Grand Canyon Doule Crossing

Despite being active in the outdoors for the past couple of years here in Las Vegas, I had not yet been to the Grand Canyon. This was pretty ridiculous because this great natural wonder of the world is only a five hour drive away.

On Friday afternoon my friend Brett and I set out for my biggest single day adventure yet. Before I go any further let me give a little background first. Last December my friend Ron told me that Brett and a guy named Jim made a double crossing of the Grand Canyon in one day. I was flabbergasted when I learned that this involved 11,000ft of elevation gain and loss over 42 miles and it took the duo 14hr 30min. I barely believed this was possible except for the fact that both Brett and Jim are very stand up guys and would never lie about such a feat. Despite my disbelief let's just say the seed was planted. This completely changed my view of what a person could accomplish. In many ways this led to me doing the ultra-marathon last may which was 33miles and 5000ft of elevation gain. I was in such agony after the race that I wrote off the idea of the Grand Canyon double crossing. Over the summer I did many adventures and I felt myself getting stronger especially going downhill which contrary to popular opinion is not the easy part. Going downhill is much more strenuous on your joints than going uphill, however, one does expend much more energy going uphill. We have been training for a hike up Telescope Peak in Death Valley (next weekend) which goes from Badwater (Below Sealevel) to Telescope Peak (about 11,000ft). Brett has been planning a repeat of his double crossing and asked if I was interested a few weeks ago. Like I said I didn't think I could do it but I've felt so strong hiking lately I agreed telling him "what the hell, let's do it". So back to the story.

As I was saying we left Las Vegas Friday afternoon and drove to Williams, Arizona about four hours away and an hour from the Grand Canyon. We sorted our gear in the hotel my gear included: trail running shoes, sock liners, socks, running shorts, technical shirt, lightweight coat, fanny pack, two 1/2 liter bottles, four Clif Bars, two gel shots, a headlamp, and some Gatorade powder. We woke up Saturday morning at 4am and were on the road by 4:15. I felt the nervous excitement one feels before a big adventure driving out in the darkness. An hour later we entered the park and Brett told me to pull over and cut the lights in this pullout. This was the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. Although it was still dark I could see the silhouette of the canyon in the moonlight. My first impression was that this place is larger and more magical than I imagined. Across the canyon on the North Rim we saw fires that we learned were prescribed fires set by the Park Service. We parked and soon jogged a half mile to the South Kaibab trail head by headlamp.

At 5:35am we dropped into the canyon at a slow jog (only 42 miles to go). The South Kaibab trail is pretty beat up in places from mule traffic and the going was rather treacherous by headlamp. After about a half hour we were treated to a serene sunrise. The sky was blood red in the early dawn light from the smoke of the fires. With the faint early morning light and the moonlight we no longer needed our headlamps and soon thereafter the sky brightened. We warmed up quickly and I ditched my jacket behind some rocks so I didn't have to carry it the whole day because the key to completing the adventure was traveling light. Brett and I joked around that we were heading to Modor and he was Frodo and I was Samwise (Lord of the Rings reference to those who live under a rock). Brett who was a tour guide to the Grand Canyon in a former life filled me with historical and geological information on the canyon which passed time merrily. We cruised at a fairly slow pace so save ourselves for the rest of the day but we still made it across the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch in 1hr 45 min, about seven miles (only 35 to go).

We drank some water and headed up the North Kaibab trail which follows Bright Angel Creek for several miles. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. The trail sloped up gently enough to keep a good jogging pace and it isn't often you get to follow a river hiking in the desert. This section is also quite narrow so the canyon walls rose straight up hundreds of feet. We bypassed stopping for water at Cottonwood Camp (Please Note) and jogged another mile to the Artist's Camp (only 28miles to go) to refuel at 10:05 am. By chance when we were getting water our friend Bruce met up with us (Bruce was doing the double crossing in two days and planned to stay with us Saturday night). From here we the trail got steeper and we jogged when we could and walked the steeper parts. I kept focusing on keeping a steady pace and the scenery rather than how far we had to go to prevent going into depression or madness. We saw several other crazy people (ultra-runners doing the double crossing like us) on the way to the North Rim which by some miracle we finally reached at 12:15 (only 21 miles to go). Bruce left us a stash of Gatorade and Clif bars in his truck so we could travel lighter. Even though we had gone 21 miles and gained 6000' and descended 5000' I felt pretty good. I could feel my muscles getting tired but not too painful. Additionally, reaching the North Rim marked a huge mental milestone; from here on out each step brought us closer to finishing rather than further away.
We kept a pretty slow pace down the trail to avoid killing our joints and making the rest of the hike unbearable. We reached the Artist's house in a respectable 1hr 20min (only 14 miles to go). We took a quick drink but didn't fill our bottles because we expected to stop for water at Cottonwood Camp only 1 mile away. However, it wasn't until we turned the spigot at Cottonwood Camp that we learned water at the camp was off. We had no water and had six miles to Phantom Ranch during the hottest part of the day. Luckily we met this incredibly generous man that took pity on our plight and gave us a liter of water. We were only filling our bottles half full each at each station for a total of 1/2 liter between stops so this worked out perfectly. We thanked the man profusely and continued on. The same section I thought was so magically serene a few hours before I despised on the way down. These six miles seemed to go on forever and I hurt more with nearly every step and it took all my will to stay right behind Brett who was setting the pace at the time. We both were tired but kept up our banter although more infrequent. I remember breaking the silence of a long silence stretch by saying "it's a long way Mr. Frodo but I won't leave you, never". (yes another dorky Lord of the Rings reference and yes I know the quote may not be 100")

At last we reached Phantom Ranch at 4:o5 pm (Only 7 miles to go). Even though we were tiring quickly we made the 14 mile from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch in a respectable 3.5 hours. We chugged water and at Clif Bars before the final ascent to the South Rim, the crux of the whole day. I was so sore from running that I was looking forward to walking despite it being uphill. We filled our bottles and crossed the bridge back across the Colorado River for our slow ascent, the key word being slow. It was 4:35 and we had 3 hours to reach our tentative goal of 14 hours total. I kept the same strategy on focusing on just keeping moving rather than our progress, or lack of it, as I did on the North Rim. Mentally I was okay, however our joking and banter nearly stopped except for the occasional feign of humor at our plight. I was wearing down and my legs got a little wobbly. I had the feeling of being a little drunk where your mental capacity is fine but your body won't quite do as it is told without total concentration. This is how the next couple hours passed. Around 6:30 we had to put our headlamps back on. I had no idea how far we had left and I tried not to think about it in fear by my already waining spirit being crushed. I retrieved my jacket I stashed and I new we were relatively close. We passed some people who descended canyon part way for the sunset which we saw and was beautiful but we couldn't really savor. Depth perception is greatly diminished when traveling by headlamp so I was pretty much concentrating on my footsteps. Occasionally I'd stumble a little and have to stop and steady myself. I kept checking my watch wondering if we'd equal our 14hour time frame which would have been 7:35pm. I knew we were close as I checked; 7:17, 7:23, 7:28, 7:35 (damn we missed it) 7:41, 7:44. About 30 seconds after this last check a sweet sound pierced the silence. It was "hey is that you guys", it was Bruce waiting for us. Seconds later I crested the rim at 7:45 with Bruce greeting me with a handshake and congratulations. We missed our goal but I was pretty excited about 14hrs 10min because this beat Brett's two previous double crossings beating his best time by 20 minutes. I'm not saying I wasn't hurting but I felt better than I expected and much better than after my ultra-marathon a few months back. We checked in and went to eat.
We got back and after a hot shower I crawled into bed. We all talked for a bit but the other guys were quickly out like a light. I was still wired from the day and thoughts raced through my head. I got up and grabbed a beer and laid in bed drinking it quietly in the darkness. This was when I finally relaxed a little and everything hit me. As I sipped my beer I was thinking of how I couldn't believe I actually did it, how proud I was of myself.

