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To the Poppy Fields or Bust!
“On the Edge of the Mojave Desert is a place of Momentary Vibrance. “ Saturday, April 15th 2021After being pummeled by numerous atmospheric rivers, California has been mostly pushed out of it’s persistent drought status. With the fall of so much rain, comes the after effects in the western most regions of the Mojave Desert. A super bloom of wildflowers that Jenny and I would not allow ourselves to miss out on. The California Poppy was the main attraction at this location. There were acres and acres of them splashed along the hills and open fields along with a few other wildflowers. The saturation of color was almost uncanny and…
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In Search of Liquid Turquoise 2018
“Hiking to 10,000ft in search of pristine Alpine Lakes!” Saturday, September 1st, 2018 Today was the day that Jenn and I had been talking about for some time. The relentless heat of summer in the Mojave Desert had pushed our venturing ideas into the cooler regions of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. We had known about the lakes at the foot of Temple Crag for some time and had only ever seen photos of them. We wanted to experience one lake in particular, Big Pine Lake or as it is often called “Second Lake”. The hike is nearly 5 miles (8 km) to Big Pine Lake and over 3,000 ft (915…
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Journey to Havasu Falls 2018
“Taking The Long Way Down With 40+ Pound Packs” DAY 01 Friday, April 20th, 2018 Several months ago, my excellent girlfriend and amazing travel partner, Jenn, invited me to join her and her friend Karin on a journey to Havasu Falls. I had only ever read articles about that place and the images were like something out of a dream. Beautiful aquamarine colors only seen in the most tropic of settings flowed deep at the bottom of a canyon through one of the most arid desert regions in the American West. The canyon is part of the Grand Canyon which in turn is a part of the Colorado River basin…
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Hiking the Convict Lake Trail 2017
Journey to a Natural Alpine Lake – “Convict Lake” Wednesday, June 7th, 2017 It’s no secret that I am absolutely in love with California’s Eastern Sierra Nevada so naturally I have added yet another venture blog from that region. With the weather getting a lot warmer in the late Spring, the immense snowpack that graced this beautiful granite range has started to melt at a furious rate. Convict Lake was looking a whole lot different than it was just a few months back during a Wintery Spring in the Eastern Sierra 2017. After enjoying a hike at June Lake’s Rush Creek Trail just the other day, I felt that it…
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Hiking the Rush Creek Trail 2017
Rush Creek Trail – “Living up to its name!” Monday, June 5th, 2017 Most days, the idea of a Monday morning spawns images of another dreadful work week. For me however, It would be a very different Monday. I was fortunate enough to wake up on in the Eastern Sierra Nevada with a beautiful destination to venture to. I have been visiting the June Lake Loop for well over a decade, but never actually hiked the trails that are in and around this lovely region. I was going to change that by taking on the Rush Creek Trail to Agnew Lake. “The Starship hits up the June Lake Loop for another glorious Eastern…
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Whitney Portal Road 2017
Hiking the Whitney Portal Road – “Taking the slow lane!” Wednesday, March 22nd, 2017 My travel companion Julia and I wanted to visit the Whitney Portal today because it had been years since our last trip to this place. The weather was perfect and we started our ascent early that morning. As we drove up Whitney Portal Road, we were suddenly stopped by a ‘suggested’ road closure sign. Now typically I will cruise around signs like this, but I knew of the serious damage that occurred up the road by a massive rock slide in late January 2017. I also knew that the debris was recently cleared with dynamite and heavy equipment, but what I didn’t know…
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Southwest 2015 – Journey Into the Narrows of Zion
Saturday, December 12th, 2015 When the alarm went off this morning, we wasted no time in getting breakfast, showering up, and gathering all our camera gear for today’s adventure. This was not the typical day of hiking or photo venturing, it was an epic voyage into the Narrows of Zion. Julia was excited and so was I. Once we had all our stuff together, we drove to the Zion Adventure Company to get a crash course on the Narrows including navigation and what to do in case the water level rises suddenly due to a flash flood. After watching the short video brief, we got all our rental gear and suited…
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Southwest 2015 – Riverside Walk and Journey to the Overlook
Thursday, December 10th, 2015 After the long drive from Page via U.S. Route 89A, Julia and I were exhausted so we crashed pretty hard last night and woke up a bit on the tired side, but that didn’t stop us from heading downstairs at 6:30 a.m. to get our mittens on some of the Holiday Inn Express’ complimentary breakfast which I have to say was not that bad at all compared to some of the more awful complimentary breakfast options I’ve experienced at other places I’ve lodged at. We didn’t have much in mind for today, so Julia and I talked about what we should do. She had mentioned the…
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Conquering Half Dome
“Taking on one serious monster of a hike!” Friday, July 17th, 2015 This trip was a long time coming. Going all the way back to March 2015 when my friend Sandy and I decided to apply for the Yosemite Lottery to attain a permit to hike the cables up to Half Dome. The lottery system was implemented in 2012 to limit the amount of foot traffic on the cables. A maximum of 300 hikers are allowed (about 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers) each day on the Half Dome Trail beyond the base of the Sub Dome. Two separate fees are collected. The first fee, which is charged at the…
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Alamere Falls
Bolinas, CA Saturday, June 6th, 2015 This weekend was going to be a scorcher for the South Bay and I wasn’t about to have any of that. I wanted to get a good hike in and possibly even get a decent travel blog going so I knew that I would inevitably be heading northbound. I had been researching other potential locations around Point Reyes since I enjoyed the last trip to that area so much. Alamere Falls was a place that kept appearing on the map and with enough personal convincing, I set off to make an adventure of it. The drive would be approximately 88 miles and take me…
