In San Jose for the weekend visiting Cassie and Chris, we decided to run up the peninsula and cross the Golden Gate to see the Muir Woods. There are many hiking options here, ranging from paths that run all the way west to Stinson Beach and trails that run north and east to the…
We were in Wrightwood once again for the garage-sale-crazy Memorial Day weekend, and by Monday afternoon the boys were surprisingly ready for a hike with Pop. One place Chris has been interested to visit is a blocked-off trail on the west slope of Lightning Ridge – from the satellite image, the trail appears to…
It was Cinco de Mayo, and we had that rare combination – or so it seems anymore – of a desire for exercise and a free day in which to do it. Of our various options, we settled on a repeat of our 2014 hike to Mt. Islip, elev. 8,261′, which we remembered to…
Several months ago, Jane was invited to serve as a director on the board of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Kern County, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and support for abused and neglected children in the local foster care system. CASA is largely funded through private donations received by way of an…
We awoke early on our first morning in Scottsdale, intent on getting to the trailhead at 5:30am for a sunrise hike up Camelback Mountain – the summit is accessible from two trailheads, and we had read that parking at both can be a nightmare, even on weekdays. As we sat with our morning coffee,…
No new snow fell on the South Rim overnight, although it was certainly cold enough to have done so – maybe some fell but the winds kept it from sticking. In any case, we awoke early and started packing up – between our camping duffel, day packs, and three small suitcases, we had a…
Today’s agenda originally called for a 5-7 mile hike along the South Rim – we thought we’d take the shuttle bus to some indeterminate point east of us and walk back to the hotel. Ideally, we would have taken the shuttle a few miles west to Hermits Rest, then return via 7 miles of…
We got up feeling sore, but we were both happy to have worked our tired muscles walking up to Ribbon Falls the day before – even more so were we thankful for our cozy cabin, as the rain had continued to fall steadily through the night. For the second day in a row, ours…
After a mostly-sleepless night in our tent, we showed up for breakfast at Phantom Ranch thinking that we’d perhaps get lucky – we had inquired the night before if any cabin space was available, and they told us it was possible for our second night but they wouldn’t know until morning. So, we were…
Several months ago, we responded to an invitation for a long weekend at a golf resort in Scottsdale, AZ, and, while contemplating the various things we’d want to do in Arizona, decided to try and add a Grand Canyon visit to the itinerary. Looking first into backcountry permits, we were surprised to find that…