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So, I have inexplicably gotten 3 emails (two from people I don’t know) asking about the Circle of Solitude trip. Generally just asking for the basic route/information on it. I am going to use this sentence here to plug the usefulness of the comment box in cases like this, instead of email please feel free to use either but comments are cool!

Now onto the subject at hand. The Solitude Circle is generally as follows and I do plan on wearing my brand new Adama for President T-shirt out there, hopefully on the summit of Triple Divide peak.  There are many options as is always the case in the Sierra Nevada, this is just a general outline.

This one launches from the Bubbs Creek trail head, right at Road’s End in Sequoia/Kings Canyon.  This is one of the more popular trail heads on the west side of the Sierra Nevada, partially because of the easy access to the Rae Lakes loop from here.  So from Bubbs creek you head to the Sphinx creek junction and head south over Avalanche pass.

Options: from here you can head into either Deadman or Cloud canyon.  From Deadman Canyon you can cross Copper Mine pass (just north of peak 12,2345) into Cloud Canyon or take Elizabeth pass trail (we’ll ignore this one for the CoS).  Either way you go, you have to get over to the south-east side of the Colby Pass trail near Gallats Lake.  For this trip, I’d like to hit Triple Divide Peak, seeing it from the High Sierra Trail was inspirational and intimidating.

From Gallats lake you head east towards Junction Meadow, bypassing Milestone Bowl and Kern Point.  Once you get to Junction meadow you’re on the High Sierra Trail for just a few marvelous minutes as you head north.  The HST then breaks East up to join the Pacific Crest Trail, but on the Circle of Solitude you keep heading north, staying away from the highway of people that the PCT is comparatively.   Heading north, you’ll eventually come to Lake South America.

At LSA you have another good set of options.  You can head south and east towards the PCT and when you hit that you head north again over Forrester pass.  You stay on the PCT for quite a bit, until you get to Vidette Meadow where you head back west towards the Bubbs creek trail head and completion.  The disadvantage to this PCT option being that you have so much time on the PCT with all those people.

I think the true spirit of a hike entitled the Circle of Solitude almost requires you to head straight north from Lake South America instead.  Heading north you’ll cross over Harrison pass, which is lower in elevation than Forrester, but less maintained (if at all).  From Harrison pass you start heading north-west from here to Lake Reflection and then straight north to the Bubbs creek junction and then again west, back towards the trail head and completion.

So that in summary is the Circle of Solitude.  Quite a bit of it is off trail, or at least has the option of being off trail, it’s all remote and lightly used.  I’m looking forward to it and recently found out that Gant has been successful in getting time off for the trip, but that Jared won’t be attending this time.

PS. Adama for president.

So, I’m obviously a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica and proud of it.  The show is simply the best thing on television.  The acting, the story, the themes and of course the music.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I almost always need noise around me. The music in BSG is freakishly good from the pounding war drums to the rare vocals and the haunting piano. The music fills in the story and hints to you where you’re going. I’ve actually taken to listening to the BSG soundtracks and the Blackhawk Down soundtrack while reading and for running, as they both make for excellent mood music.

Bear McCreary is the compooser for BSG.  Bear McCreary is one of my favorite people on the planet due to what he can do to my emotions with his music.  He’s also quite the wordsmith as you can see in his blog (don’t read if you don’t want spoilers as he goes into deep details about the show, up until to current episode).  The music in this show is, like everything else just top notch.  Evocative and emotional, and it sets the table for the actors to tell their story. I don’t need to go into what a great story arc it is again either, do I?

The best way I can demonstrate for you the power of the music is by listening to the music itself.  These are two of my favorite pieces.  Despite the fact that they are both from season two, believe me when I say all four season are just tremendous.  Take five minutes out of your schedule and check this out.  Just sit back in your chair, close your eyes and listen.  When the music is done, go ahead and do what you need to do (purchase the soundtracks at your favorite CD distribution location).

Love

War

My god.  You can call me a geek, you can make fun of me, you can point and laugh all you want.  No matter what you do though, I swear to god Battlestar Galactica (2003-2009 version) is by far the best storyline, acting, drama that I have ever experienced in my life.  With all due respect to my English teacher, Mrs. Wright and her fascination with Shakespeare, Ronald Moore and co. have put him to shame. 

There are only four seasons in this story.  Season four’s midseason finale just aired and just like every other finale/cliffhanger that Battlestar has put out there this one is simply stunning.  The story that they are telling in this show and the way it is told is so foreign to television that I can’t remember what TV shows were like before I started watching BSG.  This isn’t science fiction, it’s a story of morality and the tests that we fail.  This is a drama, not the cheesy evil twin is tarnishing my name around town soap opera, this is tension wrapped in humanities failures.

There’s three sides to every story, most stories told show you just one side.  Battlestar Galactica shows them all.  The only other time I can think of that I’ve seen so many perspectives in a story is a book by Michael Dorris called, Yellow Raft in Blue Water, which is also a great book by the way.  For those that don’t like all those confusing words to read, go ahead and watch you some Battlestar.  For those that like the readings, get that book and watch you some Battlestar.

I can’t wait until 2009 for the last half of the last season.  This show is the only thing on TV that would keep me up until midnight after a 12 hour workday.  I’m so pumped and depressed and excited and confused I can’t sleep but I love it!

So, Vu has started his Vegan program. As someone who really doesn’t care much about food (me) looking at Vu, I always thought he was silly for spending so much time, effort and money on “Good” food. He’s infatuated with food, he really is. So, him giving up what he knows and likes for two months to eat a strictly vegan diet seems impressive, since even I think Vegans eat shit for food.

You can watch him and his experiment here.

I also recently found out that Vu is also a Battlestar Galactica fan, like myself. If you haven’t seen the re-imagined series at all, you should give it a chance. Forget the big hair, plastic robots and spinning Baltar chair of the old series and immerse yourself in a very human drama wearing Scifi as a cover to tell the story. I’ve never been more attached to a tv show, I’ve bought all the soundtracks, bought all the seasons on DVD and watch it religously, when it’s on.

Which brings me to the SCIFI network in general and how assinine they are. The network that brought the world Mansquito, the movie dicks around with Battlestar more often than it would seem possible. Season three ends on something of a cliffhanger and season four won’t begin until at least 9 MONTHS after season 3 ended. SCIFI can suck a dick for that and all the other crap they’ve tried to foist (more standalone episodes in season 3 to draw in new viewers, instead of sticking with the main story arc and it’s substories) and the other delays in season programming.

If you haven’t watched it, there’s no better time than now, since you can just rent it or buy it on DVD. If you’re a severe cheapass on the order of the original Captain Budget, DGant, you can borrow my DVD’s anytime. Just make it through the miniseries (2 or 3 hours) and then the first episode; 33. After that, you will either be hooked to the show or possibly hooked up to a breathing machine because you are too stupid to breathe on your own if you don’t like it.

God I loves me some BSG.