I just finished Eric Blehm’s book, The Last Season, a recounting of the fate of Randy Morgenson, the legendary ranger who disappeared in the mid-1990′s in Kings Canyon National Park. He grew up in Yosemite, where he’s father served as his role model: photographer, hiker, bird watcher, docent, lover of all wild things. Ansel Adams [...]
Last week I returned from a short, lightweight backpack to Mt. Eddy (9,025 feet), a great viewing spot for Mt. Shasta. A mile north of the City of Weed, California, on I-5, you take Edgewood Drive, follow it to Stewart Springs Road and you end up at Parks Creek Trailhead (13 mile drive on paved [...]
This is not a list of hikes, but rather a few notes about the book 100 Classic Hikes in Northern California I bought as a birthday present for backpacking companion Wild Bill. Hopefully, he won’t read this because he doesn’t get the book until later this week. I’ll bet I’ve purchased more than a dozen [...]
How to get there: near Sonora, California, on Highway 108 before crossing the Sonora Pass in the Western Sierra. Campground: Baker (there are many surrounded by 100-foot red cedars right by the Stanislaus River). Where to eat: the Kennedy Meadows Resort & Pack Station, opened in 1917, and called the “Gateway to the Emigrant Wilderness”. [...]
In a post I wrote last year, I reviewed backpacking stoves and made what I think is a key observation: most stoves now are small and ultralight. But what adds the weight is the fuel. The Esbit fuel stove is my favorite (I also have propane and alcohol stoves) and works great at high altitude [...]
I remember showing up on my first backpack in 1998 with a 45-pound pack stuffed with every conceivable backpacking gadget and implement – such things as those orange spades used to dig toilet holes. The shear pain of all that weight, plus having so many different items in my pack sent me in search of [...]
Most of you have probably heard of zero-based budgeting. It’s a simple concept: your budget starts at zero and builds. This differs from annual budgeting that merely looks at the previous year’s budget and adds or subtracts an amount. With spring on us and snow melting fast, you’re probably anxious to hit the trail. But [...]
In my last post I discusssed how a Personal Locator Beacon could be a life saver — if you are out by yourself or with a group and someone gets seriously injured, trapped by poor weather or gets lost in the wilderness. The three climbers rescued from Mt. Hood on President’s Day credited their beacon [...]
Personal Locator Beacon
Great Wilderness Escapes Sometimes are Close to Home
