High Peaks Trail, Pinnacles: On the Edge among the California Condor
Happy last day of National Park Week (April 15-23)! Also, Happy Earth Day (April 22), awesome job with the March for Science (April 22), +++ Happy Birthday to John Muir (April 21) and Mr. William Shakespeare (April 23)! I had an amazing day in Yosemite Valley yesterday celebrating science, Earth, and Yosemite. It was an inspiring afternoon of listening to the speakers and pondering how much more there is still left to…
Sentinel Dome & Taft Point Loop Hike
I have been meaning to post about Curtis & I’s hike to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point since late June. We hiked this one on June 20th, on a rare weekday day hike. The trek was not very intense, but provided some of the best views of far eastern mountains that we have ever seen while inside of the park. If we had to choose one over the other, personally…
Glen Aulin to Pothole Dome – Backpacking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne Day 4
The 4th and last day of hiking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne – time to get excited for some (veggie) burgers, beer, and sitting! The hike would take us up the trail past White Cascade and Tuolumne falls, where we would then stay…
Visiting Lake Huron, the Au Sable River, & Oscoda Michigan
The shores of Lake Huron along Oscoda, Michigan is one of my favorite places. Growing up I was lucky enough to visit almost monthly with my parents. My favorite things about Oscoda as a child?: Swimming in the cold waters, relaxing on the sandy beaches, eating innumerable amounts of banana splits and barbecue, pretending to help my parents canoe down the Au Sable River, and in general tracking sand absolutely everywhere I went. Now living in California I do not get to…
Chippewa Harbor to Moskey Basin: Isle Royale backpacking day 3
What was the first order of business on day 3 of backpacking Isle Royale? Pancakes! Fire roasted with coconut oil pancakes, to be exact. YOLO backpacking style!
Obama said we needed a vacation- So we went to Mono Lake!
Actually Curtis and I had been planing to go to Mono Lake ever since I pleaded with him to understand that the fragile saline ecosystem appealed to my inner environmental engineer. In case if you have not heard the back story, or slept through environmental engineering fundamentals, Mono lake is a saline lake in the great basin that is fed by various freshwater streams. The city of LA quite some…
Stately Parks in the Santa Cruz Area
Deciding we needed to see the Ocean, Curtis and I ventured through the central valley and over some winding mountain roads to Santa Cruz. We visited the Wilder Ranch State Park and took a cute little low altitude bike ride to the Natural Bridges State beach. I officially decided I much rather like biking at sea level with minimal hill-age. Word to the wise though, the lengthy network of bike…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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