Groveland Gears and Grooves Triathlon: My 1st Three Sport Event
I bought a triathlon-suit sometime the fall before last off of Steep and Cheap. Like most Steep and Cheap purchases it was a complete impulse purchase because it was both so cheap and a little aspirational. I enjoy running, but had not been biking more than a few miles to yoga/the odd yearly killer bike ride after which I couldn’t walk the next day. And swimming… by that you mean jumping in…
Barbera and Biking Shoes: A Road Bike(?) Tour Murphys, California
Last month Trails and I hit the roads surrounding the little Sierra Foothills winery town of Murphys, California to burn some rubber (road bike tires, of course) before we burned through some wine tastings. Or rather, to burn through some brakes while navigating a terrifying stretch of dirt road on tiny road bike wheels before rightfully rewarding ourselves for surviving. Murphys Road Bike Loop – San Domingo & Murphys Grade…
Bartlett Peak: Summit Hike from Boundary Lake, Yosemite & Stanislaus
I don’t often plan backpacking trips where we basecamp in one location and dayhike. But maybe I should, it is a great strategy for hitting up nice places where you just don’t want to haul around a giant pack – such as random summits – plus it just sounds so leisurely, day hiking in the wilderness away from the trailhead crowds. Of course for Curtis and I’s trip to Boundary lake…
Backpacking Styx Pass: A Hidden Granite Wonderland in Northwest Yosemite & Emigrant Wilderness
Normally Memorial Day weekend backpacking trips in the Sierra are more like winter camping than a leisurely summer trip – and to my surprise the Sierra gave the whole winter thing a solid try on this backpacking trip up to the Northwest boundary of Yosemite and Cherry Creek Area. We camped out beneath rain, hail, thunder, and beautiful clouds. Never underestimate the power of the weather in the Mountains, even during the…
Pilot Peak, Stanislaus NF: Fire lookouts and mountain bikes
Every time I am down in the Merced River Canyon (that is the Hwy 140 entrance to that park, by El Portal) Curtis points out the Pilot Peak lookout tower standing high above us and says I should go there… you know someday. But we don’t dare take our passenger cars up the steep final grade to the top, and who wants to walk up to a lookout tower when everyone else…
Sawmill Mountain, Stanislaus National Forest: The first of many Mountain Bike Adventures!
I’m not sure why I finally decided to do it, but I have gotten myself a mountain bike. She is a Novara Madrona 27.5, which I used Curtis’s 20% off membership discount on at REI… and I have SO MANY new places can now explore with it. Maybe they will seem like odd choices, but I haven’t been able to explore around Groveland and the Stanislaus National Forest as much as…
Indian Creek Trail, Stanislaus National Forest: From Groveland down to the Tuolumne River
I like to think that part of the allure of the upper Tuolumne River is that it is a little mysterious. My house in Groveland, CA is about three miles from the Tuolumne as the crow flies, but it’s not a simple hop, skip, and jump over to the river. Yes you can drive down to the Tuolumne on Forest Service roads, but you will know you are driving down into…
Winter Camping: Staying Warm, Safe, and Scooped!
I know, it is already spring, why all the winter? But to be fair, I attended winter camping training the day after spring officially began and we miraculously found enough snow to winter camp in during the 2015 California drought winter. Personally, I’ve had a few “Surprise” winter camping trips in the midwest – waking up under a dumping of snow in June – and while this training was geared towards have a fun, safe, and planned…
Gin Flat Loop, Yosemite: Snowshoeing & Snow Survey Stations
On Tuesday winter had a short gasp of life & snow fell from the skies very briefly around my home in Groveland. Word is that right now the Gin Flat Loop might be snowshoe-able. But not for long. The state of California hasn’t been experiencing a winter season for the last few years, as you may have heard, so obvously there hasn’t been much in the way of snowshoe opportunities. Curtis and…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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