All Humans Are Welcome Here!

Category : Lowest to Highest

Lowest to Highest, a walk through the California desert. Learn more about this 130-mile-ish hiker version of the L2H ultramarathon sufferfest (maps included) that goes from Death Valley Badwater to the top of Mount Whitney, or just check it out blow-by-blow below.

A man and his motorbike in Alabama Hills, with snowy Sierra in background

Whitney, Tim, and Willy

Women guard your husbands ‘cuz if they this fun they’re at risk of getting snagged on the local adventurettes. This is Tim. He stopped to smoke a cigarette near my van and I bummed one cuz… good lookin’ lone motobiker? I asked about his planned rides. When he mentioned the Inyo Range, I convinced him that if he was gonna bike it, he needed to do it right, and ride the entire crest. He asked if I would want to come, and duh, guess what I said. So the next day found us BRAPPING the fuck up Cerro Gordo Road, riding clear past the salt tram to New York Butte, then back down the Swansea Grade. We hit some high… continue reading

Classy

A top ten most obvious fact about me: I am not classy. But I have a damn good, good time where I can, and every day I care less and less what other people think about me. Being in the woods so much the past few years is turning me into a real human animal AND I LOVE IT. Posing with Kevin AKA “BULLDOZER” at the eastern terminus of the L2H route in Badwater. ? photo: Shotput ?

Lowest To Highest

GET L2H MAPS The Lowest to Highest Trail (L2H) is a challenging route that runs from the lowest point in the contiguous USA (Badwater, Death Valley, -282 feet) to its highest, Mount Whitney (14,505 feet), across 130 miles. This distance is achieved via the popular running/cycling route, run yearly as an ultramarathon, and also by an . There are also other L2H routes plotted by other parties — there are a lot of ways to get from Badwater to Whitney. Typically it is walked in the late winter (February-early March) or early fall (late September-early October); otherwise sweltering heat in Death Valley and snows in the Inyo and Sierra ranges can hinder completion. The hiking route is largely comprised of… continue reading

We Three

My wonderful hiking partners and I make it to the top of Mount Whitney despite all that moisture!! Lots of hugs and next up: hot cocoa. L2H completed, and for Abram (left), the H2L2H (highest to lowest to highest)! My third summit in three years, and third time sleeping on the top. I climbed four 14ers this summer: Mt. Sill, Mt. Tyndall, Mt. Williamson, and Whitney. Backstory: Abram had no Microspikes (crampons) and so I lent him one of mine after his makeshift ziptie “spikes” failed (they break quickly in the cold). We skipped the icy 99 switchbacks and went straight up the Trailcrest chute, each with one spiked foot. When half-way up, we spotted a beautiful woman headed down,… continue reading

First Glimpses

First glimpses of the Sierra after the storm, panorama part 1 of 3. Abram takes shots. I take shots. By now, Kevin AKA “Bulldozer” AKA Lighthouse had already blown through his DLSR battery in a bewildering 5-day photo frenzy, and we had been cold and wet 36 hours in Death Valley(!), wondering what happened in the other side of the Inyos… 4 feet of snow on Whitney, we were informed… But we really don’t care because so far every moment of this trip has been an entire trip in itself. We are satisfied.

Little Package