June 18, 2022 View looking over the saddle for the first time and then back the valley I just came up A group of day hikers sat at the saddle as I approached. They said kind things to me as I finally got a look into Deadfall Meadows. Glorious alpine lakes and rocky terrain stretched... Continue Reading →
Headwaters Trail Runs 56K Part 1
June 18, 2022 It poured all night. The rain was gentle against the top of the camper and I slept pretty well once all the campground kids stopped howling and screaming at the night sky. My alarm woke me abruptly at 0530. No more time to waste. Just needed to get the simple things ready... Continue Reading →
Mount Tam 50K Part 2
November 13, 2021 Signs pointed us to the left and back down again to the next aid station. The road and gravity led us downhill at a run. My body still protested, but at least I had gravity working with me now. The sun now high in the sky and unblocked by trees beamed down... Continue Reading →
Mount Tam 50K Part 1
November 13, 2021 It had been a strange journey to get there. It almost felt like the weight of my 30-year odyssey on this Earth had hung in the balance. The limits of everything that I knew and was comfortable in were changing and I was shifting toward accomplishing a goal that, to me, looked... Continue Reading →
A Little Bit of Alpine
September 3, 2021 I don’t remember much, but I remember dragging and praying my body could carry me up to the saddle above the lake. I was sweating profusely and breathing heavily, embarrassed of how out of shape I felt. I hadn’t been hiking in a long time, but this cute guy from work said... Continue Reading →
Independence
July 4, 2021 It was supposed to be just Buzz and me, but circumstances out of control brought a third along for the journey on foot. Michael was supposed to be dirt biking not too far away while Buzz and I explored the high elevation wonders of the Sierra. We’ve still only seen such a... Continue Reading →
Short Breath of Solitude
March 20, 2021 Frost covered the ground as I left the western parking lot at Pinnacles National Park. I had no idea how many layers I should be wearing in temperatures like this. It was mostly was due to inexperience in colder temperatures, but also sheer stubbornness against being cold. I was going to get... Continue Reading →
Perpetual State of Becoming
May 15, 2021 Very rarely do I have $8 in cash in my wallet. I took that $8 as a sign that I finally needed to visit the Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. I had gone to the park before before but was left dejected without any cash and the entrance gate with a... Continue Reading →
Head in the Clouds
May 22, 2021 “It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams.” ― Gabriel García Márquez Post Summit. I kept seeing the hike pop up on my feed on Strava of local runners. Sometimes I look to see where they have ran so... Continue Reading →
Baseline
August 20, 2019 When I look back on where the last few years have taken me I generally find that it all started here. Alone on the notoriously popular trail up to Snow Lake I received a text just before the first switchback. I was visiting home to take a break from the hellish summer... Continue Reading →