Devil's Postpile And The Alabama Hills: ERT2014 Day 3

Day 3 of the Epic Road Trip of 2014 started off with a good breakfast before driving to Mammoth. I was pretty happy I wasn't driving this leg of the trip. I really enjoyed looking out the window the whole way.

This abandoned shack is just outside of Lee Vining

When we got to Mammoth, it was raining. Mum was a little hesitant to take the bus to Devil's Postpile. (In summer, you have to take a bus to see the rock formation. It helps cut down on the traffic.) I said I wanted to go anyways. So we went, and it turned out that it was only raining on the side of the mountain that the parking lot was on. It was lovely on the other side of the mountain. 

We hiked to the top to see the formation even closer. Even though we knew that the post pile was created by the way lava cooled in the area, it still looked like man-made tiles to us. 

We ate lunch while looking up at the formation. The seat was wet, so I lay out my jacket for us to sit on. Unfortunately I had forgotten that I had put my sunglasses in my jacket pocket. Mum sat on them. She said I did it on purpose so she'd have to buy me a new pair.

After getting new sunglasses, Mum and I drove down to Lone Pine. I had wanted to see the Alabama Hills. I didn't realize that so many movies had been filmed out there. Films like Gunga Din and Gladiator have all had scenes filmed out there. The reason I wanted to go was to see the Mobius Arch.

Right behind the arch is Mount Whitney

What's so interesting about these hills is that the rock it is made out of is the exact same as the rock in the mountains behind. They have just eroded differently. Truth be told, the Alabama Hills feel otherworldly. If you've ever seen the movie Galaxy Quest, it felt like a Gorignak could come out at any moment. (Galaxy Quest was filmed in Goblin Valley, Utah, but it felt the same.)

We stayed until the shadows deepened and the sun faded away. Then we casually drove back to town through the warm and dusty evening.

Clouds Rest And Mono Lake: ERP2014 Day 2

On Day 2 of the Epic Road Trip of 2014 Mum and I hiked Clouds Rest in Yosemite. This was the primary purpose of the road trip. I think at one point this was all we had planned to do until I said something like, "Could we see (insert point of interest) too" a couple of times. 

It's 7 miles (11km) up and 7 back. Most of the trail is well marked, but once you get to the peak, it looks like this. It really doesn't look like you should be scrambling up those rocks just past the sign. On either side are very steep drops. The hike even warns you not to do it if you have a "heights thing".

I think the guide was a little lax in explaining how narrow a piece of rock you are crossing over. Everyone had problems going over the last bit of rock. When we reached the last part of the trail I found my heart racing, so I just looked at my feet as I went up and over. (Actually, if you don't have a "heights thing" while doing the last bit, your sense of self preservation simply doesn't exist and you might have bigger issues in life to contend with.) If you go up and over, you get the best view in Yosemite. Just to my right is Half Dome. And the deep valley to the right of Half Dome, that is Yosemite Valley. You are above it all. Clouds Rest lives up to its name.

After finishing that hike, Mum and I got ice cream and then drove to Lee Vining via Tioga Pass. This pass is a sight to behold. It always closes for winter because of the snow. This year was a low snow year, so I believe it opened earlier than usual. If ever you get a chance to travel to this part of the world, drive down this pass. I would recommend doing it in the late afternoon when the shadows start creeping in. You start believing you are in a movie because everything is so grand that it almost seems fake.

The pass opens up to a view of Mono Lake, a neat place in of its own right. Mono Lake is a saline lake with no outlet. And on a day when the clouds roll through, it is particularly spectacular.

The lake has Tufa formations, which are mineral deposits. There are many places around the lake to see them, but the South Tufas are particularly stunning. 

We were lucky to get a view of Lenticular clouds and a flower I had never seen before called the Giant Blazing Star. The flowers were approaching the size of my hand. I didn't even know that size of flower could exist somewhere like the East Sierras.

As the sun set, Mum and I drove to the Whoa Nellie Deli and had a tasty meal. She had the fish tacos, I had the meatloaf. When we got back to the hotel, I hobbled to bed and passed out after having such a great day.

Knight's Ferry And Yosemite: ERT2014 Day1

It's been a week since I've been back from Mum and my epic road trip of 2014 (or ERT2014). We drove over 1,300 miles (2,092 km) and hiked over 27 miles (43 km) in a week. I came back with enough bug bites, bruises, blisters, and sunburn to know that I had a fantastic time! Over the next few days I thought I'd share this week with you all.

Day 1

Have you ever passed a place so many times and said, "One day we'll stop to have a look." On our road trip, Mum and I finally stopped at Knight's Ferry; the site of the longest covered bridge west of the Mississippi. We didn't realize that the bridge was still there. Although it is now closed to cars, people can still cross it. They have a great visitor center as well. It's completely worth a visit.

