Summits: 1329

Dec 2023 – Jan 2024 » The Mojave Desert

I spent a few weeks in the Mojave Desert checking out a variety of things…abandoned planes and towns, summit hikes with friends, my girlfriend joined for New Years, and I even met with an old high school friend near Joshua Tree. The bitter cold nights were worth the sunny days…

Abandoned planes: Edwards AFB

Abandoned homes + cars: Newberry Springs

People I spent time with along the way: Eris Ng, Daniel Coulter, Greg Gerlach, Jeremy Kennedy, Barbara Baumann

Summit hikes: Shadow Mountain, Cady, Bristol, Cave, Clipper, Kelso Dunes, Van Winkle, Marble Mountains HP, Peak 3251, Amboy Crater, Bald BM

 

 

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The Lost Coast and the California Redwoods, places I’ve visited many times and can’t get enough of. This trip was special since I got to share them with someone who had never been. We visited several groves of my favorite trees in Redwoods National Park, Humboldt state park, and a few off the beaten path along the Lost Coast. We spent time around black sand beaches, Matole, SInkyone State Park, and hiked King Peak, the tallest peak in the coastal range. I bushwhacked to the summits of a few other obscure peaks, and we drove Usal Road, one of the wildest “maintained” roads in the lower 48. I’m already looking forward to my next visit…

 

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Washington was the 3rd chapter of my summer road trip, a state I’ve spent the most time in after my home state of California. I had ten mountains I’d hoped to climb in a month or so on this trip, but would only get to five. Fires, route conditions, and uncooperative weather forced some downtime, which I enjoyed despite not being able to do what I came for. I met up with friends, checked out some state parks, and still got to a handful of beautiful peaks. This brought me up to 135 of 142 summits that have 4000 feet of prominence in the lower 48. Here’s where I spent my time:

Copper Butte (7140’, p4K) – w/Doug Harris

Moses Mountain (6774’, p4k) – w/Doug Harris

Remmel Mountain (8685’, p4k)

Round Mountain (5320’, p4k) – w/Doug Harris

Three Fingers (6850’, p4k) – w/Doug Harris

Mt Constitution (Moran State Park, Orcas Island) – w/Tyler Potzler

Mt Deception (7788’, p4k – failed near the summit due to icy conditions)

Fort Worden State Park

Dosewallips River

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I reached the following summits in Idaho and Montana during the past 5 weeks. Stimson and Kintla are the most noteworty, the hardest two of Glacier National Parks six ten-thousand foot peaks, each requiring nearly 50 miles of hiking and scrambling. These are two of the toughest peaks I’ve done in the lower 48. This is my 4th extended trip into Montana and it’s become my favorite state for peakbagging. I’ll admit it’s a relief I get to put the bear spray away for now though…

 

Black Pine (Idaho, 9395’, p4k)

Cache (Idaho, 10339’, p4k)

Hilgard (11316’, p4k)

Bearpaw Baldy (6916’, p4k)

Aeneas (7528’)

Stimson (10142’, p4k) – with Grog Supervolcano

Kintla (10101’, p4k) – with Grog Supervolcano

McLeod (8620’) – with Grog Supervolcano

Holland (9356’) – with Thomas Schaffnit

Saint Mary (9351’) – with Thomas Schaffnit

Electric (10969’) – with Grog Supervolcano

Northwest (7705’, p4k)

Rock Candy (7204’)

 

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Working on climbing the 4000ft prominence mountains in the lower 48, these were the last ones I had in Colorado, except for one. Culebra is the highest privately mountain in the world and I couldn’t get permits so I’ll have to come back for that another year. I started on the difficult Mt. Wilson with friend Manoj Vora, who’d I’d met in Russia in 2007. We’d talked about getting together over the years, glad it finally worked out. The P4ks I got to were:

Mt Wilson (14246’)

Uncompahgre (14309′)

Crestone (14294’)

Flat Top (12354’)

I also got to two bonus peaks, classic scrambles I’ve had on my mind for a while, Longs Peak (14255′) and Maroon (14156′). Some say that the Maroon Bells are the most beautiful in the world. My pictures don’t do them justice.

On the way out of Colorado, I spent a few days in Dinosaur National Monument, a place that had been out of the way on previous trips. This place really blew me away. Petroglyphs, river views, and deep canyons with sandstone formations. The rivers were the only thing that stopped me from believing that I wasn’t in southern Utah. I tagged a few easy peaks in the park and swam at the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers, something I wouldn’t mind doing again…

 

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