The next morning I drove Bruce back to the trail head for his return trip across the canyon and when I got back to the hotel neither Brett or I felt like going back to sleep. We chilled in the room for a while talking then caught the hotel breakfast and heading home for Las Vegas arriving home around 11:30. Dropping Brett off we proved our insanity agreeing to make this an annual event.

Grand Canyon Doule Crossing

Despite being active in the outdoors for the past couple of years here in Las Vegas, I had not yet been to the Grand Canyon. This was pretty ridiculous because this great natural wonder of the world is only a five hour drive away.

On Friday afternoon my friend Brett and I set out for my biggest single day adventure yet. Before I go any further let me give a little background first. Last December my friend Ron told me that Brett and a guy named Jim made a double crossing of the Grand Canyon in one day. I was flabbergasted when I learned that this involved 11,000ft of elevation gain and loss over 42 miles and it took the duo 14hr 30min. I barely believed this was possible except for the fact that both Brett and Jim are very stand up guys and would never lie about such a feat. Despite my disbelief let's just say the seed was planted. This completely changed my view of what a person could accomplish. In many ways this led to me doing the ultra-marathon last may which was 33miles and 5000ft of elevation gain. I was in such agony after the race that I wrote off the idea of the Grand Canyon double crossing. Over the summer I did many adventures and I felt myself getting stronger especially going downhill which contrary to popular opinion is not the easy part. Going downhill is much more strenuous on your joints than going uphill, however, one does expend much more energy going uphill. We have been training for a hike up Telescope Peak in Death Valley (next weekend) which goes from Badwater (Below Sealevel) to Telescope Peak (about 11,000ft). Brett has been planning a repeat of his double crossing and asked if I was interested a few weeks ago. Like I said I didn't think I could do it but I've felt so strong hiking lately I agreed telling him "what the hell, let's do it". So back to the story.

As I was saying we left Las Vegas Friday afternoon and drove to Williams, Arizona about four hours away and an hour from the Grand Canyon. We sorted our gear in the hotel my gear included: trail running shoes, sock liners, socks, running shorts, technical shirt, lightweight coat, fanny pack, two 1/2 liter bottles, four Clif Bars, two gel shots, a headlamp, and some Gatorade powder. We woke up Saturday morning at 4am and were on the road by 4:15. I felt the nervous excitement one feels before a big adventure driving out in the darkness. An hour later we entered the park and Brett told me to pull over and cut the lights in this pullout. This was the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. Although it was still dark I could see the silhouette of the canyon in the moonlight. My first impression was that this place is larger and more magical than I imagined. Across the canyon on the North Rim we saw fires that we learned were prescribed fires set by the Park Service. We parked and soon jogged a half mile to the South Kaibab trail head by headlamp.

At 5:35am we dropped into the canyon at a slow jog (only 42 miles to go). The South Kaibab trail is pretty beat up in places from mule traffic and the going was rather treacherous by headlamp. After about a half hour we were treated to a serene sunrise. The sky was blood red in the early dawn light from the smoke of the fires. With the faint early morning light and the moonlight we no longer needed our headlamps and soon thereafter the sky brightened. We warmed up quickly and I ditched my jacket behind some rocks so I didn't have to carry it the whole day because the key to completing the adventure was traveling light. Brett and I joked around that we were heading to Modor and he was Frodo and I was Samwise (Lord of the Rings reference to those who live under a rock). Brett who was a tour guide to the Grand Canyon in a former life filled me with historical and geological information on the canyon which passed time merrily. We cruised at a fairly slow pace so save ourselves for the rest of the day but we still made it across the Colorado River to Phantom Ranch in 1hr 45 min, about seven miles (only 35 to go).

We drank some water and headed up the North Kaibab trail which follows Bright Angel Creek for several miles. This was one of my favorite parts of the day. The trail sloped up gently enough to keep a good jogging pace and it isn't often you get to follow a river hiking in the desert. This section is also quite narrow so the canyon walls rose straight up hundreds of feet. We bypassed stopping for water at Cottonwood Camp (Please Note) and jogged another mile to the Artist's Camp (only 28miles to go) to refuel at 10:05 am. By chance when we were getting water our friend Bruce met up with us (Bruce was doing the double crossing in two days and planned to stay with us Saturday night). From here we the trail got steeper and we jogged when we could and walked the steeper parts. I kept focusing on keeping a steady pace and the scenery rather than how far we had to go to prevent going into depression or madness. We saw several other crazy people (ultra-runners doing the double crossing like us) on the way to the North Rim which by some miracle we finally reached at 12:15 (only 21 miles to go). Bruce left us a stash of Gatorade and Clif bars in his truck so we could travel lighter. Even though we had gone 21 miles and gained 6000' and descended 5000' I felt pretty good. I could feel my muscles getting tired but not too painful. Additionally, reaching the North Rim marked a huge mental milestone; from here on out each step brought us closer to finishing rather than further away.
We kept a pretty slow pace down the trail to avoid killing our joints and making the rest of the hike unbearable. We reached the Artist's house in a respectable 1hr 20min (only 14 miles to go). We took a quick drink but didn't fill our bottles because we expected to stop for water at Cottonwood Camp only 1 mile away. However, it wasn't until we turned the spigot at Cottonwood Camp that we learned water at the camp was off. We had no water and had six miles to Phantom Ranch during the hottest part of the day. Luckily we met this incredibly generous man that took pity on our plight and gave us a liter of water. We were only filling our bottles half full each at each station for a total of 1/2 liter between stops so this worked out perfectly. We thanked the man profusely and continued on. The same section I thought was so magically serene a few hours before I despised on the way down. These six miles seemed to go on forever and I hurt more with nearly every step and it took all my will to stay right behind Brett who was setting the pace at the time. We both were tired but kept up our banter although more infrequent. I remember breaking the silence of a long silence stretch by saying "it's a long way Mr. Frodo but I won't leave you, never". (yes another dorky Lord of the Rings reference and yes I know the quote may not be 100")

At last we reached Phantom Ranch at 4:o5 pm (Only 7 miles to go). Even though we were tiring quickly we made the 14 mile from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch in a respectable 3.5 hours. We chugged water and at Clif Bars before the final ascent to the South Rim, the crux of the whole day. I was so sore from running that I was looking forward to walking despite it being uphill. We filled our bottles and crossed the bridge back across the Colorado River for our slow ascent, the key word being slow. It was 4:35 and we had 3 hours to reach our tentative goal of 14 hours total. I kept the same strategy on focusing on just keeping moving rather than our progress, or lack of it, as I did on the North Rim. Mentally I was okay, however our joking and banter nearly stopped except for the occasional feign of humor at our plight. I was wearing down and my legs got a little wobbly. I had the feeling of being a little drunk where your mental capacity is fine but your body won't quite do as it is told without total concentration. This is how the next couple hours passed. Around 6:30 we had to put our headlamps back on. I had no idea how far we had left and I tried not to think about it in fear by my already waining spirit being crushed. I retrieved my jacket I stashed and I new we were relatively close. We passed some people who descended canyon part way for the sunset which we saw and was beautiful but we couldn't really savor. Depth perception is greatly diminished when traveling by headlamp so I was pretty much concentrating on my footsteps. Occasionally I'd stumble a little and have to stop and steady myself. I kept checking my watch wondering if we'd equal our 14hour time frame which would have been 7:35pm. I knew we were close as I checked; 7:17, 7:23, 7:28, 7:35 (damn we missed it) 7:41, 7:44. About 30 seconds after this last check a sweet sound pierced the silence. It was "hey is that you guys", it was Bruce waiting for us. Seconds later I crested the rim at 7:45 with Bruce greeting me with a handshake and congratulations. We missed our goal but I was pretty excited about 14hrs 10min because this beat Brett's two previous double crossings beating his best time by 20 minutes. I'm not saying I wasn't hurting but I felt better than I expected and much better than after my ultra-marathon a few months back. We checked in and went to eat.
We got back and after a hot shower I crawled into bed. We all talked for a bit but the other guys were quickly out like a light. I was still wired from the day and thoughts raced through my head. I got up and grabbed a beer and laid in bed drinking it quietly in the darkness. This was when I finally relaxed a little and everything hit me. As I sipped my beer I was thinking of how I couldn't believe I actually did it, how proud I was of myself.

