The windward side of this foxtail pine snag has been blasted by the icy winds of a multitude of Winter storms. The wind has sculpted the mineral-like wood, exposing and accentuating its inner layers.

The photo is from last Saturday's Cottonwood Pass - New Army Pass trail run. Nearly all of this route is above 10,000 ft. and 12 miles of it are above 11,000 ft. This relatively dry, high altitude habitat is home to the southern foxtail pine (Pinus balfouriana subsp. austrina).

One of the less common Sierra conifers, the tree is a long-lived species that is closely related to the bristlecone pine. The FEIS database references a southern foxtail pine 3400 years old, and the Gymnosperm Database a specimen with a crossdated age of 2110 years.

Because the tree grows so slowly, the wood is dense, and dead trees are slow to decay. In the vicinity of Cirque Peak, and a few other areas, dead foxtail pines and remnants are found above the current tree line. By crossdating tree ring sequences, a study published in 1997 found that over the past 3500 years the tree line in this part of the Sierra has generally been higher than it is now.

The study deduced that one period of reduced tree abundance and lowered tree line elevation was associated with warmer temperatures, and at least two severe multi-decade droughts. In contrast, the most recent decline has occurred during a cold, wet period that started about 450 BP.

It is remarkable that some of the dead foxtail pines studied here were alive during the Bronze Age, 4000 years BP.

The flash of turquoise is so intense it is startling. The Mountain Bluebird flitters past, landing on a knobby plate of peppered Sierra granite. Its color is remarkable, without question a product of the mountains and the sky.

Nearby a yellow-bellied marmot waddles to a favored rock and watches us with a mix of reproach, curiosity and concern. Patience exhausted, he scurries into his den.

The wind is light and the sun bright. At 12,000 feet it is comfortably cool -- a perfect day for flying along the crest, scrambling among the rocks, or running a trail.

What better place to be on a fair Fall day than high in the Sierra?

Related posts: Siberian Outpost & Mt. Kaweah from the PCT, Cottonwood - New Army Pass Loop

The photograph of Siberian Outpost and Mt. Kaweah was taken from the Pacific Crest Trail, north of Chicken Spring Lake, while running the 22 mile Cottonwood Pass - New Army Pass loop -- an outstanding high mountain course that is nearly all above 10,000'.

The large treeless area is Siberian Outpost. Reminiscent of an expanse of tundra, an exposed camp here would certainly have the windswept, isolated character of the north. The high peak on the right side of the photograph is Mt. Kaweah (13,802'). To the left is Mt. Anna Mills and to the right, Mt. Guyot. The peaks of the Great Western Divide can be seen in the distance. Hidden from view, between Mt. Guyot and Mt. Kaweah, is the Kern (River) Trench near Kern Hot Springs.

In my experience the loop is a MUCH better run when done in the clockwise direction. Something to keep in mind, particularly in a heavy snow year, is that you approach New Army Pass from the west, and don't get to see the snow situation on the steep, east side of New Army Pass until you get there -- at about mile 13.

This wasn't a heavy snow year, but the weather this Spring was cool and there were some late season storms. So it wasn't a big surprise to find a steep patch of snow blocking the trail. With a light pack it was relatively straightforward to find a way around the snow, but earlier in the season, or in a heavier snow year, this might not be the case.

Additional info and photographs can be found in my posts Cottonwood - New Army Pass Loop and New Army Pass - Cottonwood Pass Loop. Here is a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of the loop.

Mt. Cotter and Mt. Clarence King from Glen Pass.

The last time I was on Glen Pass was a brisk and brilliant October morning in the late 70's. Overnight, the first cold front of the season had covered the trail with a few inches of snow. Working up toward the pass, bright fingers of gold had reached through long shadows to illuminate the angular, lichen-covered rocks, and the new snow had sparkled in celebration of Winter's rapid approach.

Today, I'm back on Glen Pass, once again reveling in the wildness and beauty of my surroundings. There is almost no wind, and even at 12,000' the day is warm. Refreshed by late season storms, the remaining snow is bright and youthful, accenting the elegant lines of the rugged alpine terrain. In counterpoint to the snow, a patchwork of clouds decorate the intensely blue sky.

In the outdoors, each place and day is remarkable in its own way.

Here are a few photographs from the run:

University Peak (13,589'/4142 m) from the Kearsarge Pass Trail.

Spectacular running at 11,000' near Bullfrog Lake. The snowy peaks are (l-r) South Guard, Mt. Brewer, North Guard, and Mt. Francis Farquhar.

Charlotte Dome from the PCT/John Muir Trail, south of Glen Pass.