After our little detour, we continued onwards to Yosemite. As we neared our destination of Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, we took a moment at Olmsted Point to have a look at the beast we were going to conquer the next day: Cloud's Rest. Of course when I took this picture, I didn't see those two girls photobombing us. As we had a look at the surrounding view of Cloud's Rest and Half Dome, we heard our names being called. It sure is a small world. A minute difference, and we wouldn't have run into our friends. They were on their way to Tuolumne Meadows and had stopped at the point to have a look.

We drove past Tuolumne Meadows on our way to the lodge. And by lodge, I mean canvas tents that are at the mercy of the outdoor temperature. There were wood burning stoves in each tent. Mum told me that she "preferred the smell of the air as is" so I didn't light it. We obviously have different body temperatures. Mum slept without socks. I slept in a thick wool sweater. The next morning at breakfast, the workers commented on how cold it was that night. (There was thick frost covering the car, so it was pretty cold.) And the people we ate breakfast with (meals are communal there) said that the best part of the tents is the fire. Next time it will happen! 

Western Blue Flag flowers in front of our tent

Police Box Sox

It's been some time coming, but I have a new pattern out: Police Box Sox. I've knit several pairs of Tardis-inspired sock patterns, but each time I had to add many modifications to get them to fit my foot. I thought it was high time I write my own version.

These socks feature a 60 and 72 stitch count. But around the stranded color work portion of the sock, the stitches are increased to help accommodate how tight stranded knitting is compared to stockinette. The sock is knit top down with a heel flap, but other heel styles can be used in place of the suggested heel.

And the best part is the price: Free! The pattern can be found on bear-ears.com or on ravelry.

Also, I want to give a shout out to my buddy, Kiwipurler for the Knitsch yarn she gave me for my birthday that went into these socks. It is aptly named "Tennant."

The Velveteen Scooter

Sometimes I wonder why Scooter's body puts so much emphasis on hair growth. I gave him a great haircut in March. Come June, it's back to fluffy.

He's getting ready for his haircut nap

Luckily he sits very nicely for his hair cuts. We sit out in the backyard and he falls asleep as I trim away with a pair of scissors. Isn't he handsome. If only you all could reach through the screen and feel how velvety he is now. And because all that hair is gone, he gets a little cooler in the evenings, which means we wants to cuddle!

He's all nice and clean because he will be staying with a friend for bit while my Mum and I go on a little trip. I'm hoping to get some neat pictures to share when I get back.

Blending Of The Yarn

Move over stockinette hell, I am in a lacy sweater hell. I have learned once again why you have to blend yarns from indie dyers... even on sleeves. I didn't really want to blend two balls of yarn together, so my brilliant idea was to take the bluer skein and knit that the cuffs and collar of the sweater. The browner skein would become the main portion of the sleeve. So that is what I did for the sleeve on the right. It was late and I didn't see how different it was until the next morning. Then I ignored it, because I'm a rebel. Later on at knit night Tyler said, "Whoa. Different dye lots?" Sigh....

The sleeve on the left is what it looks like when you do a round with one ball and a round with the second. I finally broke down and started blending when I held the right sleeve against the rest of the sweater and realized that it would have never worked.

Speaking of the rest of the sweater, I ended up taking out a repeat of the pattern along the top of the sweater because the armholes ended practically under my bust. Not a hot look.

I started this sweater in the middle of April and it has been nothing but trouble. Part of it is because of my modifications, some of which were necessary in order to get this sweater to fit me. Also, most of my sweaters roll forward on me, so this last knit night, Carol explained to me why. (In the most counterintuitive move, the back neckline needs to be lower so that it doesn't travel up my back. Weird.) I am so sick of knitting and ripping this sweater that we devised a clever, but crazily complicated way of making the collar that should accommodate the neckline issue. I really hope it works. I'm still really excited to wear this sweater. But I am really, really, really ready to be done knitting it.

Stockinette Hell

Last post I showed all my recent yarn acquisitions and Alicia asked what in the world all that Shelter and Loft would become. Well... when Tyler, Christine, Cathy, and I went to A Verb For Keeping Warm last month to look at the Wool People 7 trunk show, I tried on Coda and Pente. (I look good in both.) But the Pente looked particularly good on me. Of course when you are in a crowd of enablers, you aren't going to leave without yarn. So I bought enough to make the sweater, despite Cathy saying, "You know that you are going to be in stockinette hell, right?" Well, the power of wool is strong. Cathy tried on Pente, also looked great in it, and was at the register with her sweater's amount of Loft when I said, "What about stockinette hell?" To which Cathy replied, "Damn."
Long story short, everyone but Tyler is going to make this sweater. We are having an unofficial KAL, starting tomorrow. Cathy has already cheated and started. (I don't care what your justification is, Cathy. You totally started a week early.)

As for the Shelter, these four greys are to test out a blanket design idea I have. All going well, I'll need more yarn. But I thought I'd just get a skein of each to start. It is Snowbound, Sweatshirt, Soot, and Cast Iron.

And this lovely skein of Shelter, in Long Johns, I got to see if I really liked the color enough to make a sweater out of it. They were out at Verb, and my color card can only tell me so much, so I ordered online. I do like it. I probably will make a sweater out of it. But I'll finish some other projects before buying more.