I joined Gary Gellin and Jim Moyles for a point-to-point adventure run along the wild Carmel River in the Ventana Wilderness. The route starts at China Camp along Tassajara Road (rough dirt road) and finishes below Los Padres Reservoir. The first 3.5 miles is along the Pine Ridge Trail with great views into the Tassajara Creek drainage and the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains, including Junipero Serra Peak (the highest point in the range at 5,862 ft) and Ventana Double Cone. Evidence of the huge fires two seasons ago was evident, but the vegetation is coming back and I even spotted small pine saplings.

At Church Divide, we turned onto the Carmel River trail and soon after descending from the pass we found the headwaters of the Carmel River. A trickle quickly grew into a stream and by the time we reached lovely Pine Valley, the stream was flowing nicely. The fall colors in this section were gorgeous with maples and sycamores displaying bright orange and yellow leaves. This area is also heavily populated with madrones, which are adorned with so much red fruit that the trees appear red from a distance. At Pine Valley, we stopped for tea at Jack English’s cabin. Jack English is 90 years old and has lived in relative isolation in Pine Valley for over 35 years. Supplies and food are brought to him via horseback. It was great to meet Jack and hear about his experiences and history of the region.

Jack English's Cabin in Pine Valley

After Pine Valley, we temporarily left the Carmel River and climbed up to another pass to enter Hiding Canyon. Hiding Canyon was very brushy with numerous blowdowns and other impediments obscuring the trail for a couple miles. A small climb out of hiding canyon signaled the end of the brush and we were treated to great views of the upper Carmel River canyon. Next, we descended down the Carmel River and began over two dozen river crossings. These crossings are necessary because travel on either side becomes blocked by rock walls that descend all the way into the river. The trail connecting the river crossings is nothing more than a use  path and was often nonexistent due to brush and dirt slides, but the objective is simple, follow the river downstream.

More after the jump!

View from the North Wilderness Trail

I had so much fun on my last trail run on the Lone Star Trail that I decided to check out another section before my departure back to California. This time I chose the Little Lake Creek Wilderness at the west end of Sam Houston National Forest. This small wilderness area protects a mature stand of pine and hardwood forest. The main Lone Star Trail runs through the center of the Wilderness while the South Wilderness and North Wilderness trails pass through the south and north respectively. The difference between the wilderness area and surrounding forest is immediately noticeable – the pine trunks are much larger and the understory is thick with brush and small trees.

The trails here are awesome. The whispering pines, the lushness, the solitude, it’s an amazing place to run. On this day, there was even some great fall color. Since these trails and the entire Lone Star Trail are only open to foot traffic, they are not eroded and are well padded by leaves and needles. The terrain is gently rolling with some short steep bits climbing out of creek drainages but otherwise generally flatter so you can really pick up the pace and I was moving under 7 minute pace most of the time. It’s an exhilarating feeling to move fast through a thick forest on single track. The North Wilderness trail was my favorite section of this run with twisty and extremely tight single track, branches to duck under, and logs to steeplechase.

Wilderness Sign

This area has numerous loop possibilities off the main Lone Star Trail and I did an 11.7 mile loop combining the North Wilderness Loop and the Sand Branch Loop. Other loops in the area that can be added on include the South Wilderness Loop, Richards Loop, and Lake Conroe Loop. A single loop of over 40 miles can be designed in this area! I look forward to checking out the South Wilderness Trail and other sections of the Lone Star Trail next time I am in Houston!

Fall foliage

East jct of North Wilderness and Lone Star Trail

Little Lake Creek

More photos after the jump!

Lone Star Trail Sign

One might think that Texas doesn’t have good venues for trail running. Think again. The Lone Star Trail is a 128 mile trail in the Sam Houston National Forest an hour north of Houston that runs in an ark shape spanning from the west end to the east end of the forest.  The setting is the extremely attractive piney woods ecosystem where several species of pines and hardwoods create a very pleasant forest. A few areas of the region have heightened protection, including the Little Lake Creek Wilderness, the Big Creek Scenic Area, and the Winters Bayou Scenic Area. Moreover, one can connect into Huntsville State Park for another 30 miles of more traveled trail (these are shared with equestrians and bicyclists). I imagine 99% of Houstonians have never heard of this treasure, let alone anybody outside of Texas, but it definitely deserves more interest and attention (or maybe not? I like the solitude and wilderness feeling).

