Backpacking Virginia Lakes to Green Creek – Day 3 to Green Creek Trailhead
Sometimes the hike out is a real grind. Other times it is 3.5 miles downhill. The last day of our Hoover Wilderness 2018 Independence Day backpacking trip was the second type. Curtis and I have also done a day hike here, from the Green Creek Campground up to Green Lake on a lazy east side car camping weekend. Green Lake, and if your ambitious East or West Lakes, are well…
Backpacking Virginia Lakes to Green Creek – Day 2 to West Lake
In my experience from backpacking in the Hoover Wilderness, one of the worst times of year for mosquitoes usually falls right around the Forth of July. It happened in 2013 on Buckeye Pass, it happened again in 2016 at Crown Lake, and now again in 2018… Summit Lake wasn’t all that bad. But here is the real scoop: GREEN LAKE IS TERRIBLE. But not as bad as Gilman Lake, definitely…
Backpacking Virginia Lakes to Green Creek – Day 1 to Summit Lake & Yosemite
The Virginia Lakes and Green Creek trails into the Hoover Wilderness can make for a stunning day hike. Curtis and I have spent past weekends leisurely exploring the first few miles of both of these areas. At one point, I think I spent a solid hour at Blue Lake willing a pika to pop out the rocks. It looks like there should be pikas there! Obviously I said YES when…
Backpacking Parker Pass, Yosemite
Parker Pass is an amazing little backpacking trip to keep in your back pocket for an open weekend – awesome AND doable without much planning. I have a couple of these just-in-case trips that are short distance, on trail, and generally not overwhelming. Short and sweet, but deliver some much needed wilderness time. I would consider Parker Pass the sister to the much more popular Mono Pass trip. Also an…
Backpacking El Capitan: Iconic Yosemite National Park
I summited El Cap, Yosemite’s famous granite monolith, without learning to climb. Admittedly, backpacking El Capitan is not as epic of a story as ascending the nose. But, it is undeniably an awesome 3 day backpacking trip in Yosemite. + Bonus points are awarded if you run into a real climber (we didn’t). Curtis and I hiked El Capitan as a 24 mile out and back from the Old Big…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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