Tuolumne Meadows’ Cutest Squirrel: The Belding’s Ground Squirrel
This summer two of my good friends, Jane and Lin, came to visit for a couple days. We hit up the park, seeing the Yosemite sights in short bursts – The Mist Trail, Tuolumne Grove of Sequoias, and Tuolumne Meadows – which is a pretty solid variety! While we were hiking in Tuolumne Meadows I noticed these little guy pop up in grass… and I was baffled My first thought: “We…
I Just Tried High Intensity Training – & Yes, it was intense
This evening I tried a R.I.P.P.E.D. training class down in Sonora. I have been looking at my different options for getting some exercise in after work, even though it is consistently dark out by the time I get home – which is sad because I would really just love a run in the sunshine, but that will have to wait for the weekend (coming soon because it is Thanksgiving!). All…
When You Don’t Reach Your Destination – Preston Falls, Stanislaus NF
Hiking with a destination in mind it sort of my thing. I like goals – or at least a solid turnaround point/time. I don’t like it when I can’t reach my planned destination. I hate it when I miss my destination without even knowing. That is what happened today on my hike to Preston Falls – I walked 4.4 miles, like All Trails said, and I did reach a fall. I…
Little Golden Trail, Groveland CA: Little, but is it Golden?
Earlier this month Curtis and I abandoned ship on an expedition to Hobron Hill (the hill next to Smith Peak with a different radio tower on it. The obvious road up is blocked by a gate on a tiny private parcel of land before the road becomes forest service. I just wanted to go because of the crazy website!) – Anyhow we decided not to completely give up on at least…
I ♥ Sleeping: Kelty TraiLogic Sleeping Bag Love
I love sleeping. In fact last night I was napping on the sofa, woke up and thought “I should do my daily NaBloPoMo blog since I now have enough energy!” I then weighed my options, decided what I could blog about, and chose to just go to bed. It doesn’t make sense to deny an urge to sleep to write a blog post about a sleeping bag. So yeah, this is…
Sweet Creek Falls: Florence, Oregon #ThrowbackThursday
Throwing back today to a great hike that I did in 2012 while visiting Curtis’s college friend Chris in Eugene, Oregon – Sweet Creek Falls. Our whole visit to Eugene was awesome, I remember thinking “I should blog about this” but for some reason never got around to it. There was so much good beer, good vegetarian food, and the Eugene farmers market is really top notch. Looking back that…
How Many Pictures are Too Many?
Everytime I go for a hike I take too many pictures. Obviously since everything is digital this isn’t a big deal, plus it allows me take a bunch crappy pictures in the hopes that I will get one gem. Plus, now that I have been doing NaBloPoMo I have been using some really random unpublished pics because, why not? (Thanks to Kris & RMNP, for being the subject of today’s cover photo,…
The Stanislaus National Forest is OPEN!
There has been a forest order(s) closing down most of the Groveland district of the Stanislaus National Forest since the Rim Fire started in August 2013. Now over a year later the order is expiring and we are allowed back into our backyards! I really want to go into the forest sometime soon just for the heck of knowing I can – but I have heard a lot of rumors saying…
True Story: Deer Love Pine Mountain Lake
I just got off the phone with my Mom, who told me that my Dad is off at deer camp. Which means a daily routine of being cold for a few hours followed by hanging out with the guys. My dad is not upset if he doesn’t get a deer at deer camp because I am pretty sure relaxing is a higher priority during his vacation than dragging a carcass through…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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