Catching up … and looking ahead.

First, through many of these posts, you’ll note my mentions of “my man Mike White.” Until tonight, I’d never actually met the guy but I am a fan of his work. His Afoot & Afield Reno-Tahoe has been a bit of bible for me as I’ve re-entered the great outdoors, and I highly recommend it to anyone exploring this awesome place.

Tonight I attended a class at the local REI store in which my man was talking about his new book. I’ve linked it here, and there’s nothing wrong with buying it there. But I got my copy here and supporting local bookstores makes you awesome.

White is a terrific writer and he aptly guides you along some of the great adventures in our area. I often take pictures of his trail descriptions so that I have them on my phone for reference. Follow along on just one and you’ll come to trust him as an expert on the subject at hand.

I also picked up a few photography tips from Mark Vollmer, a local shooter whose work appears in the new book. Vollmer’s work is also found is this great book, along with that of Scott Sady, a shooter I worked with during my time working in newspapers.

I’ve got some work to do on this blog as I never finished the 2016 hiking season, due to some hectic times at work, and I’ve already completed some jaunts this year that need to be properly filed.

I’ve also got some ambitious plans for the rest of this year. For starters, I got in through the lottery for a one-day permit for Mt. Whitney in August. I’m equally stoked and scared about the prospect of that hike, especially as a day trip. Six thousand feet of elevation change to 14,494 feet on a 22-mile roundtrip will be an incredible physical and mental test.

I have a list going of trails and peaks that I want to handle this year. But I know that coming off the massive winter we enjoyed — 30 days on skis for me, which was pretty terrific — the conditions are not going to be good for a while. And more important things in life will come into play as well. So this is more a wish list than a to-do list:

• Mt. Whitney
• Finish the Tahoe Rim Trail (I’ve got about half of it left to do, and am mostly looking forward to the Desolation Wilderness area)
• Wheeler Peak at Great Basin National Park
• Lassen Peak in Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Boundary Peak
• Eureka Peak (I love the Graeagle area)
• Lost Coast Trail (take two)
• Rim-to-Reno Trail
• Explore some areas within Mount Rose Wilderness, including Chocolate Peak, Snowflower/Sunflower Peak and Relay Peak, and see what else might be around.

I used the word ambitious before and accomplishing half of this list would make me very happy. But I know that if I am going to accomplish the first thing on the list, I’ll need to handle some others just to get ready for it. Lassen, Wheeler and going up, rather than down, the Rim-to-Reno trail, might factor well in a Whitney training regimen.

I’m looking forward to the challenge, and excited for some new adventures.