The next morning I drove Bruce back to the trail head for his return trip across the canyon and when I got back to the hotel neither Brett or I felt like going back to sleep. We chilled in the room for a while talking then caught the hotel breakfast and heading home for Las Vegas arriving home around 11:30. Dropping Brett off we proved our insanity agreeing to make this an annual event.

Tuolumne Meadows Climbing-Yosemite National Park

Bruce and I left Friday the 10th for our climbing trip to Tuolumne
Meadows. I had been looking forward to this trip more than any other
all summer long. Being a relatively new climber, I was also a little
nervous about being able to hang with Bruce and Brad being that they
are much better and experienced climbers than I am. We were to meet
Brad on Sunday in the park which left us Saturday free.
Day 1-Laurel Mt.
Bruce already wrote about the climb on Laurel Mt. so I won't rehash it
here. I will say, however, that this was a very fun climb. As Bruce
said we soloed it (no ropes or technical gear) but I had to put on my rock shoes for a few of the
tougher sections. The climbing was easy but it was pretty slabby in
sections so it certainly got one's attention. I once tried to climb a
slab in my regular shoes and lost my footing and slid several feet
down the slab to a ledge. It was at that point I knew for sure this
was going to be an exciting week. This ended up being a lot tougher peak than we thought it was going to be. The swim in Convict Lake afterwards was very refreshing.
Day 2-Low Profile Dome/Lembert Dome
We met Brad in Tuolumne Sunday morning and still had several hours
before we could check into the campground. Needless to say, we went
climbing. We climbed a route on the Low Profile Dome adjacent to
Teneya Lake. This was a very fun route, but I was glad Bruce and Brad
did the leading. Brad led this slabby pitch that didn't have a bolt
for the first twenty feet or so. I don't think I breathed until he
clipped the first bolt.
After establishing camp Brad and I climbed a route on Lembert Dome
called Northwest Books.
Day 3-Tenaya Peak
Long before the trip I kept looking in my guide book for climbs that
were in my ability range and I kept coming by this one called Teneya
Peak. I thought to myself that this sounds like a really neat climb.
Little did I know that this was at the top of the list of peaks we
were going to be climbing on the trip. We had about an hour long
approach to where we geared up. I was so excited I had to urinate
twice while putting on my harness. I don't remember too many
specifics from the next several hours. When I reflect upon it, a
series of pictures come into my mind like a soupy bliss. I was lucky
enough to lead the last pitch to the peak. This was definitely one of
the highlights of highlights of the trip for me. The views on the
peak were, of course, amazing. We had a great time taking pictures of
each other on ledges with all the exposure below.
Day 4-Cathedral Peak
Our objective for the day was Cathedral Peak. I woke up excited for
another adventure but also thinking that there is no way that days
climb could come close to the day before. Well the day would prove me
wrong. I think the climb was five or six pitches long. Again
specifics elude me but I do have a vivid memory of this beautiful girl
who passed us up free soloing the route. I'm pretty sure I actually
had drool running down my face. Bruce and Brad went off to climb the
Eichorn Pinnacle but I offered to stay back and take photos (okay I
chickened out). I'll refer to Bruce and Brad on this one because I
didn't do it but I can say it looked scary as hell, I don't care if it
was 5.4.
Day 5-North Ridge of Mt. Conness
North Ridge of Mt. Conness. This days climb was a longer approach
than the previous days. However, it flew by because of the amazingly
beautiful scenery. I know it is redundant to keep referring to these
climbs as awesome but they were. Furthermore I couldn't of had better
company than Bruce and Brad. I had so much fun joking around with
them while enjoying each others company while on the amazing climbs.
Day 6-Cloud's Rest
As Bruce mentioned Brad departed us to go climb Split Mt. We took a
"rest" day and hiked to Cloud's Rest which is a 14 mile round trip.
The views from Cloud's Rest looking down Yosemite Valley and across
the peaks of upper Yosemite are breathtaking.
Day 7-Mathis Crest
This day's adventure was the Mathis Crest. This is one of the most
stunning and intimidating peaks I've seen. The ridge is nearly a mile
long and drops off sharply on both sides. We climbed a couple of
pitches to gain the ridge where we put the ropes away and soloed the
ridge. The terrain was mainly third and fourth class with some
serious exposure in some areas. In what seemed like no time we were
at the base of the last pitch leading to the peak. Bruce led what was
in my view the pitch of the week. After a couple of rappels we were
off the ridge and had successfully completed yet another amazing peak.
Day 8-Extra Credit-West Ridge of Mt. Conness
Reading Bruce's guide book about the West ridge of Mt. Conness the
night before the description said that it was possibly the best climb
in the Sierra. I remember thinking "how could it be as good or better
than what we've already done". The approach was pretty big. We left
the truck at six and didn't reach the base of the climb until around
11. From the start the climbing was so fun I was literally giggling
like a little girl while climbing. When I gained the ridge and the
start of the actual climbing route I yelled down to Bruce "this is
f+++ing awesome". It seems pretty dorky writing it here but I was
really overjoyed and I'm not a very excitable person. We reached the
peak around 4 and took a few minutes for pictures and reflection
before making our final descent of the trip.
On the way down looking back on the week, it was difficult take it all
in. We had done so much in a short period of time. This was
definitely the best trip of my life and probably the best week I've
ever had. No day in particular stood out from the others because they
were all amazing. I was lucky to have such great company in Bruce and
Brad, both of whom I learned a great deal from during the week.

