Gary-Summer: 2018

Sunday, December 16, 2018

Christmas 2018

December 2018

David, Gary and Mom at MaryAnn's

It has been two years years since we have written a Christmas newsletter. Not because we have forgotten you, but there has been a lot of water which has run under our bridge.

Gary’s mother died this past August. She was 95 years old, having suffered a stroke a month before which she did not recover from. She left us many memories, some tangible, others will live on as long as we do. Much of what Gary is can be traced back to his parents-love of outdoors, math and organizational skills, and sense of discovery. (He could have used a bit more of his father’s mechanical and woodworking skills though.)

Delilah Lookout

What else has happened in the past two years you might be asking? We continue to volunteer in our fire lookout. Last year, on September 12^th, we spotted our first fire from Delilah lookout. This was in the area where the Rough Fire burnt three years ago. Still within an hour there was 30 acres burnt. Really exciting and educational watching the big tankers come in and drop the retardant to check the advance of the fire. As an added bonus, last May, we were able to walk up, to where the fire burnt. We gained a greater appreciation for the fire fighters in or area and how strong they are to walk, fully loaded up steep hills. Both last season and in 2017 we were able to be in our lookouts over ten days each year. We cannot wait until May rolls around when we can go back up into the tower.

Lawrence, Andrea, Sherri, and Gary

In 2017, Gary was not able to backpack and Sherri only minimally. During the summer, he turned pretty weak. But after changing his medicines, he improved enough to go on the Skyline to the Sea trail in December. Then we all took a three day trip with Andrea along the Ohlone Trail in the East Bay Area. We also did a four day trip with Andrea and Lawrence in Southern Yosemite to Chain Lakes. The last half of the year, we were able to spend restorative time in “our” fire lookout.

Sherri at the JFK Library

Church in Old Sturbridge

In October we were able to get away and go to Boston. Why Boston? Why not? We enjoy being in places of history and seeing where moving events have happened. We got a whole load of that there. We walked the Black Heritage Trail and then the Freedom Trail-mileage not impressive, but very dense with historical places-Bunker Hill, Old State House, Old African Meeting House and the list goes on for 30+ place where we stopped. We also got to do a side trip to see Gary’s Connecticut cousin Bob and his wife Diane. Such blessings. We suspect there will be other trips back east.

Andrea, Gary, Steven-the Graduate, Sherri, and Rachel

Biking-Rachel, Steven, Andrea, Gary and Sherri

One of the pleasures we have is being able to be with our daughters and son. Such as when Sherri does her bike rides or we our half marathons or hiking or any other time. Our hearts sing with joy to hear from them. You may want to know what is going on with the “kids”. Andrea is taking a little time off from teaching after a rough year. She is working with a food bank as a coordinator. Steven has graduated from Fresno State with a BS in Computer Science and now is looking for a job. While Rachel is down south working for a company where she assist start ups with their accounting. Note: Lawrence is pictures with Andrea and Edrees is with Rachel.

Sherri and Gary in San Francisco

We continue our 30+ years with our house church-a small group Bible study. This is where we feel the warmth of love. Then there is our church’s book group, still going strong after18 years and 175 books. While we were not able to go on many hikes this year, we still love tramping with the Central Valley Hiking Group. We hope they will see us more next year. The classes and a book group with OSHER Lifelong Learning at Fresno State has enriched our lives. We are taught by college level teachers, but without the mid-terms, homework and grades. This is what learning should look like-learning for enjoyment and well-being.

You have probably read enough by now. St Paul would end his letters with a deep thought. We cannot claim that our thoughts have as much depth as his, but what we would like to leave you with is: I would like you wise to that which is good and simple concerning evil. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

Sherri, Rachel, Gary, Edrees, Steven, Andrea, Lawrence and David after Mom's Memorial Service

If you want to read more about our adventures, see:

More pictures, with color, and an electronic version of our Christmas letter:

http://gary-summer.blogspot.com/2018/12/Christmas-2018.html

Trails and stuff: http://gary-summer.blogspot.com/
Gary's Book Blog: http://garys-books.blogspot.com/

