Graduate school has been consuming my time.  I haven’t shared anything in a long while.  I am prepare to hike the John Muir Trail in Aug. and many people have asked about my trip.  I decided to share my preparation and you can follow my summer of fun.

I have purchased some new equipment and wanted to test it out so Hailey, Kylie and I took a trip to the Tahoe area.  Our first night we spent at the Lovers Leap campground off Hwy 50.  We stayed in site 18 and it only cost $15 for the night.  Here’s a look at the set up.  It had pit toilets and running water.

In the morning it was a quick drive to Echo Lake.  We took the boat taxi across Echo Lake and began our hike to Aloha Lake.

The hike to Aloha is beautiful. You pass several other lakes and the trail is well marked.  Beware there is about a mile and a half of climbing in rocks but once you reach the top its a much easier hike.

The views were stunning.

Here is the view from our campsite in the first day and then when the sun was rising in the morning.

I took a million photos but won’t make you look at all of them. Here are just a few more.

The important question is how did the new equipment work. 

The thing that I loved the most is my new inReach satellite device.  We found an older SE version for only $250.  Pretty pricey but well worth it.  My family can follow me very day and I am able to send and receive messages. The other feature that I just loved was the bluetooth connection to my phone. This allows me to use my phone as the interface. I uploaded the Garmin Earthmate app and it pulls up the map and you can track where you are going and it was so easy to use.  It also has the emergency call button in case I am ever in real danger.

Another new piece of equipment was my Gregory Deva backpack.  It’s just a newer version of the pack I had for 15 years but 3 lbs lighter and many new upgrades.  It fit great.  Still learning the best way to pack it but that will come.

Last piece of new gear was the Platypus GravityWorks filter.  It was so much easier than pumping and worked so fast.  I love the fact that I can fill up a bottle and store the extra in the clean water bag for later use.

Lots of things to still work out but all the planning and preparing is half the fun.