Grace on Grace

As we depart for the NW Tandem Rally in Salem, Oregon, and then continue on down to Yosemite,  California to meet Brad, we leave a beautiful, beautiful garden at home.   Here on Whidbey Island the spring has been wet and cool.  People might be complaining but the garden is delighted.

Japanese Iris

Mt. Whitney

Mount Whitney is 14,494 feet.  Although it's the tallest mountain in the contiguous United States, it doesn't take any mountain climbing expertise to complete the 22-mile round-trip trail to the summit.  Brad and Hannah climbed it on June 24, descending as the sun set.  Brad reported a spectacular view.

Mt. Whitney at sunset

Serious Hiking!

Hiking all three major US long distance trails -- Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail is called a Triple Crown.  This young boy, age 7, wants to complete a triple crown by age 13.  Brad met this boy on the PCT.  After a long day of hiking here he is with the energy to build sandcastles.   Barracuda is his trail name.

"Barracuda" on the PCT

Hiking one trail in both directions, in one season, is called a yo-yo.

Green!

It's raining here today.  Coolish, at 55 degrees, and very, very wet.  The forecast was for 80% rain, but I thing it has been 100%.  The forecast also said, "sun breaks"  -- wrong!   The sun has been deeply lost in clouds and rain.  But, boy is it green!  Almost hurt-the-eyes-green.

Ed, protected by his huge golf umbrella, at the Langley Second Street Market today

Grace Garden

Rain Drops on the Pond, Grace Garden

Japanese Iris, Grace Garden

Benton Fishing

The goldfish spawn and Sir Benton Cowboy watches.  He's pretty fascinated by the whole process of these fish jumping across the plants until exhaustion sets in and then they look dead as they float, often belly up.  Once they recover, they swim away, but what a show.

Father's Day

We had a wonderful Ebey's Landing Father's Day ride in central Whidbey.  Twenty-four miles of mostly dry; all beautiful! We then enjoyed a pleasant dinner in Coupeville.  There was less rain in the rain shadow so we only got sprinkled on a couple of times.  When we returned to Langley we could see, from the falling over plants in the garden, that it had rained hard here.  Going north was a good call.

Fran & Ed, Coupeville, WA

Kennedy Meadows to Mt. Whitney

Today Brad enters eight hundred trail miles of sheer beauty, challenge and pleasure, going from high mountains  to deep canyons, as he heads into "The Range of Light" as John Muir called the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  The Central California PCT crosses eight passes above 11,000 feet, with the highest being Forester Pass at 13,180 feet.  For over 200 miles  the trail has no road crossings.    That's what the central California PCT offers and that's what Brad is about to experience -- beginning today, I think.  He arrived in Kennedy Meadows on the 14th and planned a day of rest yesterday. 

Forester Pass
Photo by Drew Glazer

Leaving Kennedy Meadows it is up, up, up for 60 miles and three days of hiking, with Mt. Whitney (approximately 15 miles within the southern boundary of Sequoia National Park) being the destination.  Plant life will transition from pinyon pine and scrubby juniper to lodgepole pines in the subalpine zone.  This route requires a bear canister and an ice ax is recommended.  Given the isolation, many thru-hikers plan to stock up and hike an uninterrupted 10 days to Vermillion Valley Resort.  Others take a side trip to Independence or Bishop.  I don't know what Brad has planned.  I do know he, Charlie and Hannah did a large resupply in Lake Isabella.  The hiking group is at three right now as Dave headed back to San Francisco.

In about two and one-half weeks Ed and I will be meeting Brad.  We think we'll be finding one another in the Yosemite area.