I could have spent all day at Mills Lake, if it weren’t for those pesky Rocky Mountain Thunderstorms
I seriously love high altitude lakes, and Rocky Mountain National Park delivers. Yeah, and waterfalls are pretty cool too… but I am just being honest in saying Alberta Falls in RMNP – meh. Maybe there were just TOO many people for a modest amount of falling water (& Yosemite has spoiled me?). Mills Lake though is gorgeous. What I am saying is that if you are starting at the Glacial Gorge trail then the extra couple miles hike to Mills is worth it. I wish I had more time to explore past Mills Lake, but those thunderstorms can really kill a full day adventure. Oh well, better to be safe than sorry?…
Watching a Fire: Yosemite Meadow Fire
On Sunday I was hiking up Mt. Dana with Curtis, having drove across Tioga Pass in the morning hours to get a reasonably early start. Driving past we might have chatted about the Dark Hole fire – a small lighting fire that has been smoldering for a while near Porcupine Flat. I love that the fire is named after an odd place listed on the topographic map (an old stagecoach…
Hiking Cub Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park: Just outside the tent door is something Magnificent
In the previous two years of annual summer trips we had backpacked Isle Royale and Yosemite National Parks through rain and fire… which was an interesting experience. Personally I am always up for a backpacking adventure, but given our track record and a short planning window we decided to car camp during this year’s trip. Luckily, and maybe because it was the middle of the week, we were able to score a campsite in the tenting loop at Moraine Park Campground…
Finding Pikas at Rocky Mountain National Park (and bunnies too!)
Happy Labor Day! Last night I arrived back at home from a week long road trip to Colorado – an annual visit with friends from Michigan Tech. In previous years we had backpacked Isle Royal and Yosemite, but this year we chose to take a more low key approach and car camp and day hike Rocky Mountain National Park. I have so many trails/sights/roadside attractions I want to blog about, but first pikas…
A MicroAdventure Hiking Mono Pass, John Muir Wilderness
This morning I was reading an article about #MicroAdventures – which simply put are mini adventures that allow one to escape the 9-5. The video, the hashtag, and the blog of the man who wrote the book on #MicroAdventures make it seem very exciting, fun, and well… sexy. It is like a one night stand with a beautiful place & who knows if you will ever see it again. I immediately…
Hiking Tenaya Lake: Why not stop for awhile?
Recently it has been getting hot down in Groveland, which can mean it will be even hotter down in Yosemite Valley. I love the valley, and it is always a must do if you are only going to the park for a short period of time (I might suggest biking, a dip in the Merced, and maybe a hike up the mist trail in the cooler early morning hours) –…
Foraging for a Keweenaw Classic: Thimbleberries
Late last month I visited Michigan for a couple of weeks, managing to fit in some time to visit one of my favorite places in the world – The Keweenaw. Im not normally one for hyperbole, but there is something about this place tucked away inside of Lake Superior. It is both naturally beautiful and testament to how place and people can interact to create a unique culture. Also it helped…
Kingsbury North & the Finish of Thru-Hiking the Tahoe Rim Trial – Day 12
And at 8:30 am I started walking the final 7 miles back to the car we had abandoned 12 days prior. In this final stretch of trail I began daydreaming about lunch, beer, and my beautiful bed. It is exciting to finish a backpacking trip and return to the wonders of a normal meal, if not a little sad to be leaving this amazing place I had grown accustomed to. True story: at some point over the past 12 days (and let it be known it was not day 1) I had grown accustomed to the aches, the mid morning snack break, the push up switchback after switchback, and the grandiosity of an omnipresent Tahoe vista…
South Camp Peak, Tahoe Rim Trail – Day 11
Last full day on the Tahoe Rim Trail – Crazy, right?! It seemed like just a few days and couple baby toe blisters ago that I had just started. Time flies when you are having fun… or slowly convincing your body that it CAN make 165+ miles.
The number one thing I “learned” (re-learned?) on this trip is how much a hiking routine helps to get the miles done whilst remaining sane…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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