YOSEMITE – The Yosemite Conservancy unveiled an exciting line-up of Outdoor Adventures for 2013 that give visitors a rare opportunity to experience Yosemite National Park’s glorious backcountry, wilderness, geology, art and culture in small groups led by renowned experts. “Professional photographers, artists, naturalists and historians lead our Outdoor Adventures to provide visitors of all ages and wilderness experience levels with ...

CALIFORNIA – A shy and elusive member of the weasel family, the Pacific fisher seems misnamed. This carnivorous inhabitant of mid-elevation forests in the Sierra Nevada doesn’t fish at all, favoring birds, small mammals and–unlike most predators–even porcupines in its diverse diet which they augment with fungi and fruit. Feeding mostly in the hours around dusk and dawn, fishers are ...

YOSEMITE – If you want to climb Half Dome this summer, you will need to make reservations, and now is the time. Half Dome Cables Day Use permits for the 2013 hiking season are available for reservations Friday, Mar. 1, through Sunday, Mar. 31. Permits to hike to the top of Half Dome are required seven days per week and ...

YOSEMITE – People were gathered around this time last year, waiting, talking and laughing – then the crowd began to settle down. We were amateurs among professionals, but no one seemed to mind, as a hush fell on the crowd looking out at Horsetail Fall. Colors began to change on the cliffs, as light played with water, and in the ...

MADERA COUNTY – Birding enthusiasts or nature lovers in general are invited to head over to Eastman Lake on the second Saturday of each month through April for a chance to spot numerous species of birds. Eastman Lake, located in the foothills of Madera County almost equidistant between the city of Madera and the town of Coarsegold, is home to ...

We had traveled almost 3000 miles from our home in Oakhurst, CA in an old Toyota 4-Runner, which we had converted into our home on wheels, but we made it! We were officially in Alaska! We crossed the border at about 10:30 that morning and came into the town of Tok at 1:00 in the afternoon. We stopped at the ...

If you’ve ever heard a raptor’s shrill scream, savored the majesty of a soaring hawk or eagle, been awestruck by a peregrine falcon in a 200-mph “stoop” or felt the piercing gaze of an owl, then you can understand why cultures have revered and worshipped birds of prey throughout human history.

Visit America’s Newest National Park The Pinnacles National Monument, now called The Pinnacles National Park, was just signed into law as America’s 59th National Park. The bill was sent from Congress and signed by Mr. Obama on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. The Park is located in the Coast Ranges near Hollister, CA. Theodore Roosevelt first designated this Park a National ...

“Anchorage 3067 miles ahead”, or at least that is what our GPS informed us when we pulled out of our driveway on a warm September afternoon. As we drove through Ahwahnee, my husband pulled out the mp3 player and surprised me with one of the new songs he downloaded for our journey. “North to Alaska. They’re goin’ North, the rush ...

YOSEMITE – The waterfalls are spectacular and admission is free to Yosemite National Park on Monday, Jan. 21, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Yosemite has experienced a magnificent winter thus far, with an abundance of snowfall throughout the park. The floor of Yosemite Valley is blanketed in snow and Yosemite Falls, Bridalveil Fall, Vernal Fall and other ...