Lush mature pine forest

The trail crosses several roads and a few miles are on country road in order to connect through private property. However, by in large, the 128 miles are great trail, primarily single track with a shady forest canopy. There are several loop possibilities that are included in the mileage total so I believe that if one were to run it straight through on the shortest possible route it would be about 100 miles. What a stellar point-to-point course that would be!

Sweet singles in the woods

On this day I ran a 6 mile stretch of the Lone Star Trail (12 mile round trip) from Big Creek Scenic Area to Double Lake. The Big Creek Scenic Area has great plant diversity and a thick understory. The 4.7 mile section to Double Lake is gently rolling single track through towering pine trees – great stuff. Double Lake is a small lake with camping and recreation (road accessible). There are several water fountains at Double Lake to refill the water bottle. I continued past Double Lake on the Lone Star Trail for another 1.25 miles to the crossing of FM 1025, which was another awesome section of twisty single track under the pines. I noticed several offshoot trails around Double Lake and later found out there is another 8 miles of trail around the lake. These trails are open to mountain bikers but they look like more great single track. Since it’s hunting season in Texas, the orange shirt from this year’s edition of the  Golden Hills Marathon came in handy! Thankfully, I didn’t interrupt any hunts

Orange shirt stands out!

More photos after the jump!

Brazos Bend State Park is only a 45 minute drive from downtown Houston, but it feels like a different world. This lush park is primarily located on the Brazos River floodplains with thick bottomland hardwood forest that gives a jungle ambiance. I can imagine how humid and hot these woods become in the summer months from June through October. Species include huge moss-cloaked live oak, black willow, cottonwood, and sycamore. Over 30 miles of trail traverse through the 5,000 acre park and some of them are primitive providing a wilderness feeling. More than 300 species of birds make the marshes and wetlands of this park home and there are many species of mammals, amphibians, and reptiles, including a sizable population of the American Alligator. Here are some photos from the trip:

Lush forest

Little Blue Heron

American Alligator lurking

Turtle Love

More photos after the jump!

The highlights page for 2009 is up on my website! After 2008 featured scenery predominantly from the Washington Cascades, this year’s edition has more shots from California’s Sierra Nevada than ever before. Areas visited in the Sierra include the Minarets, Palisades, Kings-Kern Divide, and Rae Lakes area. The first adventure run of the season was in the lovely Trinity Alps of far northern California and I look forward to returning there in the future. In Washington, trips included Mount Olympus, the Ptarmigan Traverse, Clark Mountain, and the Suiattle Crest. However, photos from Olympus and the Ptarmigan Traverse were not used as much since they were featured prominently in 2007 and 2008 respectively. Please contact me with questions, requests, or comments – I am happy to provide information or sell original quality photos.

Lake Reflection

Here are links to the complete list of highlights pages dating back to 2005!

• 2009
• 2008
• 2007
• 2006
• 2005

Huntsville State Park is a gorgeous park in the pineywoods region north of Houston. Lake Raven is the centerpiece with lush pine and hardwood forest surrounding the waterway. During my time on the Rice University track and cross country teams we often frequented this park on the weekends for our long runs. Furthermore, Huntsville State Park is the location of the Rocky Racoon Ultramarathons and other trail running events. There are several trails in the park, but the best overall tour is the 6.8 mile Chinquapin Trail loop which encircles Lake Raven in a twisty single track path beneath a thick forest canopy. The forest is very lush with Palmetto and American Beautyberry among other understory plants. There are numerous streams and some boardwalk sections over wetlands. This park is popular with hikers and mountain bikers and the trail system is  well maintained by the park with superb trail signs, maps, mileage markings, bridges, and boardwalks. Serena and I hiked this trail and the following short video summarizes the hike.

