Frogs were singing and turtles were basking on logs at the Stockton Creek Nature Preserve where I learned how to identify some of our local amphibians and reptiles with the Sierra Foothill Conservancy. Where: Sierra Foothill Conservancy, Stockton Creek Nature Preserve Distance: 2.21 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: 2,250′ – 2.406′ Date: April 15, 2018 Maps: Ben Hur, Buckingham Mountain ...

I had heard of the Racetrack at Death Valley and its mysterious moving rocks, but the stories that I had heard of the washboard road and that 3 1/2 hour drive had not put this adventure on my list until now. We rented a jeep for the day and took it where I didn’t want to take my personal vehicle. ...

Wildflowers are putting on a show in the Hite Cove area right now. Redbuds were in their prime and the poppies were looking mighty pretty, along with all other kinds and colors of flowers. And those Sierra Newts were out and about. Where: Sierra National Forest Distance: 9.24 Miles Difficulty: Easy to Moderate Elevation Range: 1,400′ – 1,694′ Date: April ...

We did not snowshoe Tamarack Ridge but we carried our snowshoes all day thinking that we would. We headed up above Shaver Lake to find well packed snow and once we left the main trails, that snow was pristine and untouched by people. Where: Tamarack Ridge SNO-PARK, Sierra National Forest Distance: 5.82 miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevational Range: 7,354′ to 7,800′ ...

BASS LAKE – Bass Lake is about to burst with activity as two popular local lakeside businesses open for the summer this weekend. The Forks Resort is headed into their 71st season, and Miller’s Landing opens for their 37th season on Friday, Mar. 30. The Forks Resort and Miller’s Landing are both long-time favorites on the lake where you can ...

You never really know how long March snow will stick around. I did know that snow was up in our local mountains, plenty of it to snowshoe on, so we packed up our ride with 5 hikers, our snowshoes and headed for the SNO-PARK areas above Shaver Lake. Where: Coyote SNO-PARK, Sierra National Forest Distance: 5.89 miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevational Range: ...

Bright blue skies with white puffy clouds and plenty of snow to enjoy made it the right time to check out the trail and views from Dewey Point. Where: Yosemite National Park Distance: 7.41 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevational Range: 7,331′ to 7,569′ Date: March 12, 2018 Map: El Capitan Topographic Map Dog Hike: No Even though snow was late arriving ...

First snowshoe adventure of the season in March? Yes indeed, and we sure weren’t going to waste anytime getting our snowshoes on that snow. We just didn’t know when Mother Nature would take that opportunity away from us. A good workout, gaining 1,000 feet in elevation in 2 1/2 miles, but we also received a wonderful surprise when we arrived ...

As we hiked down to the old Kistler Cabin site, we could easily make out the animal tracks on the damp trail and there were quite a few bear tracks. We didn’t see any of those bear but we did come across an 8-toed bear track, which was extra scary. Where: Yosemite National Park, Sierra National Forest Distance: 9.54 miles ...

Wildflowers and snow, all in the same hike! Who would have guessed? We had heard that a few early wildflowers were blooming above Redinger Lake so we headed on up to check them out and got a good workout in as a bonus. Where: Sierra National Forest Distance: 10.03 Miles Difficulty: Moderate Elevation Range: 1,404′ to 3,521′ Date: February 21, ...