Musings
Last Adventurer
#preservethegood

As you’ve seen above, #preservethegood could mean anything – it could mean helping someone in a time of need; it could be picking up trash on a trail, or a wilderness area; it could be educating people on leave no trace principles; it could be making a difference in any way you want; and it could be just about anything you want as long as you are focused in keeping the magic and the unique positive things in this world and this life. In terms of tangible things, I encourage you, my readers and followers to use the hashtag when you post a photo of something amazing; or when you’re talking about something exceptional you – or someone else has done to improve the world. I look forward to seeing how all of you end up preserving the good in 2015, and you can rest assured that as always, I will keep preserving the good where I find it as well, because as Plato says, “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” 

#preservethegood
Hiking, State Parks
Last Adventurer
Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

As I mentioned previously, Waimea Canyon is a site that is most definitely one of the “must-view” locations on Kauai, and in the world; and as I also mentioned, the best way to experience it is to hike it. While there are many great hikes through the canyon, the best hike in my book is the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. It is the best hike to me because at four miles roundtrip, it is accessible, it has stunning views of the canyon from inside the canyon, and it ends at the top Waipoo Falls. It also allows the hiker the chance to swim in a waterfall, which is a once in a lifetime experience.

Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls

Mountaineering

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Climbing Mt. Shasta: Avalanche Gulch Route & Directions

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Climbing Mt. Shasta: Avalanche Gulch Route & Directions

So, you want to climb Mount Shasta? Be warned, like anything else in life, it is a task fraught with perils, challenges, and heartbreak. But, like anything else in life, should you have the mental fortitude to address each of these tribulations, you will be rewarded with an enormous sense of accomplishment and the glory of a fine view. Whether Mount Shasta is the first major mountain you are attempting to summit, or the thousandth peak you have bagged, in my opinion, your best chance of reaching the summit is the tried-and-true Avalanche Gulch route. Full disclosure: the Avalanche Gulch route is the most popular route on the mountain, bar none. But let’s pause for a second here: there’s popular routes like the Mt. Whitney Trail, which have a packed lottery system and actual hordes of people on the trail; and there’s popular routes, which just mean that it’s the best and quickest route to the summit.

Current Conditions, Avalanche Gulch Route, Mt. Shasta, August 2012

Current Conditions, Avalanche Gulch Route, Mt. Shasta, August 2012

I always wonder what to include in these write-ups of trails, climbs, and strange spots. I wonder if I should get into the history of the area, my background, experience, side-stories, or if I should always just be brief and stick to the facts, just the facts, Dragnet style. When the place or area is large, like say, Mount Shasta, I find these decisions even harder. In this case, I’m going to go with the actual relevant information first for climbers, and cover the current conditions on the mountain first. This information is from my Tweetup climb from August 9, 2012 through August 11, 2012 with a couple Twitter members and non-Twitter climber Erik. This was a great group of climbers, and I’d be honored to climb with any of them again. We took the standard Avalanche Gulch route up the mountain, and we managed to get three out of the five of us on the summit, and had no serious problems during the climb in any way, so all in all, it was a successful, safe, and great experience. If you don’t know where or what the Avalanche Gulch route is, don’t worry – I’ll get into particulars of distances and locations on Monday, when I discuss the route in general terms; and if you do know the route, I’ve thrown in conditions as I experienced them at specific spots along the way last week.

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Rogers Peak

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Rogers Peak

My favorite thing about Death Valley National Park is the variety that the park provides. The park has the things that everyone expects – blazing hot temperatures, Badwater, and classic desert terrain. But the park also has innumerable things that most visitors don’t expect, such as the Charcoal Kilns and great mountaineering. Yes, that’s right, I said great mountaineering. The most popular mountaineering is on a cluster of mountains – Telescope Peak, Rogers Peak, Bennett Peak, and Wildrose Peak - that are located in the Panamint Mountains. Out of these mountains, Rogers Peak, at 9,994 feet is the easiest to summit, and is a great short day hike from the Mahogany Flat campground.