2022 McGee Loop

 A “lollipop” route is one which starts and ends at the same trailhead and at some point splits off into a loop off of that main trail.  Hence the shape of a lollipop.  The McGee Creek trailhead had always intrigued me as a place that offered a route that would encompass a lot of variety. This route didn’t disappoint in the area of variety, but would prove to be the most challenging trip of 2022.  This adventure reminded me of the importance of preparation, in terms of route planning, into every trip whether big or small, on or off trail.  Had I properly prepared for this route, I probably would have never attempted it. 

2022 Fall Colors

My favorite backpacking weekend of the year is the first weekend in October.  Fall colors are at their height in the Eastern Sierras.  Reds, oranges and yellows going off like crazy.  Whole swaths of the forest looking like mother nature poured buckets of paint from the heavens.  Stunning landscapes and unpredictable weather.  I’ve had years of sunny skies, years of cold winds, years of rain, and a year of about ½ a foot of snow.  It’s always an adventure.  This year was no different.

2022 Minaret Trip



​I’d always wanted to visit the Minarets.  Visit them up close and personal.  I’ve been near them on a couple JMT thru-hikes and on a few other flybys.  Even last year, when attempting the Sierra High Route, I was supposed to hike through the shadow of these majestic peaks.  But in all these years, I’ve never gotten up close and personal with these giants.  

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2022 Hoover Wilderness/Yosemite NP

The day after my daughter graduated from high school I disappeared into the wilderness for nine days.  The weather ranged from snow, to sun to rain and the temperatures ranged from the low 20's to the low 70's.  

2022 Early Season Eastern Sierra Loop

A trip delayed from 2021 because of a cold front that came in turned out to be epic.  Almost 70 miles (about half off trail) over four nights and five days topping two of California's highest peaks.  Places visited that fulfilled "bucket list" kind of places!

2022 Hetch Hetchy Trip

Believe it or not, with all my trips to Yosemite National Park, I’ve never turned off on the road to Hetch Hetchy. My love of Yosemite Valley and all the trails leading up to the canyon rim always call me further down into the valley instead of stopping here.

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2021 Condor Trail (Section from Highway 166 to Highway 101)

I’d known about the Condor Trail since it was established back in 1996, but I spend so much of my time in the Sierras and northern coast of CA, that I didn’t give it a lot of thought. But, when a gap in my calendar opened up, and I was looking for a place to go that had a favorable weather window, some friends reminded me of the Condor. After a week of reading the trail guide and chatting with the author by email and phone, I was sold. I’d hike the 60ish mile section from Highway 166, just above Santa Maria, to Highway 101 in the mountains above where I grew up in San Luis Obispo.

2021 Teton Crest Trail

In September 2021, I was lucky enough to disappear on an adventure of sorts, "retreat of sorts" with a group of like minded soul searching partners.  We climbed high into Grand Teton National Park.  We walked, laughed, chatted, and experienced the high country in all of its fall glory.  We hit the perfect weather window and checked off another bucket list kinda trip.
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2021 Sierra High Route

The Sierra High Route (SHR) is a 195-mile trekking route that runs north-south across the heart of the Sierra Nevada Range, through Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park, John Muir Wilderness, Ansel Adams Wilderness, and Yosemite National Park. It is a rugged alternative to the John Muir Trail (JMT)– it boasts about 100 miles of cross-country travel, numerous Class III scrambles, and endless miles of boulder hopping. SHR hikers are rewarded with pristine alpine settings, long stretches of solitude, and a sense of true adventure as they climb and descend 33 mountain passes.  ​

2021 Humphrey's Basin Trip

In June of 2021, my daughter, Isabela, was supposed to travel to the Dominican Republic for a service trip centered around protecting the coral reefs.  Covid-19 restrictions had other ideas.
Once she found out that the trip had been canceled, she asked if I would take her and her two closest friends on a backpacking trip.  The journal posted is in her own words.

2021 Piute Lollypop

My good friend Pablo and I had an early season trip planned for 3 weeks ago at the end of May. It didn’t happen. With a very light winter in California we had planned a 60 mile loop in the southern Sierras. The first weather system in over a month decided to drop. Temperatures dropped into the 20s with wind chills around zero because of very high winds. We made the call the night before to cancel. We were both very disappointed but it was the right call.  I already had a planned trip for myself for the first week of June. I always leave for a trip the day school ends. This year I had planned a 65 mile loop about 1/3 off trail starting and finishing at North Lake outside Bishop, CA.  I invited Pablo. He had the right gear and mindset. I’m not sure if he knew what he was really getting into.

2021 Lost Coast (Southern Section)

This was just the right trip at just the right time to just the right place.  At a time when everything east of my home is covered in snow...and a time when Covid is at its worst in my state…..I just couldn't have found myself in a better spot.  I’ll be back.  I’ll be back sooner than later for sure!
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2020 Brooks Range

In July and August of 2020 
​I set out on an Arctic adventure in the Brooks Range above the arctic circle in northern Alaska with my buddy JC.

