Back from several days of hiking in the Lakes Basin/Sierra Buttes area, scouting out hikes for an upcoming hiking club three nighter. Lots of nice lakes at about the 7000′ level, rocky hard-on-old-ankles trails and few hikers. I much prefer the high Sierra over this sub alpine terrain, but it’s still nice. I wouldn’t have minded some cooler temperatures, though.

John Muir is credited with naming this basin which has several pretty lakes that are fairly close to each other. Wildflowers, Half Moon Meadow, and views down the Tuolumne River Canyon are among the highlights of this hike.

Hiking up to Dana Plateau gave us the opportunity to view some of the complex geologic events that helped form Yosemite. We could see where Glaciers had moved massive amounts of rocks, yet left other areas alone. Fast moving clouds created great views, whether they were from the tops of mountains or creating reflections in small water features.

One of our cheapest and most fun trips was a week we spent camping with two of our closest friends on the beach on the North Shore of Oahu. I am not really sure why, but we got a lot of blank stares and “you’re crazy” comments when we told people we were going camping in Hawaii, but we figured ...

Hi friends. It may look like Provence here but it’s the Matanza Creek Winery lavender fields. We braved a 101 degree day (it was only 80 at 10:00 when we arrived), and not a moment too soon, because the cutting began as we were there. It’s not a very romantic process; they do it with a chain saw.

On a day when it was over 100 degrees in the valley and foothills, what is a person to do? Go high! We went up to two beautiful high sierra lakes in Yosemite to experience snow, an iced over lake, friendly clouds, gorgeous reflections in the lakes and a rare opportunity to get up close with the elusive Yosemite Toad.

Did you know that we have our very own mini version of Devil’s Postpile at Yosemite? We visited what is known as Little Devil’s Postpile on our hike from Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin. The morning reflections in the Tuolumne River, water holes, mud holes and pot holes were magnificent!

How about a hike to a beautiful granite bordered mountain lake? Along the trail there are also spots where you can see great views of Half Dome and the high country.

How about a hike to a beautiful granite bordered mountain lake? Along the trail there are also spots where you can see great views of Half Dome and the high country.

This is not your Keith Sauer wildlife, but there is a ladybug in it. It’s the Russian River Rose Gardens, where a couple in Healdsburg grow (and sell) roses, which they make into perfume. It is the only estate-produced perfume in the country, I believe. They started out just putting roses at the ends of their rows of wine grapes, ...