Gary, Andrea, and Steven-Half Marathon California Classic

Ohlone Trail-Andrea, Gary, and Sherri

Sherri, Edrees, Rachel and Gary

At Steven's Graduation-Gary, Steven, Sherri

Gary and Sherri at Muir Grove

Hard Day of Hiking-Gary and Sherri

Steven and his Grandmother

Davis Fire-Sept 12, 2017

Large Tanker Plane at Davis Fire

Delilah Lookoout

Massachusetts New State House

Flag at JFK Library

Saturday, November 10, 2018

November 10, 2018 - Mariposa Grove

Title: November 10, 2018 - Mariposa Grove
Hike Info : Description : Extra Photo's : Flowers and Plants

Trail head: Road 5S37 and 5S06

Hike Info:

Type: Hiking

Trail: Road 5S06, Grizzly Giant, Mariposa Grove Trail, Perimeter Trail

Destination: Loop

Distance: 5.41 miles

Start Time: 12:43

End Time: 4:17

Travel Time: 3:34 (1.52 mph)

Moving Time: 2:42 (2.00 mph)

Elevation Rise: 988'

Descent: 867‘

Maximum Elevation: 6,442'

GPS Tracks

Description:

This is our first time to Mariposa Grove since it was reopened. so looking forward to what it looks like. It is also the first time going out for more than a mile and half in over six months. We will see what kind of shape I am in.

We leave Fresno about 10:45. When we get past Fish Camp, we meet up with a long line of people going into Yosemite. I know people walk into Mariposa Grove from Goat Meadow, so we decide to skip the line and go in that way.

Autumn Leaves

The road we turn on is the Mt Raymond Road. When we go past the Mariposa Transfer Station, memories of another time float by. Am I going to get us misplaced again? We continue on for a couple of miles until we see a road which goes towards the park. The part we see looks like it may become pretty rutted. Since we are in the Mercury with only a moderate amount of clearance, we decide to park and walk from here.

Steven approaching the Grizzly Giant

We follow road 5S06 up about half of a mile, The road continues on, but we see the gate to the north of us. So we go around the gate, following a fire road in and we are now in Yosemite. Nobody is around and all is quiet, except for the knocking of a woodpecker. There are some leaves which have turned from their green to brown, but look a bit golden in the filtered sunlight. The road descends into a small creek and then rises up to meet the Perimeter Trail-this used to be called the Outer Loop Trail. In a quarter mile of easy walking, we approach the first part of the Mariposa Grove renovation. That would be a handicap parking lot and an outhouse.

California Tunnel Tree

It is a short ways to the Grizzly Giant. We stop short and have our lunch while admiring Grizz. Then we walk up to the Giant before moving on to the California Tunnel Tree. We take a few pictures for other’s memories. We then decide to head towards the Mariposa Tree. This is along the Mariposa Grove Trail-which used to be the road for the guided tour tram.

Gary huffing and puffing

This trail is a bit of a climb, or at least my lungs and legs were not ready for this. So I am glad to stop and talk with whomever comes along. A couple from Missouri fits that bill and so we talk a bit-their contribution is that it is easier their way-downhill. Mine is Isaac Newton noted that whatever goes up comes down, but hikers know that if you go down you have to go up. Profound, I am sure. They are staying at Yosemite West so I suggest that a short hike up to Henness Ridge Lookout is a good walk.

Clothespin Tree

We get up to the Mariposa Tree, stop for a few and then take off on a trail which cuts over to the Guardian’s Loop Trail. But we only go a few feet on that when we veer off onto the Perimeter Trail. This will be our trail for the next mile plus-most of it downhill.

Suddenly going downhill, I feel energetic! Wonder why? My pace picks up and my breathing returns to normal. I really need to get out more. Steven is a ways ahead and I walk with Sherri. For awhile it looked like we were the only ones on this trail. But then there is a couple who are zooming right up this slope. A single older lady follows them. She and I stop to talk for a few minutes. Well that few minutes stretched into about 7-10 minutes-Sherri had already taken off. So by the time I got to walking again, it was full speed ahead. I pass by a trail junction back to the main part of the Grove and I wonder if that is the way they went? I hope note and there seems to be boot prints continuing on the Perimeter Trail. I hope that these are Sherri and Steven’s as I would hate to backtrack. A few minutes later I catch sight of Sherri’s jacket and feel much better.

