The precipitation of the storm on the days before this tour shattered the all-time high of the wettest water year on record in the Northern Sierra Nevada. The new record is now at 89.7 inches of water (2.24 m)... and growing & the current snow pack is about twice of the historic average! For my tour toady, I actually had...

Since I missed the true summit of Jakes Peak here, I wanted to go back and give it another try. This time I was aware and conscious of where to "find" the true summit. However, the very top of Jakes Peak remains unvisited by 360, this time I didn't quite succeed, because the technical difficulties for the last few meters to the...

By now you've probably heard or read that California's Sierra Nevada got a lot of snow this winter. The Squaw Valley ski resort officials already decided that their ski lifts will stay open until the Fourth of July weekend. No wonder, because their cumulative total snow fall this season currently is at 623 inches (15.8 meters)!...

According to several sources Jakes Peak (or grammatically correct: Jake's Peak) is one of the most popular back country ski destinations in the Tahoe area. With its corner position at the north end of Emerald Bay it offers fabulous views of Lake Tahoe in general and Emerald Bay in particular. With the many many feet of snow this...

Jacumba is a small town right at the US/Mexican border, about 60 miles east of San Diego. It's known for the sulfur containing hot springs, which were most likely already used by the Kumeyaay people. The commercialization of the hot springs began in the early 20th century. In 1919 rail service connected Jacumba to San Diego and 6...

The Sierra Nevada got quite some early snow this season and I was eager to get out there after yet another month without serious mountain activities. My tour today only makes sense if the Northstar ski resort hasn't fully opened all their slopes and lifts yet. The otherwise very crowded ski area and groomed slopes would most...

Der heutige Plan war wie fast immer in dieser Konstellation und bei solch zweifelhafter Wetterlage rollend. Wir wussten jedoch, dass wir für etwas Sonne in den Süden reisen mussten, Mattertal oder allenfalls südlich des Simplons waren die groben Ideen. Ein zusätzliches Handicap stellte das 360-Knie dar, welches dank...

Eigentlich hätten Omega3 und ich für heute eine Kraxeltour im Jura geplant. Dorthin sind wir denn auch gereist, mussten aber vor Ort feststellen, dass die Bedingungen (feuchter rutschiger Fels) alles andere als "gesund" waren für das geplante Unternehmen. Da wir am Abend mit zwei Berner-hikr-Legenden verabredet waren, nutzten...

Piwiack Dome is a small, turtle-like rock neighboring Tioga Road. Therefore the approach is very short and inviting for a short try: We weren't sure to find a route to the top which is feasible for us without rope. To our surprise we found a line that offered 5.3/5.4 (UIAA III-IV) friction climbing in perfect rock with some...

During my stay in Switzerland, I couldn't resist to pay a visit to my beloved Churfisten - actually the mountains which are not considered Churfirsten: everything west of the 'Selun'. Omega3 was willing to accompany me on this tour which we originally planned as a repeat of this one. Due to uncertain weather conditions we...

What's special about 10935 feet? Nothing really, except if you convert it to meters, you end up with the "pretty number" 3333. Well that's the height of Highland Peak, my goal for the day. This peak also has a pretty high prominence of 2456 ft, so the view up there is expected to be quite impressive. One more time, the...

Today's prerequisites were very similar like last week's: not too much time and a hike in the Toiyabe National Forest. Today I wanted to make sure to reach my goal(s) and set the expectations way lower than last week: Silver Peak, in fact both peaks from the Noble Creek Trail head. Studying the topo-map and report on summitpost...

I had planned to do a hike & bike combination from Ebbetts Pass to Tryon -, Highland - and Silver Peak, then drop down to Noble Canyon and State Route 4 and ride my bike (which I left there before the hike) back up to Ebbetts Pass. Quite a program for the little time I had today. Well, due to a combination of lack of fitness...

Bull Run Peak caught my attention at the shore of Lower Blue Lake at the end of my tour to Deadwood Peak. At the time I had no idea which peak it was, but thanks to the udeuschle website, I was able to figure it out. On this day I actually had different plans to do an easy short hike with a friend. However, when I wanted to pick...

Pyramid Peak was the first peak I visited after moving to California, almost 3 years ago. Looking for some more workout with quite some altitude gain, I decided to go back and pay it another visit. This time I decided to walk up via Rocky Canyon (my way down the last time) and check out the north ridge for my way down and later...

I wanted to find out how much my rather unacceptable fitness level improved in the last few weeks and didn't have much time to prepare some "fancy hike". Therefore, I decided to do a variation of a hike I have done before. Climbing Freel Peak from Horse Meadow make an altitude gain of about 2500 ft and I should get an idea how...

There are quite a few mountains called "Twin Peaks" in the US, but the "double hill" in San Francisco is most likely the one which is known best. It is located near the geographic center of SF and offers spectacular views over the city, the many bridges, the Bay and the Pacific ocean. The hike up to the tops is very short because...

Deadwood Peak didn't really show up on "my radar" until now, but I am almost running out of peaks which make sense for me to do as "day hikes" (meaning: leave home early in the morning, drive not much more than about 2 hours, hike and then return home the same day). Deadwood Peak is one of the few left on this list. After reading...

The chain of hills between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay is referred to as the Nine Sisters. During a previous visit of San Luis Obispo I already climbed two of then: Bishop Peak and Mount Madonna. This time I wanted to pay a visit to the 2 sisters which are closest to Morro Rock: Cerro Cabrillo and Black Hill. My starting...

During an extended weekend in the vicinity of Morro Bay we decided to climb a few of the many "Cerros" in this area. "Cerro" is the Spanish word for "Hill" and since this part of California has a lot of Mexican roots, most of the hills here are named Cerro "Something". As "Alto" in "Cerro Alto" suggest, the hill we climbed today...