Tuolumne Meadows Climbing-Yosemite National Park

Bruce and I left Friday the 10th for our climbing trip to Tuolumne
Meadows. I had been looking forward to this trip more than any other
all summer long. Being a relatively new climber, I was also a little
nervous about being able to hang with Bruce and Brad being that they
are much better and experienced climbers than I am. We were to meet
Brad on Sunday in the park which left us Saturday free.
Day 1-Laurel Mt.
Bruce already wrote about the climb on Laurel Mt. so I won't rehash it
here. I will say, however, that this was a very fun climb. As Bruce
said we soloed it (no ropes or technical gear) but I had to put on my rock shoes for a few of the
tougher sections. The climbing was easy but it was pretty slabby in
sections so it certainly got one's attention. I once tried to climb a
slab in my regular shoes and lost my footing and slid several feet
down the slab to a ledge. It was at that point I knew for sure this
was going to be an exciting week. This ended up being a lot tougher peak than we thought it was going to be. The swim in Convict Lake afterwards was very refreshing.
Day 2-Low Profile Dome/Lembert Dome
We met Brad in Tuolumne Sunday morning and still had several hours
before we could check into the campground. Needless to say, we went
climbing. We climbed a route on the Low Profile Dome adjacent to
Teneya Lake. This was a very fun route, but I was glad Bruce and Brad
did the leading. Brad led this slabby pitch that didn't have a bolt
for the first twenty feet or so. I don't think I breathed until he
clipped the first bolt.
After establishing camp Brad and I climbed a route on Lembert Dome
called Northwest Books.
Day 3-Tenaya Peak
Long before the trip I kept looking in my guide book for climbs that
were in my ability range and I kept coming by this one called Teneya
Peak. I thought to myself that this sounds like a really neat climb.
Little did I know that this was at the top of the list of peaks we
were going to be climbing on the trip. We had about an hour long
approach to where we geared up. I was so excited I had to urinate
twice while putting on my harness. I don't remember too many
specifics from the next several hours. When I reflect upon it, a
series of pictures come into my mind like a soupy bliss. I was lucky
enough to lead the last pitch to the peak. This was definitely one of
the highlights of highlights of the trip for me. The views on the
peak were, of course, amazing. We had a great time taking pictures of
each other on ledges with all the exposure below.
Day 4-Cathedral Peak
Our objective for the day was Cathedral Peak. I woke up excited for
another adventure but also thinking that there is no way that days
climb could come close to the day before. Well the day would prove me
wrong. I think the climb was five or six pitches long. Again
specifics elude me but I do have a vivid memory of this beautiful girl
who passed us up free soloing the route. I'm pretty sure I actually
had drool running down my face. Bruce and Brad went off to climb the
Eichorn Pinnacle but I offered to stay back and take photos (okay I
chickened out). I'll refer to Bruce and Brad on this one because I
didn't do it but I can say it looked scary as hell, I don't care if it
was 5.4.
Day 5-North Ridge of Mt. Conness
North Ridge of Mt. Conness. This days climb was a longer approach
than the previous days. However, it flew by because of the amazingly
beautiful scenery. I know it is redundant to keep referring to these
climbs as awesome but they were. Furthermore I couldn't of had better
company than Bruce and Brad. I had so much fun joking around with
them while enjoying each others company while on the amazing climbs.
Day 6-Cloud's Rest
As Bruce mentioned Brad departed us to go climb Split Mt. We took a
"rest" day and hiked to Cloud's Rest which is a 14 mile round trip.
The views from Cloud's Rest looking down Yosemite Valley and across
the peaks of upper Yosemite are breathtaking.
Day 7-Mathis Crest
This day's adventure was the Mathis Crest. This is one of the most
stunning and intimidating peaks I've seen. The ridge is nearly a mile
long and drops off sharply on both sides. We climbed a couple of
pitches to gain the ridge where we put the ropes away and soloed the
ridge. The terrain was mainly third and fourth class with some
serious exposure in some areas. In what seemed like no time we were
at the base of the last pitch leading to the peak. Bruce led what was
in my view the pitch of the week. After a couple of rappels we were
off the ridge and had successfully completed yet another amazing peak.
Day 8-Extra Credit-West Ridge of Mt. Conness
Reading Bruce's guide book about the West ridge of Mt. Conness the
night before the description said that it was possibly the best climb
in the Sierra. I remember thinking "how could it be as good or better
than what we've already done". The approach was pretty big. We left
the truck at six and didn't reach the base of the climb until around
11. From the start the climbing was so fun I was literally giggling
like a little girl while climbing. When I gained the ridge and the
start of the actual climbing route I yelled down to Bruce "this is
f+++ing awesome". It seems pretty dorky writing it here but I was
really overjoyed and I'm not a very excitable person. We reached the
peak around 4 and took a few minutes for pictures and reflection
before making our final descent of the trip.
On the way down looking back on the week, it was difficult take it all
in. We had done so much in a short period of time. This was
definitely the best trip of my life and probably the best week I've
ever had. No day in particular stood out from the others because they
were all amazing. I was lucky to have such great company in Bruce and
Brad, both of whom I learned a great deal from during the week.

Tuolumne Meadows Climbing-Yosemite National Park

Bruce and I left Friday the 10th for our climbing trip to Tuolumne
Meadows. I had been looking forward to this trip more than any other
all summer long. Being a relatively new climber, I was also a little
nervous about being able to hang with Bruce and Brad being that they
are much better and experienced climbers than I am. We were to meet
Brad on Sunday in the park which left us Saturday free.
Day 1-Laurel Mt.
Bruce already wrote about the climb on Laurel Mt. so I won't rehash it
here. I will say, however, that this was a very fun climb. As Bruce
said we soloed it (no ropes or technical gear) but I had to put on my rock shoes for a few of the
tougher sections. The climbing was easy but it was pretty slabby in
sections so it certainly got one's attention. I once tried to climb a
slab in my regular shoes and lost my footing and slid several feet
down the slab to a ledge. It was at that point I knew for sure this
was going to be an exciting week. This ended up being a lot tougher peak than we thought it was going to be. The swim in Convict Lake afterwards was very refreshing.
Day 2-Low Profile Dome/Lembert Dome
We met Brad in Tuolumne Sunday morning and still had several hours
before we could check into the campground. Needless to say, we went
climbing. We climbed a route on the Low Profile Dome adjacent to
Teneya Lake. This was a very fun route, but I was glad Bruce and Brad
did the leading. Brad led this slabby pitch that didn't have a bolt
for the first twenty feet or so. I don't think I breathed until he
clipped the first bolt.
After establishing camp Brad and I climbed a route on Lembert Dome
called Northwest Books.
Day 3-Tenaya Peak
Long before the trip I kept looking in my guide book for climbs that
were in my ability range and I kept coming by this one called Teneya
Peak. I thought to myself that this sounds like a really neat climb.
Little did I know that this was at the top of the list of peaks we
were going to be climbing on the trip. We had about an hour long
approach to where we geared up. I was so excited I had to urinate
twice while putting on my harness. I don't remember too many
specifics from the next several hours. When I reflect upon it, a
series of pictures come into my mind like a soupy bliss. I was lucky
enough to lead the last pitch to the peak. This was definitely one of
the highlights of highlights of the trip for me. The views on the
peak were, of course, amazing. We had a great time taking pictures of
each other on ledges with all the exposure below.
Day 4-Cathedral Peak
Our objective for the day was Cathedral Peak. I woke up excited for
another adventure but also thinking that there is no way that days
climb could come close to the day before. Well the day would prove me
wrong. I think the climb was five or six pitches long. Again
specifics elude me but I do have a vivid memory of this beautiful girl
who passed us up free soloing the route. I'm pretty sure I actually
had drool running down my face. Bruce and Brad went off to climb the
Eichorn Pinnacle but I offered to stay back and take photos (okay I
chickened out). I'll refer to Bruce and Brad on this one because I
didn't do it but I can say it looked scary as hell, I don't care if it
was 5.4.
Day 5-North Ridge of Mt. Conness
North Ridge of Mt. Conness. This days climb was a longer approach
than the previous days. However, it flew by because of the amazingly
beautiful scenery. I know it is redundant to keep referring to these
climbs as awesome but they were. Furthermore I couldn't of had better
company than Bruce and Brad. I had so much fun joking around with
them while enjoying each others company while on the amazing climbs.
Day 6-Cloud's Rest
As Bruce mentioned Brad departed us to go climb Split Mt. We took a
"rest" day and hiked to Cloud's Rest which is a 14 mile round trip.
The views from Cloud's Rest looking down Yosemite Valley and across
the peaks of upper Yosemite are breathtaking.
Day 7-Mathis Crest
This day's adventure was the Mathis Crest. This is one of the most
stunning and intimidating peaks I've seen. The ridge is nearly a mile
long and drops off sharply on both sides. We climbed a couple of
pitches to gain the ridge where we put the ropes away and soloed the
ridge. The terrain was mainly third and fourth class with some
serious exposure in some areas. In what seemed like no time we were
at the base of the last pitch leading to the peak. Bruce led what was
in my view the pitch of the week. After a couple of rappels we were
off the ridge and had successfully completed yet another amazing peak.
Day 8-Extra Credit-West Ridge of Mt. Conness
Reading Bruce's guide book about the West ridge of Mt. Conness the
night before the description said that it was possibly the best climb
in the Sierra. I remember thinking "how could it be as good or better
than what we've already done". The approach was pretty big. We left
the truck at six and didn't reach the base of the climb until around
11. From the start the climbing was so fun I was literally giggling
like a little girl while climbing. When I gained the ridge and the
start of the actual climbing route I yelled down to Bruce "this is
f+++ing awesome". It seems pretty dorky writing it here but I was
really overjoyed and I'm not a very excitable person. We reached the
peak around 4 and took a few minutes for pictures and reflection
before making our final descent of the trip.
On the way down looking back on the week, it was difficult take it all
in. We had done so much in a short period of time. This was
definitely the best trip of my life and probably the best week I've
ever had. No day in particular stood out from the others because they
were all amazing. I was lucky to have such great company in Bruce and
Brad, both of whom I learned a great deal from during the week.

