Monthly Archive: August 2008

 Three in a row!   Had scheduled a Saturday morning peak hike with all the usual suspects. One by one, they started dropping like flies. Some had reasonable excuses.  Some were open to debate.

Vicky V: Led a blistering pace and was first to peak last week.  Bailed early in the week. Reason stated: exhausted. Speculation: she is a grandma now and deserves some rest.  Status= EXCUSED

Barb:  Still not feeling 100%,  had another crappy night. Decided to sleep in.  Reason stated: reaction to meds.  Speculation: FUCK CANCER!  Status = EXCUSED

Steve:  “I hurt my knee playing sofball.  I need to ice my knee” –  Reason stated: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Speculation: new hi-def TV + Olympics.   Status = OPEN TO DEBATE

Michelle – Jumps on the bandwagon and bails. Reason stated:  Having “bad hair day” Speculation:  none of the other girls are hiking so screw it!   Status – EXCUSED

So its John and I, and the mountain. I pick him up after 7am.   As we made our way to Ohlone college, we could see that the peak was shrouded in clouds.  I don’t know if it was the coolness of the morning, or the fact that there was just the two of us, but we hauled ass. We made it to the peak in just around 80 minutes. A good 10 minutes ahead of our usual pace.  YIPPEE!  We rocked!  And sweated!  We took a short break up top,  took a photo of John looking out at the Sunol regional wilderness. Thats  Mt Diablo way back there in the background. Also took a pic of a “heart of grass”  that someone who lives out on Mill Creek Road had mowed into the hill.  After a “we made it”  phone-cam-pic  to the dropouts (make that loved ones) down below, we headed back down.  Another step closer to Half Dome!

With our eyes on the prize, and Half Dome only 23 days away, we trekked up Mission Peak again on Saturday morning.  Picked up team Downing and we were on the trail by 8:20AM.  Oh how I love those overcast mornings, especially when we have to hike up Chalk Hill (or as some call it “the stair master”). Barb was trying out yet another pair of hiking shoes.  We were each loaded down with 3 liter (100 ounce) camel-backs.  How much does 3 liters weigh?  Over 6.6 pounds. It was a good hike. We stayed cool, stayed hydrated and took plenty of breaks along the way. Took a few pics of us with Mt Diablo in the background sticking out over the clouds  35 miles away. Up top we took in the 360 degree views, had a snack and headed back down the back side of Mission Peak. This is a longer and less steep descent that takes you down the south slope then around the back side.  The path less traveled. It was obvious on this morning because we ran into a coyote who was looking for brunch. We first spotted him going over a rise, then spotted him again as we came around the bend. He kept his distance and always had his eye on us.

Be sure to check out “Michelle’s moment” on thejimsjoint channel over at YouTube

Able to do a Mission Peak hike on Saturday and twenty mile bike ride on Sunday for two weekends in a row. Last week was murder. Way to hot to climb the peak but we did it anyway. This week we got a 7:30am start and were able to avoid a good deal of the heat going up. Nice phone cam pic of Team Vandenbusch as the celebrate the first peak of August.