Tree with Fall clothing

We catch up to Steven at the trail junction going out of the park, how we came in. By now the sun is hiding behind the trees, but we catch glimpses of light as it goes through some Autumn leaves. Makes for a pretty sight. We cross a small creek we grossed earlier and start a half mile climb to the boundary. Steven has already passed the boundary and is heading the third of a mile back to the car. Shortly before we get to the car, a large vehicle passes by on the road below, followed by a logging truck. Glad we were not there then.

We get back to the car about a quarter past four and start heading back to Highway 41. Seems like it is a lot quicker coming out then going in-which we are thankful for. Once we get to 41, the discussion is where to eat. We decide on Diciccio’s in Oakhurst. Filling and we are content. Also the service was pretty reasonable. Steven has me drive back to Fresno-he has driven the rest of the way. We get back around 7:15.

Extra Photo's

Mather Trees

Smoke from Camp Fire and Tree in Orange

Near the Mariposa Museum

Sequoia

Sherri and Steven on Mariposa Grove Trail

Flowers and Plants

Not orange peels, but fungi

Mushrooms at end of a log

Saturday, October 20, 2018

October 20, 2018 - Boston-Freedom Trail, Part II

Title: October 20, 2018 - Boston-Freedom Trail, Part II
Hike Info : Description : Background : Extra Photo's

Trail head: Community College Station

Hike Info:

Type: City

Description:

I got up at my usual time, 7:30. But I felt a sore throat coming on. Not bad, maybe a precursor of things to come. Certainly will not make me bed ridden. Sherri fixed pancakes this morning. I must have been hungry as I ate a whole bunch of them. We must be getting a bit tired as we do not leave until 11:30 or so.

Bunker Hill Memorial

Our objective today is to finish the Freedom Trail. So we walk to the now familiar Orange Line subway, even though it is above ground and get on board. Today’s stop will be at the Community College station rather than downtown. After exiting the Orange Line, we walk up Austin Street towards Bunker Hill. We spy a CVS and procure some EmergenC for my cold.

Col. William Prescott

Now it is on to Bunker Hill. As the name might indicate, it is on a hill. So we go up this. Certainly not as steep as San Francisco hills, but still it is a good climb up. We pass by a church which catches Sherri’s fancy. The slogan for the church sounds pretty good: Love God, Love People, Make Disciples. It says it was established in 1632. Sounds like it is having a pretty good run.

At the top of Bunker Hill, actually its twin which is called Breed’s Hill, is an obelisk which was built in 1848 as a memorial to the battle of Bunker Hill.We see that a tour will start in an hour, so we select a side of the hill a little bit sheltered from the wind and have our lunch-peanut butter and Nutella sandwiches.

We wandered around the hill for a bit until the ranger came up the hill to talk with us. There was a group of about ten people. She normally would lead us down into the city some, but she hurt her knee making the journey a bit painful for her, so we maneuvered around the top of the hill, observing the area how the Patriots would have seen it.

She talked about how the British tried to outflank the Patriots, but an experienced Patriot was able to hold them off. The Patriots were also able to lob cannonballs into the center of the British officers. But the British found something at least as effective by rolling cannonballs up the slope, knocking down and killing or maiming anything in its way. Eventually the British won the battle, but lost a great number of men and officers in the battle.

USS Constitution

After the tour, we decided not to climb up the monument-it was either that or spend another day on the Freedom Trail. So we went down to the museum at the bottom of the park. This museum is run by the NPS and we looked around some more-Oh yeah, I bought some more passport stamps. It explained both the battle of Bunker Hill and how the monument came to being. Now it is time to follow the bricks of the Freedom Trail.

We head off down the hill towards the USS Constitution. It is a short walk ¼ to ½ of mile all downhill. When we get to the entrance to the USS Constitution, it looks like there is a minor-league TSA line formed. We pass through and into a mini-visitor center. We walk around through there, gaining a few facts-which you can get online-about the USS Constitution. Then it is out behind a fence and there she is. Most people are entering through the port side, which is the way you should go. We see that there is not much going on on the starboard side, so off we go that way. When get on board, there is a sign which says do not exit on the port side, so I can only imagine that we might have missed another sign.

Sherri Boarding the USS Constitution

We traverse the poop (top) deck examining the ship’s wheel-pretty impressive Then up to the bow area looking out over the bay. I ask about the flags and the person admits that they are mostly decoration for this part. These days they are mostly for things like “Party tonight, you bring the beer this time.” Then we decide we should go down below.