Mt. Whitney

I had been looking forward to this trip for some time now. With the typical stresses of everyday life I was ready for a week out in the wilderness. 

Day 1

Bruce and I got were on the trail by 5am. Our goal for the day was Lone Pine Peak. Our route was the North Ridge rated at 5.5 on the climbing scale which isn't particular difficult but the crux of the day was the length of the route and route finding. We started out making great time. We diverged from the main trail at around 10,000 ft and soon thereafter we were on the peak. We gained the ridge and started up some steep terrain. Around 9am we had to get our harnesses on and pull out the gear to continue safely. This put an end to our quick ascent. For hours we kept going up and up. We simul-climbed or climbed at the same time instead of one at a time as much as we could. Had we not done this we would have had to spend the night on the peak. Around noon we started to feel some sprinkles. This wasn't a total surprise because of the clouds we saw coming in. While this was cause for concern it didn't cause too much trouble. There was no thunder or lightning. While it did make the climbing a little for difficult, the rain did help cool things down so we didn't drink as much water as we would have if it were hot. 
Finally we reached the peak around 4pm to our great relief. We didn't spend too much time on the peak because of how late it was. We got a little of route on our descent and ended up going down some really difficult terrain. We made the trail around 6:30 and got to the car about 8pm making for a 15 hour day. This was definitely the toughest peak I've done. Of the 15 hours we were out we were moving about 14hrs 15min. Additionally, most of the day we were climbing or down climbing which is much harder than being on a maintained trail.

Day 2-4

The next three days I planned for a solo backpacking trip in the High Sierra. Sunday morning I felt pretty good considering the huge day Bruce and I had the day before. I went and got my permit then drove from Lone Pine to Bishop because I decided to get a tent instead of using my bivy sack. Once back in Lone Pine I set off for the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead, and I was on the trail around 12:30pm. Although I wasn't sore from the day before I wasn't 100% either. I quickly reached Cottonwood Pass and then Big Whitney Meadow. I camped at Rocky Basin Lake having covered around 12 miles. The next morning I broke camp and set off again around 7am. The day was nice but pretty uneventful. I hiked up Siberian Pass and caught the Pacific Crest Trail. I got to my camp site at Soldier Lake around 4:30pm having covered about 17 miles. I got to the lake pretty early which allowed me some time to relax and read. The next morning I woke at 430am and was on the move just after five. On the way out, I planned on summiting Mt. Langley which is the most southern 14teener in the Sierra Nevada Range. I caught up to a group heading up Mt. Langley and hiked with them on the way up. They were a group of older gentlemen and a lady that have been coming to the Sierra for 25years from the east coast. After a few days alone the company was welcome. We reached the peak about 9:30am and I spent some time up there to prepare for Mt. Whitney two days after. The hike out was again relatively uneventful and I got to my car about 1:30pm. 

Day 5

Some friends of mine from San Diego drove up on Tuesday night for the Mt. Whitney hike on Thursday. On Wednesday we drove up to Bishop for a short hike so they could get a bit of altitude for the next day. We hiked up to a pretty lake at about 10,700 ft and lunched. The storm clouds were really condensing around the high peaks and we heard some thunder. 

Day 6

Because of the weather on the previous day I changed our departure time. Originally I thought we would be alright if we started by 5am but I wanted to set out at least an hour earlier to make sure we were off the peak before noon. My friend Ben met us at the hotel at 3am and we drove up to the Whitney Portal and we set off just before 4am in darkness. We had headlamps but they were hardly needed because of the nearly full moon. We set out a nice easy pace because we knew we were in for long day. The day hike up Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states at 14,494ft, is 22miles round trip with over 6000ft of elevation gain. The scenery once the sun came up was beautiful. Ben had left ahead of us before sunup and we didn't catch up to him until trail crest with only about 2 miles left to the summit. He was hurting pretty bad, but he continued on like the soldier he is. By the time we reached the peak at 11am the clouds were really coming in. I knew we would get rain on the way down but none of the clouds looked too dangerous while we were up on the peak. We were treated to an improve show put on by some actors from LA. This was pretty amusing considering the location although it was pretty corky. After some lunch and pictures we began down just before noon. Ben again left ahead of us and we didn't see him until the trail head. On the way down I decided to also summit Mt. Muir which is only about a half mile round trip away from the main trail. Dan and Suzy decided to forgo this peak and continue down the trail. I thought this peak was a lot of fun and it included some pretty tough scrambling at the top. I didn't spend any time on the peak because the weather was really coming in and I wanted to catch back up with my friends. I ran down the trail and caught up with them after about an hour of our departure. We really got rained on pretty hard on the way down. We reached the trailhead a little after four making for about a 12.5 hour day. We thought Ben was ahead of us but he came down the trail about 15min behind us because he had to step off for a "break". Everyone did really great on the hike. Dan and Suzy were pretty worried about the difficulty of the hike and the elevation but they proved much more capable than they thought. We all went for much deserved cheeseburgers and shakes afterwards. 

The next day Dan and Suzy drove up to Yosemite for the rest of their trip. I was going to go out for another few days in the backcountry but I wasn't feeling up to it. I felt fine physically but I was tired from the week. Additionally my water filter was acting up and the permit office was totally packed with weekend hikers coming in. Because of this I decided to drive home for a couple of days of doing nothing which turned out to be quite nice.

Mt. Whitney

I had been looking forward to this trip for some time now. With the typical stresses of everyday life I was ready for a week out in the wilderness. 

