Smith Peak, Yosemite: Fire Scars, Bears & Vistas
I never hiked the Smith Peak trail before the fire, but right now it is a heck of an adventure! I solo hiked this 14-ish mile day hike starting early last Friday morning, rolling into the Hetch Hetchy gate around 7:30 am. I had completely forgotten that the Hetch Hetchy entrance has shorter ‘open hours’ (unlike the other entrances to Yosemite), it was good I didn’t start too much earlier. At the entrance station…
Non-Urban Legends & Exploring the Bigfoot Legend in Yosemite
The other week I had a revelation, I realized why the leave no trace mascot is bigfoot! Admittedly it should not have taken me this long, but in my defense I took the logo at face value without even thinking about the bigfoot legend. Or maybe Trails had mentioned it once, but sometimes when hiking my brain chooses to think about cliffbars instead of retaining cool facts. Anyhow, now that I am…
Chilnualna Falls, Yosemite: Big Waterfall, Tiny Crowd
Last year after backpacking past a very dry Chilnualna Creek my interest was peaked about the Chilnualna Falls located just a few short miles down the trail. Apparently I couldn’t go then – I had a firm nighttime destination besides the lake of any water to create falls – but stored in my memory I decided to check it out in the spring. This past weekend I decided to day hike the trail…
Backpacking Glen Camp, Point Reyes – Everything is Damp (thanks ocean)
Not only was my trip to Glen camp my first backpacking trip of 2014, but it is now my earliest backpacking trip done ever in the year! Starting out strong, 2014! Of course that meant it was consistently raining on the first day of the two day trip…. but considering I can not remember a single time it has rained on me while backpacking in California, I can’t really complain….
Steep Ravine Camping – My Favorite Campsite in California???
Last weekend I took a trip to the coast, North Bay Area, following a short work stop for Curtis in the bay area …Did you know the California regional forest service office is located on a strange abandoned navel island? Neither did we… Anyhow, it was an extended weekend of wet camping, wet backpacking, and then ‘I can’t bear to be wet at a KOA next to a dozen screaming kids…
Tueeulala Fall – Hetch Hetchy Valley’s Bridal Veil
Have you heard about the rock slide that happened in the beginning of this month in Hetch Hetchy? It is blocking the trail just past the Wapama Falls footbridges – meaning it shouldn’t affect day hikers too much, unless your game plan was to power hike to Rancheria Falls. Seriously, don’t let this deter you from enjoying Hetch Hetchy’s first two waterfalls, Tueeulala and Wapama falls, this spring. I was hiking in…
Biking Glacier Point Road – it is one big hill.
This last weekend the Yosemite Facebook page posted a little note stating that the Glacier Point Rd was going to open for cars today (April 14 2014) and with bicycle traffic permitted the weekend before. A few years back I had biked Tioga Pass Rd in the spring prior cars being allowed on it, so I jumped at this idea. These springtime “Bicycle Only” times are a rare opportunity to…
Rockefeller Grove, Yosemite – Sugar Pines, Skiing, & Fire Scars
Yosemite is know for having three giant sequoia groves (Mariposa, Merced, & Tuolumne), but did you know about the park’s less visited Sugar Pine Grove, the Rockefeller Grove? I hadn’t either until Curtis had mentioned it as an option for a late season cross country ski trip. He had heard about it as one of the spots fire crews had worked to protect from the rim fire, one of the oldest…
“Mystical Horizons” – The Stonehenge of the Prairie
I recently discovered the SF Gate’s running series Tourist Trapped. The column’s writer travels to the heavily tourist-ed destinations in the San Francisco area and reports back on the highs and lows. I am in love it. I want to take a weekend and go nuts eating Jelly Bellies and taking ghost tours with hundreds of other people in the Bay Area. Tourist Trapped made me realize that a place…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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