Switchbacks on the south side of Glen Pass. If you look closely you can see a pair of hikers working up the trail.

Nearing the top of Glen Pass (11,978'/3651 m).

The out and back trail run from Onion Valley (9200'/2804 m), over Kearsarge Pass (11823'/3604 m), to Glen Pass (11,978'/3651 m) worked out to about 20 miles, with an elevation gain/loss of about 4750 ft. Here's a Google Earth browser view of a GPS trace of my route and an elevation profile generated in SportTracks.

Related post: Up and Over Kearsarge Pass

Introduced around 2000, the Garmin eTrex was the first GPS unit I used to trace a trail run. The GPS tracks were imported into TOPO! where the length of a run could be measured, an elevation profile generated, and the topography of the run examined.

Since the eTrex was designed to be used in an "orienteering" position -- flat in your hand in front of your body -- it would frequently have trouble receiving GPS satellite signals if hand-carried while running or hiking. About the time enterprising hikers and runners began to resolve this issue with creative hats, holsters and harnesses, Garmin released the Forerunner 201, greatly simplifying the task of tracing a route.

In 2005, while preparing a presentation about kayaking Piru Creek for a meeting with the Forest Service, I stumbled onto Keyhole.com. To say I was blown away by this bit of "Eureka" technology would be an a gross understatement. Now, in addition to seeing Piru Creek in photographs, and on a topo map, you could get a "before you paddle" preview using Keyhole -- even if you couldn't paddle class IV whitewater! Google acquired Keyhole in late 2004 and launched Google Earth on June 28, 2005.

Shortly after Google Earth was launched, SportTracks added the ability to launch Google Earth and view the GPS trace of a run or other activity. Since SportTracks could also directly import data from Garmin's Forerunner, the software made it very easy to view a run in Google Earth.

I've been working on updating the posts on Photography on the Run that reference a trail run to include a link to a Google Earth KMZ file. A KMZ file is just a zipped KML file, and either can be opened in Google Earth. A list of the trail runs with KMZ file links can be found by clicking "Google Earth KMZ Files of Trail Runs" in the sidebar.

These are actual tracks recorded by a GPS during a trail run and may contain GPS errors, route-finding errors, and wanderings that are difficult to explain. In a few instances tracks have been modified to correct errors, or to remove side excursions that are not part of the usual route, but not all errors have been corrected. No claim is being made regarding the appropriateness or suitability of the routes indicated. The GPS devices used to record these tracks include the Garmin Forerunner 201, Foretrex 201 and Forerunner 205; and the GlobalSat GH-615B.

It isn't unusual for snow to persist on New Army Pass (12,300') well into July. Strong northwest winds, following in the wake of blustery Winter storms, blow freshly fallen snow over the crest and into this cirque, forming cornices along its lip, and dense slabs of wind-ground snow in it's lee.

That's why the July 1 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park Trail Conditions report for New Army Pass seemed plausible. It read, "The top of the pass has an 30 foot snow wall - ice axe recommended."

The reported trail conditions are a compilation of reports from the field, and are not always up-to-date. Having been over the pass a number of times, and in a variety of conditions, I thought that we would probably be able to bypass any remaining patches of snow without needing an ice axe. Worst case, if the pass looked dicey, we could use Cirque Peak or some other alternative route to attain the crest.

We need not have worried. While there was snow in the cirque, and in a couple of places along the trail near the top of the pass, the trail was completely clear. Even so, it was a good excuse to do the 21 mile Cottonwood loop counterclockwise -- the reverse of my usual circuit -- climbing up New Army Pass from the Cottonwood Lakes side, and then running down into Rock Creek basin.

Now that I've done the loop in both directions, I think I prefer the clockwise circuit. The 9 miles of running from New Army Pass down through the Cottonwood Lakes basin is generally better than the running down from Chicken Spring Lake and Cottonwood Pass. Also, there's more downhill on some sandy sections of trail between Chicken Spring Lake and Rock Creek. The tradeoff is you give up the nice downhill into Rock Creek basin, and near the end of the loop have a mile or so of annoying uphill.

Here's a Google Earth image, Google Earth KMZ file, and an elevation profile of a GPS trace of the route. (The elevation profile was generated using SportTracks.)

Related posts: Cottonwood - New Army Pass Loop, Mt. Langley in a Day from L.A.

From another excursion up and over Kearsarge Pass.

Poised on a glacial bench a dozen miles west, and few thousand feet above Independence, California, Onion Valley is the starting point for many a Sierra adventure. Kearsarge Pass provides relatively quick and easy access to the heart of the Sierra, and the more technical passes south and north of Kearsarge can be used by mountaineers to access peaks along the crest, or basins on the west side of the crest.

