Lurkers Please Introduce Yourself =)

[maverick]

Hi Danny,

Thank you for taking the time to write up this intro.

[Crossdrew]

Geezer? Geez, I think you mean me! I have lurked around this board for several years and I think I introduced myself the first time I joined but I don't really remember. So, let me introduce myself again. I am a geezer, female variety. Like most women of my generation, I started backpacking in college w/boyfriends. Women didn't pack by themselves then. I did grow up camping and my earliest memories are of camping at Lake Tahoe, with my brother & I sleeping on the front seat of the family station wagon, covered w/blankets, while my parents slept in the back of the station wagon (I guess the seats folded down) and my mother taped newspapers around the windows to achieve privacy. My 4 year old brother called "dibs' on the steering wheel (he wanted to sleep under it) and I recall thinking "He is so dumb."I was 5. I fell in love with granite on that trip, listening to a state park ranger explain about granite while I held my father's hand. This was in the early 1950s. We camped every summer, often for weeks at a time, until college.

I continued backpacking and eventually, I took my son and later my nieces. By that time we did see women hiking together. Several of my woman freiends formed a group of women who felt very daring, backpacking together several times a year. I have hiked a lot in Desolation wilderness, since it is close by, but also in the Carson-Iceberg and one of my favorite wildernesses for backpacking with children is Caribou Wilderness next to Lassen Park. It is a very lovely & gentle environment.

Don't get me wrong, I love the high country, espec. The Ansel Adams, the area around Banner Peak. Oh, and Evolution basin, Oh! And the area around Bear Creek, along the JMT. Oh, and I could go on & on

About 6 years ago,we started using llamas to get into the backcountry. Some of you may have run into us as we have been trying to finish the JMT using llamas. We are known as the llama ladies. I would prefer to just carry a backpack but my back is not up to that so we use llamas and it has allowed me to continue to backpack well into Geezerhood.

This year we are going up over Taboose Pass again to try to get a section of the JMT that we haven't finished yet (Over Mather Pass). I am slow but that isn't due to age, I was always slow as a hiker, but I love being out there and I am OK with slow progress. I will give a trail report when we finish. We went up Taboose pass last year and while very very very steep, it is also very very very beautiful. Stunning in fact. I guess I'll sign off as 'the Lurking Geezer woman."

[mfang]

Hi, my name is Mark. I live in SD and am very grateful to be so close to the Sierra!

I have been hiking for the past couple years, mostly in the northern half of the range. I love the pine forests of Little Lakes Valley, Ansel Adams Wilderness, and Tuolumne. Have made trips to climb BCS, Tom, N Palisade, and a few others, and would love to scramble in Rae Lakes/Mt Clarence King and Fin Dome, Valhalla/Eagle Scout Peak. I'm hoping to do more snow climbs in the spring/early summer months on Feather Peak, Humphreys, Gilbert, as well as rock climbs in Tuolumne, Seven Gables/Royce Lakes/Granite Park area, and Whitney/Russell/Lone Pine Peak.

This forum is such a great resource; nice to meet everyone!

Edit:
Just read first post about TRs. I don't have written ones, but here are a couple videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOEV3z7xR8Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDKOFfuxXLY

[maverick]

Hi Lurking Geezer Woman and Mark,

Welcome to HST! Geezer that's a second welcome to you since you Llamas posts back in 2013.
Thank you both, for taking the time to write up these intro's, and Mark, thanks for the video links.

[ToothlessMountaineer]

It's about time I got to posting here!

I'm a lifelong Californian, and I've been visiting the Sierra since I was a kid. My parents found out about Virginia Lakes and Mono Lake after the bears were getting too nosy for their tastes around SEKI, and I've spent at least part of every summer for the past two decades out on the Eastside. I'm now up to my 6th summer in the Eastern Sierra plus another on the West Side and by now I have multiple lifetimes of places to explore and check out. Since moving to the Eastside a few years ago, I've come to appreciate just how much more magnificent the Sierra is once you start noticing how the ecology, geology, weather, and people all work together over years and eons to make this such a special place. I've been backpacking on and off predominately in the summer since 2008 and nowadays try to get a weeklong and as many weekend trips as I can before ski season sets in.

3 years ago I finally got my life's priorities in order to set out on the JMT. My route could more appropriately be called a John Muir Trek, since I took 12 major and a few minor side trips off the trail to fly fish, climb, and explore...and that was just between Whitney and Red's Meadow, where I had to bail after injuring myself rock hopping while fishing near Seven Gables. Don't worry, I'll be submitting a proper TR soon enough. I wish I'd known about HST back then, although I had come across giantbrookie's site in my first summers in the Sierra nearly a decade ago. By now I've fished over a hundred backcountry lakes, maybe I'm getting close to being 1/10 the Sierra rambler he is!

Here's to the insufficient thanks I have to give for all the wisdom and beta I've picked up from lurking out here, and to giving back some of my own!

[maverick]

Hi TM,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for the intro, glad you weren't injured to bad, that area doesn't get tons of usage, mostly folks on there was to Vee Lake and beyond.

[Bubba]

Greetings.

My name's Bill; my grandkids call me "Bubba" 'cause I'm too young to be called grandpa. You should call me that, too. Definitely not "Grandpa."

I've been reading stuff here for years, not sure if I ever posted before.

I'm a frequent visitor to the Sierra. Around 10 trips a year. 2 nights usually. Used to do peak bagging (up to Class 3) and some snowshoeing. Heart issues slowed me down. Took up trout fishing last year (Tenkara). I counted them up and figure I visited 50 lakes last year, fishing the majority.

I tend to wander off-trail. Most of my trips involve taking some kind of shortcut. Mostly to avoid having to do more uphill than absolutely necessary and to get to more interesting places.

I decided to post so I can earn access to the top-secret areas on the Fishing Hole :-).

[rlown]

Hi Bubba,

Welcome to HST! Thanks for the Intro. Looks like you have been doing enough interesting Sierra trips that maybe you could post some TR's, or even points of view on existing topics? You know, be part of the community here?

I decided to post so I can earn access to the top-secret areas on the Fishing Hole :-).

This is not an OK reason. contribute. Let me elaborate on that point a bit. Some bonds are made between board members here either via the board, behind the scenes via PM, or full on meet ups. We share the experience of being out there, Sierra. We learn from each other and together sometimes. This isn't just a "we feed it and others get the info" relationship. Just saying. Give something back.

Russ

[deenad]

Hello! My name is Deena, and I am a 49 year old hiking enthusiast, that has been in love with the Eastern Sierra since I was a baby! My family has been coming here for three generations, and I now live part time in the Bay Area, and part time in Independence, CA!
I am slow, and have few injuries, but have recently become a solo backpacker! I a in love with my Big Agnes Copper Spur UL1 tent that weighs in at 2 lbs 3 oz. I also have a big agnes sleeping bag that I just bought and I hiked into the North Fork of Big Pine Creek and slept 10 hours!
I recently hiked with my wife up to Robinson lake from Onion Valley. What a great afternoon hike! I highly recommend it! much less travelled than Kearsarge pass.....
Thanks for having this site! You'll be hearing more from me!

xo Deena Davenport-Conway

[maverick]

Hi Deena,

Welcome to HST! Thank you for the enthusiastic introduction, many of us not only share your love for the Eastern Sierra, but for the Sierra as whole.