Star Lake, Tahoe Rim Trail Thru-Hike – Day 1
Beginning June 25, 2014 I thru-hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), circling Lake Tahoe in 12 days. Accompanied by my friend and fellow blogger, Trails, we bravely took on this 165+ mile loop. I will be blogging a day-by-day rundown of each day’s hike, night’s campsite, and my contemplations while beating down miles. Check out my complete trip report for the TRT here – This is day 1. Starting a 12 thru-hike of…
I’m Thru-Hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail!
Tomorrow I will set foot for the first time on the Tahoe Rim Trail… hopefully I think it is alright because then the plan is to thru-hike it. Actually, even if I (somehow, in an unlikely turn of events) find out it is pretty lame and filled with mosquitoes and summer tourists I am planning to through hike it. Because THRU-HIKING, that sounds impressive – right? This was all my…
Backpacking Gem Lake, Emigrant Wilderness: A Tale of Lakes & Mosquitoes
On the first weekend in June I went on my second backpacking trip into the Emigrant Wilderness. I wanted to do a short trip to test some gear (a new sleeping bag & water filter!) before my trip on the Tahoe Rim Trail (next week!!!) but not have to travel far from Groveland. Plus, it seems odd that I have not explored the Emigrant more. Overnight Backpacking to Gem Lake, Emigrant Wilderness,…
Hiking from Hodgdon Meadow to Tuolumne Grove
The Old Big Oak Flat Road trail from Hodgdon Meadow is Yosemite’s closest trailhead to the town of Groveland. Which makes sense because the old road did literally connect from Groveland to the park until it was bought by the state of California in the 1940‘s and then upgraded to become Hwy 120. I have read a few different accounts of history buffs hiking along the old road path, but here…
Spring Hike from Tuolumne Meadows to 10,000 ft
Last weekend I had the urge to go and try my hand hiking up in the Tuolumne Meadows area. Tioga pass has been open off and on for a few weeks now, but I kept deciding to put it off because I wanted to really hike – not to hike for a bit, then run into the snow line and have to turn around. But, after hearing reports of diminishing snow levels from…
Lake Herman, Benicia CA: The missing link between my cat, the zodiac killer & miles of trails
Last month I had some time to burn in Benicia, CA before heading over to Steep Ravine & Point Reyes that weekend. I learned from Yelp that this North Bay area has a wealth of trails in the surrounding it: The Bay Trail, The Bay Ridge Trail, & a small network of paths in the State Recreation area. I choose to head out to Lake Herman, which links into the…
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…
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….
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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