Ansel Adams Wilderness Plans

A view of Mount Ritter, from Mount Ritter.

I managed to get the last two Labor Day weekend backcountry permits for the section of the Ansel Adams Wilderness that I want to share with Doc. Hooray! That area is so unbelievably beautiful that it makes my heart ache.

The last time I was backpacking in the area, it was to climb Mount Ritter. A gorgeous mountain surrounded by lakes and rugged beauty. This was also around Labor Day weekend, I believe. But: Ritter was a pretty technical mountain to climb, so Doc and I will just be milling about and enjoying the scenery. No mountaineering on this upcoming trip. I will mention, though, even if you don’t summit any mountains during your trip, this area is completely rewarding!

Breakfast under Mount Ritter, shrouded in fog
Up, up, up! Making for the summit of Mount Ritter.
I’d invite you guys to come with, but I snagged the last two permits for the area!

Farmer Steen

On Monday, I learned more about farming than I ever really wanted to. Except not modern farming. This was like… Medieval farming. We had to plant 15,000 seeds by hand, and since I did not want to injure my back, I ended up doing squats more or less continuously for about 12 hours. My thighs were in agony for a week afterwards.