Calipidder

We spent last Friday through Sunday in the Sierra. There was an overnight backpack in Cottonwood Basin scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, so on Friday morning we decided to do a short acclimation hike somewhere near Tioga Pass (around 10k feet). It was the perfect opportunity to get up a peak I’d been wanting to [...]

It’s a big weekend in Yosemite. It has been announced on the park website that:
The Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) will open on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 8 am, conditions permitting.
This is good timing since this weekend is also free admission to Yosemite, as well as more than 100 other National Park [...]

From the moment the passes close each fall, I have serious Eastern Sierra withdrawals. Getting from the Bay Area to the “East Side” in the winter involves a long and circuitous route, undoable in a weekend. Even when the passes are open, I expect a minimum of a five hour drive just to get over [...]

It’s here! It’s here! Sonora Pass is now officially open, and the Half Dome cables opened for the season today. Rumor is that Tioga Pass will be open by the upcoming holiday weekend. 
Me, I’m sticking to the lowlands around Cache Creek this weekend, hoping to catch some wildflower stragglers. I’ll be off to the mountains [...]

Dave finally got me out to the Sierra to share one of his favorite outdoor obsessions (among many): fishing.  We originally planned to head out to the East Sierra about three weeks ago to take in the fall colors along with the fishing, but Mother Nature had other plans, closing the passes with small snow [...]