I’m getting ready to go on a hike of my own, but I wanted to drop you a note to let you know it’s still snowing in the High Sierra. My 2017 blog post “Dear PCT Class of 2017” with tips about snow travel and whatnot definitely, definitely applies, since we got more snow (*… continue reading
Maps 1) Caltopo map of all Hayduke sections, with notes, separable and exportable: Hayduke Sections 1-7 Hayduke Sections 8-14 These tracks were carefully retraced and will provide decent distance and elevation profiles, in case you need that data. The track stays in wash beds and on trail/road when available. Very few short sections are actual… continue reading
It was funny that just as I got back to Flagstaff after a 20-day float of the Colorado River, and was scrambling to get home after having lost my iPhone and wallet in the River, that I discovered I was chosen to write for the Listserve. The Listserve is your chance to write an email… continue reading
Hello. I’m the nut who thru-hiked the Hayduke Trail twice and then some*, two years in a row, once in each direction, solo. You can see some of my pictures here, my tips here, and my 2017 trail thanks here. Many of my photos were posted in-the-moment on Instagram (@puppyhikes). Before I hiked it the… continue reading
These are organized section by section, east to west. I’ll probably add a few more things as they pop into my head, but these are the ones that stood out today. All things that weren’t obvious to me at first… Section 1 Get the Hayduke Trail book. Read it. Carry it (I, uh, photographed every… continue reading
Hi! Whew! Yesterday I finished my last long hike of the 2017: my second thru-hike of the Hayduke Trail. The Hayduke is a scenic but very tricky route that goes through Utah, dipping into Arizona to hit all the iconic Colorado Plateau parks. I loved it the first time and immediately upon finishing decided I’d… continue reading
I aborted my big Spring thru hike because of weather and taxes. Meh.
Instead, I finished a solo tour of old mines in the Inyo mountain range of central California west of Death Valley. The “Lonesome Miner Trail” — what the late Wendell Moyer* called it — is 40-50 miles of rough, hard-to-follow disused trail involving somewhere near 17,000 vertical feet of elevation gain/loss.
In my last feverish post, I totally missed some really good points about hiking in snow – really crucial stuff like navigation. A 2011 nobo thru-hiker made me aware right away (but doesn’t necessarily want to be credited). So without further ado here are more tips from someone who has gone through the difficult and… continue reading
2017 snow pack is the biggest whomper we have seen in 20 years. Forget about 2005 and 2011, we are entering new territory with just about as much (well, more) snow but more heat from our warming planet. Snow is not only STILL falling in the Sierra, but has begun to melt, with significantly high and early – dangerous – runoff.
My 850-mile backpacking trip this Spring took me through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona, through all these National Parks and wild lands I’d never seen before. What better way to see them for the first time than to walk through them and sleep in their dirt? I couldn’t think of one. I took some neato… continue reading
