The Northeast Face of Middle Palisade is a classic scramble of a California Fourteener within the rugged Palisades subgroup of peaks in the High sierra. The route takes you past stunning Finger Lake, with its turquoise glacial water and towering granite slabs. The route then ascends slabs and lots of loose talus on the glacier…
The Stanford Loop
I designed a single large loop that entails nearly 40 miles and 14,000 feet of elevation gain with spectacular views into the heart of the Southern High Sierra. I call the route the “Stanford Loop” because it encircles 13,963 ft Mount Stanford, which is known as the “shyest” major peak in the Sierra because its…
Thornewood Open Space Preserve
Thornewood Open Space Preserve is a small park off Highway 84 between Woodside and Skylonda. There is not enough mileage here for a long trail run, but it’s a great place for an afternoon walk. The entrance is easy to miss along Hwy 84 so look for a brick gate 1.6 miles past the intersection…
Stevens Creek 50k
The Course: The minute I looked at the Stevens Creek 50k map I knew it would be a great course. The 31 mile route completes an aesthetic and comprehensive tour of the gorgeous Upper Stevens Creek watershed and Skyline South Region, including narrow single tracks in Douglas Fir and hardwood forest, stream crossings, and wide…
El Corte de Madera Periphery Loop
El Corte de Madera Open Space preserve is one of a collection of parks surrounding Skyline Blvd near Kings Mountain, including Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, Phleger Estate GGNRA, Huddart County Park, and Wunderlich County Park. All told, there is over one hundred and fifty miles of awesome trail to explore in this region,…
Catching up on sleep!
It has been nine days since I returned form Colorado and the TransRockies run with an interesting recovery. 113 intense miles over six days was a weekly mileage PR by about 25 miles so I knew I would be dealing with some fatigue. However, the source of even greater lethargy was the lack of sleep…
Transrockies Run
The TransRockies Run in the Colorado Rockies covers over 113 miles in 6 stages with nearly 21,000 feet of elevation gain in an appealing point-to-point format. The start is at Buena Vista and the route passes through Leadville, Red Cliff, Vail, and finishes at Beaver Creek. Every day the crews reconstruct a tent city as…
High Sierra Adventure Runs
Much of the FKT focus in California is with multi-day long routes (John Muir Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail), but there are numerous single-day loops and routes in the high Sierra that are aesthetic, providing the runner with all the scenery and fun without the sleep deprivation and extreme fatigue. There are a plethora of peaks…
More Sunset Photos
I thought the sunset from August 1st was great, but the light show on August 14th was even better! No smoke this time, just an idyllic uniform layer of high clouds producing an intricate pallete of colors – yellow, orange, pink, red, purple. Amazing! Click image for larger versions.
Grand Ridge Park
Grand Ridge outside of Issaquah has had its ups and downs. While I was in high school, there were some great technical trails I often enjoyed (although they were often either brushy or muddy). Then, the mega development at Issaquah Highlands bulldozed through a huge chunk of the forest. Many trails were lost as suburban…
Leor Pantilat's Adventures