My journey continues and I’m sure it will evolve and manifest in different ways which is exciting. For instance, I’ve taken great enjoyment in a recent project to explore and catalog the hidden waterfalls of Big Sur. In many ways this project is an ideal expression of my desire to explore as many of these falls are undiscovered or have not been visited by humans in decades. Everybody has different reasons for racing or attempting FKTs and I’m not judging anybody’s reasons or decisions, only sharing my own personal perspective and what motivates me to get out into the mountains. If I were to give any advice, it would be to care less about the affirmation of others and what they think you should be doing and instead follow where your heart leads you.    

Mount Tamalpais sunet, Windy Hill, and Sanborn Park panoramas after the jump!

• Altitude: Particularly on the first night, I found that it’s not as easy to sleep at 9,000 feet coming straight from sea level
• Thirst: Very dry air in Colorado made my mouth dry and lips chapped keeping me reaching for the water bottle
• Zippers: Constant opening and closing of zippers on people’s tents; between 200+ tents somebody, somewhere was getting up to go to the bathroom.
• Snoring: One night I was situated next to an epic snorer that sounded like he was starting up a chainsaw. I made sure to let him know he had some serious issues the next day and suggested he move his tent far way into the meadows. I ended up moving far away from him.
• Semi Trucks: The grand finale was the Ford Park camp in Vail which was no more than 100 meters away from Interstate 70 where semis blasted through at 70 mph at all hours of the night.
• Humping (?): I also heard that some people’s sleep was interfered by “intimate” noises, but fortunately I was not subject to this. I would have heckled and shouted this couple down if I had heard it. By that point I had lost patience with riff raff going on at night.

As you can see, sleep was a luxery I simply did not enjoy on the TransRockies. Somehow I pushed through the sleep deprivation (I might have been a bit cranky) on the trip, but it caught up with me when I returned to CA and for many days I had a general feeling of tiredness. I was hoping to get out to the high Sierra on this holiday weekend, but couldn’t muster the enthusiasm for a long mountain run, let alone the drive to get there. The lack of sleep, combined with the expected fatigue from the high volume, has led to a mixed bag of training. On some days I simply feel like crap, and on other days I feel great. I’m hoping the big week of running in Colorado will pay dividends soon. I’m also excited to do some adventure runs in the high Sierra in late September, hopefully coinciding with the famous fall colors.

There are tons of deer all over the San Carlos hills and all the places I run at in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Here is a phot of a large buck right next to my place. He was sitting in the shade directly underneath my dining room window and I noticed the antlers. I shot this photo as he was walking away. I’ve also seen numerous fawns on the trail runs.

More photos after the jump!

See the complete photo album from the trip here.

More photos and trip details after the jump!We planned this trip only two days in advance when I found a campspot available at Lower Pines campground. These typically fill up months in advance so I was lucky to log in to the reservation system just as somebody cancelled their reservation. The drive to Yosemite Valley also worked out perfectly as all the holiday weekend travellers were going the opposite direction and we had no traffic in both directions.

On the way into the valley we stopped at Bridalveil Falls. We then set up camp at Lower Pines and set out to see Vernal Falls and Nevada Falls. The water volume was still high from spring snowmelt and we got soaked by the mist from Vernal Falls. We then continued on to the top of Nevada Falls stopping to take many photographs and enjoying the scenery. On the way back we took the John Muir Trail to make it a loop. This trail is much less rocky and rough making for an easier descent. It also provides a spectacular panoramic view of Nevada Falls, Liberty Cap, and Half Dome. We arrived back at camp at 7 pm and heated up some delicious chili Serena had cooked the night before. We were both tired so we fell asleep early.

See the complete photo album from the trip here.

It was sad to learn of the destructive power of humans, at one point hunting the seals to near extinction by the end of the nineteenth century. Fortunately, since the early twentieth century, the northern elephant seals are protected under law in both the U.S. and Mexico and their population has now recovered to over 100,000. The growth is evident at Ano Nuevo as the colony has expanded to beaches that were previously empty.

Our tour started at 12:30 pm and the high angle of the sun washed out lots of the detail in the photography. I imagine the best light for photography can be achieved on the morning tours. Also, since the viewing areas are slightly above and away from the seals, I recommend a camera with superior zoom capacity to capture details. Tours during the breeding season are immensely popular so I would make sure you make a reservation well in advance, particularly for weekend trips.