackay Science. I'm excited about finishing my master's and presenting the results of my thesis.

Got married at Lake Tahoe

The biggest news in my life this fall is that Holly and I got married. We had a small ceremony at an old fire lookout that overlooks Lake Tahoe. The ceremony included exchanging vows that we had written and a champagne toast. The weather turned out to be beautiful on Sunday even though there was a 1/4 foot of snow on the ground on Friday. Reverend Stephanie of Carson City performed the ceremony. Liz Barrett was Holly's maid of honor and witness. Stephanie's daughter, Nadia, was our second witness, and Chester was present too. We have a wedding website that provides more details including a link to a photo gallery. The reception won't be held until May 24th, 2008 at Rancho San Rafael in Reno.

New professional website

New job and new professional website -

This past week I started working for the Great Basin Landscape Ecology Lab at the university as a full time researcher. The lab is headed by Dr. Peter Weisberg and is comprised of postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Peter has a variety of field studies going on at this point, most of them are scattered across California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. The project that I'm going to be working on is the Walker River Basin project, which investigates the ecological implications of changing land use in the Walker River Basin. The goal of the project is to identify changes in land use that might result in putting water back into Walker Lake, which at present, is rapidly disappearing. My tasks involve using GIS and spatial modeling to scale up plot-level studies in order to estimate evapotranspiration, net primary productivity, biomass, etc. for the basin under different potential land use scenarios.


You can view my new web page and CV at:


http://www.cabnr.unr.edu/weisberg/people/tom.htm

Forced vacation does some good

Power outage at the university forces me away from my computer -

These last couple of months I've been pretty tied up trying to finish my master's thesis. Well, an unsuspected power outage at the university left Mackay Science without power for four days. I decided to take the opportunity to take some time off and enjoy the wonderful summer that we've been having in the eastern Sierra. On Friday Holly, Chester and I headed up to Lake Tahoe for some swimming. Then we joined Holly's aunt, uncle, and cousin for a camping trip to Bridgeport, California. By the way, if you've never been to the eastern Sierra I'd highly recommend going. It is absolutely beautiful and relatively uncrowded by California standards. We spent Saturday checking out the historic ghost town of Bodie, which is by itself way out in the desert. Then Sunday we traveled up to Twin Lakes, in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountains.

Maps featured in Climbing Magazine

Maps featured in the most current edition of Climbing Magazine -

We all have a gut feel about which places are the best to live for climbing. However, I wanted to see how things would look if livability based upon climbing was put on a map. The result are the three maps below. The first map only factors in crags within 100 kilometers, the second 200 kilometers, and the third 400 kilometers. For more information about the methods see the poster in my July posting. You can also save the images by clicking on them to enlarge them and then right clicking and selecting save.

Photo on the College of Science Website

Poster contest photo featured on the College of Science Website -

Tim Weigel and I recently were featured on the University of Nevada Reno College of Science website along with the other winners of the student poster contest. Our poster took third place. The poster was entitled "A weights-of-evidence approach to mapping avalanche terrain in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA", and was a class project that we had done in the fall semester. That is Tim in the white shirt. I'm in the blue shirt on the far right side.

http://www.unr.edu/cos/Main-Events.html

In other news I'll be traveling to Elko, Nevada next week for a mine closure and reclamation workshop. I'm planning on giving a talk entitled "Geographic information systems, landscape ecology, and geomorphometry: what they are and what they can do for mine reclamation".

Work soon to be featured in Climbing Magazine

Defining livability based upon proximity to climbing crags -

This winter I undertook a project to determine which portions of the country are the best for climbers. After contacting Climbing Magazine, editor Matt Samet agreed to write a piece about my research. Look for my maps and an interview in the Off the Wall column of the August edition. I scanned, georeferenced, and digitized maps from Rock N' Road, a climbing atlas authored by Tim Toula. Then I analyzed the data in a GIS to produce a map of livability based upon the number of crags in the vicinity. Hopefully, the maps will provide people with a graphical representation of climbing potential in certain areas of the lower-forty eight states. At this time I feel that Alaska, Canada, Mexico, and maybe Hawaii haven't been as thoroughly explored as the forty-eight contiguous states, and that it wouldn't be fair to compare them. Sort of like apples and oranges. Below is a poster that I put together and presented at the Nevada GIS Conference in South Lake Tahoe.

New Addition to the Family

Chester Joins the Family -

Today Holly and I went to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shelter in Reno, near the coner of 4th and Wells. We adopted Chester, a 10 month old yellow lab with a great temperament. We've been looking at getting a dog for quite a while now, but have been waiting for the perfect dog to catch our attention. Holly noticed Chester on a visit to the shelter to look at another dog. Chester has a great personality and lots of energy. He appears to be mild mannered, yet full of energy and curious of everything around him. We're looking forward to taking him on walks and hikes.

Photograph of Mount Moffit in Alaska

Mount Moffit from Mount Hayes -

My rock climbing season got off to a good start this year until something called a thesis got in the way. As a result of my thesis I'm going to be working 24/7 this summer to get the thing done so that I can graduate. Of course that means that I won't be posting frequently this summer. Therefore, I've decided to throw up a photograph from a trip to Mount Hayes that Sean Bemis and I undertook in 2004.

The photo was taken from a spot called Levi's Bump, which is on the northeast ridge. The view looks out across the Trident Glacier to the east. That big peak is Mount Moffit, a truly impressive and challenging peak. After hiking in 30 miles and spending several days on the ridge at 10,000 feet we never made the summit. Frequent snows and rapidly changing weather conditions shut us down and sent us back early. We had to cross the Delta River at flood stage.

Ironically, that week was to be the final rain event of the summer. The summer of 2004 turned out to be a record fire season in interior Alaska. That summer we were forced to live in a thick cloud of smoke, because no matter which direction the wind was blowing from there was always a fire.