North Mountain, Groveland CA: Little Visited Summit on the Stanislaus
Have you see the videos of Caltrans plowing Tioga Pass this year? My favorite is this aerial view headed up the pass from Lee Vining. It’s a little shaky, but gives this peculiar perspective of tiny snowplows slowly heading into this daunting mountain pass. As of today, June 4th 2017, Tioga Pass is closed. The most recent update I have heard estimated a late June or July opening date. These…
Home is Where the Bunny is
As much as I love adventures – and am I ever behind of adventure type blogs – Right now I instead want to take this time to talk about my bunny, Basil, and consequently my home. Home can be many places, with family and friends, and of course – where the bunny is. Basil the Bunny, despite his hatred for car rides, has traveled the country and called many places home. My…
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…
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…
When You Don’t Reach Your Destination – Preston Falls, Stanislaus NF
Hiking with a destination in mind it sort of my thing. I like goals – or at least a solid turnaround point/time. I don’t like it when I can’t reach my planned destination. I hate it when I miss my destination without even knowing. That is what happened today on my hike to Preston Falls – I walked 4.4 miles, like All Trails said, and I did reach a fall. I…
Little Golden Trail, Groveland CA: Little, but is it Golden?
Earlier this month Curtis and I abandoned ship on an expedition to Hobron Hill (the hill next to Smith Peak with a different radio tower on it. The obvious road up is blocked by a gate on a tiny private parcel of land before the road becomes forest service. I just wanted to go because of the crazy website!) – Anyhow we decided not to completely give up on at least…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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