Last weekend we popped over to the Eastern Sierra to check out how the fall color is coming along. This doesn’t seem to be a terrific year. Many trees are already bare, while others are still green with a summer vibrancy. We found a few groves that are in that in-between sweet spot with color, but not a lot. Here are a couple of shots from the good spots we found.
Every time I drive south down highway 395 between June Lake and Mammoth, I am struck by the imposing face of Mount Morrison. A steep pyramid, it rises from the crest and dominates the view of someone driving into the Mammoth area from points north. It is sharp and steep and Read more…
In August of 2008 I did a gorgeous backpacking trip through Hoover Wilderness and the Northeastern corner of Yosemite National Park. One of the highlights of that trip was getting a look at Sawtooth Ridge and its highest point, Matterhorn Peak, as I hiked between Burro and Mule Pass. The sharp western face of the ridge looked beyond my climbing comfort zone, but when I later learned that the eastern side had a much more tame class 2/3 scramble it shot to the top of my peak bucket list.
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Last week we attended a beautiful wedding in the Alabama Hills (yay Paige and Fred!) Before the ceremony we had some down time so we decided to explore some of the Alabama Hills arches. We walked a ~2.5 mile loop from the parking area for the Mobius Arch and visited Read more…
It’s getting a little late to share this report, but last Sunday (September 29) we headed up Bishop Creek to check out the fall colors. We had been given some discouraging reports about South Lake, so we decided to focus on North Lake and Lake Sabrina.
North Lake was looking pretty nice. While I’ve certainly seen it better, it was definitely worth a visit. As for Sabrina, the lake itself was well below average in terms of the colors it is capable of showing. The road between the North Lake turnoff and Sabrina had the best color on this stretch.
Having kicked off my two week trip by being chased off of a peak by storms the previous day, I was looking forward to the long term forecast of clear and warm weather. However, when my alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning on Tuesday, August 12 I was disappointed to see quite a few clouds still lingering over the peaks. I studied the latest forecast and it had a similar prediction as the day before: storms clearing out throughout the day, leading to a week of clear skies. So, once again, I decided to trust the forecast and headed up Horseshoe Meadows road to the New Army Pass trailhead. My goal of the day was Cirque Peak, and not just the summit – I was planning on doing a loop over the peak via New Army Pass and Trailmaster Peak.