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Elizabeth Alm Photography | Blog

Red Rocks- Bridge Mountain and North Peak

When we first drove in to Red Rocks we were greeted by rain, and our first day there was filled with a ton more rain, followed by rain the next night in the form of wonderful thunderstorms! I have never done any technical climbing on sandstone, but the first rule seems to be DO NOT CLIMB ON WET ROCKS! When I woke up to sun on our second full day there, I thought for a second that we could still climb, but upon further research it seems you should wait at least 24-36 hours… I knew that climbing wouldn’t be an option.

However, there are still tons of fun non-climbing options in the area. Ever since I started working on the Desert Peak Section list of peaks, I was very excited about the possibility of an ascent of Bridge Mountain! The scrambling looked really fun, and it seemed like a good post-rain option
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To get to the trailhead, we took the Willow Springs turn-off from the Red Rocks Scenic loop. Theoretically, if you have a solidly off-road capable vehicle you can get within a few miles of the summit. But, the Subaru Forester was not up to the challenge (or my driving abilities were not up to the challenge) and we parked only a mile or so in to the dirt road… which meant the hike would be 14 miles versus 6 miles…

We started out from the car at the very “early” hour of 10am

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And started up the very pretty road… for about five miles until Red Rock Summit where we could find the official trailhead.
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A very bad picture of some hail

We even saw some hail left over from the last night’s thunderstorms! Pretty cool, and overall the air temperature was on the cool to comfortable side. A nice change from my normal summer desert experiences

Finally, we got to the official trailhead, where we found a collection of various Jeeps that actually made the trip. Maybe I need a car upgrade!
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At this point we turned east and followed a well-worn trail up a ridge to meet the main north-south ridgeline where we would get the first view of our objective
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And, finally, we saw Bridge Mountain! I have to say that my first view was pretty intimidating. The face looked pretty much verticle and not paticlarly obtainable by a third class route. But, as with a lot of mountain adventures, we pressed on figuring we would go as far as we could before turning around, defeated.
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As we hiked on over and along the N-S ridge, down to the saddle of Bridge Mountain, the views only got better and better
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The sandstone had hundreds of hues of beautiful color and georgous formations. I kept having to stop and admire the beauty of the place, and the open views of Vegas in the background.
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As we started descending to the saddle, the trail ended and a series of ducks marked the way down. It’s also where the climbing started getting FUN and interesting. Here is Erik looking down at the next trail marker… and heading down.
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The views of Pine Canyon to the south opened up and were stunning. It made me want to come back one day and explore the lower reaches of that canyon.
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There were a few exposed sections on the way down, but nothing more than class 3, and all of it really solid and fun.
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But apparently I did have to put on my concentration face for some of the more interesting moves
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Once we actually got to the saddle, we got the full view of our next objective, a 200 foot crack, that appeared to be the crux of the route. I was excited that up close the crack looked a lot more do-able than it did from afar!
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Here is Erik starting up the fun part!
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And since he went up first, got some good photos of me ascending the route. Honestly, there was some exposure but tons and tons of hand and foot holds. It felt like climbing a stone ladder. I used a combination of the crack and the face on the right hand side.
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Finally the crack system ended, and the terrain leveled out a bit. We got a view of the eponymous bridge.
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At this point there are two ways that you can get to the next step, one is heading to the right, then crossing the bridge right to left (which Erik took) and the other is to head under the bridge to a steep slab and use a dead tree to climb. I took the later option and it was steep, but a ton of fun.

