Eagle-Shawmut Mine: A Hidden History Except in Years of Drought
2014 has been a heck of a drought year in California and not one farmer, environmental group, or politician is happy about it. We are trucking fish to try and keep them alive, proposing a $14.4 billion dollar bond measure, and looking at all the ways we can conserve and reuse our limited supply. It is a mess. But while visiting Groveland’s best coffee shop, the Mountain Sage (which really knows how…
Hiking Bull Run Lake, Stanislaus National Forest Amid Hunting Season
It was one of those weekends where the mountains are plastered in clouds, rain, fog, and at certain elevations snow – while it was a warm perfect autumn day down in the foothills by Groveland and Murphys. Despite the better weather at lower elevations I was determined to head up into the Sierra Nevada Forest. I had failed to wash the tent with waterproofing, so backpacking was out of the…
Backpacking Molybdenite Creek: eastern sierra fall colors you don’t have to share
Fall colors – they happen every year but they don’t get any less magical. Colors in California can’t ever compare to my favorite displays in Michigan (I’m looking at you Brockway Mountain), but those yellow and orange aspen littering the hillsides are really growing on me. Actually it’s a sort of poetic how the summer season is greeted sunny poppies and then adjourned with the fiery aspen, full circle. Right now…
Bagging Peaks and Taking Names: Hiking Mount Dana
There are some trips that Curtis and I have been meaning to do for years now, Lyle Glacier, Mount Lyle, Mount Whitney, anywhere in Sequoia, and Mount Dana. Guess which one we finally crossed off the list!?! (SPOILER: it’s should be pretty obvious by the blog title) Yep, we hiked Mount Dana last month – which is now officialy the tallest summit I been to. I don’t think of myself as a…
Passing by Groom Lake on the Extraterrestrial Highway (Area 51)
Normally on this blog when mentioning lakes I am talking about those gorgeous oases where I filter my drinking water, allow Curtis some free time to fly fish, or maybe take polar bear swim in to rinse off the sweat from a hard day of hiking. Groom lake is not one of those lakes. Groom Lake, better known as Area 51, is a salt flat requiring clearance from the U.S. Air Force to visit… not…
Mount Hoffman: The Ultimate Yosemite Panorama
I hiked up Mount Hoffman with a group group of friends in early July this summer, it was my second trip up Hoffman. The first trip was in the fall of 2011 – which I can from experience say it is an amazing hike both summer & fall. On that first trip there was a light dusting of snow across the peaks, although we had to hike up the seasonally close May lake…
Gambling on Walk-In Campsites – Rock Creek Lake Campground
Whenever I plan a last minute adventure I feel a little like a someone at a horse race – stacking the odds versus the payoffs, and ultimately taking a slightly informed leap of faith. Walk-in campgrounds and first come first serve permits are saviors for last minute planners, and an agony. Why is the “Earliest arrival date for on-line reservation is three days from now”? And do you really expect me to “Please…
Mystic Hot Springs, UT: Bizarre Beautiful Baths
Driving Back from our Colorado trip Curtis and I had a slight conflict of interest: we were going to be whizzing past all these amazing national parks, yet we wanted to get home in a reasonable amount of time. Plus it was labor day weekend, meaning many of campgrounds and reasonably priced hotels were booked up. I took it as a sign to do a quick search on other options in the middle of our 1000 mile journey. Using one of my new favorite websites to find local cafes, camping, and tourist traps I hit the jackpot – a little hot springs resort in the middle of Utah: Mystic Hot Springs of Monroe…
Hiking Deer Mountain RMNP: My 1st Colorado Peak in the Bag
Before heading into the park Kate had created an awesome list of quality potential hikes, all based on things we thought we wanted to do on our trip. Deer Mountain was not on that list, but because of our location and the weather we decided to try it. We could always turn back? Turns out Deer Mountain is an awesome choice for newbies to RMNP – not too difficult and it offers amazing views of the beautiful Moraine Park and surroundings mountains…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
Follow Me: