New Year’s at the cabin

1 January, 2009 by Adam R. Paul

To celebrate our first New Years as a married couple, Sarah & I decided to head to the cabin and enjoy a few quiet days by ourselves.

We arrived mid-day on Dec 30, stocked up on food & drink, and had an early evening. On New Year’s Eve, we headed up the pass to Bear Valley XC for our first cross-country skiing trip of the season.

Meadow Run by you.

Bear Valley XC Meadow Trail

I re-acquainted myself with my skis quickly, and Sarah & I enjoyed an hour or so of cruising the flat trails before splitting up, she to continue on the flats, and me to enjoy my favorite trail at Bear Valley XC, the Bjornloppet Trail, which is almost as much fun to say as it is to ski.

The climb to the top of the ridge went smoothly, the sticky snow making for an easy ascent, at least compared to icy snow, and I managed to herringbone my way up without having to resort to the dreaded side-stepping.

Warming Hut by you.

Warming Hut at the top of the Bjornloppet Trail

I arrived at the Warming Hut at the end of the trail after perhaps 20 minutes, pleased to find myself alone at it, but a little disappointed that they did not have the warm cider they have had in the past, just cold water.

Warming Hut Window by you.

Window view from Bjornloppet warming hut

I sat and enjoyed the views and coziness for a few minutes, then headed back to rendezvous with Sarah.

Bjornloppet Trail by you.

Bjornloppet Trail

The return on the Bjornloppet was lovely as always, under a deep blue Sierran sky, and again, with nearly nobody around me.

Aspens by you.

Aspens on the Bjornloppet Trail

After meandering around some aspens, the trail heads downhill in earnest.

Bjornloppet Trail by you.

Bjornloppet Trail

Thankfully I stayed upright on the descent (not a given!), and soon met up with Sarah at the Meadow Cafe, and we decided to call it a day, not wanting to overdo it our first time out for the season.

As I always say after a nice day XC skiing, “we really should do this more than once a season!”

Cabin by you.

The Cabin

Back at the cabin we relaxed, made burgers, then toasted in the New Year (east coast time – it’s too hard to stay up until Midnight these days!).

On New Year’s Day we tidied up the cabin, winterized it, and headed homeward, stopping for a detour at nearby Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It was surprisingly full as we set out on the North Grove Trail, the only one availble for hiking in the winter.

Twin Trees by you.

Twin Sequoias

The walk was beautiful, as it is any time of year, although the throngs of people and children screaming with delight at the snow did not make for the world’s most peaceful walk.

Sequoia bark by you.

Sequoia Bark

The trail had only a foot or so of snow on it, heavily packed down by myriad feet, and it was slippery.

Seqoia by you.

Big Tree!

The clear skies brought out the ruddy hues of the sequoias’ bark, whose richness contrasted vividly with the white snow and black, bare branches of the Dogwoods.

Tall Tree by you.

Tall Tree!

We heard the distinct “beep beep beep” of a nearby nuthatch, but saw nothing, unsurprisingly, given the time of year.

Two Tall Ones by you.

Another pair of twins

Shadow and light created a pleasing dappled effect on many of the huge trees’ trunks, and I semi-regretted leaving my SLR in the car.

Sequoia Grove by you.

North Grove

About an hour after we’d started, we wound up back at the trailhead, and reluctantly drove back to San Francisco, marvelling at the near-total lack of traffic on the road.

A tree & me by you.

Me & a tree

XC skiing and a walk in a sequoia forest – the perfect way to bid farewell to 2008, and to welcome in the near year!

Happy 2009 everyone!

May your year be filled with natural wonder!

Posted in Hiking, Nature, Photography | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on 1 January, 2009 at 23:23 | Reply Mary Carlson

Happy New Year, Adam and Sarah! Wow! I forgot how huge those trees are. Adam, you look so small next to that tree! ;o) And it looks like it was a good time to go XC skiing. I’m glad to see Bear Valley has that much snow. I don’t think it looked that good this time last year. Did it?
on 2 January, 2009 at 14:47 | Reply Tom @ Ohio Nature

Hi Adam- Happy new year to you as well, looks like a fantastic trip. I’ve never tried to cross country ski. Is it every cloudy out there?

Tom
on 3 January, 2009 at 11:48 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Mary: Thanks! Giant Sequoias are aptly-named – the one I’m standing next to isn’t anywhere near the largest ones in size. Last year Bear Valley had a late start to the snow season, but they got quite a lot of it (300+ inches).

Tom: XC skiing is great fun once you get the basics down (like how to stay upright), and it’s an excellent low-impact workout to boot. Us Californians shutter ourselves indoors if there’s ever a cloud in the sky. Scary stuff, that weather!
on 4 January, 2009 at 06:33 | Reply Thomas

It looks like you had a whale of a time. I m very happy for both of you.

Coming to the images, they are so beautifully composed. The view through the window is just awesome and my pick of these images.
on 6 January, 2009 at 11:10 | Reply scienceguy288

So I suppose a congratulations is in order! Happy New Year. It looks like you started yours on the right foot.
on 6 January, 2009 at 11:27 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Thomas: Thanks!

ScienceGuy: Thank you!
on 9 January, 2009 at 22:53 | Reply Red

You can’t get much better than the white, green, and blue of a Sierra day! Great pics

By the way, you SHOULD post your Natural Bridges photos! I’d love to see them.
on 10 January, 2009 at 11:01 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Red: Thanks! I agree – a sunny Sierran day is hard to beat in any season! Monarch pics posted
on 4 February, 2009 at 17:57 | Reply Vivienne

Adam,

I’ve enjoyed your photos since moving to the Peninsula–you’ve helped me to identify many of the birds I’ve enjoyed watching around Redwood Shores!

I will be heading up to Bear Valley in a couple of weeks–how hard is the hill on Bjornloppet? I found that some of the intermediate trails at Kirkwood were a little beyond me (at least on the downhill side).

Gorgeous photos, thanks for sharing!
on 5 February, 2009 at 13:17 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Vivienne: Thanks, and welcome! Bjornloppet isn’t too hard unless you go to the warming hut – the last climb is pretty steep, and very hard if it’s icy. Otherwise it’s very pleasant. Hopefully there will actually be snow – we were there last weekend (Jan 30), and there was only about 18″ of snow on the ground!
on 7 February, 2009 at 17:08 | Reply Vivienne

Adam,

Thanks for the scoop on the trail! I consider myself an advanced beginner or a beginning intermediate, so downhills are always a concern. We are going up for the long weekend, and it sounds like they’ve gotten some new snow.
on 8 February, 2009 at 20:52 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Yep – dress warmly – the 10-day forecast looks cold and snowy! Have fun!
on 16 February, 2009 at 18:58 | Reply Vivienne

It was very snowy! Alas, no gorgeous blue Sierra skies, but the snow did clear enough to have some excellent skiing. Took a tumble on the final descent of the Bjornloppet, but otherwise stayed upright on quite a few of the intermediate trails. It’s a great place to ski (and I made it up to the hut).
on 19 February, 2009 at 18:00 | Reply Adam R. Paul

Heh, everyone takes a tumble on that final descent The intermediate trails aren’t too difficult at Bear Valley XC, IMO. Certainly the intermediate trails at Royal Gorge are much harder! Glad you had a good time.