Point Reyes, January 24th and 25th

[Casey Bowden]

The much discussed Point Reyes trip took place this weekend! Tony Wong will provide the "official" trip report after he finds time to sort through the 500+ photos he took. In the meantime…

Twelve people attended, but I can only remember 11 names right now (my apologies to the 12th, I'm really bad with names). At any rate, a good time was had by:

Ken Helwig
Joshua Billings
Jay Wilkerson
Ken Thompson
Casey Bowden
Jeremy Pendrey
Tony Wong
Cary Bertoncini
Nate Meinzer
Will
Cameron Kennedy

Everyone but me hiked into Wildcat on Saturday from the south via the Palomarin trailhead and exited Sunday at the Bear Valley Visitor Center trailhead.

I opted to come and go from the east via fireroads on my bicycle. My route was 6.5 miles each way, starting at elevation 250 at the Five Brooks trailhead, topping out at elevation 1,324 before dropping down to sea level at the campsite. The ride took me 45 minutes each way and was a blast due to the long downhill sections at the end of each day.

It was overcast and windy all Saturday but the weather changed for the better and we had blue skies on Sunday.

This was my first time meeting any of these upstanding citizens and I was surprised to find Jay much mellower than my preconceived notion based on his posts while Ken Helwig was just the opposite. He had us in stiches all night and made sure no one in our group, or anyone else in Wildcat, went to bed before 11 pm.

I'll post a few of the less than 10 photos I took soon. I'm already looking forward to next year.

[Nate Meinzer]

Lane!

Though, I can't remember last names, so impressive list.

[Tony Wong]

Casey,

It was more like 254 photos and I am sure that a vast majority of them won't make the cut for the photo essay.

To everyone….it was great to meet you all and to put a face to the names that I have seen here.

Now I know how to submit the paperwork for those restraining order that will be delivered to each of you gear lovin, backpacking freaks! :)

Really enjoyed the trip and spending some good gear geeking time with my fellow BPLers.

Time to think about the next trip: Yosemite Hetch Hetchy Reservoir- Rancharia.

Anyway, I am off to wash the mud off my clothes and to enjoy a hot shower!

-Tony

[Ken Thompson]

Had a blast! Thanks again all for a great trip. Those who bailed missed a great floor show! Felt bad for this group, saw them when I first got there. Knew immediately, not my group

[Dave T]

.

[Roger Caffin]

Hey Ken – you really had me worried there for a moment (they CAN'T be BPL members!) until I read your text!

We need a similar group photo from Tony for comparison. :-)

Cheers

[Ken Helwig]

One is on its way Roger!

[Jay Wilkerson]

What a fun group of UL backpackers. I have never had so much fun just talking about GEAR.. It was great to see everyone come out of there INTERVERTED shells. Can't wait for the next hike. "High Five"

[Tony Wong]

To everyone who went out on the trip, I need your help!

Apparently, my camera was set to video mode while Denis was taking photos of us at the trail head on the step facing Denis.

Could someone send me a PM and I will reply back with my email address so that they can send me that photo?

Thanks!

-Tony

[Ken Helwig]

Got your Pm Tony, I will send you the photo this evening

[Jeremy Pendrey]

It was great meeting all of you fellow Nor Cal UL'ers this past weekend. It was very cool seeing all the various UL shelters and gear. I've never seen so much Dyneema in one place.
Time to plan the next trip. I know Ken H. was talking Rancheria Falls / Hetch Hetchy in April.

And again I got away without bringing a camera . . .

For those who didn't go:
Trip highlights:
lightest shelter: Cameron's cuben fiber MLD Monk tarp
farthest distance traveled: Ken Thompson from Fortuna, CA, which might as well be in Oregon (or "Jefferson" or whatever they call themselves up there)
heaviest piece of gear: Cary's box of 3 liters of wine, which came in somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 pounds, but of course was weightless on the way out, so maybe he wins for lightest piece of gear too.
spirit award: Nate and Will with Christmas lights on their Go Lite Hut 2.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: best navigation: Ken T. and Josh for getting out ahead of us and then taking the "scenic route" back to the car (showing up an hour later than us "stragglers").

[Nate Meinzer]

for Lightest pack goes to you Jeremy, I believe, for coming in ~13 lbs.

[Tony Wong]

Good time indeed….more like, "When ULer's go bad!" :)

Jeremy is being modest/humble, but his pack won the distinction of being the lightest at 13 lbs and he was carrying a bottle of wine in a platypus.

I am going to quickly plow through my photos can digitally clean them up in Photoshop Elements with the idiot quick fix feature and then toss them up with minimal text.

I will leave it to members of the group to add their own comments….hehehe.

-Tony

[Denis Hazlewood]

I wasn't able to hike with the group, but showed up to meet some of the NoCa BPL group. This is a photo I took at the end of the hike.

The NoCa BPL lineup (The Usual Suspects). Someone with a better memory can put names to the faces.

Tony will have a full report and photos.

[Jay Wilkerson]

Thanks for all your help Dennis!!!

-Jay

[Steven Evans]

Nice to hear everything worked out. Sounds like you guys had a good time. I look forward to reading the trip report and see the photos.

[Ken Helwig]

Trip reports and photos are in the Photo Section

[Tony Wong]

Some 100 photos of this trip are now posted in the photo gallery.

Please come see what happens when light weight backpackers go bad…

-Tony

[cary bertoncini]

He will be appearing on Huell Howser's "California Gold" tomorrow evening, Tuesday Feb 10, at 7pm PST (KVIE Channel 6 around Norcal) – episode includes the towns of Smartsville and Timbuktu (Lane recently co-authored a book about this area)

[Jay Wilkerson]

Thanks Cary, I will check it out!!

[Lane Parker]

hey, thanks, Cary, for mentioning that. I've heard that the show turned out well. I haven't been able to find out when it's going to air in the Bay Area; I'm just waiting for my copy of the DVD. yes, Huell does mention the book "Smartsville and Timbuctoo" in the broadcast, in addition to interviewing me and my co-author and others.

also a big thanks to Nate, for remembering me among the Pt. Reyes gang. great to be added to Casey's comprehensive list.

I had a great time on that hike, and I'm looking forward to others like it.

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