After we “crossed the bridge” we got a tad bit turned around, as the next few hundred feet looked impossible from far away. But the DPS guide lead us around the hidden forrest to a series of steep slabs. Ducks lead the way, and we kept putting one foot in front of the other. There was some serious exposure (don’t trip !!!) but the rock was really grippy, and overall the climbing was easier than it looks.
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After navigating a series of ledges and slabs, we got to the summit where we were greeted by fantastic views of Vegas, Red Rocks, and the surrounding mountains. The whole thing was very well ducked, and marked.
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We even got to eat lunch of sardines and corn chips, and took a photo together
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Both of us were excited to get the hardest parts of the descent over with
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Seriously, don’t trip
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I felt a lot better once the steep slabs were over, I’m not a fan of friction in running shoes on the best day.. now just for the crack section
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During our descent we ran in to the only other person also climbing the mountain, he was climbing up as we were coming down. (Hello, Shane) He had left his backpack before the challenging climbing, and it looked a lot more enjoyable to climb without the weight or cumbersome stuff on your back.
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Once we let him pass, we continued going down… which amazingly was a lot easier than coming up. It’s comforting to be able to wedge yourself in the crack and use stemming moves to get down
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With the changing light, the cliffs were perfectly lit to highlight their amazing shapes
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The way back up the saddle and to the ridge was a lot easier now, when compared to the more intense scrambling we just did… but still, it looks impressive
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Here is the mountain looking back, with Los Vegas in the background
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Finally, we found the trail proper again, and entered the pinion-juniper forest, that also had these really cool agave plants.
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After gaining the ridge, and finishing all the uphill for the trip, we made an impromptu trip up to North Peak, only a 0.3 mile detour. It was a fun easy side trip and worth the minor effort for another summit register and the good views of the peak we just climbed.
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After that the rest of the trip was just a relaxing walk down a trail, then down a road. In total the whole thing took us about 8 hours, 14.7 miles and 5K feet of elevation gain according to my watch. What a great day!
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Palm Springs- Rainy day on San Jacinto

When I woke up to rain in Palm Springs I knew it was going to be a wonderful day! Rain in the desert is an absolute dream, and a light steady rain is a rare treat. The weather put a halt on some of the more intense hiking possibilities, but still gave a good opportunity to get some elevation training in for our upcoming rim to rim to rim run in the Grand Canyon in May. The foreboding clouds meant a cactus to clouds hike wouldn’t be ideal given our late start and potential snow, but we figured that hiking up until the weather got too intense would make for a great day. We still chose the Skyline trail for the hike.
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A wonderful thing about desert rains is the flowers and depth of color that come out with the inclement weather!
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As the hike went on, the weather intensified, but we still managed to find some shelter
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and appreciate the magnificent scenery
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Finally, after about 5,000 feet of elevation gain, the weather got pretty bad. Visibility got really low, the rain started going sideways, and the wind picked up as the temperature dropped. Erik and I were loving a lot of the rainy weather, but decided we didn’t need to go any higher on the mountain, and called the turn around point.
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There wasn’t exactly a view! Here is Erik heading down the mountain.
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I was very thankful that he wears a very photogenic jacket! Red was the perfect color to contrast the day
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The rain continued to intensify, and the clouds fell in elevation. Several times I was thankful I wasn’t doing the full palms to pines hike. Still, the whole day was very fun to photograph. I loved watching spring form before our eyes. Even during the time of our trip, tons of flowers decided it was the perfect time to bloom!
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Dry falls was looking wonderfully foreboding
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Finally, after around 7 hours, we made it back to the house, a bit drenched, but very happy
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Santa Rosa Wilderness – Martinez Mountain

Martinez Mountain is on both the Desert Peak Section and the Hundred Peak Section lists. The peak is located in the Santa Rosa Wilderness, and stands at around 6560ft tall. I’ve been enjoying working on the DPS list the past few weeks, and was excited to attempt this trip, since at around 17 miles it would allow us to have a nice long day out in a brand new area.
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I planned to go up the take the Cactus Spring Trail up to the Gully Route on the North side of the peak.

Correct Route:

HOWEVER, I must admit that I have one major weakness when it comes to mountain adventures… and that is a terrible, almost comically horrible sense of direction. Not only did I am for the wrong gully up the mountain once I left the trail at the horizontal pine tree… but I missed the gully I was aiming for- hiking up a random ridge. Additionally, I got to the wrong high point. A three-in-one festival of misdirection! We ended up doing a big loop, going down the ridge route (which was ducked, and very enjoyable)

Actual Route taken by my GPS watch:

We started the day at a very reasonable 7am leaving Palm Springs, and enjoyed a very pretty drive up to the Cactus Spring Trailhead… even seeing a rainbow along the way

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Amazingly, once we got to the trailhead, at around 4,000 ft it was 41 degrees and raining sideways with wind. I must say that there was a large part of me that didn’t want to leave the warmth and safety of the car. However, I figured since we are moving to a very rainy part of the country, I better get acquainted with rain and cold sooner versus later… so I got out of the car to prepare for the journey.
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But it’s sunny in the opposite direction!
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And, like many difficult things… it turned out to be very much worth the effort. The colors and smells of the rainy trail were magnificant
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Erik found an absolutely radiant Juniper Tree
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And the scenery was filled with amazing textures
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The first part of the journey was filled with lots of ups and downs, and I knew that the 800 feet of elevation loss that happened at the beginning of the trip would be difficult at the end when we had to go up all those feet! The last real dip brought us down to around 3,400 feet and a really pretty canyon and brook (the only viable water on the trip, but I was still glad I packed all the water I would need)
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Finally we started the ascent in earnest
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And, much to my joy… the sun came out! Although, you can see Toro Peak still shrouded in clouds.
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Finally after about 5.5 miles, we left the trail as it turns right and continued following the wash ( keeping left of a ridge). This is where I made my mistake (this is me, in process of being horrible at reading maps)
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To my credit, my map miss-labeled the peak’s actual location, but I still identified the incorrect gully to ascend. Erik and I kept trying to find the ways of weakness through the brush and various washes and ended up just to the left of a random gully. I must say that it wasn’t too bad, a bit steep and loose in places but generally class 2.
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One positive of being in a super random place, we found a super old radiosonde from an old weather balloon! There was a return envelope to NOAA inside of it; however, the machine was too damaged to be useful or able to be reconditioned. Still, a pretty cool find in the wilderness. We did end up trekking the thing out as to get trash out of wild places.
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Finally, after about 4 hours of hiking we found our way to the summit general area… and explored two little peaks that looked like the highest? until Erik saw the actual peak about a quarter mile away. One cool thing we did see was this tree, with half of it above snowline and covered in ice!
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After taking some pictures, we made our way over to the pinnacle we thought was the summit. It took a bit of searching, but we found a third class way up… and much to my surprise found the summit register atop of it!
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We also found marvelous views of the Salton Sea
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Despite the super cold wind, and actual snow on the summit, we did manage to get a shot of the two of us! It was pretty cool to just touch snowline on our trip. 5 total feet of snowy rock was about as much as I wanted for the day

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And the way down the third class section wasn’t too bad
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I was determined for the descent to actually head down the correct gully, however we stumbled upon some ducks that seem to lead down the ridge route. Erik suggested we followed them for the adventure, and because I think I lost my navigation privileges for the day. The ducks were pretty consistent and easy to follow all the way down the ridge. The open views of Toro peak were a real treat.
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Finally, we got back to the trail and followed it back to the car, jogging at times, and appreciating the additional vistas of San Jacinto and San Gorgonio.
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The sections of winding trail in the afternoon light were really pretty
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As were the gorgeous desert plants
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After about 8 hours of hiking, I could look back to my last view of beautiful Martinez Mountain
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And passed out of the designated “hazard zone” 😉
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And the Dolomite mine
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We got back to the car 8.5 hours after we started our journey, which was about 3 hours earlier than I expected! The total trip was about 17 miles, and 5,000 feet of elevation gain (although, if you don’t make navigational errors, it probably ends up at about 4,200 ft of gain). Amazingly, we still had some daylight for the drive home. I’m loving these desert peaks more and more, and am excited for the next adventure!
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Anza Borrego- Indianhead Peak

The very first time I saw a desert landscape, I was 21 years old on a road trip with my parents. My dad had just moved to San Diego, and we decided it would be fun to experience something new. I’ll never forget cresting a pass and seeing a vast expanse before me, the water-shaped landscape, canyons and badlands stretching out in a seeming eternity. We happened to catch the desert in bloom, the super bloom back in 2005. I remember the moment it happened, on first sight, I fell in love. The ocotillos were aflame in red flowers, and the barrel cacti were crowned in blooms. Ever since I feel like a part of me will always live in the rugged desert landscape. I always crave the vastness that feeds my creativity and sense of adventure. I’m lucky that now I experience this very special place in a much different way, by hiking peaks, getting off-trail and immersing myself in the wilderness.
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With Erik’s arm still injured from moving, we are continuing to focus on the Desert Peak Section’s list of notable peaks instead of technical climbing. I was very excited to see that one peak in particular was in the same place that I first fell in love with the desert. Indianhead Peak is located near Borrego Springs, and you leave on a nature trail from the Borrego Palm Canyon Campground.

