The Palisades Traverse is a classic alpine ridge traverse that connects the summits of five of California's fourteen thousand foot peaks. My old climbing partner Gil and I attempted the route in October of 2007 and were snowed out during the night at the base of (what we thought was) Thunderbolt Peak (14,003').

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Alpine bouquet

Over the holiday weekend, me and my friends Jake and Kam were eager to give it a shot. We hit the road on Thursday around 2 p.m. and made the long drive up to Bishop. We tried to leave early enough but ended up hitting the holiday weekend traffic and arriving at South Lake trail head parking lot around 10 p.m. We set up our bivy in the parking lot and were asleep by 11 p.m. and two hours later, the alarm sounded and we were gearing up to hit the trail.

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Alpenglow

We were on the trail by 2:30  a.m. on Friday morning for the ~8-mile approach via Bishop Pass trail. We moved quickly through the darkness guided by the light of our headlamps, only making quick stops to shed/add layers and eat snacks. We hit some snow patches above 11,000’ and reached Bishop Pass and topped off our water from a mountain stream in Dusy Basin before the ascent of what we thought was Thunderbolt Peak…

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Jake, kicking steps for us

On the way up, we negotiated some fourth/fifth-class scrambling/climbing while one of our team members started to suffer from the altitude. We reached the first peak behind schedule, only to discover we were on the summit of Mount Agassiz (13,899’), one of the twenty highest peaks of California. From there, we could see across to Thunderbolt Peak, where we were supposed to be.

Yes folks, we climbed the wrong mountain.

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From right to left: Thunderbolt Peak, Starlight Peak, North Palisade, Polemonium Peak, Mt Sill

So behind schedule and off-route, we decided to pull the plug and head back to San Diego. Our down-climb was a blast, as we glissaded a 1000’ patch of snow which boosted our morale while saving time and energy which we really needed. We got back to the car at 6:30 p.m. making for a 16-hour day on our feet and then took on the 6-hour drive home after dinner in Bishop to arrive back in San Diego at 3 a.m. on Saturday. ~36 hours from sea level to 13,899’ and back--what a trip!

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Jake and Kam

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Kam, finishing her glissade

I think its pretty funny that we climbed the wrong mountain and in all honesty, I’m glad we did. When I saw with my own eyes the magnitude of this route, I think it would have taken too much out of me to this close to the Vermont 100, my “A” race for the season. So with that, I had a great time with my friends and got a killer workout at altitude amongst some of the most beautiful scenery my eyes have ever seen. Kam and I are already planning our next attempt for August and this time, we plan to bivy at the base of the real Thunderbolt Peak on Day 1 and then take on the full route and the descent on Day 2. More details on that in late July.

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Next up, the Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run on 7/18 – 7/19 I fly out Thursday to celebrate my 26th birthday with family and friends this weekend and then make my way up north to get ready to race. I’ll post updates on the go and a recap here following the event. Thanks again for joining me on all these adventures!

[Watch the Slideshow | http://www.flickr.com/photos/tobyguillette/sets/72157620820675857/show/]

Overview: Last weekend I camped in Joshua Tree National Park, went trail running, shot photos of my friends climbing, started a new book and enjoyed a roaring campfire with my friends.

-Photo by Haunani

Joshua Tree group trip: The trip was a blast as usual. I got to hang with bunch of good friends and get to know some cool new folks too. They all went rock climbing during the day while I ran the Boy Scout trail to Indian Cove and back to redeem myself for my trial run on that route a year ago that resulted in a day-long punishment report. Last year I lost the trail early and was lost in a wonderland of boulders the size of buildings with out water or food. I also lost my favorite running shirt somewhere out there too. I know this was not intelligent. To prove I learned my lesson, I returned this year wearing my hydration pack and ran the 18-mile out-and-back route in 3 hours and ran another 2 miles between hitching rides back to camp all in less than 4 hours.

Here’s the map of the route.

