Day Hiking the Duck Pass Trail, Mammoth Lakes
It is fire season in California, which means two things: (1) Curtis leaves me behind to work looking at fire damaged soils, down near this time near San Bernardino, and (2) There is smoke everywhere, including the Mammoth Lakes Basin on the east side of the Sierra from a fire on the Sierra National Forest. But even if the vistas are a little obscured smoke should not, and will not, ruin a…
Hiking the Wild and Scenic Clavey River to God’s Bath
2015 Summer Update: Many of the parts of the Stanislaus National Forest that were closed to the public last summer because of Rim Fire dangers are now open again. Please use your common sense when attempting this or any trail – don’t go if there is a sign that says no access/closed/etc (yes, even if someone knocked it down or moved it out of the road). Check in online to see if there are any alerts…
Reflecting on Life through the Tuolumne River: Poopenaut Valley Trail & Rafting
I have had a river filled couple of weeks here in July, enjoying the wonders of the wild and scenic Tuolumne & Clavey Rivers. Great for the hot weather, and even better for the heart…
2013 MOO-nlight Half Marathon (Davis, CA)
It has been a couple of weeks since the I ran the Moo-nlight Half Marathon in Davis, but I was waiting for the official photos from the event to see if any were good. “Good” because Curtis did take photos of me at the race, but they are from the sidelines, and I wanted to see if any of the up close ones alright. But, as any runner should know……
Sentinel Dome & Taft Point Loop Hike
I have been meaning to post about Curtis & I’s hike to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point since late June. We hiked this one on June 20th, on a rare weekday day hike. The trek was not very intense, but provided some of the best views of far eastern mountains that we have ever seen while inside of the park. If we had to choose one over the other, personally…
Backpacking Buckeye Creek, Hoover Wilderness
A couple of firsts this 4th of July weekend – My first backpacking trip of 2013 and Curtis & I’s first backpacking trip in the Hoover Wilderness! I choose this trip out of Exploring Eastern Sierra Canyons: Sonora Pass to Pine Creek, which I recently found and bought a copy of in the Groveland Museum (which I was surprised to see has the best selection of regional hiking books and…
Sierra Book Challenge: Legends of the Yosemite Miwok
It is 10:32 am here in Groveland and already 81 degrees outside. Better yet we have this vibrant neon pink warning on the National weather Service NOAA map indicating “Excessive Heat Warning,” whatever that means. Which is a round about way of stating that right now I am hiding in our insulated (but not air conditioned) house with all the window shut and all the appliances (save this laptop) closed…
Elizabeth Lake Hike, Yosemite
Happy first day of summer 2013! I feel as if I have been slacking off on my duties as a summer trip planner – I only have reserved permits for one backpacking trip so far (more on that latter) … but in the mean time Curtis and I have been checking off shorter Yosemite day hikes off our master list. Better yet, with day hikes less than 6 miles we…
Kiwanis Monument – Oscoda, Michigan
I am back in California now, but before I return to blogging about life in the Sierra I wanted to share this Kiwanis monument located by Oscoda, MI. I have visited this monument previously with my family, but probably not since before college. In college I became a member of the Kiwanis, specifically the Circle K. Through Kiwanis and Circle K I met some amazing people, built some sweet snow…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
Follow Me: