California hikes

Synthesis: photographs, poems and meditations

Hiking in California

Subtitled: "I am both the hiker and the trail"

"Solvitur ambulando" ("It is solved by walking", adage of the wandering scholars of medieval Europe

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." - T.S. Eliot

"Not All Who Wander Are Lost" (JRR Tolkien)

"I am both the hiker and the trail" (a character in one of piero scaruffi's books)

Working on a book about hiking... "Somewhere is Not a Place"

Pictures of California hikes

Unlike most photo albums, that focus mainly on the hikers, my photos focus on the route and the trail. Hopefully, this is a useful tool for other hikers.
The older pictures are very small because in those days most people had slow Internet; which is still true in many parts of the world.
A selection of best pictures over the years

Ventana Wilderness 2009

Bay Area

Click here for Bay Area hikes (Point Reyes, Mt Tamalpais, Pescadero Creek Park, Big Basin, Sierra Azul, Sweeney Ridge, Mission Peak, Sunol, Del Valle, Ohlone Wilderness, Rose Peak, Marine Headlands, Monterey, Mt Diablo, Portola Redwoods, etc)

Mt Muir (****)

Mt Mallory from Meysan Lakes (***)

Mt Irvine (***)

Mt Leconte from Tuttle Creek (***)

Mt Leconte from Meysan Lakes (***)

Tuttle Basin (**)

Mt Whitney's Mountaineering or North fork trail (*****)

Potluck Pass and Knapsack Pass (***)

Mt Sill via Palisade Glacier (*****)

Mt Sill via Bishop Pass (*****)

Barrett Peak via Bishop Pass (*****)

Mt Sill via Elinor Lake (*****)

Mt Sill via Big Pine Creek's south fork (*****)

Mt Jepson (**)

Big Pine's Seven-lake Loop (**)

Mosquito Flat to Morgan Pass (*)

Middle Palisade via north chute (****)

Middle Palisade via main chute (****)

Mt Kafka (**)

Mt Sill from Scimitar Pass (****)

Split Mt (****)

Split Mt via Taboose Pass (****)

Mt Gayley (***)

Haeckel-Darwin Pass (***)

Mt Hawkins (**)

Emerald Lakes (*)

Mt Darwin's north ridge (****)

Mt Lamarck and Schober Lakes (**)

Lake Sabrina to North Lake via Mt Darwin (****)

Mt Darwin via Lamarck Col (****)

Mt Wallace (**)

Mt Haeckel (**)

Echo Pass (**)

Evolution Lake via Lamarck Col (****)

Palisades via Bishop Pass (***)

South Lake to Bishop Pass (*)

Cloudripper (**)

North Palisade (*****)

Thunderbolt Peak from Bishop Pass (*****)

Mt Agassiz (***)

Mt Goode (**)

Mt Gandalf (****)

Mt Winchell (***)

Shepherd Pass and Mt Williamson (*****)

Mt Williamson descending via George Creek (*****)

Mt Williamson from South Bairs Creek (*****)

Mt Williamson from North Bairs Creek (*****)

Mt Barnard (***)

Mt Barnard via Wales and Wallace lakes (****)

Trojan Peak (***)

Junction Peak via Shepherd Pass (***)

Junction Peak from Onion Valley via University Pass and Forester Pass (****)

Mt Stanford via University Pass (Onion Valley) (****)

Onion Valley to University Pass to Kearsarge Pass (***)

Caltech Peak (***)

Mt Tyndall (****)

Mt Tyndall from Whitney Portal (****)

West Tyndall via Shepherd Pass (44 kms)

West Tyndall via Forester Pass (60 kms)

Mt Keith from the Shepherd Pass trailhead (***)

Mt Keith from the University Pass trailhead (***)

University Peak via Matlock Lake (***)

University Peak via University Pass (**)

University Peak via Lake Robinson (**)

Mt Russell - eastern ridge (****)

Mt Russell - northern ridge (****)

Mt Russell - south face (****)

Mt Morgenson (***)

Mt Tunnabora (**)

West Tunnabora (**)

Mt Carillon (***)

Lower Carillon Peak (**)

Mt Goddard (***)

Mt Langley via Cottonwood Lakes (***)

Mt Langley via Tuttle Creek (***)

Alabama Hills (*)

Mt Morgan (4200m) (**)

Mt Tom from Pine Creek (4161m) (**)

Mt Tom from Horton Lakes (4161m) (**)

Mt Humphreys (4265m) (***)