2020 Ruby Crest Trail

Fires were ravaging the west.  I had backcountry permits for almost every weekend for the next month and a half. ​

2020 Piute Pass

Back on the trail with my girl.  We started backpacking together when she was just 6 months old and walked hundreds of miles between then and her 13th year.

2019 Lost Coast Trail Take 2

Here I am again....
​I was here a short week ago and felt the pull the come back and explore more. Since I’m a single, I got super lucky and scored a permit for the day I wanted to leave.

2019 Lost Coast Trail

Leslie (my good friend) 
and neighbor and I left Taylor Way at 2 am sharp. We had a shuttle to catch at Shelter Cove with Bill at exactly 8 am. It was a five hour drive. If you do the math you’d see that we had more than enough time. The extra 50 miles we drove on I-5 wasn’t a consideration

2019 Redwood National Park

After a 6 hour drive out of the heat and into the coastal trade winds, I checked into the Kuchel Visitor Center at about 11:30 am. Talking to the Rangers, I learned that the summer bridges were not in place yet. The Rangers suggested that I take the horse trail over a mountain to get to the creek area where I’d be hiking. I was told it was a couple miles further but also, over the mountain.

2018 Buckeye to Yosemite

This was my fall backpacking trip starting at the Buckeye Trailhead outside Bridgeport, CA.  Like my trip in June, snow played a big part in this trip.  The difference was that during the last trip, the snow was leftover from the previous season.    On this trip, the snow was the first of the season.

2018 Sierra High Route Section out of North Lake

This is a trip I’ve been planning on and off for about a year. The Sierra High Route is about 70% off trail and runs "about" 195 miles (because it’s a route and not a trail) from Sequoia National Park to Twin Lakes outside Bridgeport. It stays along the ridges while the John Muir Trail (which I’ve hiked twice) runs through the canyons from pass to pass.

2017 Saddleback Lake

Isabela and I got back on the trail today after a one year break. We decided this would be a base camp and day hike trip. I found Saddlebag Lake last winter and it looked like a perfect spot to backpack in about 5 miles and then have some amazing day hike opportunities. 

2017 PCT Hwy 50 to 80

Wonderful start to the day as my neighbors, Shelley and Paul, drove me almost 2 hours to the trail-head off Hwy 50 at Echo Lake. We chatted the entire way up and I learned so much about my friends. 

2017 Sequoia National Park

We started at 8 from the Lodgepole campground and hiked through the forest to Sillman Creek. There have been many warnings about this crossing as a woman lost her life a few weeks back while crossing.

2015 Sequoia National Park

If Walt Disney had lived to follow through with his vision, not only would Disney World have taken the east by storm, but the Mineral King area would have become the a self contained Alpine Village that would have attracted 2.5 million visitors annually-800,000 of them from out of state-by 1976, the first full year of operation. 

2015 Yosemite Loop

We all have a bucket list. Some of us have it formally written down while others just have lists upon lists in our heads.  I’m the latter.  And something that has been on my list for years has been a hike all the way around the rim of Yosemite Valley.

2014 Emigrant Wilderness

Bugs Bugs Bugs!

2013 John Muir Trail

On August 5th, I set out from Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite and headed southeast towards Mt. Whitney 200 miles away.  I only had a 7 day period at the end of my summer vacation between a trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park and being back at school for our first day.  I took no stove and no tent....

2013 Emigrant Wilderness

Isabela, Tenaya and I took an amazing 5-day/4-night trip into Emigrant Wilderness just north of the northern Yosemite border.  This was our second BIG trip together after last year's Hoover Wilderness trip.  Both trips were amazing in their own ways, but Isabela really is starting to develop into a backpacker this year. 

2012 Fall Yosemite Trip

Juan, Michael and I had an eventful 36 hour trip at the height of the fall color change!!

2012 Lassen National Park

Today was one of Bee's biggest mileage days ever!  She went further than I think she ever hiked before.

2012 Hoover Wilderness

Today was amazing. My little girls became backpackers. 

2011 Lassen NP Escape

Lassen Peak is going through a 5-year renovation.  During these years, the peak trail is only open about 2 days a month during three months of the year. 

2011 Utah Road Trip

For the second year in a row, the third week in February was a Furlough Week for me from work.  Since Isabela had school all week and Paula worked all week, I took advantage of my lack of responsibilities to disappear.  And disappear I did.

2010 Prairie Creek State Park

I wanted old growth redwoods.... I got what I came searching for.....

2008 Eastern Sierra Trip

I came seeking high altitude and off trail adventure.... I was not disappointed...

2005 Wonderland Trail

A trail around Mt. Rainer.... glaciers, forest, rivers....oh my...

2003 Colorado Trail

Roaming through the woods of Colorado....high altitude....

2002 Tahoe Rim Trail

In July 2002, I hiked around Lake Tahoe on the newly finished Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT).

2001 John Muir Trail
This was my follow up to the AT in 2000.  Hiking the JMT was like entering a new, different and beautiful Yosemite each and every day.

2000 Appalachian Trail

This was the kick off of my long distance backpacking days. And what a kick off it was!  I took 3 months off teaching and added summer break to that.  
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