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Home , Alta Peak, Glen Pass, Great Western Divide, Junction Peak, Middle Palisade, North Dome

A selection of pictures from hikes in

piero scaruffi www.scaruffi.com

Linda Mar

Crossing the Sierra from Kings Canyon to Onion Valley

Edison Lake to Silver Pass & Goodale Pass

Seven Lakes Loop to the Palisades

Ohlone Wilderness to DelValle Lake,

Lost Coast and , North California

Florence Lake to Selden Pass, western Sierra

Mt Tyndall, Eastern Sierra

Mt Tyndall:

Mt Langley, Eastern Sierra

May Lake to Ten Lakes, Yosemite

LindaMar to Montara Beach

February:

Pfeiffer Beach:

Pfeiffer Beach:

McWay Falls:

February: Waddell Beach to Berry Falls to Chalk Mountain, Big Basin Berry Falls:

Waddell Beach:

March: Pt Reyes - Sky trail

March: Rodeo Beach

April 15-16: Badwater:

Sand Dunes:

Red Cathedral:

Racetrack Playa:

Eureka Sand Dunes:

April 29: Coastal Trail via Alamere Falls, Point Reyes

Bass Lake:

Pelican Lake:

Alamere Falls:

Alamere Falls:

Alamere Falls:

Arch Rock:

Sea Tunnel:

Sculptured Beach:

Sculptured Beach:

Sculptured Beach:

Tidepools:

Tidepools:

View of Drake's Estero:

May 13: Pinnacles

July 2: to to Upper Falls, Yosemite

Snowcreek Falls:

Yosemite Falls:

July 3: Mt Dana, Yosemite Lake at :

Mono Lake:

July 15-16: Shepherd Pass & Mt Williamson, Eastern Sierra

Mt Tyndall:

Great Western Divide:

Mt Williamson:

Mt Williamson and the Williamson Bowl from Mt Tyndall:

Mt Tyndall and Williamson Bowl from the summit:

The rocky summit:

July 22-23: Sphinx Lakes, Kings Canyon

August 3-6: High Sierra trip

August 4: White Mountain, Eastern Sierra

August 5: Mt Russell, Eastern Sierra

Mt Whitney:

Mt Russell's east ridge:

Tulainyo Lake:

August 6: Mt Whitney's regular trail, Eastern Sierra Mirror Lake:

Consultation Lake:

August 6: Mt Whitney's mountaineering route, Eastern Sierra

Iceberg Lake:

August 13: Mt Shasta

August 16: Lake to Clouds Rest, Yosemite

Half Dome, North Dome, :

Half Dome:

August 21: Mt Lyell, Yosemite

McClure lakes:

Mt Banner and Mt Ritter:

Marie lakes:

August 27: Trans-Sierra from Edison Lake to Mosquito Flat

Ruby Lake:

Little Lakes Valley:

September 23: Grand Canyon - Rim to rim [group pictures are here]

December: Tomales Point, Pt Reyes

December: Abbotts Lagoon, Pt Reyes

January 14, 2007: Muir Woods to Stinson Beach to Mt Tamalpais loop This loop offers the best views you can get of the Bay Area, from the ocean to the Bay to itself.

Mt Tamalpais from Stinson Beach:

View from Mt Tamalpais:

January 20, 2007: Point Reyes' Coastal Trail via Alamere Falls, Arch Rock and Sculptured Beach

We shuttled cars to hike one-way from the southern tip of Pt Reyes to the popular Coastal Camp all along the coast. There are several five-star attractions along the way: Alamere Falls (waterfalls on the beach), several lakes just above the coast, fields of wildflowers, and Sculptured Beach, that on a day of low tide is a micro-cosmos in itself.

Bass Lake:

Pelican Lake:

Alamere Falls:

Alamere Falls:

Alamere Falls:

Arch Rock:

Sea Tunnel:

Sculptured Beach:

Sculptured Beach:

Sculptured Beach:

Tidepools:

Tidepools:

View of Drake's Estero:

March 31: From China Camp to Big Sur in the

The Ventana Wilderness has the highest density of mountain lions. We crossed it one-way from east to west, starting in the middle of nowhere and ending at the popular trailhead by the beach, passing by the vastly over- rated Sykes hot springs. This wilderness is really wild. The best attraction were the yuccas. Yucca:

Wildflower:

April 8: From Portola Redwoods Park to Big Basin to Waddell Beach

We thought there should be a way to hike from the Peninsula to the ocean and we found it. Friends came to pick us up at the beach. Silver Falls:

Golden Cascades:

In a creek:

Berry Falls:

Waddell Beach:

April 21: Joshua Tree Park

A bit too touristy.

