Skip to main content

Relive the Adventure - 175 Days Out West

Nevada
Day 1 - Las Vegas














California
Day 131 - Redwood
Day 132 - Lassen Volcanic
Days 133 to 140 - Stockton
Days 141 to 145 - San Francisco and Stockton
Day 146 - San Francisco Baseball Game
Day 147 - Sonoma Coast
Day 148 - Napa Valley
Day 149 - Sonoma to Big Sur
Day 150 - Big Sur Hearst Castle
Days 151 and 152 - Channel Islands
Days 153 to 156 - The Finale Begins in LA
Day 157 - JMT Yosemite Tuolumne Meadows
Day 158 - JMT Donahue Pass
Day 159 - JMT Rosalie Lake
Day 160 - JMT Devils Postpile
Day 161 - JMT Purple Lake and Tully Hole
Day 162 - JMT Silver Pass
Day 163 - JMT Bear Ridge
Day 164 - JMT Seldon Pass to Muir Trail Ranch
Day 165 - JMT Kings Canyon Evolution Valley
Day 166 - JMT Muir Pass to LeConte Canyon
Day 167 - JMT Mather Pass
Day 168 - JMT Pinchot Pass
Day 169 - JMT Rae Lakes to Glen Pass
Day 170 - JMT Forrester Pass
Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake
Day 172 - JMT Mount Whitney
Days 173 to 175 - The Drive Home, The Lesson




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Day 57 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Ever since I decided to go west for my big trip, I had dreamed of high mountain lakes with snowy peaks arching in every direction, with chilly air making every moment crisp, and with clear skies bringing all into perfect focus-- pure bliss.  Today was the first of many great mountain lake days to come.  Hiking here was far easier here than in the San Juans because the snow was packed down on the trail, but I brought my mini crampons for the downhill. I made it safely past a narrow ridge with narly black peaks across the gorge (pic 1), then up to Mills Lake (pic 2) then Jewel Lake then the Loch (pic 3) then down before the afternoon rain started falling.  I hiked around some lower, more accessible lakes but the sky was now overcast and pictures no good.  I drove up the open portion of the Ridge road amid a very light dusting of snow before heading back to camp for dinner and bedtime. I did manage to capture some fine Elk grazing in a meadows on the return trip and a g...

Day 54 - Great Sand Dunes

I awoke to clear skies, a dry mattress and pillows, a second hot shower and a waffle-filled motel breakfast. I decided to head east to Great Sand Dunes National Park in order to climb 700 foot sand dunes surrounded by snow-covered alpine mountains--a rare site.  Just about every road in Colorado goes over a pretty high mountain pass eventually, and this three and a half hour journey didn't disappoint.  And Great Sand Dunes didn't disappoint either. After securing a dune-side campsite and waiting out a rainstorm, I set out to climb the dunes for a sunset view. Great Sand Dunes is also famous for its Medano Creek wave-like flow and ankle-deep water, making it popular with young kids. I hiked through it and started climbing the dunes, first to a high dune on the east side and over to the next highest dune and then the next highest et until I got to the highest one-/ properly called High Dune. I sat down, setup my phone to capture a time-lapse of the beautiful sunset my eyes were ...

Day 51 - Canyonlands Needles Pt 3

A deep connection to the nature surrounding you comes from the solitude of solo travel, but sometimes it is nice to have a companion!  I ran into David, a retired telecom exec from Canada a few days ago on the Syncline Loop trail at Canyonlands Island in the Sky. Then I ran into him again halfway through my Chesler Park hike two days ago, then again later in the hike, finishing the last two miles together.  David hiked his favorite trail, the Peekaboo trail yesterday, and said I could join him, but my heart was set on confluence trail, so we hiked separately. We did share a campsite though and exchanged travel stories. David was 55 and had retired at 50 from a high-level international job with Nortel and was now traveling full-time. We instantly bonded over our solo travel style. He outclassed me by leagues. He had trekked one month in Nepal, then another month in India, then some months in Asia. He had hiked and skied and adventured all over the western U.S.  and Canada....