The first thing we notice is that the ladder down is a bit steep along with the opening is cause for me to duck under it. Then the height of the ceiling is OK, but there is cross-beams which causes me to duck every couple of feet. How tall were these sailors? There is a row of cannons, looking all shiny.

Sleeping quarters

The officer quarters look more like prison cells than anything luxurious. The crew? They slept on hammocks-even these looked short. There is a mess area-standard tables and chairs. I could only imagine what this would have been like in a storm. The other thing which I notice is that everything smells clean. I think that during a voyage, the air must have been pretty heavy with smell. We go down one more floor, but nothing really to talk about.

USS Constitution's canons

We exit the ship on the starboard side and walk over to the dry docks. The USS Constitution was rebuilt here several years ago. Then it is off to the museum. Here it talks about the construction of the ship and the battles it fought. Apparently it had the right combination of construction and speed to make it a formidable enemy.

Mess

It is getting a bit late so we continue along the Freedom Trail. This leads us over to Washington St and the Charlestown Bridge. At the start it says that a solid plate is an acrophobia free zone. Not sure how reassuring that it because the rest of the way is a grate so you can see the water beneath you. Lucky we are used to it with the grate at Delilah. Also there are some nice sights of boats all lined up in a row.

Leonard Zakim Bridge

But the main attraction going across the bridge-or more on the approach to it is another bridge-the Leonard P Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. As we were crossing our bridge, the sun went behind the Zakim Bridge with clouds draped around it. Just a bit of nice eye candy this evening.

After crossing the bridge, we make our way up to Copp’s Burial Ground. Once again it is closed-we are getting here a bit late. But we can still peak in at what looks like some kind of ceremony going on. We watch for a few, then make our way down the street to the Old North Church. That is closing up as well. One of the classic views of this church is from a Paul Revere statue . The area is under renovation, but the statue is still there. So we go all the way around to get our view, along with some Korean tourists. Amazing the variety of people you see looking at our historic areas.

Boats from the Charlestown Bridge

It is getting dark now and I think we have walked the entire Freedom Trail. The question now comes up, like it does every night at this time, where should we eat? We think about the lady at the airport and say, The Green Dragon Tavern. We start walking downtown, crossing where the Haymarket Station was-this is where we caught the Orange Line a couple of days ago. Then following the bricks we get to a part of town which we recognize as close to the Tavern. We meander off of the brick path and find it.

Not much of a line there. We talk to a guy at the entrance about it-he works there. He indicated that the food is good. Make sure we get seated where we can see the wall. This is where the assortment of historical firearms and other items are on display. This tavern, or at least the forerunner to it as the original burnt in the 1850’s-is where many of the conspirators for the American Revolution met. Also one of the guides also said the British met here as well. We get seated and scan the menu. Independently, we decide that a shepherd’s pie is what we want. And it was pretty good. no dessert for us, at least at the Green Dragon.

Steeple of the Old North Church

We have had enough for the day, so it is time to get back to Malden. The State Station-below the Old State House is not too far from us. So we head there and descend into the bowels of the earth and pick up the Orange Line. We get off at Malden Station and walk to our AirBnB. There was rest and enjoy a couple hours of comfort before turning in.

Background
Reviews posted on TripAdvisor

Bunker Hill. We walked around the Hill which is really Breed’s Hill. A ranger’s talk was scheduled so we hopped on that-very recommended to get a good appreciation of how the battle formed around this area. You can go into the monument and climb the stairs to the top-but we did not. Also be sure to hit the museum at the base of the park.

USS Constellation. The ship is a worthwhile place to visit. You get a feel for what it was like to be onboard a ship during that era. The size of the quarters and height of the ceiling made an impression on me. I doubt that this ship was ever so clean while sailing. You should make allowances timewise to get through security. The museum was OK, but I do not think you would miss a whole lot if you skipped it. You should be able to find the information on Wikipedia.

Green Dragon Tavern. When I got off the plane in Boston, a woman asked if I was visiting? Yes. Then you got to go to the Green Dragon Tavern. The helpful Bostonian was right. Even though it was a Saturday evening, we got into the Tavern rather quickly even though it was full. After looking at the menu, my wife and I both ordered the Shepherd’s Pie-it just seemed like that kind of evening. A good choice. The pie was filling and tasty. Plus you got to be in an establishment which made history (the original tavern burnt down). It was a good choice to stop and eat at.

Extra Photo's