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In total the hike was about 8.5 miles, and entailed a total elevation gain of about 3200 feet. We hiked down a nature trial for about 1.5 miles, and continuing up the stream for another mile or so until an elevation of 1800 feet. The trail was easy to follow and beautiful… and once the official trail ended, there was a decent use trail that wound through the pools and house-sized boulders.

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We were treated to a series of lush amazing oases, and flowing water. I hadn’t ever been around so much water on a desert hike! We took many opportunities to dunk our heads and hats in the water to stay cool. It was a fabulous luxury.

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After we reached the 1800 feet elevation, we took about 20 minutes to recover before the steep ascent up the rugged hillside. The trip through the streambed was fun, but also took a lot of energy. We were treated to a view of a curios top-less palm tree and a great view of our goal
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Finally, after the cool-down, we started the last 2,200 feet of gain (over only about a mile!) The hillside was rugged indeed, with many a spiny plant to catch the unwary hiker

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We made our way up to the ridge, and roughly followed it… avoiding the rocky sections on the ridge proper and picking our way slowly up to a saddle at 3200ft.
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Once at the saddle, we took the ridge directly up to the peak across some steep, terrain… but encountered nothing more than class 2, with a few class 3 optional moves that could be easily avoided.
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The summit itself was relatively flat and comfortable for an extended hang. We took some photos, ate lunch, and enjoyed the phenomenal views of the Anza Borrego
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We even got a photo together!
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At this point we were treated to some clouds, which made the hike down a bit more comfortable. Although the air temperature wasn’t too hot (no more than 80) the sun made things feel extra warm!
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Again, there were a ton of very spiky things waiting in ambush
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And sometimes the way got really narrow! (don’t trip!)

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But generally, we stuck to the ridge down, and the actual ridge proper had a pretty good use trail that we missed on the way up.
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And we both couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to sit on this photogenic pile of rocks (who wore it better?)… I think Erik took the better photo.
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The view down the canyon was pretty enjoyable too

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I couldn’t resist stopping and taking photos of some beautiful cactus blooms
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And photo credit goes to Erik for these two gorgeous photos of a moth on a juniper tree, and some really pretty fiery ocotillo flowers. He usually gets better photos than me on harder trips since I’m always huffing and puffing, and he’s a half-mile ahead of me waiting for me to catch up.
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Finally, we made it back in to the canyon
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Wound our way through the brush
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And I executed what might be the most un-graceful descent of a boulder ever recorded, followed by a fun log crossing
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While Erik explored a painful hand crack
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The final highlight to our trip, was seeing several big horn sheep! Can you see the cute guy in this photo?
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All in all the day was absolutely fantastic! I felt like I got a little bit of everything the desert has to offer… lush oases with massive palm trees, pools and mini waterfalls, cactus blooms, craggy ridges, and expansive summit views. In total my watch said our actual elevation gain was about 5,400 feet (instead of the expected 3,200 feet due to all the climbing over and under obstacles all day long. Can’t wait to go back for more.

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Palm Springs- Desert Angel

Usually, waking up at 9am, eating breakfast at 10am, and not leaving the house until noon is not conducive to a day of adventure and mountain wonders. However, I am lucky enough to still have lots of great options here and around Palm Springs that work with a lazy start. About four minutes in to a 2 hour drive to the Anza Borrego, we aborted for a local day. Desert Angel is a small peak on the San Jacinto massif, and a feature on the topo map.

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We parked the car where the ridgeline almost touches highway 111, and took the steep ridge up to the feature. The route finding was extremely simple and the cross-country travel was really fun!

Starting off from the car
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And heading up the ridge… hey, I can see my car from here!
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We even got some fun, easy grassy slopes
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until the terrain dropped off steeply on the right, to some impressive cliffs. We also saw some great boulders scattered on our way up.
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Which, of course neccesitated some awesome scrambling!

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The ridge was generally very plesent and fun. The weather and sky cooporated in a very photogenic way.
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Finally, after about 1,500 feet of elevation gain, we got to the rocky summit and got some fantastic views

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On the way down, we took a bunch of time to just enjoy the solitude (although the peace and quiet was interrupted quite frequently by the gun shooting area in the adjacent canyon. Not exactly sounds of nature, but it didn’t detract too much from the overall experience. The weather really did make it impossible to not take a ton of photos.

