This week was our annual Field Readiness Seminar in Las Vegas and for the 6th year, I took a group of people to Red Rock canyon for a sunrise ascent of Turtlehead peak. It was a special year since I had recently announced my retirement and this could end up being the last time this yearly ascent happens. I’m hopeful that one of the many alumni of this climb continues the tradition.
We had 3 car loads and made it to the park prior to the gate being opened. It was a chilly morning, but I knew everyone would warm up quickly.
Mik and Paul decided to tour the canyon prior to the climb by missing the turn off and being forced to drive the entire park before the hike. I waited for them and they quickly caught some of the group.
It was a beautiful day and the thing I like the most about the park, beyond coyotes howling, is it’s silent.
Mark, Suzanne, and CW were alumni to the climb, but this was Gary’s first.
Michael was determined to make the summit this year. He kept going, slow and steady.
My strategy team won the “president’s award” for their work re-aligning the US sales teams. We proudly carried the award to the 6,300ft summit and took a picture with it.
After a short rest, we packed up and headed back down the mountain.
The day kept getting better – good thing I’m back in Vegas next week so I can do it all again.
Lots of smiles when everyone got to the parking lot. It’s fun to look back at the peak that was just climbed.
I decided to take Thanksgiving week off and hike part of the Lone Star Trail. It’s a 100 mile trail north of Houston. I had intended to do about 60 miles over 4 days but had to adjust due to trail conditions.
The trail is mostly tree covered and flat. The route I took was a southern loop that ended up to be seldom used and I had to do a lot of bush whacking. It was hunting season so it required that I camp in designated camping locations. The camping spot I wanted was 18 miles away at the junction of the southern loop and main trail. I had gotten to the trailhead around 10:30am, and this time of year it gets dark around 5:30pm so I needed to move quickly to reach the campsite.
I was right on time until mile 15, when the trail started to get really soggy. It eventually turned into a swamp and after trying unsuccessfully to circumvent, I ended up wading through a foot of water for about a half of mile.
After the water, I got to camp right at sunset. I quickly set my tent up, cooked dinner, and pumped water. It was pitch black in the forest and getting cold fast. I awoke the next morning to temperatures in the 30’s but a sunny day.
My hike was only 9 miles that day. I followed the shoreline of a large lake to a state park campground. The campground was packed with car-campers so I walked an additional mile to the overflow field. It was mostly open, but there were a few “mega camps” of good ole’ boys that had set up for hunting season. It was a lazy afternoon of reading and listening to their music. The night was uneventful except for an early morning entry of a few loud drunks.
The next morning, I left by 7:30 and hiked 20 miles to the start in just over 6 hours. I was back in Austin by 5pm that day. My total trip was close to 50 miles.
I went back to NAU to do more recruiting. Tracy had only been to Flagstaff once, so she came along. The weather was beautiful, the perfect balance of cold, light snow, and sunshine.
I was busy most of the time during the day but we had a couple wonderful dinners. I did take a morning off and we hiked the Heart Trail. It had snowed earlier in the week so as our elevation increased the snow got deeper. We made the 2000 ft vertical to the ridge but I was running later so we had to hurry back. We ended up cutting the switchbacks and went straight down the mountain. It was cold, but a lot of fun.
On the final day, we routed through Sedona. Tracy had never been, so we decided to park at the bridge and hike the Wilson Mt. Trail. We turned around about 1000 feet up the switchbacks on the plateau. The view was gorgeous.
Yesterday I taught a couple of classes at Northern Arizona University. The sales were entry level sales classes. I focused on ethics, effective communication, and selling frameworks. The class went well and I think that many of those students will attend the job fair on Friday.
Being on West coast time, my days start early (usually 5am ish) but it gives me some open time late morning. Yesterday, I used that time to climb to Sunset trail in West Flagstaff. The picture below is after climbing 2,000 feet to the Sunset ridge.
Last week, 6 friends joined Preston and me for a ~60 mile backpacking trip into the Sierra Nevada’s. The group consisted of 3 dads and 5 kids ranging in age from 14 to 17. On Saturday, we flew to LA and the group met in Independence, CA at the Mt. Williamson Motel for our last night of sleep in a bed.
The following morning, the weather was beautiful and we left for a training hike up Kearsarge Pass around 8am. The trail to the pass climbs about 3,000 feet over 5 miles to an elevation of just under 12,000 ft. The purpose was to get everyone used to the terrain without backpacks and to help with the acclimatization to the altitude. At the pass, there is a rock pinnacle that the crew couldn’t help but climb.
On the way down, we passed several lakes and Maddie had to test the waters.
We then drove an hour north to Bishop and after lunch, we headed to the North Lake Trailhead. The Trailhead leads to Piute Pass and then into the Humphries Basin and eventually to Piute Canyon. We found a suitable campsite near the trailhead and staged the cars for our return to South Lake. The following morning we set off through the forest and switchbacks to the pass.