It is an area that is dramatically alpine, and I have returned again and again to climb peaks such as Independence Peak and University Peak and to hike, run and explore. One Summer Phil Warrender and I did a trans-Sierra hike that started here and took us over University Pass, Andy's Foot Pass (13,600'), Milly's Foot Pass, Longley Pass and Sphinx Pass, ending at Cedar Grove. We went superlight (about 15 lb. packs w/o ice axe), did as much cross-county as possible, and climbed a few peaks along the way.

Today Miklos, Krisztina and I were doing a reconnaissance hike/run up and over Kearsarge Pass, and down into the Kearsarge - Bullfrog - Charlotte Lakes basin, and back. The idea was to pick a time when the Kearsarge Pass trail would be mostly free of snow, but when much of the surrounding terrain would still be accented in white.

What a day! Perfect temps, little wind, excellent trail conditions, super scenery, and absolutely outstanding trail running.

Here are a few photographs:

Big Pothole Lake from the east side of Kearsarge Pass. Nameless Pyramid (right) and University Peak (left) on the skyline.

View west from Kearsarge Pass over Kearsarge Lakes and Pinnacles to Mt. Brewer (left), North Guard (middle) and Mt. Francis Farquhar (right) on the skyline.

Kearsarge Lakes and Pinnacles from the north.

Miklos and Krisztina above Bullfrog Lake. East Vidette is the prominent conic peak. Deerhorn Mountain is at the head of the recess to the right of East Vidette.

Scrambling above the John Muir Trail about a mile from Glen Pass. Charlotte Dome is in the distance.

Here's a Google Earth image and a Google Earth KMZ file of a GPS trace of our route.

A good way to think of this adventure is as an excellent 17 mile trail run on the PCT north from Walker Pass (5217'), combined with a three mile scramble up and down the rocky southwest ridge of Owens Peak (8453').

Based on the expanse of granite seen from Hwy 395, I had visualized the southwest ridge of Owens Peak as a somewhat vegetated but relatively clean  ridge. Wrong! The ridge is a geologically complex mix of fractured metamorphic, metavolcanic and gabbro rock capping the granite of Owens Peak. In most areas the rocky sections of the ridge are bounded by dense brush and pinyon pine.

We pretty much stuck to the crest of ridge on the way up, continuing up and over the steep outcrop just below the summit. Although it was an interesting section to climb, the outcrop was quite loose, and we dropped below it on the descent.

Owens Peak is relatively isolated, and the views from the summit are sweeping. To the north we could see Mt. Whitney, Mt. Langley, Olancha Peak, and the windblown crest of the Sierra between Army and New Army Pass.

Not everyone would see the positive aspects of doing a 10 mile route to a peak that could be done in only 3.5 miles -- or enjoy the ups and downs, and somewhat tedious route-finding along a brushy and crumbling ridge. It's an acquired taste. It was good to share the experience with enthusiastic friends who were still smiling as we jogged down the last yards of trail to the car.

Here's a Google Earth image and a Google Earth KMZ file of a GPS trace of our route. GPS reception was weak at times on the way up and the track has been edited to remove some of the larger errors.

Note: After the Spring snowmelt, it appears there are no natural water sources on the PCT between Walker Pass and Owens Saddle (mile 8.6), or on the ridge.

Related post: PCT North of Walker Pass

I was headed home from a whitewater slalom training camp on the Kern River, and wanted to take advantage of being in the Southern Sierra and run an unfamiliar section of the Pacific Crest Trail.

Yes, it was windy and there were lenticular clouds in the lee of the Sierra, which meant it might get REALLY windy. No, I didn't have my regular trail shoes or a hydration pack. Yep, there was some snow on the north side of the peaks on either side of the highway.

Due to fire concerns, Los Padres, Angeles, Cleveland and San Bernardino National Forests remained closed this weekend, so I headed back up to Kernville to meet some friends and run the Whiskey Flat Trail -- a sizzling trail in the summertime that has been on my running to-do list for years.

One of many excellent hikes/runs in the Southern Sierra, the River Trail starts at Johnsondale Bridge -- about 19 miles north of Kernville, California on highway Mountain 99 -- and follows the river north 4 miles to Four Mile rapid. Here the trail turns east and works up to the Rincon Trail.

This section of the Kern River is part of the beautiful and challenging Forks of the Kern class V whitewater run. Numerous class IV rapids and the class V rapids Carson Falls and Confusion are found on this reach. In the Spring and Summer expert kayakers and rafters may be seen maneuvering among the many boulders and drops. (A Forest Service permit is required to paddle the Forks.)