day-hikes Archives - Page 8 of 9

September 28, 2020September 29, 2020

Devil’s Postpile and Rainbow Falls (Mammoth Lakes)

July 12, 2020, Devil’s Postpile National Monument

Arrival

I drove the winding roadway towards the Devil’s Postpile National Monument around the crack of dawn. I had spent Saturday mountain biking at Mammoth ski area, staying overnight right near the main base. As luck would have it, the roadway to Devil’s Postpile runs right past the base lodge, underneath the gondola. The road promptly narrows from a standard 2-way state highway to a winding, unstriped mountain adventure. And the views from this drive are nothing short of stunning. Jagged stone peaks rose up from the rolling hills of conifers, snowfields, and rushing waters—the Eastern Sierras in mid-summer!

September 24, 2020September 22, 2021

High peaks trail (Pinnacles National Park)

California condors soar over sandcastle rock formations in Pinnacles National Park.

June 30, 2020, Pinnacles National Park

Google Fail

The day began long before sunrise, with a 2-hour drive to Pinnacles National Park. This outing would mark my second national park visit in California in only a few weeks. I aimed to arrive at Pinnacles around sunrise, so I could enjoy a multi-hour hike before the temperatures in central California inevitably climbed into the high 90s.

September 19, 2020September 22, 2021

Lassen Peak: an entry-level Cascade volcano

June 20, 2020, Lassen Peak Trailhead

Lassen National Park

I began the day an hour southeast of Lassen National Park, in the town of Red Bluff. The road to the park undulated through the rolling foothills of the northernmost expanse of California’s Central Valley. Through the haze, I could see the Cascades rising to the north and east ahead of me. First, Shasta came into view, still covered in snow along its uppermost flanks. Then Brokeoff and Lassen Peaks rose over the landscape, dead-ahead, both silhouettes against the morning sun.

June 9, 2020March 10, 2022

Quandary Peak (Colorado)

May 5, 2020, Quandary Peak trailhead

Rocky Mountain High

The day began with a pre-dawn drive under the continental divide along I-70 (11,000′) from my hotel just above Golden, CO (7,200′). I sped past the Dillon Reservoir, shimmering in the day’s first direct light. From there, I pulled off the highway and headed south through the resort town of Breckenridge, at 9,600′. After Breck, the road climbed even higher, back towards 11,000′ and the trailhead for Quandary Peak.

June 5, 2020March 10, 2022

Mount Sniktau from Loveland Pass

Low, afternoon sunlight accentuates a melting cornice along Mount Sniktau's summit ridge.

May 4, 2020, Loveland Pass

Kanorado

My day began two states over from this hike’s trailhead, in Kansas City, Missouri. I would spend the week slowly making my way across the continent, from New York to California en route to a new job in the Bay Area. Along the way I’d pass through a nation largely under a pandemic-induced lockdown. A few days of empty highways and empty hotels later, I arrived at the midpoint of that journey. With no open bars or restaurants for thousands of miles, the only thing left to do was to take a hike.

June 3, 2020March 10, 2022

Slide, Cornell and Wittenberg (Catskills)

April 1, 2020, Slide Mountain trailhead

I arrived at an empty trailhead around 7 am on this weekday at the start of April. The sun already shone brightly on what would be a gorgeous, mild spring day. After signing in at the trail register, the hike began with a quick crossing of a broad but shallow brook.

May 31, 2020March 30, 2022

Esther and Whiteface via Marble Mountain

The herd path between Esther and Whiteface on a sunny day in mid March 2020.

March 15, 2020, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center

Arrival

I pulled into the Marble Mountain trailhead to Esther and Whiteface around dawn. This Sunday, the Ides of March, would mark the completion of my 3.5-year journey to become an Adirondack 46er. I didn’t know much about the forty-six high peaks when I began this adventure. But I always knew Whiteface would be last.

May 26, 2020March 30, 2022

Cliff and Redfield via Lake Arnold

Ice and snow atop Cliff and Redfield in mid March

March 14, 2020, Adirondak Loj

I got an early start from Heart Lake en route to Cliff and Redfield. These peaks lie roughly equidistant from both the Loj and Upper Works trailheads—annoyingly remote either way. The plan involved a traverse to the Uphill Lean-to via Lake Arnold, making fast work of the hike in and gradual ascent. From there I’d tackle my last two summits in the High Peaks Wilderness in height order.

January 21, 2020March 30, 2022

Sawteeth Mountain

January 5, 2020, St Hubert’s

Fresh tracks up Lake Road

I embarked from St Hubert’s at 6 am sharp on this snowy Sunday in early January. I headed up the road past the Ausable Club in what was still, essentially pitch darkness. The goal was a swift summit of Sawteeth Mountain, with ample time left in the day to get back to Brooklyn by a decent hour.

January 20, 2020March 10, 2022

Colvin and Blake

January 4, 2020, St Hubert’s

On the Road Again

Just weeks after summiting Dial and Nippletop I returned to the Adirondacks to finish off the Colvin Range with Colvin and Blake. I left the car park at 6:45 am, a bit later than I’d hoped for. But soon enough I had signed in at the AMR trail register and was off down a snowy Lake Road.