This was my third time at this site. The huge bald eagle nest – and the two eagles – was a pleasant surprise. Next time I’d like to hike in from Judge Davis and bring a large crowd.

FYI. If you’re planning on hiking in Yosemite this summer, it’s time to get permits! You can, and should, apply for permits 168 days in advance. To apply and for instructions, visit the park website.

Friends, if you want to hike with me this summer, let’s talk soon.

I’ve been thinking that someone should thru-hike all of the Colorado 14ers. I’m glad to see that Junaid is planning on doing it. Follow along for his 2013 attempt at 14ersthruhike.com

It’s a logical and ambitious goal. In an adventure world filled with contrived objectives and self-promotion, linking these peaks is a great close-to-home expedition. I especially like three things:. 1) Lots of people bag the 14ers, even in a single season, but no one has walked between them all. 2) Walking between them is much harder (for various reasons) than driving between them. 3) It merges distance power-hiking techniques with an adventure sport that isn’t thru-hiking.

This link-up has been on my mind since my Colorado Trail hike in 2008. As a thru-hiker, it seems like a no-brainer. I had no inclination to do the hike myself though. I’m not much for death-marching. The difficulty of this hike/scramble/climb definitely put it in that category for me. It also requires accepting a level of risk that I’m not willing to tolerate.

Instead, I’ve been telling strong hikers that they should attempt it. It’s one of worthiest hiking 1sts that I’ve thought of. I believe that I even suggested to Skurka that he do it when I saw him at Backpacker in 2011.

Junaid’s proposed route is well worth viewing in Google Earth. It will surely be revised further. His research and field observations are going to include some of the United State’s best hiking routes. Some of them will be little known. Section hikes of his path will be amazing.

I’m very interested in how he will deal with private land issues. Finding a legal way to thru-hike the 14ers is difficult verging on impossible. I’ve also wondered about what style people will use on these attempts. What would unsupported mean? Walk to Post Offices to pick up and drop off climbing equipment? How possible would that be? How about partners on the few technical sections? Free solo?

If you’re interested in Colorado’s 14ers, don’t miss 14ers.com

We made the long drive down to the Santa Lucia mountains last weekend. After a season in the Sierra, I was underwhelmed.

I don’t want to dwell on the negative so I’ll get it out of my system. The trails in Ventana are frequently in terrible shape. Descending from Pine Valley wasn’t much fun. The trail was severely overgrown and the tread was collapsing. If you have the resources, consider helping out. Thrashing through chaparral stinks.

Even though the hiking wasn’t the best, it was still really nice to get out. My little economy car made it down the dirt road to the trailhead just fine. It had snowed about two inches the night before. The crisp air, crunchy trail and fall colors were all very enjoyable. We pulled into camp after meeting a couple of day hikers and two hunters.

I’ve got a new Jetboil and we made a nearly ridiculous number of drinks to relax and warm up. It’s winter and it’s probably time to start having campfires again.

Our camps in Pine Valley and Hiding Valley were really very nice. The first night was under a large pine. The second night will be remembered for the changing maples and shaded Carmel River. Sunday afternoon was enjoyed with a camera, a stretch, a stroll and even more hot drinks.

We slept about 12 hours each night.