Cartridge Pass 2015.10.21 Latergram, Sierra High Route Cartridge Pass approach panorama #1 of 3 Read more
Marion Lake 2015.10.20 Latergram, Sierra High Route In 1901 Joseph LeConte married Helen Marion Gompertz, a fellow member of the Sierra Club. In 1902 they backpacked up the little known Cartridge Creek and discovered a beautiful unnamed lake. LeConte named the lake Marion after his wife, and when she died in 1924, a formal plaque was placed on a rock on the shore (it’s still there), with this view. 💐😭 Marion Lake might be one of the most gorgeous and unique alpine lakes in the Sierra, and is fittingly extremely difficult to access – high and remote. I was charmed by this sweet love story, and camped near the lake outlet* *But not too near! I was at least 200 feet away from the water, @elisabitch! Read more
Cloudbreak 2015.10.19 Latergram, Sierra High Route 5300 vertical feet and 5 hours later (whew, did it really take me that long to climb the Copper Creek Trail?) I reached Granite Basin. I took this SHR alternate with more established trail due to snow on the ground and weather conditions (cold, possible snow). Also, supposedly there’s a ranger station nearby (I didn’t find it). I just didn’t want to take any chances since I was solo and without an emergency beacon. Granite Basin is spectacularly granite-y and features a Yosemite-ish dome. I made camp as quickly as possible at 10,250ft near Monarch Divide, and dove into my down bag. Many coyotes sang me to sleep, and I woke up briefly at some point to a hail storm. Read more
Making Steve Roper Proud Sierra High Route The Sierra High Route is a 195-mile long route charted through the backcountry — and along some existing trails — of the High Sierra Nevada. It was devised by noted Sierra climber and historian Steve Roper, and originally, discreetly, published in book form in 1982. I first learned about it in 2013 during my thru-hike when the wonderfully thought-full hiker “Manchurian.” Manchurian hiked a section of the Sierra High Route between Reds Meadow and Tuolumne, I’m not sure how much of it he conquered but I remember him telling me it wasn’t too hard, and that the only sign of humanity he found out there was a deflated helium balloon. When the Pacific Crest Trail and it’s burgeoning “culture” totally disenfranchised me earlier this year, I made […] Read more
Deer 2015.10.18 Latergram (See the deer?) On Sunday afternoon I took a walk into the Sierra, up over Kearsarge Pass, to complete the Sierra High Route. I’ve been working on this route since June, and can now say I’m finished, thanks in large part to deer friends who laid down track in the snow. More photos soon of a most glorious four days in snow at elevation, totally alone. Read more
Sierra High Route Part 2: Taboose Pass to Piute Pass 2015.10.15 Hiking, Opinion, Sierra High Route Day 1: Taboose Pass to Taboose Pass August 16th. I started the day having leftover apple pie, cinnamon rolls, and fresh hot coffee with LoveNote and Burly White’s wedding party near South Lake. This was a beautiful wedding, a marriage of two great people who met while hiking the Continental Divide trail and fell in love. They crowned their hike and sealed the deal by adopting a puppy together, and this great dog, “Huckleberry,” dug holes between the two as they voiced their oaths. Behind them the backdrop of the Inconsolable Range and Bishop Pass Mountains Mt. Goode, Mt. Johnson, and Mt. Thompson seemed only painted on canvas — it was that perfect. I was watching them get married and looking at familiar High Sierra at the […] Read more
Classy 2015.10.12 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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 😍 Read more
Lowest To Highest 2015.10.10 Hiking, 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 run yearly as an ultramarathon, but there is also a less-known hiking route that avoids the highways. There are other possible L2H routes plotted by other parties. I met one man who leads groups on one such route and am amazed nobody has died that way yet. There are a lot of ways to get from Badwater to Whitney, but this particular hiking route is one of the least absurd. Although still… it’s very absurd! Typically the L2H is walked in the late winter (February-early March) […] Read more
We Three Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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 […] Read more
Whitney with Snow Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest Current status. Except for the fact that wind drifts removed most of it, the crest got about 3 feet during October’s big storm. The ice on rock was the scariest part. Read more
2015.10.08 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest First glimpses of the Sierra after the storm, panorama part 3 of 3. Read more
Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest First glimpses of the Sierra after the storm, panorama part 2 of 3. Read more
First Glimpses Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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. Read more
Lee Flat 2015.10.07 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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. Read more
100 Year Rain Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest It rained in Death Valley so we dropped acid. That got interesting. Read more
H2L2H Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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 […] Read more