Day 1

Bruce and I got were on the trail by 5am. Our goal for the day was Lone Pine Peak. Our route was the North Ridge rated at 5.5 on the climbing scale which isn't particular difficult but the crux of the day was the length of the route and route finding. We started out making great time. We diverged from the main trail at around 10,000 ft and soon thereafter we were on the peak. We gained the ridge and started up some steep terrain. Around 9am we had to get our harnesses on and pull out the gear to continue safely. This put an end to our quick ascent. For hours we kept going up and up. We simul-climbed or climbed at the same time instead of one at a time as much as we could. Had we not done this we would have had to spend the night on the peak. Around noon we started to feel some sprinkles. This wasn't a total surprise because of the clouds we saw coming in. While this was cause for concern it didn't cause too much trouble. There was no thunder or lightning. While it did make the climbing a little for difficult, the rain did help cool things down so we didn't drink as much water as we would have if it were hot. 
Finally we reached the peak around 4pm to our great relief. We didn't spend too much time on the peak because of how late it was. We got a little of route on our descent and ended up going down some really difficult terrain. We made the trail around 6:30 and got to the car about 8pm making for a 15 hour day. This was definitely the toughest peak I've done. Of the 15 hours we were out we were moving about 14hrs 15min. Additionally, most of the day we were climbing or down climbing which is much harder than being on a maintained trail.

Day 2-4

The next three days I planned for a solo backpacking trip in the High Sierra. Sunday morning I felt pretty good considering the huge day Bruce and I had the day before. I went and got my permit then drove from Lone Pine to Bishop because I decided to get a tent instead of using my bivy sack. Once back in Lone Pine I set off for the Cottonwood Pass Trailhead, and I was on the trail around 12:30pm. Although I wasn't sore from the day before I wasn't 100% either. I quickly reached Cottonwood Pass and then Big Whitney Meadow. I camped at Rocky Basin Lake having covered around 12 miles. The next morning I broke camp and set off again around 7am. The day was nice but pretty uneventful. I hiked up Siberian Pass and caught the Pacific Crest Trail. I got to my camp site at Soldier Lake around 4:30pm having covered about 17 miles. I got to the lake pretty early which allowed me some time to relax and read. The next morning I woke at 430am and was on the move just after five. On the way out, I planned on summiting Mt. Langley which is the most southern 14teener in the Sierra Nevada Range. I caught up to a group heading up Mt. Langley and hiked with them on the way up. They were a group of older gentlemen and a lady that have been coming to the Sierra for 25years from the east coast. After a few days alone the company was welcome. We reached the peak about 9:30am and I spent some time up there to prepare for Mt. Whitney two days after. The hike out was again relatively uneventful and I got to my car about 1:30pm. 

Day 5

Some friends of mine from San Diego drove up on Tuesday night for the Mt. Whitney hike on Thursday. On Wednesday we drove up to Bishop for a short hike so they could get a bit of altitude for the next day. We hiked up to a pretty lake at about 10,700 ft and lunched. The storm clouds were really condensing around the high peaks and we heard some thunder. 

Day 6

Because of the weather on the previous day I changed our departure time. Originally I thought we would be alright if we started by 5am but I wanted to set out at least an hour earlier to make sure we were off the peak before noon. My friend Ben met us at the hotel at 3am and we drove up to the Whitney Portal and we set off just before 4am in darkness. We had headlamps but they were hardly needed because of the nearly full moon. We set out a nice easy pace because we knew we were in for long day. The day hike up Mt. Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states at 14,494ft, is 22miles round trip with over 6000ft of elevation gain. The scenery once the sun came up was beautiful. Ben had left ahead of us before sunup and we didn't catch up to him until trail crest with only about 2 miles left to the summit. He was hurting pretty bad, but he continued on like the soldier he is. By the time we reached the peak at 11am the clouds were really coming in. I knew we would get rain on the way down but none of the clouds looked too dangerous while we were up on the peak. We were treated to an improve show put on by some actors from LA. This was pretty amusing considering the location although it was pretty corky. After some lunch and pictures we began down just before noon. Ben again left ahead of us and we didn't see him until the trail head. On the way down I decided to also summit Mt. Muir which is only about a half mile round trip away from the main trail. Dan and Suzy decided to forgo this peak and continue down the trail. I thought this peak was a lot of fun and it included some pretty tough scrambling at the top. I didn't spend any time on the peak because the weather was really coming in and I wanted to catch back up with my friends. I ran down the trail and caught up with them after about an hour of our departure. We really got rained on pretty hard on the way down. We reached the trailhead a little after four making for about a 12.5 hour day. We thought Ben was ahead of us but he came down the trail about 15min behind us because he had to step off for a "break". Everyone did really great on the hike. Dan and Suzy were pretty worried about the difficulty of the hike and the elevation but they proved much more capable than they thought. We all went for much deserved cheeseburgers and shakes afterwards. 

The next day Dan and Suzy drove up to Yosemite for the rest of their trip. I was going to go out for another few days in the backcountry but I wasn't feeling up to it. I felt fine physically but I was tired from the week. Additionally my water filter was acting up and the permit office was totally packed with weekend hikers coming in. Because of this I decided to drive home for a couple of days of doing nothing which turned out to be quite nice.

Bear Creek Spire

Bruce and I set out for a climbing trip in the Sierras on Friday afternoon. We got to our campsite just before dark and quickly set up camp and organized our gear before heading to bed. Our objective for Saturday was Bear Creek Spire which is a classic Sierra climb at 13,713ft. There are several routes up BCS and we were climbing the North-East Ridge. We were on the trail head at 5:30am. The views of the dawn light against the mountains was absolutely beautiful. We hiked at a brisk pace for about 3.5 miles before turning off trail. The route from the trail to the base mostly involved boulder hopping. We got to the base of the mountain about 8:00am. The ascent was a blast. It involved mostly 4th class climbing with some short 5th class sections. We brought a rope and climbing gear but the 5th class sections were short and relatively easy. Bruce led the way and did a great job route finding and we only had to backtrack a few times. There was quite a bit of exposure (meaning a long way with nothing to stop you) but the holds were great and granite is extremely strong. In the crux of the climb, a 15ft chimney, I leaned back pretty hard holding onto this flake of rock that was no thicker than a couple of pieces of cardboard. 
Time again flew by and we had reached the summit at 10am. We expected to reach the summit around noon and were pleasantly surprised by the speed in which we reached the peak. The
true summit was a huge block that required a couple of climbing moves to get on top of. The moves weren't too hard but the exposure made you sweat it. You'll see from the pictures Bruce did it much more gracefully than I did. I was laying on my stomach and was reluctant to turn around for the picture, however Bruce got a great one of my best side. We took the views in for almost an hour on the peak. 
The descent involved one rappel to easier ground. We took another break at Dade Lake at the base of the Mtn. The water was so clear you could easily see bottom all the way from the peak about 2000' above. We had to go light and didn't bring a water filter. The water was so pure there was no problem filling our bottles right out of the lake. It was, I'm sure, much cleaner than any municipal water. The hike out was pretty uneventful and we reached the car about 2:30. This was a very welcome surprise. We were expecting the trip to take around 12 hrs and we were also prepared to be hiking out in the dark. The reasons we finished so early were that we moved fast, took few breaks, and didn't end up using our climbing gear. We considered driving home that night but we didn't have enough of the mountains yet. 
We decided to get some burritos and a six pack of beer and camp in the White Mountains to climb White Mountain. The White Mtns. are a range directly East of the Sierra. The valley in between the ranges is said to be the deepest in the world. The valley floor is about 4000' elevation and to the west you have Mt. Whitney (14,494') and to the East White Mtn. (14,252'). White Mtn. is the third highest peak in California. It is, however, by far the easiest of the California fourteeners to climb. However, it was to be my first fourteener and Bruce needed some extra altitude training for his climbing trip next week up Mt. Whitney and Mt. Russel. The trip was pretty uneventful. Whereas the Sierra are majestically beautiful, the White Mtns. are barren and have a near moonscape quality. The drive up involved about 15 miles on a rough road to the trail head, and because we were in a car it took over an hour to travel. The hike was about 14 miles with 3000' of elevation gain. We were a little sore and tired from the day before so the hike took about 5.5 hours. We got back into Vegas about 6:30.
This was easily my favorite trip this year. Bruce and I got along great and both moved at a similar pace. After I don't even know many weekends straight of trips I'm looking forward to resting next weekend and the weekend after that I start my week long trip in the Sierra.

