My third, but first successful, attempt at completing this hike. Geek Stats: Black Mountain Fire Tower || Distance: 8.87 mi || Duration: 4h 40m (2 hr ascent, 1 hr on summit, 1 hr 40m descent ) || Elevation Change: ±2,700′ || Difficulty: Strenuous* Wasted an hour at the fire tower. Volunteer was late and did not have the access code.
I just recently learned about Mt. Dana and it’s reputation as the easiest 13,000 foot peak. I quickly started planning an overnight trip in the hopes of summiting what would be the 2nd tallest peak on my ‘resume.’ The Plan Unfortunately this had to be a quick trip: Leave home (elev 1200) @ 1 PM on Friday. Arrive in Mammoth … Read More
With the recent events on Whitney, my wife is encouraging me to look into one of these devices again. I am hiking solo more frequently and exploring cross-country routes. Last year I almost purchased a SPOT, but I ran across some reviews regarding poor reception and customer service. I also spoke with a fellow hiker that had to return his device to the manufacturer. I decided … Read More
Itinerary A rough outline for our Mt. Whitney Dayhike, scheduled for September 8th. More details to come… Sept 6 (Saturday) Early AM Drive to Onion Valley Campground (4 hrs, 225 miles) Afternoon Acclimation hike Hike towards Kearsarge Pass POIs Little Pothole Lake Overlook 2.7 miles RT || 1000′ climbing Gilbert Lake 4.0 miles RT || 1355′ climbing Flower Lake 4.5 miles RT … Read More
The Plan Due to the late snow storm in the Sierra this year, I came up with several different plans. The different options I came up with can be seen here: Trip & Hike Planning, June 1-4 2014 (Mt. Whitney, Yosemite & Mammoth) In the end, this is the option that we ended up doing: Option 1, Mt. Whitney June … Read More
A very short hike (my son walked most of it) with some spectacular sights.
Not much of a hike, but but the sights were well worth the drive and short walk
This was our acclimation hike for Mt. Whitney, June 3-4 2014. We also used this hike as an opportunity to practice our glissading and self-arresting skills. Based on trip reports and the route I mapped out, the hike should have been around 7 miles roundtrip. Due to the extra hiking we did to find a spot to glissade, as well … Read More
My wife and I took our son (~ 18 months old) on his first camping trip. He fell asleep before we arrived at our campsite and setup our tent. As expected, he woke up screeching and giggling when he realized we were all sleeping together in a tent. On our way out of the park, we hiked the short trail to Ryan … Read More
After dragging our 9 lb, 3 person tent up to Chicken Spring Lake this past weekend, we are ready for something lighter! I have an upcoming overnighter on Mt. Whitney and would like to have the new tent for this trip. Making a Decision Based on my own findings and the recommendations of others, I considered tents manufactured by GoLite, Six Moon … Read More