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Erik having a thrilling climb up a paticularly beautifu boulder

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The ridge was suprisingly thin in places… not quite knife edge, but impressively steap on the northern side, as seen in this photo:
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As we decended, the opportunities for scrambling were plentiful.

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Finally, Erik and I decided that we should eventually get to the car, and make the 10 minute drive home to drinks, family, and dinner.
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Eagle Mountain- Joshua Tree National Park

Over the past few years I’ve been casually working on the Desert Peak Section list of 99 notable desert peaks in America’s southwest. This marks the fifth such peak I’ve climbed, and it was certainly a beauty! The hike is entirely off trail, and wanders through some fantastic desert landscape, interesting rock formations, and remote canyons in which you can find glorious solitude in a relatively crowded national park. In total the hike was about 12 miles with 2,800 feet of elevation gain.

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Don’t mind the tail at the end, I forgot to turn off my watch in the car!

 

We started off as early as we could, and in our case… that was 10am. We decided to go for a direct approach, and parked right near the Cottonwood visitor’s center at the southern entrance of the park.

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We started hiking through relatively open landscape, heading for a large canyon slightly to the left of the highest point on the ridgeline.
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It reminded me of hiking through a perfect garden, and the back country travel was very pleasant other than some careless bumps in to spiny plants!
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How is this a natural formation?!

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We also got to explore some really cool secret rocks and mini-canyons along the way… both Erik and I can’t help ourselves when it comes to scrambling on really cool rocks!
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I really love this part of the park! – and, like all of JT the rock is super grippy.
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Finally, we got to the large canyon we had been aiming for. We ended up entering the canyon, and staying to the right at the fork. It took us up a relatively rocky, but not unpleasant route that gave us some good views of the valley.
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Once at the top of the canyon proper, we were still about a mile away from the true summit. At this point we generally headed for what seemed like the highest point. During the traverse heading generally east, we came to some very well placed ducks that allowed us to navigate through a fun maze of large boulders.
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Once past the boulder field, it was clear which way to go (up!) and we reached the summit in about 15 minutes.
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How pretty is that cactus?

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We ended up getting some fantastic views of the Salton Sea to the south, and the expansive southern part of Joshua Tree to the north. And after about 20 minutes of hanging out, we headed back down the same way we came up.
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We had no problem navigating our way back through the boulder field, being careful to not loose the ducked route (we did have to backtrack a few times to make sure we were on route. But it’s hard to miss something like this:
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Could that duck be any more obvious?

Once we dropped in to the correct canyon, it was just rock-hopping down the steep sections to reach the base of the massif.
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Heading back to the car, both Erik and I (again) could not help but play on these giant boulders that to me, looked like giant-sized kid toys. The big rock that was beetle-like was especially attractive and I couldn’t help to photograph it

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climb on it
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and take a photograph from the top of it!
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After that diversion, it was another 2.5 miles of aiming toward the correct feature on the opposite ridge line to get back to the Cottonwood visitor’s center.

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Another great day in the desert!

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Dry Falls – Palm Springs

When I originally contemplated my first extended vacation in 17 years, I had thought I would hit the ground running… literally… with athletic goals including but not limited to hiking very long distances, and climbing as hard as I could. The reality, however, is that after all that packing, and change and emotions, all I’ve really wanted to do is take it easy and do mellow little things around town. Luckily, Palm Springs is one of my favorite places on earth to be for the magical combination of family, and amazing nature.

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The area around Dry Falls is a little paradise for me. I get bouldering, exploration of secret canyons all to the backdrop of a massive granite dry waterfall! Erik and I were lucky enough to be joined by my brother in law Gideon on some of our adventures in to that area. The really cool thing about where my amazing, wonderful parents-in-law live is that we get to walk to the mountain from their house!

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And Finally, you can get to the “trailhead” – basically a faint path going straight up to access the area.

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I was super happy to have my real camera with me, as the weather made for some great photos!

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Once you are actually in the big wash, many a boulder and secret canyon awaits!

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And it’s all so close to the city!

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I feel so blessed to be in such a beautiful place <3

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Next up? Who knows! But, I guess that’s the beauty of going in without a real plan.