May 12: in Los Padres National Forest The biggest pine cones ever:

May 19: Half Dome, Yosemite

An over-rated hike, and totally worthless after June (because the waterfalls dry up considerably if not totally), but it does offer a good view (although inferior to and Clouds Rest) and some thrills (for those who rock climb in gymns). Vernal Falls, Yosemite:

Misty Trail:

Nevada Falls:

Nevada Falls:

Little :

Half Dome:

Half Dome (the cables), Yosemite:

The cables:

Yosemite Valley from Half Dome:

May 20: Cathedral Lake, Yosemite

I rarely hike in the snow because the snow/ice covers most of the attractions, but this was one pretty view.

June 16-17: Mt Brewer (4136m) via East Lake and Sphinx Lakes, Kings Canyon

We made a colossal loop of the sierras in Kings Canyon Park. We had to cross a deep creek and a big lake. Then hike cross-country to the summit of Mt Brewer (a respectable 4.000 meter mountain). Then down the steep sandy chute to Sphinx Pass. On the other side lies the basin of the Sphinx Lakes, possibly the prettiest lakes of California. Alas, not reached by any trail. Down the seven lakes we eventually returned to the trailhead at Roads End, Kings Canyon Park. This was the longest hike of the year and one of the two most adventurous. East Lake on the way to Mt Brewer:

Mt Brewer:

North Guard:

View from the top of Mt Brewer:

Sphinx Lakes 3 and 4:

Sphinx Lake 5:

June 23: , Yosemite

This is considered a deadly trail and i found out why, but great views of Half Dome. Tenaya Canyon to Half Dome:

June 24: Mt Conness (3979m) from , Yosemite

This hike at the eastern border of Yosemite was totally cross-country. Its highlight were the wildflowers. I now rank this area as the best one to see mountain flowers. Wildflowers:

Shell Lake:

Fantail lake, one of the many lakes along the way:

View of the basin:

Summit block:

View west:

July 29: Trans-Sierra from Florence Lake (Mono Divide) to North Lake (Eastern Sierra)

A crazy friend and myself started from two very distant trailheads: one near Fresno and one near Bishop, exactly the opposite sides of California (east and west). We had figured out a way to hike from one trailhead to the other one crossing the sierras horizontally in one day and using only official trails. Each of us met hikers who were doing epic hikes in the sierras and none of those hikers believed what we were doing. We met (and exchanged car keys) almost exactly where we had planned to meet (half way). Needless to say, the middle part of this hike was really in the middle of nowhere. Lake Florence

In the middle of the sierras:

Piute Creek:

My favorite flower:

Flower parade:

Summit Plateau

Piute Pass:

Eastern side of Piute Pass:

July 31: Split Mt (4285m), Eastern Sierra

The hike itself to this mountain (one of the ten highest in California) is demanding but getting to the trailhead is even more adventurous because the road is not maintained. The first time we failed because it took too long to get to the trailhead. The second time i used a combination of car and mountain bike to reach the trailhead. Split Mt has one of the best views of the Sierra, because it is almost exactly half way between the Palisades and Mt Whitney/Williamson. Nobody else hiking there. :

Chute to the top:

Split Mt:

August 12: Mt Whitney's mountaineering route, Eastern Sierra (4421m)

This much feared hike turned out to be a surgical strike. The regular trail is over-crowded and requires permits that are annoying to obtain (Mt Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous USA and one of the few that has a trail all the way to the top). This cross-country route instead does not require "red tape" and it is used by very few hikers. Both the regular trail and this cross-country route to the summit of Mt Whitney are among the best in California. This one adds the thrill of "the trail you make is the trail you take". We left the regular trail after just 15 minutes. The route is not obvious, but i had done it before and this time i managed to really optimize it. You have to cross waterfalls (in fact, a triple one), creeks, a little jungle. You have to climb rocks and even a tree. You have to walk along the edge of a colossal gorge. Finally you have to climb a steep sandy chute and, when you think it can't get any worse, you have to use your hands up the last narrow chimney. Mt Whitney:

