On Day 3 we awoke to cloudy skies, but fortunately it made for a wonderful sunrise over Darwin Bench and The Hermit. Our day included a lot of mileage, but…
The big day! I've been wanting to get over Lamarck Col for a long time. Typically used as a quick approach into the Evolution area of the Sierra, it's not…
When planning this trip I kept three things in mind for the first day: it's a long drive to the trailhead from the Bay Area, I had to pick up…
It’s Whitney Day! My watch alarm woke me at 4 am and remembering last night’s cold temperatures, I maneuvered myself to the door while staying inside my sleeping bag. I wanted to heat my breakfast and coffee water inside my vestibule and get as much packing done as possible while staying all warm and cozy inside my down cocoon. As I started moving around I realized it was warmer than the previous night – a check of the thermometer on my GPS revealed a temperature of 47, warmer than most mornings in the Sierra. I ridiculed myself for being a baby and finally got out of my bag.
Today started with a 6 am wake up call. Technically it looked like we had a big day in front of us - 10+ miles with almost 4000 feet of…
Day 5 was a quick and enjoyable day of hiking up the Kern Canyon. The canyon can be really hot and dry during the day, but in the morning it…
Today was a planned half-day of hiking, about seven miles down down down into Kern Canyon towards the Kern Hot Spring. The Kern river is a nice place to relax and fish, so we were looking forward to our afternoon off and started off the morning at a leisurely pace. I think we were the last ones to leave Moraine Lake. The one big concern about the day was rattlesnakes. It’s not common to find rattlers up high, but the trail would take us down to about 6500 feet while passing through a rattlesnake’s paradise. Several years ago the area burned, and now the trail is lined and overgrown with shady ferns that a rattlesnake would just love to nap under.
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We took our time packing up and getting moving this morning, wanting to hang around to see the colors in Precipice pop with the mid-morning sun. There was another group…
Ah, the big day. I woke up both excited and anxious about the hike in front of me today since it was both one of the most scenic and hardest…