Hey everyone.
I've decided to set up a blog to keep you all posted on my whereabouts and goings-on. I just finished up with the UCSC Wilderness Orientation program, and had 2 wonderful trips in the Sierra Nevada with great students and co-leaders. Much of the time was spent above tree line, up with great masses of granite and nightly shows of alpenglow. The weather was generally perfect, including one beautiful morning of snow! This was my last year doing WO, and my final trip was an absolute pinnacle of my five years with the program. We had a strong group and were able to climb Lightning Peak (including one short pitch of roped climbing) and do a ridge traverse connecting 3 peaks in the high 11,000 foot range (a traverse no WO group had done before). For both trips we were in amazing, inspiring, and spectacularly rugged terrain. What a great mountain range we have!
Here's a few pictures from both trips:
Me with Lightening Peak in the background, which we climbed the following day.
Lower Mills Creek Lake and Mts Abbott and Gabb.
Lower Mills Creek Lake and Mts Abbott and Gabb.
First view of Lightening Peak emerging from the storm clouds. We spent about 3 hours semi-lost in the clouds on this day, trying to find a water source amongst steep gullies and sheer dropoffs, with visibility down to about 100 ft most of the time! It was by far my most challenging navigation experience ever. When the clouds finally cleared it was one of the most amazing mountain views I have ever seen, and mixed with the relief of finding a place to camp for the night it was an exhilarating evening.
Storm clouds clearing from the upper reaches of Buck Creek in Sequoia National Park.
Looking north from Gabbott Pass (~13,000 ft)
Looking south from Gabbot Pass at Bear Creek Spire (left-most peak) and others.
