The Land of the Golden Gate

Today we started on our journey as if in a dream. Catalina Island is of course surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. The cool water has a rather consistent effect on the moist air right above it; it causes the moisture to condense into a fog otherwise known as a marine layer that is a couple hundred feet think. This creates a situation where the tops of the mountains on Catalina all extend above the fog into the bright sunshine above. The airport sits on the top of on of these mountains and so the overall feeling is that the island and its airport sit floating in a billowing, twirling, roiling, sea of white and that the rest of the world's existence is but a figure of our imagination.

We headed northeast and soon were right over the top of LA. It really did sprawl in every direction and it instantly reminded me of the sight of Mexico City that I had seen from a plane 12 years ago when Amy and I were visiting there. 747's were lining up on their approach to LAX and we just cruised over the top of them. We crossed into some very dry terrain and then in the distance we could just barely make out the hulking mass of the Serria Nevada with their snow fields here and there. We drew nearer and nearer and finally with a climb up to 16,000ft we cruised over the tops of the range with the highest mountains only 1,500ft below us. Incredible.

We came over the backside of the mountains and set up for a nice and smooth landing into Mammoth Lakes, CA. Again, we found ourselves surrounded by stunning scenery as the land of the High Sierras rose up all around us in dramatic fashion. We after getting some fuel, we got a ride into town and grabbed some food. We were hoping to be able to drive into Yosemite but found out that the drive was two hours at least each way. Oh well, we would get to fly over it! While we were in Mammoth I was able to call up my friend Clay Tyson and he came over and joined us at the end of lunch and gave us ride back to the airport. I met Clay 7 years or so ago in Hamilton, NJ where he was the manager of the local climbing gym, Rockville. We have been keeping in touch here or there and when I joined FaceBook last week Clay mentioned that he was now living in Mammoth Lakes for a year (following his dream!). It was great to see him and see the great energy that he always has just pouring out of him. Way to go Clay!

By the time we got back to the airport we were already getting tired. The flying, traveling, and shuttling from here and there do take their toll. The winds had picked up and were gusting to 25mph but they were coming right down the runway (which for you non pilots is a good thing "down the runway" helps the situation a lot). Our plane (which Jerry long ago named Super Shirley) was all the way down at the other end of the ramp (parking area)and we had a long walk to it in the gusting wind. I was trying to call a friend and so I started walking out to the plane backwards to block the phone from the wind-noise. Jerry was ahead of me walking towards the plane. Because I was walking backwards, as I progressed the planes parked to my right slid by one by one. I had passed about 7 or 8 planes when I came to the Columbia. There was Jerry trying to open the hatch to the baggage compartment. He was working the key and kind of pounding on the door a bit to get it unstuck. For a second I was thinking, "Wow, we got to the the plane faster than I thought." That is when I realized that Jerry was trying to get into the wrong plane! When I called out to him over the wind there was a brief moment of shock and then we both just started cracking up! It was REALLY funny! :) Did I mention how tired we were? :)

We departed from Mammoth Lakes and spiraled up over the valley to get some altitude. Then we headed west towards San Fransisco. As we crossed the Sierras again Yosemite valley lay just to our south. Half Dome rose into the sky and caught the afternoon light in the most glorious way. Now that we had flown over many many mountains you could see just how unique and special the rock shape and formations were in this sacred valley. What an amazing place. We flew over the central valley of California and made our way through the class Bravo airspace around the San Fransisco Bay area. We headed to the coast and made a landing at a nice little airport right on the water at Half Moon Bay. As we got our luggage out I noticed a guy sitting in a car talking on his cellphone (there was really no one else around). Jerry suggested that I go see if he would give us a ride so I did. His name was Eric and he said that he would give us a ride to the BART station. Very cool. We hopped a ride with him and it all worked out nice and smooth from there. Thanks Eric!

By the time that we got to the hotel both of us were beat. As many of you saw when I sat down to write this entry the first time around, I kept falling asleep at my computer! :) I would wake up and realize that my finger had been resting on some random key and that the whole computer screen would be filled with "yyyyy" or "fffff" or as many of you saw "eeeeee". I decided that I would wrap it up for the night and finish the post later. It felt really good to get some sleep!

It feels good to be in San Fransisco. I love this city and the different vibe of all the various neighborhoods. The land of the Golden Gate cradles us and I look forward to spending tomorrow here and seeing my various friends and family that call this place home.