Once crossing over the pass, we descended into the massive Humphreys Basin. The Basin looks like a vast wasteland of rock and wind. It is bordered by 13,000 ft peaks to the North and South. We proceeded west to Hutchinson meadow where we found a great campsite next to Piute stream. After a swim and many games of cards between Preston and Henry, we bedded down for the night.
The next morning we crossed the meadow and headed down the magnificent Piute Canyon. The narrow trail winds down the west side of the canyon. The views are stunning and in places, the creek is several hundred feet below a sheer drop off. The canyon ends at the John Muir Trail and the entrance to Kings Canyon National Park. We turned East and followed the river to our next campsite near the entrance to Evolution Basin. At camp, more cards were played and Jack assumed his signature sitting pose of entitlement.
The next morning we started the 2,200 ft climb to Evolution Lake. The climb required 11 miles of switchbacks and a water crossing but we moved quickly and reached the campsite by 1pm.
The sun was hot and the water was cold, but everyone in the group jumped in. Later in the afternoon, smoke from a distant forest fire blew in and bought a lot of haze. The lake is positioned in what is known as a hanging valley. These valleys were formed when the glaciers retreated leaving small pieces to continue to erode pockets in the canyons. The result is basically basins that step up as you near passes. This creates sheer drop-offs on the edge of the valleys. With the addition of the haze to sunset, some spectacular colors in the sky are created from the valley overlook.
The next day was going to be challenging, so we left early. Our plan was to climb out of Evolution Valley to Muir Pass. The climb was only 1,200 ft, but it’s through some very rough trails to just under 12,000 ft. On top of the pass, sits the Muir hut which was built by the Sierra Club in the 1930’s.
After the hut, the trail descends sharply into Le Conte Canyon. This is one of the more challenging parts of the trip since we had to drop nearly 3,000 ft in the heat and dust. The grade of the trail wore on everyone’s legs and they were very happy for a short break in the mouth of the John Muir Trail Monster. Everyone seemed to have fun with it, except Jack; as you can see by his refusal to lie down and the scowl on his face. Once at camp, many soaked in the creek to clean-up, and a few others (like JT) needed a good hair scrubbing to remove the grease.
The next morning, we had our biggest climb of the trip – over 2,400 ft in 7 miles. The senior member of the crew (Brad) took care to loosen up his muscles before setting out. The climb consisted of leaving the JMT and turning north towards Bishop Pass. Along the way the views were spectacular and our campsite in Dusy Basin was even better. While the smoke was much less than it had been in previous days, the small bit that came in created some spectacular colors at sunset. Through the day, the only thing the kids talked about was all the different types of food they were going to eat the following day. There were requests to get up before dawn and hit brunch (from Jack of course).
The morning of the last day was another beautiful day. The sunrise in Dusy Basin was incredible. It was just a short climb to Bishop Pass and then 6 miles of downhill switchbacks to the South Lake parking lot. Grant and I went ahead so we could drive back to North Lake and pick up the car we left there. Everyone made great time and soon we were back in Bishop for lunch.
The trip was fantastic; really appreciate Grant, Brad, and their families for sharing the time with us. While my watch lost it’s way a few times, it said we did over 58 miles and close to 14,000 feet of climbing.
For the last few days, Preston and I hiked in Yosemite, We hiked up Rafferty Creek to the area around the High Sierra Camp.
The trail climbed about 1,500 feet over 5 miles so we took it slow since we weren’t acclimated to 88600 ft yet.
When we hit the pass, the mosquitos were out so we looked for a place to camp so we could get shelter from the bugs. We decided on Booth Lake but we stayed away from the water and camped on the tarns about 100 feet above the lake. It was better, but the mosquitos were still bad.
Our camp was on a rock shelf that still had snow fall and a very daring Marmot. He reminded me of our dog Izzy since no matter how much noise we made, he kept coming closer to check out our gear for food. Preston wanted to test the snow and found that the warm temperature had melted it enough to cause him to “post hole” in sandals.
We went to bed early that night but woke up with sunrise before 6am. Since the next day only required us to go about 3 miles, we decided to climb the peak across from the lake. The unnamed peak looked to be about a 1500ft climb with a reasonable approach. We set off up the trail so we could get around the lake before going cross country. The cross country route required a little creek hopping, but we finally reached the slope on the other side and started a switchback route up the face. Once we hit the halfway point we found a crease that a creek created and we followed it. At one point, it was choked with boulders that required we to go around, but Preston was determined to find a route through it. The pictures below are of him entering and exiting the pile of rocks.
Once we got to the saddle, we saw that the ridge was sheer on the opposite side and the side we were on had huge boulders that made the climb pretty risky, We decided to call that our summit at 11,100ft. In the background of the picture below, you can see how steep the opposite side of the mountain was.
