Another beautiful spring weekend in the Bay Area means two things: allergies and hiking. I don't let the first get in the way of the second, although here I sit…
I wanted to keep up with my recent trend of long wildflower hikes on the weekend so I took advantage of Saturday's perfect hiking weather to hit a classic East…
I KNOW, it's been really quiet for far too long around here. But, it's with good cause. We bought a house at the beginning of February and have spent the…
A new house purchase has had me quite busy lately so I'm a week late on this post, but better late then never, right? With all of the recent storms…
Redwood Peak is an easy little peak that's a stone's throw from the nearest trailhead. Not one to take the easy way, I decided to approach it from a trailhead…
Growing up, I always learned that it was bad to give into peer pressure when it comes to drugs, smoking, etc. They didn’t warn me about hiking. Some friends have gotten it into their heads that they are going to complete the Bay Area Ridge Trail one way or another, and I’ve been mercilessly sucked into their evil plans for world domination again and again. Now I MUST complete the same challenge or risk becoming one of the uncool kids.
This past weekend’s segment was the Fifield-Cahill Ridge (and part of Sweeny Ridge), a thirteen mile stretch of the trail on the peninsula between San Bruno and Belmont. This segment presents a bit of a logistical challenge due to the fact that it passes through SFPUC (San Francisco Public Utilities Commission) land which does not allow public access except in very restricted ways.
Kessler Peak The day after Thanksgiving we needed a good hike to help burn off some off that delicious dinner. Sure, we'd bagged two peaks on Thanksgiving Day, but I'm…
Later on Sunday morning, after our Minietta Mine exploration, we headed out of Panamint Valley and into Death Valley. Our goal was to visit some of the lesser known canyons…
Every year we take off the week of Thanksgiving to explore the deserts of Southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. This year, our trip took us through Death Valley, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and Mojave National Preserve. Over the next week or so, I’ll be posting trip reports on specific parts of this trip since many of the things we did deserve their own entries.
The trip started relatively low-key, with an uneventful evening drive from the SF Bay Area to Fossil Falls, just north of Inyokern, CA and off of 395. Arriving a little before 10 pm, we were slightly concerned about finding an available campsite at the 11 site BLM campground, but our worries were unfounded – we were the only campers in the park. I am not as familiar with this southern end of 395 and wasn’t comfortable trying to find a campsite in the dark, so I was glad it all worked out.