For the last few years, the Point Reyes Fungus Fair, hosted by the Bay Area Mycological Society, has been a winter tradition for the family and me to attend. It’s great to have something that brings us together in the forest, and quite a fun adventure that always has many surprises! The allure of going just a little further to…
Category:
Hiking
In 2016, I passed through the Cottonwood Lakes Basin on the exit of my SOSHR attempt with Art and Joe. That trip didn’t go quite to plan; however, it did inspire me to make several other trips into places near that route since then. I have a love affair with the Eastern Sierra for which there’s no substitute. Although Mammoth…
There are people who go to the mountains, and there are people who come from the mountains. Having been treated to outdoor experiences in the mountains since I was old enough to walk, I find myself identifying with the latter. I recognize that there have been times in my life when my interest in the slower-paced ways of experiencing the…
Somehow two years passed since I last backpacked and slept outside for more than a night. Time passes so quickly; monuments that mark notable events in our lives act as reminders of that. It’s so easy to put things off, to feel like we are on the cusp of doing that thing that we’d get around to someday, then before…
As all of us go through life, we inevitably hit that phase where it get’s “real”. I find myself there this year. It seems I’m not alone either, as many of my friends who love the trails are also in the same general spot. Maybe it’s a “getting older” thing, or maybe it’s because people like us relish in experiences,…
I had been itching to return to Zion National Park ever since running the Trans Zion route with friends a few years ago. The soaring, red rock walls of the canyon, the bright green cottonwoods in the Grotto, and the dramatic views of the mesa’s in the backcountry make Zion an experience like the Yosemite of the desert. I promised…
I went for a walk in the woods. I didn’t have a map, and I didn’t make a plan. I didn’t turn my GPS on, didn’t record how far I went, how much elevation I gained, or how fast I got there. In fact, there was no “there” to get to. I did have to cross a few things off…
Before even completing my last trip out at SEKI, I was already scheming on shorter trips that I could put together to get into the areas of the Southern Sierra High Route that we were forced to bypass on that outing. Since I have passed by Center Basin so often but never visited, the pull to head out there was…
This trip report will be a little unusual since it sort of reflects a failed attempt at the Southern Sierra High Route, which consequently turned into a nice section hike of the JMT with a couple days of cross country thrown in. Although it wasn’t what we set out to do, it was still a great trip and definitely one…
This post will be part of an ongoing academic project on GPS error. This is not exactly breakthrough research, but it’s a fun project that I’ll share here for anyone else who recognizes their inner geek, and seeing as today is Pi Day the timing is perfect! Many of us rely on GPS to either follow an existing path, record…