Earlier this year, I made a mental list of the alpine lakes, mountain passes and peaks that I wanted to visit before leaving California. With a busy schedule, I’ve had to do some crazy things to see all that I have over the last few weeks. This trip to the North Fork of Big Pine Creek was no exception. If planning … Read More
When we left Rush Creek trailhead on Day 1, we were planning on setting up camp at Thousand Island Lake, possibly waking up to take some sunrise photos, then hiking out at a leisurely, enjoyable pace. About 9 miles into our hike though, we got our first good look at Banner Peak. At that point, we both knew we’d be headed up … Read More
Out for an early Sunday morning hike with co-workers and Riley. For some in the group, it was their first hike – not exactly an easy one to start with, but they did great. …more details to follow as time allows. Geek Stats Black Mountain Fire Tower || Distance: 8.87 mi || Duration: 4h 40m (2 hr ascent, 1 hr on summit, 1 hr 40m … Read More
Thousand Island Lake is one of those places that I knew I had to visit the moment I saw pictures of it. I didn’t think I was going to fit it in this year, but things lined up last minute – I found some available permits online, there was campground with an open site the night before we wanted to start our … Read More
After sleeping really well (big props to Jacks ‘R’ Better), we were on the trail by 3 AM. We moved quickly until we closed in on Cottonwood Lake #4 (labeled 5 on the map below). There were a few different use trails in the area and we got headed in the wrong direction more than once. Using my GPS and … Read More
I’ll have a full trip report next week, but figured I should post some conditions for other hikers. Trail Conditions Nothing notable for the maintained trails from Rush Creek to Thousand Island. We went around Gem Lake (orange route) on our way in, then through Spooky Meadows (blue route) on our way out. We hiked from Thousand Island Lake to North … Read More
Soon after my first Mt. Whitney summit in 2011, I started looking at Mt. Langley. Despite planning the trip multiple times over the years, a solid attempt at Langley never panned out (closest was a 2013 attempt that ended after a Cirque Peak summit). Weather, conflicting schedules and my obsession with Mt. Whitney generally threw a wrench into my plans. Having … Read More
My wife, son, dog and I spent the weekend in Mammoth to get away from the heat in SoCal. I had planned to hike Duck Pass Saturday morning for sunrise, but after arriving at the hotel at 2:30 am, I decided it was best to wait until Sunday. Saturday I ended up doing a couple of short hikes to Mammoth … Read More
With the local forecast nearing 110° F, my wife and I decided that we should head north for a few days. We decided to spend the weekend in Mammoth hanging out and hiking. My dog (Riley) and I hiked to Mammoth Pass and McLeod Lake earlier in the day and after eating some breakfast, we hopped onto the shuttle at … Read More
I take too many photos. On any given hike, it’s not uncommon for me to take 200-300 shots. By the time I’m done editing/resizing the ones I like, deleting the bad ones and stitching the panoramas, I usually end up with 50-75 photos that I’ll post on this blog. During the hours I spend at my computer going through this process, … Read More