Iceberg Lake:

The chute to the top:

View from the summit:

August 24: via Bishop Pass (4267m), Eastern Sierra

This is one of the legendary peaks of the Palisades. The trail to Bishop Pass passes several pretty lakes. Bishop Pass is the entry to Dusy Basin, which is worth the hike by itself. Then i left the trail to go east and coasted giant mountains to Thunderbolt Pass, from which there is another spectacular view on the region south of the Palisades. Then i climbed the peak until i reached the notch on top of the Palisades Glacier. I had been before in the Palisades Glacier, but never seen it from above.

Long Lake at sunrise (one of the 12 lakes on the north side of Bishop Pass):

Dusy Basin (the other side of Bishop Pass):

The chute to the top:

The Palisades Glacier and the "Seven Lakes" area from the summit:

Starlight Peak and from the summit:

August 26: Mt Darwin via Lake Sabrina (4215m), Eastern Sierra

This was pure scouting and exploration. I left the trail after the third major lake and continued east, having Mt Darwin and Mt Haeckel as reference points, via an endless series of lakes. I found a way to cross over into the Evolution Region, a region that very few people reach on a day hike because it is so remote from any trail.

Lake Sabrina:

Hungry Packer Lake:

Mt Haeckel:

Mt Darwin and Mt Mendel:

Midnight Lake and countless others:

September 5: Mt Langley (4275m), Eastern Sierra

My friends had been hiking for 20+ days on the trail from Yosemite to Mt Whitney, and i had promised to pick them up on Mt Langley, one of California's top-10 mountains (the mountain after Whitney, just to make it more epic). We met as planned just before the summit. Langley is just above the basin of the Cottonwood Lakes, one of the prettiest basins in the sierras.

Mt Langley from Cottonwood Lake 2:

Cottonwood Lake 3:

Cottonwood Lake 4 and Old Army Pass:

Cottonwood Lake 4 and 5:

The Cottonwood Basin from Mt Langley:

Mt Whitney from Mt Langley:

September 14: Scimitar Pass, Eastern Sierra (4,000m)

We had failed Mt Sill (California's fifth highest mountain) from the east, so we decided to try from the south. This implied a very long detour to climb Scimitar Pass (which is really a peak in its own at 4.000 meters). We were on trail only for about 1.5 hour. The rest was all cross-country, using a simple topo-map. Amazingly, we made no mistakes. Alas, after a long exhausting hike we realized that there is a huge gap between Scimitar Pass and Mt Sill that was not obvious from the map. Nonetheless, the views on both sides of Scimitar Pass were worth the cross-country struggle. I am still amazed that we did what we did in just one day.

The mountains around Mt Sill:

The and Scimitar Pass:

The view from Scimitar Pass:

Mt Sill from Scimitar Pass:

September 16: Mt Keith, Eastern Sierra (4260m)

This was the last epic hike of the season. We left the trail four hours into the hike to climb the many peaks of Mt Keith, looking for the real one. It took a while, and there were moments of sheer panic. But the reward was the best view of the Sierra ever: Mt Williamson, Mt Whitney, Mt Langley, Mt Tyndall all in the same picture. To add to the epic feeling, we were proud to see in the summit register that we were the only people who made it there in a month or so (and before us the last visitors had been professional rangers). The endless climb:

Circle Basin from the summit

The view south from Mt Keith, best view in California:

January

Abbotts Lagoon, Pt Reyes:

Estero, Pt Reyes:

Sculptured Beach, Pt Reyes:

March

Pfeiffer State Beach:

From the beach to , Ventana Wilderness :

Memorial to Arroyo Seco, Los Padres National Forest :

From DelValley Park to Rose Peak, Ohlone Wilderness:

May

Upper Falls and El Capitan, Yosemite:

June

Botcher's Gap, Ventana Wilderness:

Tuolumne Falls, Yosemite:

Mt Conness (3837m) via the Young Lakes, Yosemite :

July

Mt Williamson, Eastern Sierra (4384m):