Serena and I ran the Lost Pines Trail in Bastrop State Park after a visit to Austin, TX. Bastrop is located 30 miles southeast of Houston and features an isolated stand of loblolly pines and hardwoods that is 100 miles removed from the main body of East Texas pine forest. It is thought that this stand of pines is a relic of a much larger pine forest. Since the climate here is drier than East Texas, the understory of the pine forest is noticeably less lush by comparison.  Within this thick forest is an extensive campground and over 20 miles of great trails for running. On this day, we chose to do the 6.8 mile Lost Pines Trail, the longest trail in the park. We went in the evening hours so the sunlight was shining through the towering pines making for some nice photography. To make a complete loop, a small addition is necessary to link the ends of the trail. In addition, nearby Buescher State Park has a 7.7 mile loop in the Pine Forest that will be fun to check out next time I’m in the area. Here is a video I made of the Lost Pines Trail:

Some of my favorite photos after the jump!

Here is an aerial map of the 46 mile Rae Lakes loop (click on image for larger version):

According to the national park service, the Rae Lakes Loop is one of the most popular hikes in Sequoia and Kings Canyon, if not the entire Sierra. I completed the famous loop in 12 hours, 31 minutes, starting at 5:30 am and finishing just after 6 pm. The loop is 46 miles long and climbs from 5,035 ft at the trailhead to 11,978 ft at Glen Pass. The portion between Vidette Meadows (Mile 14) and Woods Creek Crossing (Mile 29) is along the John Muir Trail. The highlight of the loop is the Rae Lakes area, a chain of large alpine lakes over 10,500 feet with views of rugged Sierra peaks. The trailhead is at Road’s End in magnificent Kings Canyon and travels along Bubbs Creek and Woods Creek, including Vidette Meadows, Castle Domes, and Paradise Valley. Most backpackers do the loop clockwise, which makes sense as you gradually gain elevation through the Rae Lakes basin. However, for running it makes more sense to go counterclockwise reaching the highpoint at Glen Pass in 18.5 miles, followed by 27.5 miles of downhill, in theory.

A strong storm on October 13th dropped several feet of snow above 9,000 feet, and a substantial amount of snow remains which made for slow going between Charlotte Lake junction and Dollar Lake (~8 miles). The snow was particularly deep on the north side of Glen Pass with an icy crust layer on top of powdery snow. The result was a lot of postholing and I often could not find where the trail was buried until near the Rae Lakes, but the views of the Sierra with a fresh coat of snow more than compensated. The trails along the loop are generally rocky and rugged precluding a consistent fast pace. I found the section before and after Mist Falls (miles 41 to 43) to be particularly rocky and rough on tired legs at the end of the day.

Gorgeous alpine scenery

Complete trip report with many photos and splits here or on Cascade Climbers.

Gary Gellin and I enjoyed a spectacular 13.5 mile loop in Pinnacles National Monument. This challenging loop entailed nearly 4,000 feet of elevation gain and covered most of the highlights in the park, including Bear Gulch Cave, High Peaks, Balconies Cave, and Condor Gulch. The Pinnacles are located in the Gabilan Range to the east of the Salinas Valley. The rock formations and arid habitat make it seem like a slice of the desert southwest, but yet the Pinnacles have unique and intriguing features that can only be found there. Chapparal dominates the landscape along with blue oak in the riparian areas and stately gray pines growing amidst the rock pinnacles.

Complete gallery with dozens of photos here. Video on Vimeo or YouTube.

Machete Ridge

We explored both caves in the park, Bear Gulch Cave and Balconies Cave, which are talus caves formed by colossal boulders that fell atop a narrow canyon. Walking through these caves entails some scrambling and ducking under low ceilings, but the route is clearly marked with white arrows and steps/rails are provided where necessary. Portions of both caves are pitch black so a flashlight is required and they may be closed in the winter due to flooding and to protect a sensitive bat species. My personal favorite was the section of the High Peaks Trail between the Juniper Canyon Trail junction and the Tunnel Trail junction. Much of this section is steep and narrow with impressive relief, up-close views of towering red rock spires, and small foot steps cut out of the rock.

The spires, crags, and caves of the Pinnacles have a fascinating geological history. These features are the remnants of an estimated 8,000 foot volcano from 23 million years ago along the San Andreas fault zone. However, this volcano was located 195 miles to the southeast! The Pacific plate’s northward movement split the volcano and carried two thirds of it to its present location. The remaining one third is located at the original location and is called the Neenach Formation. Years of erosion, faulting, and tectonic plate movement have resulted in the crags and caves that exist today.

Balconies Trail

More photos after the jump!