We spend a fair amount of time over on the coast. It’s within easy reach, and they’ve got all the birds, so you’ll find us there every couple of weeks. But to the Resident Expert it seemed that we were missing out on the good early morning and late evening times with our day-trip visit […]
Read more "Upon Further Investigation"
We now continue the account begun yesterday of our trip to the Plumas/Tahoe National Forest region. Here’s a picture of the Sierra Buttes taken from Mills Peak, to get you oriented. Let’s see now, where were we? Right – in the Diablo Campground, with unruly neighbors and a gathering thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Having been […]
Read more "Rambling in the Northeast Quadrant – Episode 2"
Our last camping adventure in the mountains was derailed by snow, and I had some concerns that last weekend’s trip would be canceled due to fire. The Lakes Basin region, including the Tahoe and Plumas National Forests and surrounding uplands, has as of this writing no active wildfires. It’s a beautiful place, and I know […]
Read more "Rambling in the Northeast Quadrant – Episode 1"
Before I forget the important details, herewith is an account of our recent trip to the mountains. Our strategy was to take advantage of the drought crisis and get in an early backpacking trip with the mid-summer-like conditions in the Sierra. If we waited until our usual time, late summer, it’s doubtful there would be […]
Read more "Mountain Weather"The SF Chronicle reports that a deal is in the works to open roads and trails in the SF Water District’s vast watershed lands on the peninsula to everyday people like you and me. Long have we gazed at those hills, and wondered about the animals and plants that find shelter there – it’s like a […]
Read more "Keep it secret, keep it safe"Our upcoming trip to Zion NP seems so far off that it’s in the realm of mythology. Eleven weeks from now? That’s beyond the event horizon. Nevertheless, we have started preparing for the excellent hiking available there by upgrading our hiking shoes. Take a look at what we have here: On the left we have […]
Read more "Preparing for Zion"Have you ever heard of the Sierra Buttes? I ran across a travel section article about them a few years ago, and thought “we should go there some day”. This is the summer of going there some day. The Sierra Buttes are a group of pinnacles and crags, the highest point in the area and […]
Read more "Trip Report: Lakes Basin"An old friend sent along a photo of the Mellowcat and Resident Expert wading across a stream in Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park, on a camping trip a large number of years ago. You have to give us style points for the coordinated left arm balancing move.
Read more "Cross the streams"I’m about half way through Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, and will go ahead and recommend it to you. It would have to get really bad in the second half of the book to offset how good the first part is, so I feel confident in making this recommendation. If you’ve done even a little backpacking, there […]
Read more "This is Wild"Just back from a weekend adventure to Tomales Bay and Point Reyes. We arrived in the late afternoon, and stayed at the one place I could find in Inverness that didn’t require a two-night stay on the weekends. We liked it well enough, but would aim for a room that has a water view next […]
Read more "On Sir Francis Drake"