2003 Fourth of July Trip
(Sunday, 29 June - Sunday 06 July, 2003)

Monday was spent wine tasting in Murphys, sampling the excellent wines and taking a tour of the exquisite grounds of the Ironstone Winery and tasting in the dainty tasting room of Milliaire Winery (which has a very tasty and affordable Clockspring Zinfandel) - life could be worse!

We woke up early on Tuesday and drove a few hours to the Yosemite high country, hiking Lembert Dome and Gaylor Lakes and Peak, both beautiful hikes. Lembert Dome in particular was a very favorable effort-to-view ratio. We sussed out where the Mt. Dana trail was for reference on Tuesday when we were planning on hiking to its summit. After our hikes we drove down to Lee Vining and checked into our room at the Tioga Resort. We had a terrible dinner at Nicely's, tried in vain to get a drink at the saloon in our hotel (it served only beer and wine, and was un-staffed), then settled for a beer in our room before retiring.

Up early again on Wednesday, we drove to town and waited a few for a local cafe to open so we could caffeinate ourselves. A short'ish drive back up to Tioga Pass brought us to the start of our attempt to climb Mt. Dana. After that butt-kicker, we were ready for some rest. We'd considered going to Bodie or Black Point, but we were pretty tired after hiking Dana, so we decided to just return to the cabin. We arrived there after a lovely drive north on 395 and an excellent dinner at Mountain View BBQ in Walker.

We decided to do a little active recovery on Thursday and the South Grove trail at Calaveras Big Trees seemed like just the ticket as its just a few miles from the cabin, not short, but not difficult, and we'd never done it before. It indeed proved to be a fun hike despite my nearly getting killed by a pine cone, and we spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying being in the mountains.

My folks came up on Thursday night, but decided not to join Sarah and I on a lovely 4th of July hike to Winnemucca Lake, Round Top Lake, and Fourth of July Peak. We had a nice BBQ afterwards and retired fairly early after doing a puzzle of a Kandinsky piece.

On Saturday we all drove out to Virginia City, Nevada, a funky touristy mining town. It was fun wandering around town, but the highlight for me was walking around the old, decrepit Virginia City cemetary. I've never seen such a forlorn graveyard in such a state of decay. We had dinner at the superb JT Basque Bar & Dining Room then drove back to the cabin.

Sarah and I packed up and left Sunday morning, back to the Bay Area grind. We had lots of great hiking this week - I was not overly thrilled to go back home!

Hike stories:

• Tue 07/01 (am) - Lembert Dome
• Tue 07/01 (pm) - Gaylor Lakes and Peak
• Wed 07/02 - Mt. Dana
• Thu 07/03 - Calaveras Big Trees South Grove
• Fri 07/04 - Winnemucca Lake, Round Top Lake, and Fourth of July Peak

Photo Galleries:

• Ironstone Winery
• Lembert Dome & Gaylor Lakes and Peak
• Mt. Dana
• Calaveras Big Trees South Grove
• Fourth of July Peak, Winnemucca Lake, and Round Top Lake
• Virginia City