After graduating, Jackson spent the summer driving to and through Baja Peninsula, Mexico to surfing, reading, playing guitar and practicing his spanish. Here’s the video he put together after the trip with his original music.
Jackson Has Graduated!
The whole fam-damily went to Salt Lake to see Jackson graduate from University of Utah. Michelle organized a lot of moving pieces to bring several generations of family together to celebrate. We were able to stay together, celebrate together and meet up with some of Jackson’s friends including the first friend he made at school and current group of buddies. Super fun and a great ritual for the big transition to real adulthood.
Jackson is off to Baja for surfing and then to the cabin in Mazama for hunkering down and recording an album. Who knows what is next!
Below is a gallery of photos from the event, travel and weekend activities including a fun night listening to Will and his band – Will was Jackson’s first friend in Utah and they played music together for years.
Link to the full Google Photos album – https://photos.app.goo.gl/xJPeboiS18eeCS2G7
[embed-google-photos-album link=”https://photos.app.goo.gl/xJPeboiS18eeCS2G7″]
The High Uintas – Timothy Lakes
The big hike of 2022 ended up being with Jackson, Oso and I into Timothy Lakes in the High Uintas Wilderness and it was fabulous. I met Jackson at his house in Salt Lake City Friday afternoon to drop off some items and take him over to his band’s gig for the night. Oso and I spent the night with Joey and Emily Casalini in Salt Lake City, but Joey and I returned to the house party and caught a few of Jackson’s band’s songs and a couple of the next band before leaving the college kids to their party.
The next morning, Oso and I picked up Jackson early and took a beautiful drive through Park City and mountain roads to get to the trail head. We stopped in Kamas at Fishwest Fly shop to update Jackson’s fishing gear and get some local flies. I always enjoy stopping at local fly fishing shops as they have the best local knowledge on what is hatching, where to go and helpful tips.
Here is a link to the full timothy lakes photo album.
I must admit, I was a little concerned seeing all of scrub and open/arid land leading into the wilderness but as we got off pavement and on to back roads, we saw more trees and more water (which made Oso happy). This was the first big trip where Oso had his own backpack, so that was exciting and worked out well – especially the handle on top to help him over downed trees and up a creek bank.
The hike started at about 8,000 feet and went up to 11,000. It wasn’t too steep, but kind of a long uphill grind for most of the way. Lots of creek crossing, lots of trees/shade and the trail was in generally great shape. Here’s the trail link. I took a wrong turn close to the end of the trail (didn’t see the sign) so Oso and I went a bit further, realized our mistake then circled back to catch-up with Jackson.
Once we hit Timothy lakes, we found an open, flat-ish spot to camp and setup. We were the only ones there and it was a beautiful small lake with lots of hungry trout! We built a small camp fire ring against some rocks, settled in for the evening and shared some brown and red beverages. The first part of the trip was more of a father-son vibe while once on the trail and especially around the fire, it was more of a buddy trip and I loved it.
Sunday was all about fishing (Jackson caught his first on a fly rod), hiking around to the additional lakes, napping and hanging out in the sun. Jackson brought his “backpacking” mandolin so we had music as well :-). A few more people showed up to camp around the lake, but they stayed a respectable distance away and it felt like we had the place to ourselves. In the evening, we kept a couple of the fish we caught and cooked them up on the fire – delicious! Jackson got the pleasure of having Oso in his tent Sunday night (small tents, big dog…).
We headed out on Monday for an easier hike down the mountain. It was a great trip, awesome to hang with Jackson, Oso’s first BIG hike where he carried his own food, beautiful country and great fishing.
High Sierras – Mt. Whitney – PCT – JMT
Jackson and Scott bagged the highest peak in the lower 48 states – Mt. Whitney – this summer on a 10 day trip with 6 on the trail. This was our third summer of epic hikes (West Coast Trail, Philmont and now High Sierras). It all started with a conversation with Don Davidson – long time friend and hiking inspiration – around joining him on the third leg of his Pacific Crest Trail journey with Bill Pope – owner of the Mazama Country Inn. I asked Jackson if he wanted to join and he was all-in which made me very happy. As schedules morphed and we pushed back for a later start, we looped in Jackson’s buddy Aldo to join us as well.
