With all of our recent rain and warm spring-like weather, I had been hearing reports about what a great show our local waterfalls were putting on but I hadn’t heard any reports on Chilnualna Falls. We needed to go check it out for ourselves. It was a good sign when we could hear Chilnualna Falls roaring from the parking lot and ...

Hite Cove is famous for the spring poppy display but this year is a little different. I hadn’t heard any good reports on the wildflowers in Hite Cove area and was very curious how our winter’s crazy weather was affecting them. We had a couple of surprises. One was the trail condition and the other was the diversity of types ...

BASS LAKE — Wondering where the big bunny will be this weekend? Try the Pines Village, where organizers plan an awesome Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, Mar. 26 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Bonus? It’s free and it’s BYOB — that means, bring your own basket — one per child. Groups will be divided into youngsters age four and ...

We had headed over for the “Superbloom” but how can you not go to Death Valley and see more? Rugged, wildly colored canyons and mountains where miners seeked their fortunes and lonely sand dunes called to us to explore them. Many wonderful books have been written about Death Valley and I am not about to attempt to do that in this blog, ...

El Nino has helped create a “superbloom” of wildflowers in Death Valley. About every 10 years or so this rare event takes place and doesn’t last too long. I couldn’t wait to get over there and experience those yellow, pink and purple wildflowers for myself. Death Valley’s average annual rainfall is 2 inches a year, and sometimes, it gets no rain ...

Not all hiking trips go as planned and this is one of our doozies and it was all my fault. We chose this hike to check out the wildflowers at Eastman Lake and had heard that the eagles were flying there. That would be so cool to see an eagle! Distance: 8 Miles Difficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending on how ...

Mom and I headed up out of Briceburg to see if those poppies were blooming along the Merced River. They were, along with many other wildflowers. Distance: 6.34 Miles, but you can go shorter or longer Difficulty: Easy Elevation Range: 1,086′ to 1,207′ Date: February 21, 2016 Maps: Bear Valley and Buckingham Mountain Topographic Maps I headed up Hwy 140 to ...

Poppies and other colorful wildflowers were starting to come alive with our recent warm spell and we couldn’t wait to see if we could spot some. I just love poppies! Where: BLM, San Joaquin River Gorge Special Recreation Management Area Distance: 7.72 Miles Difficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending on how far you go Elevation Range: 636′ to 1,861′ Date: February 15, ...

We got a real workout on the toughest trail out of the Yosemite Valley and were rewarded with amazing views of Clouds Rest and Half Dome that you can see no other way. Not all hikes go as planned and this one definitely fell in that category. Where: Yosemite National Park Distance: About 11 Miles Difficulty: Strenuous Elevation Range: 3,972 – ...

Four of us piled in my rig and we headed up for our toughest snowshoe adventure this year, full of fresh snow. The Merced Crest is famous for the spectacular views of the high country to the east. We started our adventure with beautiful blue sky with a few clouds and we had a few surprises along the way. Where: ...