With the low snow levels this year, we were hoping to hike Mt. Whitney June 3-4 with just hiking poles and microspikes. With some late season snow storms, the snow is sticking around longer than expected, so we need to come up with some alternates to Mt. Whitney. Here are a few ideas, including the plan for Whitney itself. June 1st … Read More
The Plan Being early in the year, planning for this trip was difficult – we didn’t have current trail conditions and would not know what we were going to do until a day or two before our hike. I came up with several different plans. The different options I came up with can be seen here: Cottonwood & Horseshoe Meadows (pre) Trip … Read More
The Cottonwood Pass Trailhead offers hikers an excellent starting point to explore areas/destinations such as Horseshoe Meadows, the Golden Trout Wilderness, Mt. Langley, Cirque Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail. Here is an example of a two day trip, assuming I leave my house in SoCal on a Saturday morning and eat an late breakfast/early lunch on Day 1 in Lone … Read More
The Cottonwood Lakes Trailhead offers hikers an excellent starting point to explore areas/destinations such as the Cottonwood Lakes Basin, the Golden Trout Wilderness, Mt. Langley, Cirque Peak and the Pacific Crest Trail. Here are a few pics of the area: Cottonwood Lakes Trails Trip Report, August 17 2013. Here is an example of an early season two day trip. When … Read More
Using GPSVisualizer Draw to create a simple GPX file I have tried several websites and methods for creating tracks for hikes that I am unable to locate gpx files for. What I’ve found is that most methods add waypoint, routepoint or linepoint data to the files. My GPS unit (Garmin Dakota 20) fails to load a track file if it contains … Read More
The Plan: With my Mt. Whitney Hike coming up the first week of June, I am hoping to spend some time ‘at elevation’ to help with the acclimation process. Being so early in the year, the options are somewhat limited unless you’re interested in hikes that require some serious winter gear & experience. After doing some research, we finally settled … Read More
Why Buy? I started hiking on a regular basis in 2011 and from my first hike forward, I have been looking for the best way to carry my camera. I’ve tried several cameras as well as different methods of carrying them, in the hopes of finding a solution that allowed me to carry a camera comfortably and securely, while allowing me … Read More
Another pre-sunrise hike up Blue Mountain for a little exercise and some photos Geek Stats: Ascent || Distance: 1.15 miles || Duration: 31 mins || Elevation Change: +956 ft Notes: 15% average incline || up shortcut #1 with headlamp Descent || Distance: 1.2 miles || Duration: 28 mins || Elevation Change: -956 ft Notes: took lots of photos … Read More
Last year I purchased a Sony Nex F3. As a result, I am far more likely to have a decent camera with me on hikes and on my way to/from work. With the shift in my schedule this year (I bring Ethan to day care), I’ve been seeing lots of nice sunsets and sunrises. Here are the pics:
I’ll never be, nor consider myself to be, a mountaineer, but many of these quotes apply to my experience hiking and exploring the mountains. “Big mountains are a completely different world: snow, ice, rocks, sky, and thin air. You cannot conquer them, only rise to their height for a short time; and for that they demand a great deal. The … Read More