Trans-Sierra route from Florence Lake (Mono Divide) to North Lake (Eastern Sierra) :

Gardiner Basin, Kings Canyon :

August

Mt Ritter, Wilderness (4008m):

Mt Lyell, Yosemite (3997m):

McClure lakes:

Mt Banner and Mt Ritter:

Marie lakes:

Mt Russell (4293m):

Mt Whitney's mountaineering route (4421m) :

Iceberg Lake:

Middle Palisade (4271m):

Mt Gayley (4117m):

Evolution Loop from North via Lamarck Col, Darwin Canyon and Evolution Lake to Lake Sabrina :

Hungry Packer Lake:

Blue Lake:

Lake Sabrina:

Palisades via Bishop Pass:

Dusy Basin:

September

Sphinx Lakes to Big Brewer Lake to Avalanche Pass :

Mt Shasta via Clearcreek (4322m):

Limantour Beach to Arch Rock via Sculptured Beach, Pt Reyes

Mt Sizer, China Hole and Manzanita Point, Henry Coe Park

Mendocino

Wharf Rock Bay, Elk

SPRING

From Sam McDonald Park to Big Basin to Waddell Beach Golden Cascades:

In a creek:

Berry Falls:

Waddell Beach:

Double Cone, Ventana Wilderness

Half Dome, Yosemite Vernal Falls, Yosemite:

Misty Trail:

Nevada Falls:

Nevada Falls:

Little Yosemite Valley:

Half Dome:

Half Dome (the cables), Yosemite:

The cables:

The cables:

Yosemite Valley from Half Dome:

Sentinel Dome and Pohono Trail, Yosemite

Panoramic from Glacier Point:

Vernal and Nevada Falls:

Yosemite Falls:

View from from Half Dome to Mt Lyell:

Taft Point:

Cascade Falls from Dewey Point:

Cascade Falls, El Capitan, North Dome, Tenaya Canyon, Half Dome:

Double Cone via Mt Manuel, Ventana Wilderness

Pinyon Peak, Los Padres National Forest The biggest pine cones ever:

JULY

Waterwheel Falls, Yosemite Tuolumne Falls:

Waterwheel Falls:

Mt Williamson from the North Bairs Creek, Eastern Sierra The cirque below the summit plateau:

Mt Tyndall and Williamson Bowl from the summit:

The rocky summit:

Reflection Lake and Lucy's Pass, Kern-Kings Divide, Kings Canyon East Lake:

Reflection Lake:

Unnamed lake:

View southeast from Lucy's Pass (Kaweah Peaks and ):

Glen Pass and from Roads End, Kings Canyon

Rae Lakes:

Mammoth trailhead to Devil's Postpile

Devil's Postpile:

Rainbow Falls:

Mt Abbot Ruby Lake:

Lake Mills:

Thousand Island Lake,

Mt Darwin - North Face, Eastern Sierra Mt Darwin and Mt Mendel:

Darwin Canyon:

AUGUST

Trans-sierra from south Lake Edison to Pine Creek via Italy Pass

Italy Lake:

Honeymoon Lake:

Emerald Lakes Lake Sabrina:

Blue Lake:

Emerald Lakes:

Mt Russell Mt Russell's east ridge:

Tulainyo Lake:

Mt Sill Dusy Basin:

View from Potluck Pass:

The Palisades from Mt Sill:

SEPTEMBER

Pyramid Peak, Aloha Lakes:

Mt Tallac, Desolation Wilderness

Lake Tahoe:

Susie Lake:

Halfmoon Lake:

Dick's Lake and Fontanillis Lake:

Emerald Bay:

Mt Agassiz, Eastern Sierra Long Lake:

Spearhead Lake and Long` Lake:

Saddlerock Lake:

Lakes to the right and to the left of Bishop Pass:

The Palisades:

WINTER

Alamere Falls (Pt Reyes)

Big Sur coast (Mt Manuel)

SPRING

Cabezo Prieto (Ventana Wilderness)

Sunset over Big Sur (Pfeiffer Park)

Soberanes Trail (Garrapata Park)

Chilnualna Falls (Southern Yosemite)

Tigerlily (Ventana Wilderness)

Klamath River (Redwood National Park)

Hidden Beach (Redwood National Park)

