Olancha Peak Backpack

“Snowboarding is over, so this weekend is the start of backpacking season for SnowDude and Snow Nymph.

We've always wanted to do Olancha Peak, but it starts at 5790' and the summit is at 12,123'....22 miles round trip, and 6335' elevation gain!. We heard there was a little water (someone was there Memorial weekend), said it might NOT be there in 2 weeks, so we carried it up....SnowDude carried 23 lbs, I carried 11 lbs. (Packs were 42 lbs/35 lbs) At the end of the trip, I had about 10 oz left in a bottle.

Sunday we made the peak, packed up and packed out by flashlight. Great trip, but I would rather go somewhere that has water.


Olancha Peak Backpack”

“That is some serious elevation gain!
In the photo "Kaweahs"
near center pic is that Templeton Mtn. and Strawberry Meadows in front of it? I presume so if you are looking NW to the Kaweahs. Sure is a strange little mountain all by itself...surrounded by all around meadows.”

“Was that full body mosquito netting? What are you trying to do...cheat Snow Dude out of that skeeter repellent application on your backside? ...LOL! :)”

“Nice pictures! The one of you two on the overhang is great!

packing water is heavy, I guess you have to stay off of the Liteweight backpackers site till the next trip! LOL”

“Snow Nymph loves BBWB

BBWB=
Big Beautiful Waterladen Backpacks”

“AWSOME pics!!!!!!!!!!!”

“LOL!! WW, you remembered that pic? The bugs stayed at the trailhead so the suit came off after we started (too hot). Temps cooled down a little when we got over the saddle that we thought was Olancha Pass.

WLD, You don't know how close I came to falling on SnowDude as I ran to beat the timer! No more BBWB for me! I'll go back to alpine lakes. I'm packing for the weekend right now, and my pack will be soooo light!

Stickmon: It was a AWESOME trip! But I don't know if I'd do it again.”

“Awesome pics, as usual. Thanks!”

“Nice pictures Snow Nymph! I too liked the one of you two on the overhang. Not sure if I would have done it though!

I'll be hiking White Mountain peak next weekend. Do you think there will be much snow? My trip to the Sawtooth Range (Matterhorn Peak) was "heavily modified" due to snow.”

“Always enjoy following your exploits! Like Mike I especially enjoyed the overhang photo, mainly because I'm afraid of heights and probably would have cried had you dragged me out there. ;-)”

“"close to the edge".”

“Hi Mike,
I heard White Mountain has a little snow, but none on the trail (report from last weekend). I'm guessing the snow was the patch that's always there near the top. Its a great hike, like being on the moon.

Geezr, SnowDude checked the rock before sitting up there. I kinda fell on him while scrambling up there!

I'm ok being close to the edge, but don't ask me to skydive.”

“What type of camp chair are you sitting onin your photo, where did you get it, and how much$$$...and

...and are there any clones of you running around?”

“I forgot to tell you SnowNymph
I stopped a Lady in Casa Vieja Meadows that look enough like you to make me ask you wouldn't happen to be SnowNymph would you?

She looked at me like I was from Mars....LOL!”

“Stickmon,
that's a sling-lite chair (17 oz), got it at A-16 in Los Angeles, and it costs $98 and comes with a headrest (4-5 oz, but I don't use it). No, I don't have a clone. I have a sister, but she's the Martha Stewart type. heeheehee!

WW, LOL! I saw myself in a college catalog once, but couldn't remember taking the picture. It wasn't me, but she could've been my twin!”

“Stikmon - Of course Snow Nymph has a clone. You don't think one person could do all these trips do you? I personally think there may be 3 Snow Nymphs, but I haven't been able to prove it yet.”

“To have someone to trail around with is great! To have a woman to trail around with is even greater, but to have a woman to trail around with and who is beautiful...is the greatest yet!!!

That wasn;t too over the top, was it?

I ain't spendin no 100 bucks on a stinkin chair...gotta keep the bucks for the beautiful woman to trail around with.

Thanks for the info...neat chair, GREAT photos...what type of camera do you use. I just went and scoped out the Olympus Camedia C-700 Ultra Zoom Digital Camera. Man...this thing is awsome...$450.00. Crap, thats half a kayak. So many things to buy...not enough credit limit on my card.

Take care...thanks for posting back.”

“I'm using a Canon EOS Rebel 2000 (23 oz). SnowDude has a Sony Cyber-shot 3.2 megapixel digital.

I lost the 3 rolls of film this morning from this weekends trip but luckily SnowDude took a lot of pics too. I'm uploading right now.

Pretty disappointing to lose those pics. I went out of my way to get the perfect shots to make a calendar!”

“Stikmon - Yes, I'm a very lucky man! You left out one other positive - she lets me spray her nekkid bottom with mosquito repellent.

"I ain't spendin no 100 bucks on a stinkin chair...gotta keep the bucks for the beautiful woman to trail around with. "

Now you know why I don't carry a chair.”

“hahaha...snowdude, that comment got me laughing so hard, I almost exhaled coffee out my nose. no comment on the bottom spraying activities..your bigger than me. LOL

So sorry to hear about the loss of the rolls of film, I recently lost a Nikkon 140mm camera in a canoeing incident. That sucked...now I'm in the process of replacement. I saw the new Olympus C-700 10x/27x digital camera. Its really nice, but I don't know pixels from pixies. Its a 2.1 and has loads of features. http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_product_lobbypage.asp?l=1&p=16&bc=2&product=677

If you could take a look at the site, and let me know what you think on this camera, I'd appreciate it. thanks.”

“I'm not a big expert on cameras, so I'd hate to trust your money in the hands of my advice.
Mine is a Sony P5, and I'm very happy with it. Only problem found so far is sometimes the lens cover sticks and doesn't open all the way.
All the pictures from our Convict Lake trip
are taken with the Sony P5. I did a lot of my research at this site - Digital Photography Review.
It has a lot of info and active forums where you can get answers on the different cameras.”

“Thanks for the info, will check it out. I think I will rent it from Walmart for my NC trip next week, if I like it I will just keep it, if not return it and keep the pictures. But I really need a better camera and an SLR is what I wanted, but size and weight and all the assoceries are backpacking prohibitive, this little digi number has all the features and a zoom capability of a 380MM SLR lens...I can shoot the beak of a bird at 100 feet away, and then take a shot of a flower 4" close. Thats versatility, but with big price tag...1/4 of a new Kayak, brother...I need my head examined.”