Destinations
Favorite five Tahoe backpacking trips
Here is a subjective list of the best introductory overnight backpacking trips in Tahoe but, be forewarned, all of these involve significant elevation gain even if the mileage is relatively…
Ebbetts Pass: “pleasurable and memorable”
Some of my best trips have been the result of aborted expeditions and the thereafter. Such was our late autumn hike to to Kinney Lake. Our original plan was to…
Hiking Lembert Dome
Take this fairly short and gentle hike to a novel perch atop a granite giant that commands an inspiring view of Tuolumne Meadows. Though the slanted traverse across granite may…
Journey through time on forgotten Yosemite road
Dawn arrived on a clear and chilly day, revealing a gentle stream, wooded hills and a dirt road that extends beyond the horizon. From this spot beside Bower Cave in…
Rafting the Tuolumne: “Each visit here changes your life forever”
As we headed towards a raging Clavey Falls, I took a deep breath and gripped my paddle with white knuckles. During the biggest runoff in a decade on the Tuolumne…
How the other half lives in Yosemite
When my wife and I carried our bags down the red carpet into a plush lobby, I could still hardly believe it. In all the years we had visited Yosemite…
Musings of a Mono Lake kayaker
As I set my kayak down with a crunch on the rough sheets of limestone in a few inches of salty water, I disturbed a furious cloud of tiny black…
Actor’s shows bring Muir to life
John Muir never wanted for words when it came to protecting the wilderness, especially his beloved Sierra Nevada mountains. But what would the father of American environmentalism say if he…