M.Y.

Adventures

Some recent highlights.

2026

August 27, 2026

Four Lakes Loop Shasta-Trinity, California

Gain
7,260 ft2,213 m
Distance
24.44 mi39.3 km
Sun over a dry meadow and scattered conifers on the Four Lakes Loop. A trail sign on a pass above one of the lakes, granite ridges beyond.

Usually a 3 day backpacking trip but we made it an 11 hour 21 min fast-packing objective. Went up and down endlessly.

May 24, 2026

Mount Shasta via Bunny Flat · Shasta-Trinity, California

Summit
14,179 ft4,322 m
Gain
7,229 ft2,203 m
Distance
11 mi17.7 km
The sun over a snowfield high on Mount Shasta.

Spontaneous Spring Ski Shasta in Shorts! Here’s a rare Strava post.

March 27, 2026

Chamois Grands Montets · Chamonix, France

A lone piste marker in a total whiteout at Grands Montets. The Alps from the air, snow-covered peaks under a clear sky.

Legendary Chamois run on a whiteout day. Not hoodie skiing weather.

2025

December 21, 2025

La Chorrera Riobamba, Ecuador

The canyon wall at La Chorrera, a climber in red at its base.

Rappelled (my first time) 150 ft into a canyon. Erased my fear of heights and temporarily erased my food-poisoning-induced fever.

December 20, 2025

Volcán Cotopaxi Andes, Ecuador

Summit
19,351 ft5,898 m
Gain
4,297 ft1,310 m
Distance
4 mi6.4 km
A line of headlamps on the Cotopaxi glacier in the dark. A dark cloud layer below the Cotopaxi glacier, a distant peak on the horizon. Sunrise above the clouds, a volcano silhouetted on the horizon.

Very hard to breathe up here (53% lower oxygen).

October 25, 2025

Mount Whitney via Whitney Portal · Inyo, California

Summit
14,505 ft4,421 m
Gain
6,650 ft2,027 m
Distance
21.4 mi34.4 km
Sunrise over the Owens Valley from high on Mount Whitney. Granite and snow high on the Mount Whitney trail.

I wrote about it.

September 18, 2025

Half Dome via the John Muir Trail · Yosemite, California

Gain
5,305 ft1,617 m
Distance
17.2 mi27.7 km
Three of us on the summit of Half Dome with our arms up.

5 hour summit speed run. Fractured my big toe 2 hours in and somehow still made it.

August 30, 2025

Sykes Hot Springs via Pine Ridge Trail · Big Sur, California

Gain
5,442 ft1,659 m
Distance
20.6 mi33.2 km
The creek beside the Pine Ridge Trail, boulders and green forest. Sun over the forested ridgeline on the Pine Ridge Trail.

Condensed a 2 day backpacking trip into 23 hours because we only had enough cash for one night of parking. A taste of heat exhaustion.