Mt Goethe via Piute Pass (4043m) (***)

Mt Goethe via Lamarck Pass (4043m) (***)

Baxter Pass

Taboose Pass

Mt McAdie via Arc Pass

Mt McAdie via Whitney Pass

Mt McAdie via Meysan Lakes

Coastal/South of the Bay Area

Balconies, Pinnacles (*)

High Peaks, Pinnacles (*)

Big Sur (*)

Carmel Rover (*)

Sykes Hot Springs (**)

China Camp to Big Sur Station in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Bottcher's Gap to Double Cone in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Bottcher's Gap to Launtz Creek camp (**)

Los Padres Dam to Double Cone in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Double Cone from the Hoist (***)

Double Cone via Mt Manuel in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Pfeiffer Park to Tin House Camp via Mt Manuel in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Pfeiffer Park to Bottchers Gap in Ventana Wilderness (****)

Pfeiffer Park to Bottchers Gap via Vado Camp and Launtz Camp (****)

Pfeiffer Park to Bottchers Gap via Vado Camp and Launtz Camp (clean version)

Pfeiffer Park to Vado Camp in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Andrew Molera to Post Summit and Cabezo Prieto in Ventana Wilderness (**)

Andrew Molera to Pfeiffer Big Sur via Post Summit in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Pfeiffer Park to Pico Blanco in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Big Sur Station to Kandlbinder in Ventana Wilderness (***)

Andrew Molera to Pico Blanco in Ventana Wilderness (**)

Junipero Serra Peak in Los Padres National Forest (*)

Arroyo Seco in Ventana Wilderness (*)

Pinyon Peak in Los Padres National Forest (**)

From Santa Lucia Memorial to Arroyo Seco in Los Padres National Forest (***)

Cone Peak, Ventana Wilderness (**)

Desert

Death Valley: Racetrack, Darwin Falls, Sand Dunes, Badwater, Zabriskie Point, Mosaic Canyon, etc (*)

Shorty's Well to Telescope Peak, Death Valley (****)

Marble Canyon to Race Track, Death Valley (****)

Race Track to Lake Hill via Hunter Mt and Panamint Sand Dunes, Death Valley (****)

Panamint City and Sentinel Peak, Death Valley (**)

Tin Mountain, Death Valley (**)

Joshua Tree Park (*)

Cactus to the Clouds (San Jacinto Peak) (***)

Reyes Creek to Piedra Blanca, Sespe Wilderness (**)

Mt Wilson (*)

Sandstone Peak/ Mt Allen (*)

Low Sierra

Mt Tallac to Dick's Pass to Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, Desolation Wilderness (*)

Pyramid Peak, Desolation Wilderness (**)

Velma Lakes and Dick's Peak, Desolation Wilderness (**)

Freel Peak (**)

Lake Tahoe Rim Trail (*)

Round Top, Mokelumne Wilderness (**)

Leavitt Peak, Emigrant Wilderness (**)

Relief Valley, Emigrant Wilderness (*)

Granite Dome, Emigrant Wilderness (***)

Northern California

Mt Shasta via Avalanche Gulch (****)

Mt Shasta via Clearcreek (***)

Mt Shasta via Cascade Gulch (***)

Shastina (**)

Lassen Peak & Bumpass Hell, Lassen (*)

Thompson Peak via Canyon Creek (***)

Mt Eddy (***)

Lost Coast and King Range (*)

Redwood National Park (*)

Prairie Creek Park: Prairie Creek trail & West Ridge trail (**)

Prairie Creek Park: Miners Ridge & James Irvine Trail (**)

Prairie Creek Park: Fern Canyon & Ossagon Beach (**)

Mendocino region (*)

Best pictures over the years

A suggested calendar

A personal tribute to R.J. Secor, author of a book that for a long time was the main source of information on Sierra routes.

Footnote: The USA is the last country in the world that still uses the ancient Roman imperial system for measurements (miles, feet). When you look at pictures of signs, multiply by 1.6 to obtain distances. (Trivia: Ethiopia is the last country in the world that still uses the Julian calendar. So if the USA and Ethiopia merged, you would be brought back 2,000 years to the age of the Roman empire).

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This website uses the metric system, like 95% of the world's population.

Hiking in California

Pictures of California hikes

Bay Area

Yosemite

Western Sierra

Trans-Sierra

Eastern Sierra

Coastal/South of the Bay Area

Desert

Low Sierra

Northern California

Back to pictures of my travels | Back to me | Contact/Email