What do do in the afternoon before Bago & Rixford the next day? Goat Mountain is a classic big and sustained Sierra hill climb with an outstanding panoramic view of the High Sierra at the top. From Road’s End in Kings Canyon to the summit is 7,000 ft of vertical in around 11 miles and the…
Category: Trail Running
Bago & Rixford via Road’s End
Despite an exceptionally dry winter with a meager snowpack there was still substantial snow on northern aspects above 10,000 feet in the first weekend of June. For my first weekend in the High Sierra in 2014 I decided to go for some exceptional viewpoint peaks that would be virtually snow-free and thus preclude carrying ice axe and/or microspikes…
Complete Lost Coast
The Lost Coast is a spectacular meeting of land and ocean along the most undeveloped, remote and rugged stretch of coastline along the U.S. West Coast. I was eager to return here to attempt the Complete Lost Coast from Mattole River to Usal Beach in a single day after amazing two-day experiences in 2010 and…
Boronda and Prewitt Lupine Bloom
The mother of lupine blooms! Around Mother’s Day of this year a prolific and memorable bloom of lupine peaked along the Big Sur coast. Locals told me that the last time the hillsides were covered with such density of lupine was back 1999, fifteen years prior. Perhaps the amazing display can be explained by the…
Big Creek Reserve
Between Julie Pfieffer Burns State Park and Limekiln State Park is a long stretch of amazingly beautiful Big Sur coastline that unfortunately lies on private land precluding exploration beyond the turnouts along Highway 1. However, on one day of the year a section of this coastline opens to the general public at the Landels-Hill Big…
East Molera Wildflowers
The meadows on East Molera Ridge burst with color during the spring producing one of the best coastal wildflower displays along the Big Sur Coast. The top of Post Summit provides a logical culminating destination with sweeping views of the coast and the interior Ventana Wilderness from a perch 3,455 ft above sea level. I…
Big Sur to Bottcher’s Gap via Ventana Double Cone
While it’s now June and most likely the days of comfortable travel in the interior Ventana Wilderness have passed until fall (most summer days are oppressively hot with copious flies), this post recaps an awesome point-to-point adventure with David Frank back in early May from Pfieffer Big Sur to Bottcher’s Gap via Ventana Double Cone….
Stone Ridge Descent
On the last post, I mentioned (many) more Stone Ridge photos were coming so here they are! Despite this being my fifth time travelling the ridge, the views were just as inspiring. Stone Ridge is a spot I could return over and over again; a truly magical place! These photos were taken after an FKT…
Cone Peak via Stone Ridge Direct 2014
What’s the most impressive and prominent grassy ridge in all of Big Sur? The answer, without question, is Stone Ridge. I’ve featured this striking ridge on my blog several times so what haven’t I already said about Stone Ridge? Nothing (see links to prior posts below). That being said, here are a few thoughts and…
Kandlbinder & Ventana Double Cone via “The Drain”
Intro: Building on our La Ventana Loop adventure, Joey Cassidy and I descended into the extremely rugged headwaters of Ventana Creek to climb Ventana Double Cone via “The Drain,” a prominent rocky gully that funnels all of the water in the wild cirque that stretches from Ventana Double Cone to Kandlbinder. From within this chiseled canyon, we gazed…
Leor Pantilat's Adventures