Darwin Plateau 2015.10.07 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest Running from lurching rain clouds, in one of the hottest and driest places on earth… Photo taken at about 5100 feet near the Darwin Plateau. Read more
Dark Clouds Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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… Read more
Badwater Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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 ๐ Read more
Sierra View Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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! Read more
Tram 2015.10.06 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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 […] Read more
Lake Owens Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest View of Lake Owens from the Inyo Mountains near Cerro Gordo, the day the rains let up. It’s very, very unusual to see so much (and yet still so little) water in the lake, since the aqueduct drains it. Clouds cling to the tips of the Sierra mountains, formed off the snow as it warms. Read more
Good Times with Lighthouse & Abram 2015.10.05 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest My L2H hiking buddies have fled Lone Pine and it’s “back to work” for all of us. I will certainly never forget this adventure, nor regret a second of it, mostly thanks to these two. Good times. Kevin at left, Abram at right; during a historic rain storm in Death Valley. Read more
Telescope 2015.10.03 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest 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!!!) Read more
Pineapple Express 2015.10.02 Hiking, Latergram, Lowest to Highest On October 2, I tackled Telescope Peak. Google it, it’s something like one of the world’s shortest climbs with the most elevation gain, and unless you can keep your eyes peeled for desire paths, there’s no trail. No joke, that was sorta really hard. ๐ Thanks Kevin for capturing my swagger on film, for giving me the L2H trail name “Pineapple Express” (you can see the pineapple kool-aid in my pack but not the dried pineapples inside), and for hanging tough. I’ll never forget how incredibly quickly you fell asleep once reaching the top! Get free L2H maps which include the foot route over Telescope east-west. Read more
Shotput 2015.09.30 Latergram, Lowest to Highest This lady has great perspective, gives me the best laughs and is the keystone to my Lowest to Highest hike (starting tomorrow). I’m so glad Miss Shotput drove out to Lone Pine to visit and help me get ready; we had a blast at Cerro Gordo today. She also kicked my ass at shuffleboard and Bananagrams. My cheeks hurt. ๐๐ Read more
Class 3 2015.09.28 Hiking, Latergram Didn’t make it back to the van last night, too much bushwhacking. Now I’m out of food, water, and covered in something that looks like blood. Can’t wait to meet the road and startle people! ๐ But I’m still so happy to wake up with views like this. Can’t complain. Now for some more class “3,” this ahead is a cliff. Read more
Williamson 2015.09.27 Hiking, Latergram I made a friend coming up Williamson and we’re brainlessly enjoying one another’s company. Think the elevation and giddiness got to us. Jim’s cool and pretty glad I talked him out of quitting at the chute, but doesn’t know how he’ll get back down! ๐ This was a tough one, very steep with some class 4 towards the top. Super awkward a with my full pack and three liters water in it. Whew. Read more
Tyndall 2015.09.26 Latergram Today’s summit, foreground. Tomorrows summit, background center. ๐๐ผ Read more
View from Mt. Tyndall Latergram The magnificent view west from Mt. Tyndall. There’s a prominent feature you see from the Pacific Crest Trail near top right. Bonus points if you can tell me what it is. (Hint: it’s very near Forester Pass) Read more
Shlomi 2015.09.21 Latergram Shlomi from Israel just finished the JMT and his hitchhiking sign game is strong. I told him he needs to stick out his thumb though, because otherwise he’ll look like a pan handler. Congrats and good luck Shlomi!! Read more
Mary 2015.09.18 Latergram If you’re familiar with Lone Pine or maybe a Pacific Crest Trail hiker, then you’ve probably met or heard Mary on one of her rambling walks around the town. We were both strolling down this lane with our sun umbrellas this morning, headed for one another. She was amused and said it felt like she was “looking in a mirror.” Mary lost her husband in 2004 in a boating accident and was moved to Lone Pine from coastal Oregon by a friend. She loves it here and is excited to be working on a radio play and to be in the upcoming Film Festival parade on her tricycle. Read more