MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES —  Mother Nature is the best form of therapy. The sound of roaring falls and smell of blooming wildflowers. The deafening silence of freshly fallen snow on the ground. Recreate Responsibly (PDF) Not Just Yosemite But ALL Outdoor Lands Although the main attraction is Yosemite National Park, the idea of recreating responsibly shouldn’t be applied only to the ...

Happy Birthday Yosemite! Visit this October and help celebrate the 132nd birthday of Yosemite National Park! History of Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park is located in central California, straddling the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Many famous explorers and naturalists have passed through this area including John Muir (a strong proponent for protecting the area’s forests), John Wesley Powell (who ...

They say that the wildflower show around Lukens Lake can be pretty darn nice in early summer. I might have been a bit early but it is hard to imagine a more dramatic display of Shooting Stars in the meadows and along the waterways. Plenty other colorful wildflowers were doing their part to create a beautiful wildflower adventure. Where: Yosemite ...

The clock is ticking this year to drive on Glacier Point Road and out to those wonderful trailheads along it’s way. When Glacier Point Road closes this year, it will be closed for at least a year due to construction. This week, I headed to two destinations full of amazing views from the Taft Point Trailhead, Sentinel Dome and Taft ...

By Sal Maccarone Always on the lookout for art oriented historic hotels to visit, I was very fortunate to stumble upon a real jewel. Completely lost in Riverside, Ca. on my way to somewhere else, I turned a corner and there it was. At first, it appeared to be one of the California missions, but the Padres didn’t build a ...

Views of Mono Pass, Parker Pass and Kuna Crest surrounded me as I hiked up Yosemite National Park’s Mono Pass Trail. I made a short cross country hike up above Spillway Lake, through some snow up to Helen Lake. A 20% chance of thunderstorms isn’t much of a chance but it all comes down to what cloud you are standing ...

Clouds were just passing through and they teamed up with the waterfalls to create ever changing reflections in Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Walking up that trail had me wondering about the old trails and people who walked here back in the day. Where: Yosemite National ParkDistance: 6.86 Miles (About 5 miles rt to Wapama Falls, 13 miles rt to Rancheria Falls)Difficulty: ModerateElevation ...

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 ...

When those views of Mono Pass, Parker Pass and Kuna Crest are streaked with snow, they contrast so beautifully with those multi-colored mountains. This is one of those hikes that I love to do soon after Tioga Road reopens for the year and those white puffy clouds always liven up the scenery, even if they threaten a bit of the ...

Yosemite National Park had plans to close Tioga and Glacier Point Roads temporarily due to a storm rolling in. What “temporarily” meant was yet to be seen but I had this need to get somewhere where I could see and feel that storm coming in but had to move quickly to beat that road closure. Where: Yosemite National Park Distance: ...