Good to be home! San Francisco, one helluva city, full of inspiration, creativity, hopes and dreams. So blessed to call this city my second home. I’m here in the USA for the next 4 months for some epic adventures with the Bedrock Sandals crew. It’s going to be one helluva summer! Let’s do this, brothers!
California
The super bloom looked spectacular at Chimney Rock in Point Reyes.
You got to leave somewhere to go somewhere. Every adventure requires a first step! It’s also the hardest of all, but take it. You’ll never regret it!
An epic sunset along the California coast, hiking in the redwoods and an epic shower at the Chamberlain Creek waterfall in Jackson Forest. Awesome Earth Day adventures with Dan in California. So thankful for this beautiful planet! Let’s take care of it.
A couch in the middle of nowhere while running in Montara State Beach. It offered a great place to rest in the shade before the final push to Gray Whale Cove State Beach. 9 miles in the bag.
Lake Tahoe is greatly helping in dealing with post-expedition depression.
I hate the idea of having no control, but the approach of not planning opens another door. It leads to those magic moments where you are completely present and alive!
Trinity Alps
The joy of waking up to views like this. An all-frozen Granite Lake, with Gibson Peak in the background, in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Still plenty of snow, but we bedrocked it the entire way up the Swift Creek Trail.
To go or not to go. A crossroads one has to face, one way or the other, during an adventure. After spending a night at Granite Lake, we packed our bags to scramble up to Seven Up Peak and beyond, in the hope of finding a campsite, pitching a tent in the high country and watching a sunset.
That 1500ft climb, as breathtaking as it was, totally exhausted us. With no topo map, we weren’t sure about the terrain on the other side. With another 1000ft of strenuous climb left and time ticking, what if we didn’t find a flat spot to camp? What if it was a steep cliff? What if?
Either go straight up and take our chances, or turn around and go back to our campsite at Granite Lake again. We took a long break, soaking in the spectacular scenery. It was a tough decision, but we decided to turn around. A map would have been great, but figure-it-out-yourself adventures are the best.
Granite Lake is inaccessible, they said… the ridge is covered in snow, they said. A fun Memorial Day adventure, bedrockin’ in the Trinity Alps.
Tour de Lake Tahoe
South Lake Tahoe bound with the Bedrock crew for an epic weekend adventure.
Tour de Lake Tahoe: a Bedrock adventure circling Lake Tahoe clockwise. Crystal clear blue waters, towering majestic snow-capped peaks, adorned by sugar pines, which are the world’s tallest pines. This 72-mile ride, with 3,500 feet of climbing at elevations from 6,200 feet at lake level to 8,000 feet near Carson Pass, was definitely one of the most beautiful bike rides I have ever done in my life.
The President
The sequoias are stunning and intimidating at the same time. It’s hard to really know how massive these giants are until you are standing before them, craning your neck just to try to see the very top branches. You feel so insignificant, and it’s extremely humbling. This is the Senate, a group of sequoias clustered together along the Congress Trail in Sequoia National Park.
“In every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks.” - John Muir
This tree was over 1000 years old when Jesus was born. The world’s oldest and second largest sequoia tree, named the President, is 3200 years old, 27 ft in diameter and 247 ft tall, with 54,000 cubic feet of wood and 2 billion leaves.
I read about this giant in the December 2012 National Geographic magazine. The centre fold was a full portrait of the tree. The picture went up on my wall, and I added a new entry to my bucket list: to find the President and give him a good tight hug.
The following summer, 2013, before my High Sierra Trail hike, I strolled along the Congress Trail in search of the President. I got goose bumps when I hugged it the very first time. It has survived so many threats that could have killed it long ago, yet here it is, still thriving and growing every day. What an amazing creature.
It was a warm summer morning as I stood by the President again. It had been 4 years, and I wanted to see my old friend and hug him once again. He has gotten a bit more fat, but he is very happy, and so am I.
Arizona, Colorado and Utah
270+ miles long, up to 18 miles wide and a mile deep: there’s a reason why this canyon is the Grand Canyon. It was a grand dream come true day!
A stunning sunset from Cathedral Rock, Red Rock Crossing, in Sedona, Arizona. Brilliant red spires rising majestically towards the sky, and the panoramic views of the valley from the saddle are a visual treat. A magnificent display of natural beauty.
Happy Fourth of July, at 14,003ft on Mt Huron, Colorado.
Delicate Arch, the most famous arch in Arches National Park in Moab, Utah. It’s 65 ft tall and has stood the test of time. A lesson from the Arch: don’t crumble under pressure!
It was an epic day in Moab, Utah. I always wanted to mountain bike here: Slickrock, considered one of the world’s premier mountain biking trails.
Then it was time to say goodbye to the USA. This had been one helluva visit. A 6000+ miles road trip with Bedrock Sandals, several new states, lots of bucket list items stricken, epic adventures with friends, and so many new ones made. It was time to go home to India, to visit family. No more carbo loading, it’s curry loading time!
From the summer, posted later
Pack rafting on Lake Ann, Buena Vista, Colorado.
The view of Mt Wilson and Wilson Peak from the summit of El Diente, a 14er in the Lizard Head Wilderness area in Colorado. At 14,159ft, El Diente, Spanish for “the tooth”, is a steep and dangerously loose mountain. With no standard route, the entire climb was a class 3 to 3+ scramble, and we had to negotiate scree, loose boulders and thick ice patches the entire way. The summit ridge was highly exposed, with several false summits.
It was one helluva scramble, but my friend @matt_inkworks and I bedrocked the whole way and bagged yet another 14er during the Bedrock Sandals road trip that summer. I can’t wait to go back and do all three 14ers in one shot.
The scramble was harder than I expected, especially the descent, where we had so many close calls. Finishing the adventure with an ice bath in a stream, and the stunning views, made it all worth it. My happy place!
Comments
No comments yet. Be the first.