Sierra High Route

Note: All photos from iPhone SE – complete photo album here. [Updated August 22, 2016 to add Special Note on Inaccurate Free Maps] The Idea: The Sierra High Route has intrigued me ever since I heard of the fabled 195 mile trek almost a decade ago. The SHR  parallels the John Muir Trail but about…

2016 High Sierra Adventure Ideas

I had a great winter and spring compiling 116 waterfalls (as of May 28th) in the Big Sur Waterfall Project visiting as many nooks and crannies in the northern Santa Lucia Mountains as I could find. There will always be more waterfalls to chase in the Ventana and Silver Peak Wilderness, but as the calendar flips to…

Lake Basin Fastpack Loop

Photo album here. I have been wanting to get into Lake Basin since I looked down into it from the summit of Marion Peak last fall and Mount Ruskin has looked intriguing from the summit of Arrow Peak so I decided to combine the two in a two day fastpack loop and include Bench Lake, one…

2014 Adventure Recap

From Big Sur to the High Sierra, 2014 was another tremendous year of adventures. As I did in 2013 and past years (links to past year’s recaps located on right sidebar of homepage), this post lists all of the adventures for 2014 in chronological order with a link to the blog post, where available, or photo album….

Big Sur Adventure Running

Last Updated:  February 12, 2015 A special post on Big Sur Waterfalls here. The Big Sur region is an adventure running playground. The Ventana Wilderness, Silver Peak Wilderness and a handful of state parks form a network of protected public land over the northern half of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range that is one of…

Black Giant, Charybdis & Evolution

The Ionian Basin is one of the more remote and striking regions in the High Sierra. The feature names within the basin – Charybids, Three Sirens and Scylla – take on a Greek Mythology theme making it all the more intriguing. While the John Muir Trail crosses Muir Pass just to the northwest, few seem to…

Electra Loop – Electra Peak & Lyell Fork Merced River

The Lyell Fork of the Merced River is one of the most remote and rugged regions in Yosemite National Park. Any approach requires many miles on trail followed by off-trail travel. The lower part of the drainage features a splendid series of meadows as the river snakes through a grassland with an amazing view upstream to the chiseled…

Northeast Ridge of Arrow Peak & Bench Lake

Arrow Peak and Bench Lake have been on my list of places to visit for several years. The iconic view of Arrow Peak towering above Bench Lake was one of the first images of the High Sierra that inspired me to explore the range when I first moved to California. However, a relatively long approach…

Observation Peak & Palisades Sierra High Route

Aptly named Observation Peak, one of the most remote points in the High Sierra, contains an astounding view of an incredibly wild and rugged region of the range including the Palisades, the Middle Fork Kings River canyon, and the Black Divide. Observation is not a technical ascent, nor is it particularly high summit reaching only…

Complete Lost Coast

The Lost Coast is a spectacular meeting of land and ocean along the most undeveloped, remote and rugged stretch of coastline along the U.S. West Coast. I was eager to return here to attempt the Complete Lost Coast from Mattole River to Usal Beach in a single day after amazing two-day experiences in 2010 and…