Coast Trail (Prairie Creek Redwoods Park)

Fern Canyon (Prairie Creek Redwoods Park)

The Great Western Divide (Table, Midway, Milestone, Centennial) ()

JULY

Middle Velma Lake (Desolation Wilderness)

Upper Velma Lake (Desolation Wilderness)

Fontanillis Lake (Desolation Wilderness)

Halfmoon Lake (Desolation Wilderness)

Azure Lake (Desolation Wilderness)

Emerald Bay ()

Winnemucca Lake and Round Top ( )

AUGUST

Steelhead Lake (Eastern Yosemite )

Steelhead Lake and Cascade Lake with Mt Dana in the background (Eastern Yosemite )

Upper McCabe Lake (Eastern Yosemite )

Tuolumne Falls (Eastern Yosemite )

Wildflowers of Mt Warren ()

Mt Abbot and Little Lakes valley (Mt Morgan)

Center Basin and Mt Keith with Mt Williamson in the background (University Pass)

Midnight Lake to Owens Valley (Evolution Region)

Blue Heron Lake to Owens Valley (Evolution Region)

The Diamond Mesa, Mt Williamson and Mt Tyndall (Caltech Peak)

Great Western Divide (Centennial, Milestone, Midway, Table) (Caltech Peak)

From Mt Muir to Mt Whitney (Mt Muir)

Mt Whitney (Mt Muir)

Crossing the Crest (Mt Whitney)

SEPTEMBER

Milestone Mt (The Great Western Divide)

The Kern-Kings Divide (Erickson, Stanford, Caltech, Junction) (The Great Western Divide)

Milestone Mt (The Great Western Divide)

Upper lakes of the (The Kings-Kern Divide )

The Basin of Sky Blue Lake (Mt Mallory )

Barrett Lakes (North Palisade )

Dusy Basin (North Palisade )

NOVEMBER

Pacific Coast (Pt Reyes' coastal trail)

Pacific Coast (Pt Reyes' coastal trail)

Arch Rock (Pt Reyes' coastal trail)

Pacific Coast (Pt Reyes' coastal trail)

Pacific Ocean (Pt Reyes' coastal trail)

Sculptured Beach, Point Reyes

This is an easy flat hike, but you need a winter day of low tide (Pt Reyes has terrible fog most of the summer and this "beach" is normally underwater)

Carmel River, Ventana Wilderness

Pico Blanco, Ventana Wilderness

Sespe Wilderness

Cactus to the Clouds

This is a famous endurance hike because of the colossal elevation hike (you start at zero and end at over 3000 meters) and because of the devastating heat (we started at 2am and i stripped almost naked within the first ten minutes)

Mt Thompson, Trinity Alps

The most popular hike in the Trinity Alps is probably Canyon Creek

Mt Warren, East oF Yosemite

Few people venture out here since Mt Warren was pulled out of Yosemite and given its own Wilderness, but this is the best view of ever.

Lundy Canyon, East of Yosemite

A very easy hike just outside Yosemite (you are physically walking towards its eastern border) but the number of ponds, lakes, creeks and waterfalls beats your favorite Yosemite Valley hikes. And it's really easy.

Mt Tom, Eastern Sierra

A very respectable mountain at an altitude of 4100 meters, Mt Tom rises straight out of Owens valley.

Mt Stanford, Kings Canyon

One of the really remote peaks of the Sierra, Mt Stanford is strategically located between the basin (East Lake is its most famous lake), the Kern River basin (which is difficult to visit from any trailhead) and the Center Basin.

East Lake

The basin where the Kern River is born

The Great Western Divide

Center Basin

Mt Barnard, Eastern Sierra

This area was closed to summer hiking for many years. It was reopened in 2011. There is no trail. Just follow the George Creek to the top. Tough bushwhacking. Beware that bears here are not familiar with humans.

Tuttle Basin, Eastern Sierra

Another rarely visited plateau of the Sierra, this one leads to several of the highest mountains, but its main attractions are the dramatic walls of granite that make Yosemite look tame. Imagine Yosemite with not a single hiker around

Mt Darwin, Eastern Sierra

The Evolution Region can only be approached via very long trails, and, whichever way you come, you also need quite a bit of route-finding skills after you leave the trails. This was a 25-hour hike (4am to 5am).