Bear Creek Spire

Bruce and I set out for a climbing trip in the Sierras on Friday afternoon. We got to our campsite just before dark and quickly set up camp and organized our gear before heading to bed. Our objective for Saturday was Bear Creek Spire which is a classic Sierra climb at 13,713ft. There are several routes up BCS and we were climbing the North-East Ridge. We were on the trail head at 5:30am. The views of the dawn light against the mountains was absolutely beautiful. We hiked at a brisk pace for about 3.5 miles before turning off trail. The route from the trail to the base mostly involved boulder hopping. We got to the base of the mountain about 8:00am. The ascent was a blast. It involved mostly 4th class climbing with some short 5th class sections. We brought a rope and climbing gear but the 5th class sections were short and relatively easy. Bruce led the way and did a great job route finding and we only had to backtrack a few times. There was quite a bit of exposure (meaning a long way with nothing to stop you) but the holds were great and granite is extremely strong. In the crux of the climb, a 15ft chimney, I leaned back pretty hard holding onto this flake of rock that was no thicker than a couple of pieces of cardboard. 
Time again flew by and we had reached the summit at 10am. We expected to reach the summit around noon and were pleasantly surprised by the speed in which we reached the peak. The
true summit was a huge block that required a couple of climbing moves to get on top of. The moves weren't too hard but the exposure made you sweat it. You'll see from the pictures Bruce did it much more gracefully than I did. I was laying on my stomach and was reluctant to turn around for the picture, however Bruce got a great one of my best side. We took the views in for almost an hour on the peak. 
The descent involved one rappel to easier ground. We took another break at Dade Lake at the base of the Mtn. The water was so clear you could easily see bottom all the way from the peak about 2000' above. We had to go light and didn't bring a water filter. The water was so pure there was no problem filling our bottles right out of the lake. It was, I'm sure, much cleaner than any municipal water. The hike out was pretty uneventful and we reached the car about 2:30. This was a very welcome surprise. We were expecting the trip to take around 12 hrs and we were also prepared to be hiking out in the dark. The reasons we finished so early were that we moved fast, took few breaks, and didn't end up using our climbing gear. We considered driving home that night but we didn't have enough of the mountains yet. 
We decided to get some burritos and a six pack of beer and camp in the White Mountains to climb White Mountain. The White Mtns. are a range directly East of the Sierra. The valley in between the ranges is said to be the deepest in the world. The valley floor is about 4000' elevation and to the west you have Mt. Whitney (14,494') and to the East White Mtn. (14,252'). White Mtn. is the third highest peak in California. It is, however, by far the easiest of the California fourteeners to climb. However, it was to be my first fourteener and Bruce needed some extra altitude training for his climbing trip next week up Mt. Whitney and Mt. Russel. The trip was pretty uneventful. Whereas the Sierra are majestically beautiful, the White Mtns. are barren and have a near moonscape quality. The drive up involved about 15 miles on a rough road to the trail head, and because we were in a car it took over an hour to travel. The hike was about 14 miles with 3000' of elevation gain. We were a little sore and tired from the day before so the hike took about 5.5 hours. We got back into Vegas about 6:30.
This was easily my favorite trip this year. Bruce and I got along great and both moved at a similar pace. After I don't even know many weekends straight of trips I'm looking forward to resting next weekend and the weekend after that I start my week long trip in the Sierra.

Sierra Nevada Backpackpacking-Evolution Valley

I've been eager to get back to the Sierras since the ultra-marathon I ran this May in Bishop, CA. It may be because of it's similarity to Western Washington, but the beauty of the Sierra draws me like a magnet. I got stuck working on the Fourth of July, which pissed me off, but in turn I got Friday off and I decided to take advantage of the 3 day weekend and head for the mountains. The fact that it was 116 degrees in the shade in Vegas Thursday didn't hurt my decision to get out of town either. I planned my route, packed up, and left Vegas around 10pm Thursday night alone. I drove for a few hours and pulled off the road a bit to catch some sleep.

Friday morning after getting my permit I eagerly headed for the trail head. I left from North Lake and took the Pauite Pass/Evolution trail at about 9:30am. The scenery is difficult to put into words and pictures only catch a fragment of the beauty. Many areas have pretty mountains and lakes, but in the Sierra they keep coming and coming. Every 30 minutes or so I stopped dead in my tracks in awe of the views. I knew I had a lot of ground to cover so I kept a brisk pace. Around 6:30 pm I caught the John Muir/PCT trail and found a campsite about a half mile down trail near the San Jauquin River. I covered about 23 miles that day and quickly fell asleep after some dinner and a candy bar (ooh bliss).
Sometime Friday my watch fell off which ticked me off at first, but ended up being rather liberating. I woke up early, around 6am and crawled out of my sleeping bag/bivy sack into the brisk morning mountain air. After digging a cat hole and taking a big ol' crap I cooked some oatmeal and coffee, packed up, and set off again. I reached my destination of Evolution Lake after about 4-5 hours of hiking I reached Evolution Lake. This is where I planned to either turn back and retrace my steps or trust my route planning and head off trail. Of course, I chose the latter. It is amazing the difference in off trail versus on trail hiking. The manicured trails make progress quick because they are relatively flat and require no route finding. I had to stop often to double check my GPS and maps. I was averaging over 3mph on trail while off trail was around 1mph if not less. Part of this is due, however, to my unfamiliarity to the area. 

I climbed up a steep bank and saw my first goal of the day, Mt. Spencer. I tried to climb it head on but the terrain was too difficult to continue alone. I went around and caught the South ridge and bagged the peak. This is where I got really confused. My GPS and maps gave me conflicting information on which way to go. I wanted to get to a couloir between Mt. Wallace and Mt. Haeckel and bag both peaks. My description said the chute to the couloir was class 2 which is easy hiking. After much internal debate I picked what I thought was the correct chute or at least would get me to where I needed to go. The next 2 hours were some of the most miserable I've spent in the outdoors. The chute ended up being extremely steep and composed of the most loose scree I've ever been on. The elevation gain on the slope was almost 600' in 1/4 mile which is steep. I probably climbed closer to 1400' because I kept sliding down in the scree. Finally I reached the saddle between the peaks. By this time the sun was beginning to set and I knew I had to get down. So I passed the opportunity on the peaks even though they were each only about 1/4 mile away. I could have camped on the couloir and got both peaks but I had very little water left to drink let alone make a meal. Furthermore, the hike/slide down to Echo Lake would suck nearly as bad as climbing up and I just wanted to get it over with. I was also worried about finding a place to bivy because the terrain around the lake was very rocky being above the tree line at about 11,700 feet. On the way down I saw some smoke in the distance but I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing to think much of it. I was very relieved when I got down safely even though I had to spend several minutes getting rocks out of shoes and yes, underwear. Luckily I walked right to a campsite someone had cleared and built a wind barrier right before dark. I was so tired I barely had energy to filter water and cook some food but I was starving. The night was really cold but I was plenty warm in my bag. I was completely alone that night. I had the entire lake to myself (well I shared it with about a million gnats). Because there was hardly any soil, the only evidence anyone had ever been there was the shelter.

