Red Hills CA – Hiking the Overlook Loop Trail
I feel like hiking on BLM land is always this unique experiences, kind of like the wild west of trails – open to horses, mountain bikes, geocachers, and lots of beer & whiskey drinking (inferring from the litter). The skeptical look of the cowboys greeted us as we pulled into the Red Hills Area of Environmental Concern (Red Hills CA) this Presidents Day weekend, as if they could tell we…
Orient Express Chinese Camp, CA – 4 Mile Race
For the last 9+ weeks (in theory 9, but Chirstmas and a stomach flu happened in that same time frame, so you know…) I have challenging myself to follow a Couch to 5K program. A Couch to 5k program, if you are not in the know, is a gradual way to take yourself from being a lazy couch potato and turn you into a 5K racer. Which may seem weird for me because…
Cross Country Skiing Dodge Ridge – on the Crabtree Trail
You know how you know you are on a real adventure? You travel one whole pass up the mountain! That is right, we traveled all the way over to Hwy 108 / Sonora pass to cross country ski Dodge Ridge. First skiing trip of the year, meets first winter trek outside of Hwy 120, meets first first trip to Dodge Ridge. Just kidding (about the whole “Real adventure“, and “One…
Snowshoeing the Merced Grove of Sequoias
Our trip snowshoeing the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias allowed us to travel off trail to see a few of the Sequoias you can only peer at in the summertime.
Packers Football at Candlestick Park & Beaut-tree Updates
Last Saturday Curtis and I with some friends made the trek down to San Francisco to do some pre-gaming with the other dozen Packers fans by the stadium. It was the Green Bay Packers versus the San Francisco 49ers for a post-season game, if you are blissfully out of the know. The plan was to then head out to a bar to actually watch the game, since tickets were pretty pricey every time we checked. Of course once we…
Carlon Falls for a December Hike
Trailhead: Evergreen Rd, Stanislaus National Forest – after bridge on South fork of Tuolumne River/ Opposite side as Carlon picnic area sign!
Distance: ~ 3.5 miles out and back. Trail is fairly level at first and then goes over a couple large hills right before reaching the falls.
Lower Cathedral Lake Hike – A late fall hike
Trailhead: Tioga Rd / Hwy 120, on the West side of Tuolumne Meadows by the Cathedral Lakes sign. Parking here is pullout/parallel and usually a mess so you should see the line of cars as you approach.
Distance: ~7 miles (out and back). climbing mostly in the hike “out”, & descending in the back “back”
Our one day in Big Sur
For as much as I have heard about how beautiful Big Sur is I didn’t really know much about Big Sur. What I did know: there would be cliffs with magnificent ocean views, a relatively underpopulated coastline, and (thanks to my Mom) that there was some famous bridge there. It was with this minimal knowledge that my parents started down Coastal Hwy 1 towards the Bixby bridge and some dot on the map called “Big Sur” to see…
Traveling to the Coast – Monterey and Artichokes
My parents had a nice long visit here in California, 10 whole days, and as lovely as Yosemite and the mountains are it isn’t quite the whole West Coast experience if you don’t get out to the coast! So we planned to get out to visit Big Sur, stay in Monterey, and hit up a few tourist attractions along the way… including this Giant Artichoke in Castroville! Next time I find myself…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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