Evolution Lake, that many consider the prettiest lake of the Sierra

Darwin Canyon, that i consider one of the most dramatic views of the Sierra

The Evolution Region from Mt Darwin

Mt Humphreys, Eastern Sierra

Mt Humphreys is the highest point of my 2011 hiking season (4265m). The approach was also the easiest except for the very final wall.

Wawona to Glacier Point, Yosemite

This was a 38-km one-way hike south of the Valley that ends with some of the best pictures spots in the Yosemite Valley.

Yosemite Falls from

Half Dome from Sentinel Dome

Vernal and Nevada Falls from Glacier Point

Double Cone, Ventana Wilderness

This was one long day hike from Los Padres Dam just after a night of snow (late spring)

Yosemite Valley

Hard to have good pictures of Yosemite this year because it was so dry already in the spring. This is from the top of the Yosemite Falls.

Yosemite Valley

This rock formation is on the "trail" between the Upper Falls and North Dome

Mt Dana, Yosemite High Country

A lake at the bottom of Mt Dana, second highest mountain in Yosemite

Mt Warren, East of Yosemite

Mono Lake from the top of Mt Warren

Mt Tom, Eastern Sierra

Owens Valley from Mt Tom (one of the 4000-meter mountains that you can hike in early summer)

Tuttle Creek basin, Eastern Sierra

The Black Falls, rarely seen, between Mt Leconte and Mt Langley

Mt Kaweah, Eastern Sierra

Famously distant from any trailhead, it took us forever (12 hours) to get to the top that you see far away from this lake (halfway into the hike)

Mt Barnard, Eastern Sierra

Mt Barnard is difficult to reach because there is no trail (you just follow the George Creek up to its birthplace) and the area has been closed for several decades in the summer (bighorn migration) so there aren't even "use- trails". Because of its location, it has some of the grandest views of the High Sierra. Mt Whitney and Mt Russell:

Mt Tyndall, Keith and Williamson:

The Great Western Divide:

Mt Barnard

Descending Mt Barnard's west side, i got lost a little bit and stumbled into a plateau surrounded by what look like human-made walls with a trail running along them.

Junction Peak, Eastern Sierra

Another mountain that is far from every trailhead and requires a long approach but strategically located for grand views. Southwest:

North (Center Basin):

South (Williamson and Tyndall):

Mt Leconte, Eastern Sierra

The trailhead is just before the overcrowded Mt Whitney trailhead. Lone Pine Peak reflected in a lake:

The waterfall you have to climb to get to the base of the mountain:

Lonely boulder above the waterfall:

Mt Whitney is so close:

Mt Darwin, Evolution Region

A round-trip hike to Mt Darwin from the lakes above Bishop requires a full day and night (24 hours). The North Lake route enters Darwin Canyon, one of the most spectacular places in California, and then it joins the at Evolution Lake, another secluded gem.

Mt Winchell, Palisades

The Palisades are perhaps the most difficult range in California, and Winchell is the only one that can safely be climbed from the "seven-lake trail" of the Big Pine Creek (first picture) circling around the Palisades Glacier (second picture).

Gregorys Monument, Kern-Kings Divide

Gregorys Monument is the peak just south of Mt Stanford, just above Harrison Pass. The reason you never heard these names is that this is the border between the Kings River basin and the Kern River basin, as remote as it gets. Another 24-hour tour de force if you want to do it in one day. East Lake:

Great Western Divide:

Lake South America:

The birthplace of the Kings River:

Glenn Pass, Kings Canyon

Waterfall galore along the trail and then the Rae lakes.

Mt Sill, Palisades

This time i used a combination of the eastern route (from Big Pine Creek's south fork) and the western route (via Glacier Notch and the L-Coloir). North Palisade and Thunderbird:

Winchell and Agassiz:

Mt Gayley, Palisades

Possibly the least popular of the Palisades, but another classic view of the Palisades Glacier (Polemonium, North Palisade and Thunderbird).

North Palisade, Palisades

The fourt highest mountain in California, the North Palisade sits (and towers) right in the middle of the Palisades. The last part of the climb has dramatic exposure:

Dusy Basin, one of the most famous group of lakes:

The :

piero scaruffi www.scaruffi.com