When we got back to camp the bugs were coming out so we packed up and started climbing to our next camp site, The trail had a lot of snow on it that was slowly melting turning the rest of the trail to mud. We climbed about 700ft and crossed into the Evelyn Lake basin which was where we were spending the next night. At this altitude, there were no bugs, but it was cold and very windy. The lake was still half covered with ice and there was very little cover. We found a spot in a few trees that helped a little, but we settled into the tent to play cards for the rest of the day.
The next morning, we started down the trail. Our destination was about 7 miles away at a much lower elevation.
On the way we determined that if we felt good enough, we’d go 4 miles further back to the car and see if we could sleep warm and bug free the 3rd night. Preston set a serious pace and we did the 11 miles in less that 4 hours, We stayed in a hotel in Oakhurst last night and watched the first game of the NBA finals. Tomorrow, I’m running the shadow of the giants 50k again. The weather looks like it’s going to be perfect. All the pics are below.
This weekend I went to Leadville to look for houses. I flew to Denver on Friday night and stayed close to the airport. Early Saturday morning, I drove to Leadville and went straight to the Mt Elbert trailhead. I wasn’t meeting the realtor until 3:30pm so I thought I’d see how high I could get before the snow was too unwieldy. When my steps post holing got too much to bear, I was at the first meadow right before tree line. I sat down on a log and ate lunch.
The views of the far range and Mt Massive to my north (picture below) were incredible. The sun was shinning and the birds were very interested in my sandwich. I managed to coax them in closer and closer until one would take the bread right out of my hands. I was a little late clicking the button on the picture below, but you can see the bird flying away with a mouth full.
I only went 5 miles, but it took me over 3 hours to get through the sloppy snow. I made it back in time to take a shower before looking at 10 houses with the agent. I decided on one and put an offer in. We’ll see if they will take it.
On Sunday, I met a friend’s brother, Mark, who drove in from Denver. He has the trail running bug and we decided to try our luck on the trail leading to Mt. Massive. The one mile of switchbacks to get us back on the main part of the Colorado trail was relatively clear, but once we turned north, the snow was deep and we slowly made our way through it. After a quarter mile or so, we decided to turn back and try going the other direction on the Colorado trail past the Mt Elbert trail turn off.
After running back down the hill, getting slightly lost, we climbed the switchbacks out of the other side of the valley. Once on top, the trail was clear all the way to the turn off. However, not more than a half of mile after, the snow was deep again. We adjusted and decided to climb to the same point on Elbert I did the day before. It took us over an hour, but I was again on the same log that I ate lunch on the day before. Same great views, but more wind and no birds. We decided to take a timed shot, but the camera fell before the picture was taken. The resulting picture turned out pretty cool. The following picture is the one we were hoping for.
We headed back down and ran across a furry friend on the trail
Once down, we didn’t feel we had enough so we ran the forest road for a few more miles. My sea level lungs had to walk the hills, but Mark ran the whole thing. In total, we did a little over 13 miles and climbed about 3,000ft. All the pictures from the weekend are below.
This last week, I had a business trip to my undergraduate school, NAU. On the way there, I met with my old friend David for a hike in Sedona. Unfortunately, the night before I got really sick so the hike was a haze and after taking the wrong trail, I had to bow out and head to Flagstaff. The pictures below are from our start at Midgley Bridge into Wilson Canyon. Our trail choice was poor so when it ended we started to go cross country and ended up climbing a slot canyon that ultimately got too sketchy so we had to turn around.
I went to Flagstaff later that afternoon and feel asleep at 4pm and didn’t wake up for 12 hours. The next morning, I was on the road at sunrise and went to Snowbowl to do a very early season summit of Humphreys Peak. The hike was fine until about 11,000 feet and then the snow became very deep and the trail disappeared. I had to climb almost vertically to the saddle for close to 1,000 feet. Once on the saddle it was pretty easy going except for the 30mph wind.
It’s been many years since I was on the summit this early in the year. A normal 1:45 trip took 3 hours, but I was happy to make it. All the pictures are in the album below.
Today, my team from work and two car loads of others went to Red Rock canyon for my annual team hike. It was a beautiful morning with a little chill in the air. We arrived slightly before the gates opened at 6am and were on the trail by 6:15am just as the sun was coming up.
We split into several groups based on the speed and the persons desire to go for the summit or not. The hike to the base was uneventful and the canyon turned red as the sun rose.
Once we made it to the base, the fun began. For some, this was their first experience climbing at altitude so we took our time.
At the end, the summit was made with lots of smiles.
I failed to tell the rookies that going down was often harder than climbing uo. A lot of people learned how to “scree surf”.
Suzanne gets the Darwin award of the trip. Notice her on the pinnacle with the steep drop-off below.
In the end, everyone made it home safe and relatively sound. A few scratches, bruises, and a twisted ankle seemed to be the worst of it. I’m betting that tomorrow and the next day will bring some stiff joints and sore muscles though. Hope to do it again next year.