After an awesome adventure run down the Carmel River last week, I returned to the Ventana Wilderness with Holly, Gary, and Jim to see the famous Sykes Hot Springs. The Pine Ridge Trail to Sykes Hot Springs is one of the most popular destinations in the Ventana and without the cumbersome brush and routefinding issues…
Month: November 2009
Carmel River Adventure Run
I joined Gary Gellin and Jim Moyles for a point-to-point adventure run along the wild Carmel River in the Ventana Wilderness. The route starts at China Camp along Tassajara Road (rough dirt road) and finishes below Los Padres Reservoir. The first 3.5 miles is along the Pine Ridge Trail with great views into the Tassajara…
Lone Star Trail – Little Lake Creek Wilderness
I had so much fun on my last trail run on the Lone Star Trail that I decided to check out another section before my departure back to California. This time I chose the Little Lake Creek Wilderness at the west end of Sam Houston National Forest. This small wilderness area protects a mature stand…
Lone Star Trail – Big Creek to Double Lake
One might think that Texas doesn’t have good venues for trail running. Think again. The Lone Star Trail is a 128 mile trail in the Sam Houston National Forest an hour north of Houston that runs in an ark shape spanning from the west end to the east end of the forest. The setting is…
Brazos Bend State Park
Brazos Bend State Park is only a 45 minute drive from downtown Houston, but it feels like a different world. This lush park is primarily located on the Brazos River floodplains with thick bottomland hardwood forest that gives a jungle ambiance. I can imagine how humid and hot these woods become in the summer months…
2009 Mountain Photography Highlights!
The highlights page for 2009 is up on my website! After 2008 featured scenery predominantly from the Washington Cascades, this year’s edition has more shots from California’s Sierra Nevada than ever before. Areas visited in the Sierra include the Minarets, Palisades, Kings-Kern Divide, and Rae Lakes area. The first adventure run of the season was…
Huntsville State Park
Huntsville State Park is a gorgeous park in the pineywoods region north of Houston. Lake Raven is the centerpiece with lush pine and hardwood forest surrounding the waterway. During my time on the Rice University track and cross country teams we often frequented this park on the weekends for our long runs. Furthermore, Huntsville State…
Bastrop State Park
Serena and I ran the Lost Pines Trail in Bastrop State Park after a visit to Austin, TX. Bastrop is located 30 miles southeast of Houston and features an isolated stand of loblolly pines and hardwoods that is 100 miles removed from the main body of East Texas pine forest. It is thought that this…
Leor Pantilat's Adventures