Snowboarding Squaw Valley
Snowboarding Tahoe | Squaw Valley from Jude Tibay on Vimeo.
Some footage of my team mates snowboarding in Tahoe’s north lake resort Squaw Valley. Not the most exciting riding you’l ever see, but the scenery (and hopefully the soundtrack selection) makes the vid worth watching.
Point Reyes & Muir Woods
Sunbeams slice through the morning mist.
Click here for more photos below.
It was drizzling and pitch black outside, as I hugged the winding roads in a cheaply-made SUV. It was 9:14 pm when I glanced at the dashboard clock. I was about to enter the cellular “dead zone” with only 15 minutes to arrive before it would be too late to check into the youth hostel located in the middle of Point Reyes National Seashore. The nice girl who answered at the hostel front desk promised to wait a few minutes extra. I told her that I understood if she left, but she assured me she’s leave me a note should “something crazy happen”. I focused back on the road where my high beams sliced through the darkness. My imagination started to run wild:
Bigfoot waits in the forest for me to reach a sharp curve before jumping out of the trees thus scaring the bejeezus out of me. I drive off the road and into the ravine where the SUV toppled onto its side. Bigfoot rips the driver side door off its hinges. I wake from grass and twigs tearing into my back as something large drags me across the forest floor. I lose consciousness again from the trauma.
Not that wouldn’t happen. A pull into the hostel driveway and run into the hostel. Though a “youth”hostel, more seasoned adult travelers lay on the couches reading books and drinking coffee. The hostel living room looks more like a woodsy cabin repurposed as a themed cafe. The cast-iron furnace dies, and I she greets me with a smile. I made it in time.
“Do you have a sleeping bag?” She asked me the same question twice before on the phone. Something tells me a sleeping bag is important.
“No. Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all.” She shows me the closet where they keep the blankets.
4:47 am – It’s freezing. The mattress is a vinyl-lined pad, like the crash pads climbers use for bouldering. Despite the fleece blanket that I’ve wrapped myself in like a burrito, I still feel the chill. A pink glow outside hints of the sun rising, and I can see the other 3 guys in the 14-bunk room cocooned snugly in their sleeping bags. Next time bring a sleeping bag.
8:47 am – I approach a bridge where a pair of ravens (or maybe just crows with black beaks?) perch and preen on the rails of a pedestrian bridge. The trail leads to Limantour Beach on the south-western shores of Point Reyes National Seashore.
10:09 am – The gas icon on the SUV’s control panel glows amber. I’m down to my last gallon of gas, but a 3G network is in range. I find out it’s just another 5 miles to the nearest gas station.
12:12 pm – My friend Alex who lives in San Francisco and I hike in Muir Woods. Shaded from the sun, it’s brisk and somewhat moist. We lose our way on unsigned trails a few times, but encounter a variety of wild-life: a bobcat stalking it’s prey, turkey vultures circling some lost hikers (us), and red-tailed hawks screeching.
3:45 pm – Eating stuffed eggs with a variety of fillings: duck, tuna, truffles, salami.
7:27 pm – Ready to pass out on the couch.
