There was no rhyme or reason where I walked and wandered on old wagon roads and Off Road Vehicle trails near my house. I was getting some exercise in before Christmas with some bonus views. I am trying something a little new on the Blog format, including a link to this track on CALTOPO at the top and under the ...

Please don’t tell my dogs that I left them home for this easy hike along the Wild and Scenic Merced River on an old Railroad Bed. It would have been a perfect hike for them. Where: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Merced River Recreation Management Area, United States Forest Service, Sierra National ForestDistance: 8.93 miles round trip but you can ...

After hiking Nelder Grove’s Graveyard of the Giants Trail through the 2017 Railroad Fire the prior week, I started wondering what new views I might have since that fire. Would I be able to see Nelder Ridge and the Hawksworth Tree from below? Well, I took out my topographic maps, looked at my GPS track and Google Earth images, and ...

I had been dreading taking this hike because of the devastation left behind when the 12,047 acre 2017 Railroad Fire roared through the area. It would be a sad hike through many burned trees to visit the Giant Sequoias along the Graveyard of the Giants Trail up on Nelder Ridge. Where: Sierra National Forest, Nelder Grove.Distance: 6.28 miles, but you ...

On any given hike, I just never know who or what I will run into. What should have been a fairly routine hike along Eastman Lake’s rolling Lakeview Trail became more interesting when tarantulas came into the mix! Distance: 7.82 MilesDifficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending on how far you goElevation Range: 586′ to 707′Date: November 23, 2020Maps: Ben Hur and ...

The icy 4 Mile Trail led me from the Yosemite Valley floor, starting where the old Leidig Hotel stood back in 1870, up to Glacier Point, full of wonderful views of the snowy high country. Where: Yosemite National ParkDistance: 9.84 MilesDifficulty: Moderate to StrenuousElevation Range: 3,979′ – 7,207′Date: November 16, 2020Maps: El Capitan Topographic QuadDog Hike? No I parked at ...

I can’t resist the way that snow looks contrasted with Giant Sequoias, so I headed up to Merced Grove for a half day. Yosemite National Park has 3 Giant Sequoia Groves and some say that Merced Grove is the least visited. It was a very nice hike down the historic Old Coulterville Road to check out the 20 or so ...

A storm was on the way that would close Tioga Road but would it close for a short period or for the season? I wasn’t about to miss the opportunity to visit some of the higher country in the Tioga Pass area while I could get there so I headed up to the glacial fed Conness Lakes as they were ...

I had a three bear day while I snuck in some exercise checking out fall color on the Yosemite Valley Loop. Yellow Black Oaks and Maples, along with Red Dogwoods reflected along the Merced River! Where: Yosemite National ParkDistance: 12.12 milesDifficulty: EasyElevation Range: 3,869′ – 4,105′Date: November 4, 2020Maps: El Capitan and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir Topographic QuadDog Hike? NoHorseback Trail? ...

Sally the Weimaraner, Fannie the Corgi and I finally got the go-ahead to hike in Tioga Pass’s Hoover Wilderness after it had been reopened after the fire danger closures. I could feel winter knocking on the door as we walked by iced over small lakes. I brought my fishing pole along just in case . . . Where: Inyo National ...