Backpacking companion Wild Bill and I thought a November backpack would reward us with total solitude. Instead, we were greeted by 15 college students and a four hunters at the trailhead next to Highway 20 near Clearlake, California. We let them go ahead, then headed toward our overnight destination seven miles ahead in Wilson Valley. […]
This is my 12th season as a backpacker and — I hate to admit it — the first season I haven’t had a pack on my back. Several trips started out with packs packed, but turned into camping / day hiking-into-the-wilderness-trips, covering sections of the PCT. Still, I am hoping for one more chance to […]
Wild Bill, the Duke and I just spent three days in the King Range, that 4,000 foot mountain range that forms the backdrop to the 28-mile Lost Coast Trail. On Saturday we topped King Peak at 4,200 feet and spent two hours having lunch and enjoying the incredible view. On Sunday, we drove down to […]
From the California Gold Rush town of Sonora, follow Highway 108 east for 30 miles, and before you hit Sonora Pass (9,600), you come to one of the most beautiful spots on Earth: Kennedy Meadows. Because of swarming mosquitos, our three days of backpacking and two days of car camping turned into 5 days of […]
I happen to live in a rural area of Northern California where a 10-minute drive and 20-minute walk will take me to a 40-foot waterfall among redwoods and ferns. This setting is as beautiful as you will find in the most remote wilderness areas. A great trek can merely be a walk in the near […]
Although Northern California rain is off about 40%+ this year, there has been just enough to keep snow on the mountains. What better time than to try a close-to-home (3 hours) in a low altitude destination. The “Three Bs” (Bruce, Bill and Bob) are taking our first 2009 backpack in Cache Creek Wilderness, off Highway […]
In mid-October, wearing bright orange vests to avoid being killed by deer hunters on horseback, backpacking companion Wild Bill and I ventured into the Snow Mountain Wilderness. Parking at the Summit Trail (30 miles from Upper Lake, California, we hiked 1,000 feet over 2 miles and ended up at a meadow surrounded by spruce trees. […]
When I say go wild, I mean get out where no one else goes. I’ll soon be heading out to the Snow Mountain Wilderness, which even at around 6,500 feet, feels like the Sierra and has views to the ocean on the west. It’s located north of California Highway 20 and is sandwiched between Interstate […]
The Mendocino Coast of Northern California has some of the rarest hikes anywhere. At Jug Handle State Reserve, a California State Parks property, you can walk about 2.5 miles from the ocean, through giant redwoods to a pygmy forest, one of only three (from what I understand) in the U.S. The out and back is […]
Award-winning outdoor writer Tom Stienstra, author of California Camping and California Hiking by Moon Press, knows the best places for ultralight backpacking. He described my favorite spot in a column published in the San Francisco Chronicle today: a loop in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, from Agnew Meadow to Shadow Lake to Garnet Lake. I agree […]