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View in satellite mode to see the massive boulder fields

Photos: I shot photos of my friends climbing on Sunday morning before our 3-hour drive back to San Diego. Below are a few of my favorites the rest are on my Flickr photo site. 

New Book: I started reading Alaska Tracks, Footprints in the Big Country from Ambler to Attu by Ned Rozell after my trail run on Saturday. Rozell is a contributing editor and outdoor/natural history column writer for Alaska Magazine . His paperback is a collection of adventures throughout the Alaskan backcountry where his experiences in nature parallel his own personal and professional growth. This book was recommended to me by my editor since publishing in this or similar form is one of my longer-term career goals.   So far I’ve finally started to realize how much work it’s going to take to get there. As you know, I enjoy working hard and I’m excited to take on the challenge. Just imagine another few years of crazy adventures, photos, video, races, travel and experiences all neatly packaged and delivered to you by yours truly

Holidays: I love the holidays because it’s the one of the only times I see my family. My trip back east begins Friday night and I’ll be working remotely until the second week of January. I’m so excited to “visit” New England and do all the traditional stuff we do as a family. Each year I look forward to it more than the last.

Recap: I’ll be sure to check in and update my blog once a week so check back and be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed if you haven’t already for auto-delivery. 

Winter night in Downtown San Diego

Links of interest this month:

Monarch School

Outdoor Outreach

Pro Península

The Sedona Marathon

Southern California Ultra Series

4-Hour Work Week

Pacific Crest Trail

San Juan Hut System

Coastal Challenge

Yurtcation

Overachievement

Blurb.com

These are some of my favorite pictures taken last year. Enjoy the show!

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I wrecked myself for two hours on Saturday morning with Joe Decker and his World’s Fittest Man outdoor fitness class. Immediately following class, I went for a nine-mile run with a 7:30 pace in an effort to increase the volume of my training heading into the holiday season. I felt very strong through both workouts but ended up sleeping for three hours right after the run to recover. I took this as a sign that I still have a long way to go to condition myself for the Avalon 50, but the good news came on Sunday morning when I wasn’t the least bit sore from my back-to-back training sessions.

I took a day-trip to Malibu Creek State Park on Sunday with a group of my climbing friends from San Diego. We climbed for a few hours, but at the end of the day, we ended up spending significantly more time driving than actually climbing. I’ll spare you the details of the ordeal that ended up costing upwards of $200 and, worse yet, almost four-hours of our time, but it involved running over a screw and having to buy a new tire. This was increasingly dispiriting because I hadn’t planned on driving but volunteered when our ride didn’t show up. Not to be deterred, we still had fun climbing in a beautiful area of California that I hope to return to for further exploration.

Tomorrow I leave for Thanksgiving in Grand Canyon National Park. I’m really excited for this trip, mainly because my best friend from home is flying in to join me for this adventure. John arrives in San Diego at 1:15 a.m. tomorrow morning--his first trip to the west coast. John is in charge of the rental car and my duties this evening include preparing backpacking set-ups for both of us as well as food for our road trip. We’re heading straight for the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and hope to be on the road no later than 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday. We should be at the Grand Canyon just after the ranger station opens where we hope to secure a backcountry permit. If we get authorized to camp at the bottom of the canyon, we’ll take on the rim-to-rim-to-rim hike with an overnight or two by the Colorado River. If we are not able to get permits due to the heavy holiday traffic, our next option is to do the rim-to-river-to-rim hike in a day. We’ll be ready for anything.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all--have a safe and pleasant holiday. Be sure to take lots of photos and check back next week to share with the community.

All the best, Active Toby

Here is my favorite photograph from the weekend:

Here is an Active Video from my recent rock climbing trip to Joshua Tree National Park:

Here is an Active video from the bike ride through the Anza-Borrego Desert:

To publish your very own Active Video, click here.

This was from my trip "back east" for July 4th. I swam to this rock out-cropping and my brother took the pictures from his kayak. My parents watched from their pontoon boat but were too worried to get any closer. Do you know that feeling when you see a rock and you just have to climb it? Well anyways, enjoy the show!