The First Step

Now that I’ve basically left everything and every one I know (with the exception of my beloved husband… he’s coming with me!) I’ll be using this blog as a way to share my upcoming adventures.

Big life changes always come with a mixture of emotions, and so it was with my last days at my job of 11 years, and final departure from San Francisco. I’ve loved many things about the City, especially the magnificent natural beauty of the northern CA coast. It will be hard to leave the sweeping vistas, and perfect weather for the unknown of Washington State, but at the same time the exploration of something new holds too much appeal to let this opportunity pass up.

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In order to use every moment of my break between jobs, I decided it would be a wonderful idea to move out of my apartment before my last day of work! I have to say that I seriously underestimated the challenges of moving long distance, and in to storage… where everything actually has to be packed to perfection. But a lot of hard work, 40 original art pieces, at least one sleepless night and 160 boxes later we managed to get it done in the nick of time (as in just when the movers walked in the house).

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And finally, my last day at work… which was bittersweet to say the least as I’m going to miss my friends, job and coworkers a lot! However, the feeling of freedom walking out the doors without my work phone, or any email to check was something I’ve dreamed about for years.

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Erik and I had thought about where in the Bay Area would be the perfect place to stay after our house was packed up and on the road. Both of us agreed that the Pelican Inn was the best, as we stopped in there many times on our “pub runs”. A wonderful form of exercise in which you run for 10-20 miles, stop for a pint of cider, then walk the last 4 miles back to your car! When you finally reach your automobile you’re sober, and have worked off all the calories. That’s what I call a perfect day.

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And Finally on March 2nd we woke up to our last day in the Bay Area. We thought a final run in the Headlands would be an ideal exit. I have to say that the sunrise and inclement weather provided for a stunning final jaunt up above Muir Beach!

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Then after our morning run, we packed up the car (which was some sort of tetris miracle)

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Said goodbye to the Pelican Inn

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And hit the road, accompanied by beautiful iclement weather all the way to Palm Springs, a full 8.5 hours of driving. We even got a rainbow that followed us for several house (good sign, I think!) However, coming over the pass on the 15 down from Hesperia was crazy- complete with no visibility, very strong winds, rain, and generally terrifying driving. But, we made it safely!

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And here, our day’s destination!
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It’s amazing how much has changed in just a few days, and I still don’t think all of it has sank in. I woke up this morning and still felt like I was going back to SF, and going to walk in the same office again! I’m sure a few more work days spent hiking will cure that.

National Geographic- Daily Dozen

So honored to have my photo “Paradise Found” chosen by National Geographic Editors as one of their favorite photos of the day! The photo was taken during a sunset hike on my honeymoon in Bora Bora. I found paradise isn’t so crowded when you go on the roads less traveled. You can see the Island’s highest peak, Mount Otemanu, in the background

http://yourshot.nationalgeographic.com/daily-dozen/2014-09-16/

 

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Vogelsang Peak- 11,516ft

Vogelsang Peak is located in the Cathedral Range of Yosemite, Erik and I climbed it via the popular, yet still highly enjoyable East Face. The route goes right past the Vogelsang High Sierra Camp, so it’s well loved. Still, some inclement weather allowed us to be almost completely alone once on the actual mountain… and we had the summit to ourselves. Total mileage was about 16 miles round trip, with 2500 feet of gain.

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My husband and I have never been known to get an early start… the sun was already up by the time we headed on the trail. However, because most of the hike was on trail, and over moderate terrain, we were ok with a later start.  We started up the Lyell Canyon trail, and were very soon greeted with amazing scenery.

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Perfect weather, just a few clouds in the sky.

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For some reason I love taking pictures of trails!

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Here is another one… although it’s the first glimpse of the peak too (the one to the right)

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Our goal, Vogelsang.

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Here is tiny Erik climbing up the E. Face. I must say that I have been on “second” and “third” class routes in the Sierra that have scared the pants off of me! However, Vogelsang seemed true to it’s rating, and on the moderate side of that.

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Here we are, at the peak

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Mountain top snacks.

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CHIPMUNK!!

You can see, about this time some weather moving in… we had briefly considered climbing up the feature on the right hand side (looked fun!) however, we decided to save it for another day when we saw the rain.

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And then this amazing light happened, and many, many photos were taken….

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