After a month of backpacking adventures, I wasn’t quite ready to settle back down into the daily motions of work and life, so I snuck away on one last Sierra backpacking trip. I had been wanting to backpack to Cathedral Lakes for a while, but…
Updated: July 2024 I hiked the High Sierra Trail in August 2019 with my best backpacking buddy: my mom. I had this smaller thru-hike on my radar since 2017 where I discovered the trail during some JMT research. With a PCT thru-hike on the horizon,…
With such close proximity to San Francisco, Mount Tamalpais and Marin County are super popular areas for city-dwellers to get outside and explore! The Steep Ravine campground, in particular, is very popular and difficult to reserve during the high season. I booked this camping trip…
Six months ago, way before I knew what this winter would hold, I booked my first permits for the 2019 season. My mom and I would kick off the season backpacking in Yosemite over Mother’s Day weekend, and do a point-to-point hike I’ve had on…
Over the last few months, I’ve seen so many people ask some iteration of this request in Facebook outdoor groups: “I’m going to Yosemite for x days and need day hiking/ backpacking/ lodging advice!” I have a lot of thoughts and feelings and advice for…
NOTICE: A Wildfire Ravaged Big Basin State Park in August 2020 and the Skyline to Sea Trail is CLOSED in Big Basin until further notice. If you live in the Bay Area, and especially if you drive on Highway 280 frequently, you are used to…
Last updated July 2024 Want to know how to snag a campground at one of the most popular national parks? Read on to see how a little bit of advance planning (or, no planning whatsoever) can help you score a coveted campground. Important! Tuolumne Meadows…
When people think of Yosemite, they mostly think of the Valley: El Capitan, Half Dome, Yosemite Falls. Maybe they think of the high alpine meadows of Tuolumne Meadows, or the stunning views from Glacier Point. Most people don’t think about the Hetch Hetchy reservoir or the…
