Vancouver to Edmonds

We were awoken by Rho's mom - Perla. She wanted us to eat a breakfast of Eggo's and bananas before power walking at the mall. After breakfast we drove over to the Westfield Vancouver for 20 laps. We were joined by one of Rudy's friends named Phil who is 80 years old. It seemed everyone was indoors as the it was raining off and on all morning.

After the hike we piled back into the Xterra and headed north to Tacoma to see my great-uncle Father Bill. It rained most of the way and I was beginning to worry about vacationing in Washington State. Father Bill was happy to see us. He lives in a house bordering Point Defiance Park. On Friday, they were getting the Taste of Tacoma into swing.

After our visit with Father Bill, we continued north to Edmonds to hook up with my sister Shannon. We were treated to a magic show by Nora and Daniel. My aunt Shelia showed with angle food cake and strawberrys (my favorite).

San Francisco to Vancouver

We left San Francisco and drove 674 miles north in 10:45 to Rho's folks in Vancouver, WA. The drive was mostly uneventful with some traffic delays near Mount Shasta for road work. We listened to The Kite Runner a novel by Khaled Hosseini. It is an excellent book if you get a chance.

Hike: Windy Hill Loop

On a windy but sunny Sunday we went for a hike with Marcy. We did hike #79 Windy Hill Loop from the 101 Great Hikes of the San Francisco Bay Area. We left from the parking lot on Skyline and decended down Hamms Gulch trail to Alpine Road. We followed a small stream that we could see fingerling fish swimming about. There was a 10-degree temperature difference from the top of the ridge to Alpine Road. We were happy for the shade of the trail. We climbed 1520 feet back up Razor Back Trail. Afterwards we had big hamburgers at the Mountain House Inn. The trip was 8.3 miles and took 2:52. (Click on the map for a larger image.)

Photo Album

Cycling: Strawberry Point

Beautiful summer morning ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to Strawberry Point. 37 miles, 2:56, 2094 feet of climbing. I stopped by the beach at Sea Trek they were in full swing with classes and tours. The Avon breast cancer walk was going.

Last Chance at Nicks Cove

Penny initiated a paddle from Nick's Cove to Marconi on Sunday. After sorting out the car shuttle - Sue and I left cars at Marconi we finally go under way. The first order of business was to paddle across Tamalas Bay to Hog Island and search for the baby whale. The weather was beautiful, sunny and warm with a little wind out of the west. There were 13 paddles but no whales today. After giving up the search for whales we headed south. We landed briefly on Pelikan Point until Hal remembered that no kayaks are allow there so we made a hasty exit. Next we stopped at Tamalas Beach for lunch. Hal made a big chocolate cake to share with everyone. After lunch it was a straight shot back to Marconi pushed by wind and tide. We passed one huge sea lion headed in the opposite direction. (Click on the map for a larger view). Thanks Penny.

Photos

Paddle: Pt Bonita

David Kashetad and I launched from Chrissy Field at 7:50 with plans to rendezvous with 15 elite swimmers of Point Bonita. The swimmers were planning to ride the swift flood tide back to Aquatic Park. The morning was pretty sketch with a nasty 25 kt wind blowing from the west and occassional gust to 40. He paddled towards the center of the bridge riding the last of the ebb tide and keeping an eye on an a home bound ocean barge. Off Lime Point the barge still hadn't made its turn and I was worried we couldn't beat it to the north so we doubled back towards the south tower. Of course as soon as we turned so did the barge and we had a wild 5-minute pull to get out of the way. We countinued on towards Point Diablo with conditions getting progressively worse. The last couple of miles were brutal with high winds in our face and heavy seas. When we finally made Point Bonita and a motor boat came out to let us know the swim was cancelled because of the crappy weather. We took a break on the beach and then caught the flood tide back in the gate. It was one of the wildest rides I ever had in a kayak. We were racing along and a ocean bound frieghter had to be avoided. As we approached the south tower of the Golden Gate we were racing along pushed by the wind and tide. We tried to cut between the south tower and Fort Point. We didn't have the angle and ended up going north of the south tower. At one point I finally gave up trying to steer a course and simply fought to keep the kayak upright. Somehow we survived and landed by the warming shack at Chrissy Field. Pedro had a small group of swimmers gathered there and we pilot for them back to the wind surfing beach. What a day 10.3 miles in about 3 hours

Candlestick to Oyster Point

Wickedly wind day averaging around 38 mph with gusts to 45 mph. I launched by myself which always gives one pause for concern from Candlestick Point. The tide was high and beginning to ebb. It was a bit of an effort to wrangle the boat south with a stiff breeze from the west. The return trip north was an absolute knife fight. Sometimes I could only make progress between gusts of the wind. More than once I thought of getting out and dragging my kayak to shore. When I finally landed back at Candlestick I still had a huge effort to get my kayak from the beach. It would literaly blow away if I didn't sit on it while hauling it from the shore to my Xterra. I had to ask for help loading my boat on the car. The kayak would quite simply have blown off the top of the car before I could strap it down.

Escape from Alcatraz

I worked on kayak support Sunday morning as about 80 kayakers shepard 2000 swimmers safely from Alcatraz Island to Chrissy Field.

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