Sunday morning I woke early but stayed in my bivy sack because I was reluctant to give up it's warmth. Shortly after setting out I found a use trail which I was relieved to see because I knew it would lead me out to the main trail. After the sluggish pace of Saturday afternoon getting back on trail felt like merging onto an open highway from stop and go traffic. I had about 10 miles to Lake Sabrina and it seemed to fly by. After an hour or so I saw my first person in nearly a day. I was both relieved and sad about giving up my solitude. I caught the maintained trail at Hungry Packer Lake. Talking to fellow hikers I learned the smoke was a full blown forest fire started Friday from lightning. I was safe from the fire because it was to the south. However, on Thursday I nearly decided to climb Mt. Agassiz which which was much closer to the fire, whew. When I finally saw Lake Sabrina, my exit, I stopped to take in it's beauty and to reflect on the last couple days. After another hour and a half or so I was on pavement again. I had about a 5 mile uphill hike from there back to my car. I was totally craving a cheeseburger and I was ready to get home so I tried hitchhiking. About half way up I had given up on the decency of mankind because I had been passed by several vehicles. I was just a friendly hiker looking for a ride. When I finally saw myself in the mirror I realized why people passed me. I was pretty grungy from 3 days of dirt, sunscreen, and bug juice. At this point as my little F### You to the man I decided I was going to finish the hike under my own power. About 3.2 seconds after this decision a pretty lady with her father that were going for a day hike pulled alongside me and asked if I wanted. About 3.2 seconds later I was in the car. My faith in mankind restored (well not really because I didn't have any to begin with) my trip was effectively over. I got back to Vegas about 4pm and it was 113 degrees. Immediately after getting our of my car I was looking forward to my trip back to the Sierra next weekend to climb a technical route up Bear Creek Spire with my friend Bruce.


Sierra Nevada Backpackpacking-Evolution Valley

I've been eager to get back to the Sierras since the ultra-marathon I ran this May in Bishop, CA. It may be because of it's similarity to Western Washington, but the beauty of the Sierra draws me like a magnet. I got stuck working on the Fourth of July, which pissed me off, but in turn I got Friday off and I decided to take advantage of the 3 day weekend and head for the mountains. The fact that it was 116 degrees in the shade in Vegas Thursday didn't hurt my decision to get out of town either. I planned my route, packed up, and left Vegas around 10pm Thursday night alone. I drove for a few hours and pulled off the road a bit to catch some sleep.

Friday morning after getting my permit I eagerly headed for the trail head. I left from North Lake and took the Pauite Pass/Evolution trail at about 9:30am. The scenery is difficult to put into words and pictures only catch a fragment of the beauty. Many areas have pretty mountains and lakes, but in the Sierra they keep coming and coming. Every 30 minutes or so I stopped dead in my tracks in awe of the views. I knew I had a lot of ground to cover so I kept a brisk pace. Around 6:30 pm I caught the John Muir/PCT trail and found a campsite about a half mile down trail near the San Jauquin River. I covered about 23 miles that day and quickly fell asleep after some dinner and a candy bar (ooh bliss).
Sometime Friday my watch fell off which ticked me off at first, but ended up being rather liberating. I woke up early, around 6am and crawled out of my sleeping bag/bivy sack into the brisk morning mountain air. After digging a cat hole and taking a big ol' crap I cooked some oatmeal and coffee, packed up, and set off again. I reached my destination of Evolution Lake after about 4-5 hours of hiking I reached Evolution Lake. This is where I planned to either turn back and retrace my steps or trust my route planning and head off trail. Of course, I chose the latter. It is amazing the difference in off trail versus on trail hiking. The manicured trails make progress quick because they are relatively flat and require no route finding. I had to stop often to double check my GPS and maps. I was averaging over 3mph on trail while off trail was around 1mph if not less. Part of this is due, however, to my unfamiliarity to the area. 

I climbed up a steep bank and saw my first goal of the day, Mt. Spencer. I tried to climb it head on but the terrain was too difficult to continue alone. I went around and caught the South ridge and bagged the peak. This is where I got really confused. My GPS and maps gave me conflicting information on which way to go. I wanted to get to a couloir between Mt. Wallace and Mt. Haeckel and bag both peaks. My description said the chute to the couloir was class 2 which is easy hiking. After much internal debate I picked what I thought was the correct chute or at least would get me to where I needed to go. The next 2 hours were some of the most miserable I've spent in the outdoors. The chute ended up being extremely steep and composed of the most loose scree I've ever been on. The elevation gain on the slope was almost 600' in 1/4 mile which is steep. I probably climbed closer to 1400' because I kept sliding down in the scree. Finally I reached the saddle between the peaks. By this time the sun was beginning to set and I knew I had to get down. So I passed the opportunity on the peaks even though they were each only about 1/4 mile away. I could have camped on the couloir and got both peaks but I had very little water left to drink let alone make a meal. Furthermore, the hike/slide down to Echo Lake would suck nearly as bad as climbing up and I just wanted to get it over with. I was also worried about finding a place to bivy because the terrain around the lake was very rocky being above the tree line at about 11,700 feet. On the way down I saw some smoke in the distance but I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing to think much of it. I was very relieved when I got down safely even though I had to spend several minutes getting rocks out of shoes and yes, underwear. Luckily I walked right to a campsite someone had cleared and built a wind barrier right before dark. I was so tired I barely had energy to filter water and cook some food but I was starving. The night was really cold but I was plenty warm in my bag. I was completely alone that night. I had the entire lake to myself (well I shared it with about a million gnats). Because there was hardly any soil, the only evidence anyone had ever been there was the shelter.

Sunday morning I woke early but stayed in my bivy sack because I was reluctant to give up it's warmth. Shortly after setting out I found a use trail which I was relieved to see because I knew it would lead me out to the main trail. After the sluggish pace of Saturday afternoon getting back on trail felt like merging onto an open highway from stop and go traffic. I had about 10 miles to Lake Sabrina and it seemed to fly by. After an hour or so I saw my first person in nearly a day. I was both relieved and sad about giving up my solitude. I caught the maintained trail at Hungry Packer Lake. Talking to fellow hikers I learned the smoke was a full blown forest fire started Friday from lightning. I was safe from the fire because it was to the south. However, on Thursday I nearly decided to climb Mt. Agassiz which which was much closer to the fire, whew. When I finally saw Lake Sabrina, my exit, I stopped to take in it's beauty and to reflect on the last couple days. After another hour and a half or so I was on pavement again. I had about a 5 mile uphill hike from there back to my car. I was totally craving a cheeseburger and I was ready to get home so I tried hitchhiking. About half way up I had given up on the decency of mankind because I had been passed by several vehicles. I was just a friendly hiker looking for a ride. When I finally saw myself in the mirror I realized why people passed me. I was pretty grungy from 3 days of dirt, sunscreen, and bug juice. At this point as my little F### You to the man I decided I was going to finish the hike under my own power. About 3.2 seconds after this decision a pretty lady with her father that were going for a day hike pulled alongside me and asked if I wanted. About 3.2 seconds later I was in the car. My faith in mankind restored (well not really because I didn't have any to begin with) my trip was effectively over. I got back to Vegas about 4pm and it was 113 degrees. Immediately after getting our of my car I was looking forward to my trip back to the Sierra next weekend to climb a technical route up Bear Creek Spire with my friend Bruce.