2014 Adventure Recap

From Big Sur to the High Sierra, 2014 was another tremendous year of adventures. As I did in 2013 and past years (links to past year’s recaps located on right sidebar of homepage), this post lists all of the adventures for 2014 in chronological order with a link to the blog post, where available, or photo album. My most notable adventure the year was completing the John Muir Trail in a new FKT, and in the process holding the FKTs for three of the most famous and iconic trails in the High Sierra at the same time: the High Sierra Trail, the John Muir Trail and the Rae Lakes Loop.  I am grateful to have the opportunity to make these improvements in the FKT/adventure sport in the High Sierra. I also achieved FKTs in the California coastal ranges including Big Sur and the Lost Coast. I have no doubt these times will be lowered in the future. However, much more than any time or split, what stands out the most as I look back on 2014 and my entire portfolio of adventures is the volume of experiences I’ve had exploring wild and rugged places in the mountains. The greatest award or achievement I can find in this sport is not a place or a ranking, but the joy of exploration and discovery of the splendors of nature. Being in the wilderness is a visceral and spiritual experience that is far form the pageantry and commercialization of organized sports. From sea to summit, I hope 2015 finds me on many more adventures!

1. Cabezo-Molera Loop (January 4, 2014)
2. Buckeye Loop (January 5, 2014)
3. Mount Mars (January 5, 2014) 
4. Big Sur Trail (January 11, 2014) 
5. La Ventana Loop (January 15, 2014)
6. Santa Lucia Three Peaks (January 25, 2014) 
7. Circular Pools (January 26, 2014) 
8. Shouey-Plaskett Loop (February 1, 2014)
9. Stone Ridge Direct (February 1, 2014)
10. Shouey-Plaskett Loop (February 15, 2014)
11. Kirk Creek Ridge (February 15, 2014)
12. Pico Blanco-Little Sur Loop (February 16, 2014)
13. Cabezo-Molera Loop (February 23, 2014) 
14. South Coast Adventure (February 24, 2014)
15. Berry Creek Falls via Waddell Beach (March 1, 2014) 
16. Cone Peak’s North Ridge & Lost Valley (March 8, 2014)
17. Partington to McWay, Julia Pfieffer Burns (March 15, 2014)
18. Silver Peak Wilderness Loop, Lion Peak and Mt. Mars (March 16, 2014)
19. King Range 50, King Range Wilderness (March 23, 2014)
20. Boronda Ridge & Marble Peak (April 5, 2014)
21. Prewitt Ridge & South Coast Ridge (April 6, 2014)
22. Kandlbinder & Ventana Double Cone via the Drain (April 13, 2014)
23. Stone Ridge Direct Loop & Cone Peak (April 19, 2014)
24. East Molera Ridge & Post Summit (April 20, 2014) 
25. Cone Peak via Vicente Flat FKT & Stone Ridge Descent (April 26, 2014) 
26. Big Sur Station to Bottcher’s Gap via Ventana Double Cone (May 4, 2014)
27. Big Creek Reserve (May 10, 2014)
28. Prewitt & Boronda Wildflowers (May 11, 2014)
29. Humboldt Redwoods – Bull Creek, Rockefeller, Founders (May 23 & 26, 2014)
30. Jedediah Smith Redwoods (May 24, 2014) 
31. Damnation Creek – Del Norte Coast Redwoods (May 24, 2014) 
32. Prairie Creek Redwoods (May 24 & 25, 2014): Fern Canyon; Rhododendron 
33. Patrick’s Point and Trinidad (May 25, 2014) 
34. Goat Mountain (May 31, 2014)
35. Mt. Bago and Mt. Rixford via Road’s End (June 1, 2014)
36. Granite Balconies (June 8, 2014)
37. Complete Lost Coast (June 15, 2014) 
38. Roof of Yosemite Loop (June 23, 2014)
39. Virginia Peak via Viginia Lakes (June 28, 2014)
40. Arrow Peak Northeast Ridge via Taboose Pass (June 29, 2014)
41. Conness Lakes (July 4, 2014) 
42. Observation Peak and Palisades Sierra High Route (July 5, 2014)
43. Whorl Mountain & Sawtooth Loop (July 12, 2014)
44. Mount Davis (July 13, 2014)
45. Redwood Creek & Sykes Hot Springs (July 27, 2014)
46. Tower Peak (August 2, 2014)
47. John Muir Trail FKT (August 15-18, 2014)
48. Pyramid Peak & Window Peak Lake (August 31, 2014)
49. Electra Loop – Electra Peak and Lyell Fork Merced River (September 7, 2014)
50. Black Giant, Charybdis & Mini Evolution Loop (September 13, 2014)
51. Santa Lucia Wilderness (September 20, 2014)
52. Montaña de Oro State Park Loop (September 21, 2014) 
53. Andrew Molera (September 28, 2014)
54. Ericsson & Genevra (October 4, 2014)
55. Crique Crest Loop: Windy Point & Marion Peak (October 12, 2014)
56. Red Mountain Basin Loop: Mount Henry and Red Mountain (October 26, 2014)
57. Stone Ridge and Cone Peak Loop (November 2, 2014) 
58. Diving Board (November 8, 2014)
59. Wildcat Point, Cold Mountain & Tuolumne Domes (November 9, 2014)
60. Pine Mountain Ridge, Reyes Peak and Haddock Mountain (November 15, 2014) 
61. Cathedral-Tunnel Loop (November 16, 2014) 
62. Dutra-County Line Loop (November 22, 2014)
63. Pt. 2866 (Soda Peak) (November 22, 2014) [coming soon]
64. Boronda Turkey Trot (November 27, 2014) [coming soon]
65. Pico Blanco North Ridge (November 28, 2014) [coming soon]
66. Marble Peak 50k+ (December 6, 2014) [coming soon]
67. Big Sur Condor Loop – Anderson Peak Direct (December 13, 2014) [coming soon]
68. Berry Creek Falls Loop via Waddell Beach (December 20, 2014) [coming soon]
69. Soberanes Loop (December 21, 2014) [coming soon]
70. Summit Rock-Castle Rock Loop (December 25, 2014) [coming soon]
71. Big Sur Paradise (December 26, 2014) [coming soon]
72. Alta Vista and Ewoldsen Loop (December 27, 2014) [coming soon]
73. Coast Ridge including Twin, Cone, Mining Ridge, Marble and Timber Top (December 28, 2014) [coming soon]