Finished the climb to the tallest mountain in the continental U.S. and it defiantly shows by the amount of snow up there. We are moving into the month of July, a month we know as filled with hot and humid weather. Sure enough there we are, just a couple of southern boys, trekking through feet of snow without the appropriate gear to be moving very quickly. What a magnificent hike though! Due to not having shoe clamps for the snow we made it to about a mile underneath the peak and enjoyed the weather of running around in the snow summer clothing. The Mnt. Whitney was a 22 mile hike in-and-out as it was uphill one way passing through a forest covered in luscious Sequoia trees and lakes as it descended up the pass the more snowy regions on the mountain. As you keep hiking you get the a point were the hike is strictly snow and there is no true path anymore as people take their own paths through the icy mountainside.
Although we did not make it to the very top due to lack of snow gear in summer, we were able to take in all of the views and wonders below the peak. We passed many a folk heading back down due to the elevation change making them sick. Needless to say it was one of the best hikes I have experienced thus far and look forward to seeing it again in the future.
From here in the middle of the boonies in California we will be heading north passing by Yosemite National Park and into Lake Tahoe for the weekend. Since we are coming up onto the 4th of July weekend, I figured Lake Tahoe would be one of the best spots in all of California to play some music for the weekend since there should be tons of people packed all around the Lake all weekend. Upon our arrival into Lake Tahoe, we started our weekend off in Stateline, NV near the casinos and shopping plaza. We made decent tips and met a friend and worked our way to Kings Beach, a large public beach in California on Saturday.
It is the weekend of independence and freedom at Lake Tahoe and vendors are set up all over the walkways to the beach appeasing to the public as many gather from all around to enjoy the fireworks over the lake. We set up our instruments and started busking our way right next to a Tye-dye t-shirt vendor named Tom. It was a strange crowd as the tips weren't all that great since it was on the beach but we stuck around Kings Beach to hang out with Tom and Alacia, a gal who sold hair feather extensions next to us.
During this weekend we also met Jan, a woman intuited with our playing and asked how much we would charge to play for 2 hours at a party plus drinks and dinner on the 4th. We asked for $50 for the two hours and had a great time playing some county bluegrass for these friendly folk. By the end of our music session they fed us wholesomely and we walked out of there with $160 rather than the original $50. This weekend has been an awesome gather of funds to be able to reach up to northern California. We will be camped out at the casino at the top of the hill overlooking the town of Incline Valley, Ca. Interestingly enough, the casino allows you to stay camped out there for a whole week if you register with them. Thats kinda awesome.
Love reading about your journey! Oh the memories you are making :-)
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