A great workout with beautiful flowers and a ton of history! This hike was right up my alley on a cooler day between raindrops. Where: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Merced River Recreation Management Area Distance: About 9 miles roundtrip to the gate but you can go shorter or longer Difficulty: Moderate to Strenuous Elevation Range: 1,138′ – 2,835′ Date: ...

Written by David Novell – Orangie woke up early, even though it was summer and he could sleep in if he wanted to. Today was Sunday, and the house was quiet except for the sound of his dad’s electric percolator making coffee and the occasional rustle of the morning paper’s pages being turned. And then he remembered! His best friend ...

Written by David Novell – The sky was deep blue as Orangie walked out onto the sidewalk, a big paper bag in each arm. He found himself whistling “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino, including all the background stuff after each melody line, which is part of what made it such a cool song. Orangie’s very first record that was his ...

With the Hite Cove area trails closed, where could we go to check out the Merced River Canyon poppies and other colorful wildflowers? We found a nice trail with lots of yellow poppies and color combinations of all kinds represented by other wildflowers. We also discovered that the wildflowers are running a little later than they were in previous years ...

Written by David Novell – Orangie stuffed the shopping list into his back pocket, not particularly thrilled with the idea of doing the grocery shopping for his household, which of course was not much of a household, consisting of only him and his dad nowadays. But still, it wasn’t all that much fun having just a few bucks to get ...

COARSEGOLD — Like many of our children growing up in the mountains, Hannah Lewis loves her dog. He’s a blue-nosed brindle pit the family named Kenpo, after the Japanese martial arts. It’s no wonder they’re mutually devoted — she’s had Kenpo since he was six weeks old; he is seven years old now. Hannah’s almost 16. She likes music, and ...

AHWAHNEE – Madera County is giving 75 acres in Awhawnee to the Eastern Madera County SPCA to help the organization complete its new, no-kill animal shelter. On Tuesday, the board of supervisors OK’d the donation of 75.33 acres of “surplus” county land to EMC SPCA. The organization’s president said the donation will allow the nonprofit to secure additional funding for ...

A dusting of new snow was the perfect backdrop for our hike to see gigantic Sequoias. Some of our hike was with snowshoes and some of it was without. That is the way it goes with springtime snow. Where: Yosemite National Park, Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias Distance: About 10 Miles but you can go shorter or farther Difficulty: Moderate ...

I needed a break from snow, ice and cold so I headed down the hill to warm up with a hike along Hensley Lake. A rolling hilly hike while walking through history, white puffy clouds and the first wildflowers of spring welcomed me. Where: Hensley Lake, Army Corps of Engineers Distance: 6.95 Miles Difficulty: Easy to Moderate, depending on how ...

MOUNTAIN AREA — With visions of snow days dancing in their heads, children in the foothills went to sleep on Monday night and woke up on Tuesday, Feb. 5, to a proverbial winter wonderland, as the promised so-many-inches blanketed neighborhoods overnight. And it’s not over yet — freezing temps are expected overnight and there’s a good chance that snow is ...