Category : Lowest to Highest

Lowest to Highest, a walk through the California desert. Learn more about this 130-mile-ish hiker version of the L2H ultramarathon sufferfest (maps included) that goes from Death Valley Badwater to the top of Mount Whitney, or just check it out blow-by-blow below.

A man and his motorbike in Alabama Hills, with snowy Sierra in background

Whitney, Tim, and Willy

Women guard your husbands ‘cuz if they this fun they’re at risk of getting snagged on the local adventurettes. This is Tim. He stopped to smoke a cigarette near my van and I bummed one cuz… good lookin’ lone motobiker? I asked about his planned rides. When he mentioned the Inyo Range, I convinced him that if he was gonna bike it, he needed to do it right, and ride the entire crest. He asked if I would want to come, and duh, guess what I said. So the next day found us BRAPPING the fuck up Cerro Gordo Road, riding clear past the salt tram to New York Butte, then back down the Swansea Grade. We hit some high speeds, which in hindsight was just stupid AF, but in the moment sorta… fun? I just hung on to the continue reading…

Classy

A top ten most obvious fact about me: I am not classy. But I have a damn good, good time where I can, and every day I care less and less what other people think about me. Being in the woods so much the past few years is turning me into a real human animal AND I LOVE IT. Posing with Kevin AKA “BULLDOZER” at the eastern terminus of the L2H route in Badwater. 🐶 photo: Shotput 😍

Lowest To Highest

GET L2H MAPS The Lowest to Highest Trail (L2H) is a challenging route that runs from the lowest point in the contiguous USA (Badwater, Death Valley, -282 feet) to its highest, Mount Whitney (14,505 feet), across 130 miles. This distance is achieved via the popular running/cycling route, run yearly as an ultramarathon, and also by an . There are also other L2H routes plotted by other parties — there are a lot of ways to get from Badwater to Whitney. Typically it is walked in the late winter (February-early March) or early fall (late September-early October); otherwise sweltering heat in Death Valley and snows in the Inyo and Sierra ranges can hinder completion. The hiking route is largely comprised of 4×4 roads, use trail, well-worn trail, and when those aren’t available, very simple straight-line backcountry (e.g. Badwater and Darwin Plateau). continue reading…

We Three

My wonderful hiking partners and I make it to the top of Mount Whitney despite all that moisture!! Lots of hugs and next up: hot cocoa. L2H completed, and for Abram (left), the H2L2H (highest to lowest to highest)! My third summit in three years, and third time sleeping on the top. I climbed four 14ers this summer: Mt. Sill, Mt. Tyndall, Mt. Williamson, and Whitney. Backstory: Abram had no Microspikes (crampons) and so I lent him one of mine after his makeshift ziptie “spikes” failed (they break quickly in the cold). We skipped the icy 99 switchbacks and went straight up the Trailcrest chute, each with one spiked foot. When half-way up, we spotted a beautiful woman headed down, alone. That gave the boys courage to continue, whereas prior to that they seemed pretty leery of a snowy summit. continue reading…

First Glimpses

First glimpses of the Sierra after the storm, panorama part 1 of 3. Abram takes shots. I take shots. By now, Kevin AKA “Bulldozer” AKA Lighthouse had already blown through his DLSR battery in a bewildering 5-day photo frenzy, and we had been cold and wet 36 hours in Death Valley(!), wondering what happened in the other side of the Inyos… 4 feet of snow on Whitney, we were informed… But we really don’t care because so far every moment of this trip has been an entire trip in itself. We are satisfied.

Lee Flat

A strange, soaking wet and cold day on Lee Flat. I kept imagining — wishing — a horde of undead, long-haired Vikings in leather armor would storm over the Joshua tree-studded hills on burros, hair and fur flowing in the wind. I also kept trying to cuddle with said trees, but all to no avail.

H2L2H

We first learned of Abram while atop Telescope Peak. He had signed in the log book, “Highest to Lowest to Highest (H2L2H – Mt. Whitney to Badwater to Mt. Whitney), abramwashere.com.” We joked that when we met Abram we would have to kill him as such a crazy hiking accomplishment made our hike look paltry. Later that night, in the dark, the wonderful and unassuming Abram caught up to us. As I’ve said I don’t usually hike with strangers but after thinking on it and listening to him a while, I realized I enjoyed our team expanding to three. Abram might look like a bum standing on the road to some, but he’s a stellar human and I’m glad I gave him a chance. And he’s glad we didn’t kill him. Ever heard of the H2L2H? We hadn’t either.

Dark Clouds

Unexpected and uncharacteristic rains hit on day three of our hike just while climbing out of Darwin Falls to China Garden Springs, and continued for over 24 hours while we hiked on through Death Valley. This is how we experienced one of the hottest places on earth: soaking wet. Dark clouds continued to slam this canyon all night; we got smart and took cover under this leaky old mining structure, and hiked out before sunrise the next morning, running ahead of the clouds…

Badwater

Last Thursday evening I struck out at Badwater Basin (the lowest point in the USA) for a long hike with this awesome fella, @kevindoesstuff We just rolled into Lone Pine, about 110 miles into a 130 mile hike, and are scarfing Chinese buffet with our new BFF, Abram. The three of us have had the most spectacular time, tons of laughter, lots of natural phenomena, and some hi jinx. More photos soon! Photo by Shotput 😘

Sierra View

Snow on the Sierra range. A slightly discouraging view, considering our plan was to hike straight up to the top of Mt Whitney. But we took a hard-earned 24 hour break in Lone Pine (as we came in 24 hours ahead of schedule), got some permits and snow gear, and headed up. This was supposed to be a sweltering hot hike but with our timing it was cool and sometimes downright cold – and rainy!

Tram

A nice thing about a walk down old 4×4 roads in this area is finding abandoned ruins of old mining operations and such. This is the top of a defunct tram that runs over the Inyo mountain range. The Saline Valley salt tram was finished in 1913 and brought 20 tons of salt every hour from 1100 feet in Saline Valley, west over the Inyo crest at 8500 feet, and back down to Owens Valley at 3600 feet. Salt was used heavily as a primary food preservative. Operations ceased in the 30s, but the tram works, especially at the top, remain as one of the largest and best preserved. The operator’s cabin is still fairly intact (thanks to people leaving what they find behind) paneled in fragrant cedar, and was an excellent place for a brief siesta.

Telescope

Summiting Telescope Peak, 11,043ft, highest point in Death Valley National Park. Yet another summit this year with less-than-desirable smoggy/smokey/not-sure-what-that-muck-was views, but totally worth every skipped heart beat and coughed-up lung. This mountain top is where we learned of the mysterious and illustrious Abram, of “the wind.” Thanks again Kevin for awesome photos. (We did 31 miles on foot that day!!!)