Yesterday hiking in Nevada and California took me from the sweet to the bittersweet. The Sagehen trail can only be described as a “sweet” trail. Trails have personalities. Some played with you and make you earn the summit. Some are just sweetheart, girl-next-door trails. That is the Sagehen trail. A lovely 5 miles there-and-back to a lake with added side trails available. I then did the Donner Summit and Mount Judas trails. That one is not sweet but gorgeous. Think of Mary Ann and Ginger. It was a great combination on a spectacular day.
I am in California to speak among the judges and attorneys of the Eastern District in Lake Tahoe on Sunday. As many on this blog know, I am an avid hiker and often take the opportunity of these trips to explore the local trails and forests. Yesterday, I hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail and then the Mt. Rose Trail. These trails take you along the Nevada and California border. The latter is quite difficult as you work your way up the summit of the highest point in the area. At roughly 9000 feet, it is the highest peak of the greater Sierra Nevada range. It is a gorgeous though strenuous hike.
I started Sunday with a dawn hike at Billygoat trail. I then went on a hike with visiting family (and our dog Luna) to Scott’s Run. It was a gorgeous fall day with temperatures hovering in the 50s. Scott’s Run is shorter, but you can walk to the waterfall and then along the river. It tends to be quite busy, but it remains a favorite for dog owners.
I took my customary dawn hike on the Billy Goat trail this morning and the trees are just showing the start of fall. With it comes my favorite season in Virginia. Soon I will return to Old Rage and other favorite sites to enjoy the changing foliage. Here are a few pictures from this morning for the vicarious hikers.
This morning I took my customary dawn hike on Billy Goat trail. It was nice and cool and empty as the sun rose over the Potomac. Below are a few of the pictures from this morning for any vicarious hikers. Wildlife this morning included deer, blue herons, and turtles.
At dawn, I took my customary hike on Billy Goat Trail with the rising sun. It was lovely with the soft light of a cool overcast morning. Here are a few pictures from the hike this morning and a few from last weekend on the Billy Goat.
On our final full day in Alaska, we selected the Crow Creek trail. This was my first time on the trail but we received excellent advice from Jimmy Stokes, an amazing hotel staff member at the Alyeska Hotel in Girdwood. Jimmy saw us hiking and suggested Crow Creek. He gave us a map and great advice for the challenging hike. Like all things Jimmy, we soon discovered that he was right on the money with distances and other details. Alyeska is a terrific hotel that celebrates everything Alaska to its great food and outdoor adventures. Jimmy is an example of how the staff go the extra mile for every guest. This trail was a highlight of the trip.
After our repairing our flat tire on the way out of Whittier, we arrived at the Alyeska Hotel, a gem in Girdwood. The hotel is really beautiful and nestled in the mountains with various trails nearby. We spent the day hiking on another clear and warm day in Alaska.
We spent much of our sixth day in the Denali National Park where we saw a huge elk with magnificent antlers and a mother moose with their calf at a lovely lake. We decided to tackle the Savage Alpine Trail which is a strenuous and demanding trail up a steep mountain overlooking the Savage River. While challenging, it was breathtaking.
On our second day at Denali National Park, we decided to tackle the challenging Mount Healy Trail. This is my second time on Mount Healy, one of the highest mountains in the park. It is spectacular but high challenging due to the sharp ascent. It is however worth every exhausted muscle and sore knee. After weeks of rain, the skies cleared showing Denali in all of its splendor .
This morning I took my usual dawn hike on Billy Goat trail in Maryland on a very misty morning. It was my last hike before flying North to Alaska on Sunday for a speech in Anchorage and then a couple weeks of hiking, rafting, and kayaking around Alaska. I will be doing a daily travel blog from Alaska and hopefully posting a columns on other subjects.
I did my usual dawn Sunday hike on Billy Goat trail today. While it is Father’s Day and the kids offered to join me, I let them sleep in. It was a lovely morning for a hike with only a couple people on the trail. It gave me a quiet time to think of my own father, Jack Turley, and how much I still miss him.
As many of you know, I often accept speeches in areas where I can pursue my love for hiking. For that reason, returning to Albuquerque, New Mexico was an offer to give the keynote at the Judicial Conclave that did not need to be repeated. New Mexico is an amazing state with some of the most challenging but spectacular trails in the world. I used my free day on Saturday to tackle the famed La Luz Trail that runs through both the Sandia Mountains and the Cibola National Forest & National Grasslands. This is a punishing trail that can be extended to 13 miles. It is not for the faint of heart. It is a steady and sharp climb for miles under the beating sun of New Mexico. You literally walk to toward the light on La Luz. Much like my Pino trail hike a few years ago, I was entirely spent by the end of this hike.
On Monday, I went on my traditional birthday hike and decided to tackle Loudoun Heights trail at Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. I hiked around other Appalachian Trails and around Harper’s Ferry for a 16 mile trek. It was wonderful, though these old bones were rattling by the end of the day. I wanted to share some of the pictures with the blog.
I am returning today from speeches in Texas and Utah. As many on the blog know, I tried to use such travel to do some hiking. Utah is one of my favorite places on Earth. You could spend a lifetime hiking this state and only scratch the surface of the natural beauty and wonders. I have hiked all part of this state and expect to do so for many years to come. This trip was tough however because a cold front came in the day I arrived (after 70 degree weather) that dumped more snow on an already heavy snow season. With the rain and snow, most of my selected hikes (and even my backup hikes) were no longer advisable due to slippery rocks and mud. I tried to find a trail on Friday with limited success so I decide to “go big or go home” on Saturday. I decided to drive over three hours to the Moab where snow and rain would not be an issue. While once covered by a prehistoric ocean, this area receives less than 10 inches of rain a year. It proved to be an awesome experience hiking Arches National Park, one of the great gifts of this state to the world. While many of us often hike deciduous forests, these desert hikes hold tremendous beauty and Western parks offer views that can go 100 miles or more.
