Backpacking Parker Pass, Yosemite
Parker Pass is an amazing little backpacking trip to keep in your back pocket for an open weekend – awesome AND doable without much planning. I have a couple of these just-in-case trips that are short distance, on trail, and generally not overwhelming. Short and sweet, but deliver some much needed wilderness time. I would consider Parker Pass the sister to the much more popular Mono Pass trip. Also an…
Leviathan Peak, Monitor Pass: Pika Lookout
Guys, we need to talk about Pokemon. I think I might be obsessed. When I am not exploring the wilderness, I am instead exploring my neighborhood. I know exact spots where all the Pokemon like to loiter. My hobby of running is suddenly twice as useful because I can use it to hatch Pokemon eggs, turning weekends chilling at home turn into opportunities to crawl the neighborhood searching for stray Bulbsaurs. Yes, I probably think…
Finding Pikas at Rocky Mountain National Park (and bunnies too!)
Happy Labor Day! Last night I arrived back at home from a week long road trip to Colorado – an annual visit with friends from Michigan Tech. In previous years we had backpacked Isle Royal and Yosemite, but this year we chose to take a more low key approach and car camp and day hike Rocky Mountain National Park. I have so many trails/sights/roadside attractions I want to blog about, but first pikas…
Backpacking Johnson Lake to Buena Vista Lake – Day 2 Buena Vista Loop
Have you heard about how Yosemite has to kick people out of the park starting today because of the government shutdown? Word is that with the government shutdown the roads through Yosemite to accommodate through traffic, but with a big No Recreating clause. What puts the cherry on top of the whole situation is that Google decided today to post a “Happy Birthday Yosemite” doodle. Personally I think this is great…
Backpacking Cathedral Lake, Tahoe Desolation Wilderness and up to Mt Tallac
Why do I go backpacking? I go backpacking because I want to get away, to feel the air in my lungs and the burn in my legs, to connect with my hiking partners, to find something new and different, to explore, and (of course) to visit some very beautiful places. But backpacking is nothing if not practical – carrying everything one needs all in one backpack – and sometimes what…
Gaylor Peak Hike
Tioga Pass isn’t opened yet – but since almost all of the other passes in our neck of the Sierra are open, I am channeling my anxiousness into a blog post about one of my favorite short hikes on Tioga Pass: Gaylor Peak. Specifically the first and most memorable time was the first during the strangely snow-less 2011-2012 winter, a December Hike with our friend from Michigan Tech, Kris. Or as I like to think of it: Midwesterners…
Thousand Island Lake to the Rush Creek Trailhead – Backpacking Thousand Island Lake Day 3
We knew it was going to be around 7 miles and a REALLY LONG DECENT DOWN. But even if you know that it will be a long hike down it doesn’t necessarily hit you until you are looking down the rocky talus switchbacks to the speck of Agnew Lake and you think to yourself: “What possessed someone to put a trail here?”
The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Pikas… on Mono Pass!
Pikas are distant cousin of Basil and all bunnies, and occasionally are referred to the real life Pokemon Pikachu. No joke, I read it on the internet ;) And pikas are liable to become an (Word of the day!) endemic species with climate change, due to their highly specific mountain sub-alpine scree environments and mortal distaste for warm environments. These cute little threatened critters can be found throughout the park,…
Hello! I am a 30-something outdoors-lady, backpacker, and resident of Groveland, California - 
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