Places

Activities Onion Valley, Kearsarge Pass, and Mt. Gould A birthday peak-bag from Onion Valley over Kearsarge Pass toward Mt. Gould, a hard altitude reset, and a turn-around made on time. August 9, 2025 Activities Palisades fire views from the bike Back on the local Santa Monica trails after the 2025 Palisades Fire, where the burned canopy has opened up sightlines and changed… August 3, 2025 Activities Lytle Creek: redemption run A clean redemption run of the technical Lytle Creek canyon, wetsuits on, with a hard eye on the rappel transition where things… July 26, 2025 Activities Beech Mountain after the hurricane A rainy NC weekend at Beech Mountain for a Lake Street Dive show, with Hurricane Helene's damage still everywhere and a lightning… July 19, 2025 Places A week on the Big Island A full week circling the Big Island for a wedding: lava fields, the volcano park, manta rays at night, and colored-sand beaches. February 8, 2025 Places Up Mauna Kea to acclimate The first stop on the Hawaii week: up the 4WD-only Mauna Kea summit road to acclimate, catch sunset, and watch a novelty… February 8, 2025 National Parks Big Sur, Pinnacles, and Santa Cruz A loose Fourth-of-July loop through Big Sur, Pinnacles, and Santa Cruz, from Hearst Castle to a haunted hotel to the last open… July 4, 2024 Places Big Sur from both sides of a closure Doing Big Sur as two dead-end legs around a Highway 1 closure on a holiday weekend, where finding a room was the… July 4, 2024 Places Red moon over the Santa Monica Pier Going back a second night for the big red moonrise over the Santa Monica Pier, long lens and a planned alignment. June 23, 2024 Places Ice in the Lava River Cave A primitive lava tube north of Flagstaff that holds ice in summer, a 70-degree swing within twenty feet of the entrance. May 12, 2024