We left for California on Aug 25th (my birthday!) and spent the night with @willshortt which included a tour of the University of Oregon and a ceremonial coming of age watching of “Animal House” (which was filmed at UofO in Eugene…). Next day was a long drive to Lee Vining, CA to camp out and get up early to get permits for the hike which was a critical variable (success! note – Lee Vining – Mono Basin is the northern most ranger station for this part of the Sierra’s and the least busy which made getting permits easier).
Next we connected with Don (“Dog Gone”), Sandy (“Extra Credit”) and their two PCT hiking buddies “Hike On” and “Fox Fire” at Independence, CA for a night in a motel prior to heading up. Don made reservations at a local restaurant that was supposed be slow, but really good called Still Water (locals call is Still Waiting). After getting some drinks and ordering from a single front of the house older gentleman who spoke just enough English, he comes over and tells us that the “Chef has left the building, there will be no food for you and we will not charge you for the drinks.” Wow. We were absolutely dumbfounded. So, off to the mini-mart for ramen noodles and beef stew.
Up early the next day to catch a 6am ride up to Onion Valley trail head. Beautiful vista’s on the drive up but we climbed from around 6,000 feet elevation to almost 9,000 feet elevation at the trail head. On the first day we hiked over Kearsage Pass which is over 12,000 feet. Needless to say, we were feeling the impact of gaining so much altitude in a single day with 6 days of food and gear on our backs. Fortunately, we acclimated quickly and were fine on the rest of the trip.
After a couple of days hiking including the highest pass on the PCT – Forrester at 13,200 – we arrived at Crabtree Meadows for two nights of camping and a 15 mile round trip day hike up Mt. Whitney. We woke at 2:30am and started hiking at 4am. We peaked around 9:30am and spent over an hour taking pictures, eating and breathing thin air at the top of the world. We finished the day with a great swim in Guitar Lake.
The next day was a long hike – 16.5 miles – to Chicken Springs lake and then a short 5 mile hike out to the car. 70 miles in 5.5 days in a beautifully rugged part of the country over 10,000 feet for most of the time.
The boys got some great driving time on two lane highways, we enjoyed some excellent camp food, spent time with friends, made some new friends and hiked like crazy. It was great!
Click Here for Photos of the Mt. Whitney Trip
Fasser Holiday Letter – 2016
December 2016
I love this time of year when we look back & reflect on the last 12 months. Fortunately for us, we have mostly good memories of 2016. I was struck however, when it came time to find a photo of the 4 of us together for our Christmas card, I actually couldn’t find one! It seems the Fassers were often not a dynamic foursome! That doesn’t mean we didn’t find time to be together, or that there is a lack of closeness. I think it is more of just the reality that our kids are getting older (and bigger!) and sometimes we have to divide in order to enjoy them while doing their various activities and pursuing their interests.
Lindsay happily returned to USF as a sophomore this year and has had a fabulous time at that school. This last summer she worked as a camp counselor at Camp Sealth, something she has always wanted to do. She worked most recently at a darling bakery/café called Heart Baker in San Francisco. She just wrapped her fall semester where she has chosen her major in International Studies, Peace & Conflict Studies with a concentration on Latin American Studies. She will be home with us for the next 4 weeks and then will be leaving on January 17th for Ecuador where she plans to travel for 4 weeks. In February she will arrive in Buenos Aires where she will begin a semester abroad in Argentina.
Jackson is awesome! He is a freshman at Ballard High School. He has grown so much this last year, its almost painful to watch! He continues to train and work at his Parkour sport and Free Running. He has just finished level one at the Olympic Ski School where he will work as an assistant snowboarding instructor this winter. This last summer he spent 12 days on the trail at Philmont which is a high adventure Boy Scout camp in the mountains of New Mexico. He is still working toward his Eagle Scout rank.
Scott & I are having a blast watching it all and sharing our time with the kids. Scott was fortunate to have accompanied Jackson and 40 other scouts from Seattle to Philmont. For both our guys this was a life changing experience. Scott is an adjunct professor at UW teaching a digital marketing course at the Foster School of Business. The three of us (no Lindsay) took an amazing trip to Belize over spring break! We snorkeled, rode zip lines and rafted in caves! We enjoyed the beaches and the delicious food.
We hope this letter finds you well. If you would like to see pictures from our last year please go to our family website (recently updated!) at www.fasser.net.
Merry Christmas!
Michelle and the Fasser Clan