Trip Report
Rainy Day/Sunshine mini TR-an Easter weekend in CA
Monday April 25, 2011 1:30am
Saturday around 12 noon the day before Easter my buddies and I are somewhere east of Mt. Ralston in what has to be the last powder day of this epic season for the Tahoe Sierra!!!
top left corner top right corner
The boys at Stonehenge
The boys at Stonehenge
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Well, the truth be known more like mash potato's on hard toast which BTW was great skiing albeit a bit wet and soggy as we descended back down into the Trench of Highway 50........dreaming of sunshine and warm granite.
top left corner top right corner
Returning from the alpine
Returning from the alpine
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Woke up Easter Sunday to a hard rain and an empty house, my lovely wife a critical care nurse was working overtime like all angels. Thinking of my boys of Easter's past laughing in sunshine frantically collecting eggs before their lives took them off to Bozeman and SLC got me feeling lonely. Even my buddy Gus felt a bit down and out.
top left corner top right corner
Gus is depressed
Gus is depressed
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Sometime after noon it lightens up and then comes a few quick blasts of sunshine! Hmmm, the driveway looks dry so I wonder if our local crag might be as well? I decide to stop feeling sorry for yourself and drive out to check it out. The old oak in route will soon leaf out.
top left corner top right corner
An old man of Pleasant Valley
An old man of Pleasant Valley
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

WOW, you know what the rock is dry in the sun and old man river is cranking.
top left corner top right corner
Cosumnes Gorge, West Slope Tahoe Sierra
Cosumnes Gorge, West Slope Tahoe Sierra
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner
top left corner top right corner
Too early to cross
Too early to cross
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner
top left corner top right corner
Heading down to the Valley, Delta and the SF Bay
Heading down to the Valley, Delta and the SF Bay
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

It may be California but there were no lines today, except this one and others.
top left corner top right corner
Nice!
Nice!
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Nobody here except me, myself(belay) and I(pod) with Sting singing, "one, two, three, four, five, six..."
top left corner top right corner
Me, myself and I
Me, myself and I
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Indeed, "there has to be an invisible sun".
top left corner top right corner
Easter Sunday lupin
Easter Sunday lupin
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Feeling the love, I salute this special place and the river that made it.
top left corner top right corner
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Gathering up my gear on top I think back over the 30+ years I've been coming here slowly wearing down and smoothing out this stone, just like that old man river, who just keeps rolling on.
top left corner top right corner
Credit: Charlie D.
bottom left corner bottom right corner

Hope your Easter was as special as mine, cheers!

Berg Heil,

Charlie D.



  Trip Report Views: 1,916
Charlie D.
About the Author
Charlie D. is a trad climber from Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra.

Comments
Mike Bolte

Trad climber
Planet Earth
  Apr 25, 2011 - 01:41am PT
excellent (ok eggsellent)!

Thanks! Gotta check out Consumes.
JOEY.F

Gym climber
It's not rocket surgery
  Apr 26, 2011 - 09:32pm PT
Is the Consumnes not the only undammed drainage? Nice!

edit below, meant to say west flowing Sierra drainage.
Batrock

Trad climber
Burbank
  Apr 25, 2011 - 08:17am PT
Do you mean the only drainage in the Sierra? Doesn't the Walker flow into the Carson sink? There have to be more.
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Apr 25, 2011 - 09:48am PT
Gneiss Easter!
Charlie D.

Trad climber
Western Slope, Tahoe Sierra
Author's Reply  Apr 25, 2011 - 09:57am PT
It is a fact the Cosumnes River has no dams, not sure about the other river systems of the west slope but I can't think of one that isn't blocked off hand. Perhaps someone can chime in on this subject and the Carson River. There's a dam below Bridgeport and one at Topaz, not sure about the fork that goes into the Carson Valley at Gardnerville but indeed they all end up in a sink.
nutjob

Sport climber
Almost to Hollywood, Baby!
  Apr 26, 2011 - 07:01pm PT
These are the first pics I saw of Cosumnes, makes me want to check it out. Thanks for sharing
this just in

climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
  Apr 26, 2011 - 08:44pm PT
I could hear that water just by looking at it. Great weekend.
Crimpergirl

Sport climber
Boulder, Colorado!
  Apr 26, 2011 - 08:47pm PT
What a pleasing and beautiful TR. Thanks. :)
Go