Yesterday, I took some time off my regular job and drove 35 miles south with a friend along the Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Northern California to a new 2,000-acre preserve. Named after the adjoining dairy land, Stornetta Ranch is on lighthouse road, about half way between Highway 1 and the Point Arena Lighthouse. […]
Here is Tom Stientra’s final story on his 70-mile trek through Sequoia National Park, across the Sierra.
(08-12) 04:00 PDT Mineral King, Sequoia National Park — - From a notch in the rim of the Great Western Divide, you can scan east to the horizon and take in distant 14,497-foot Mount Whitney and the contiguous rows […]
The Stienstra trek continues …
(08-11) 04:00 PDT Forester Lake, Sequoia National Park –
We stood at the foot of Rattlesnake Canyon and gazed up toward the Great Western Divide and the climb that faced us: 12 miles of up with a gain of 5,130 feet.
“My body just said to me, ‘You must be kidding,’ ” […]
This is a great trek across the Sierra, through the Kern Canyon, and Stienstra’s story an inspiration to backpackers.
(08-10) 04:00 PDT Rattlesnake Canyon, Sequoia National Park — The rattle sounded like shaking maracas.
But this was not a percussionist. This was a rattlesnake, about 4 feet long, coiled and poised on the side of the trail. […]
Tom Stientra’s incredible journey continues … a trek of a lifetime.
(08-09) 04:00 PDT Aspen Camp, Kern Canyon — - As morning broke, I stuck my head out of my “bivy” and had the surreal vision that I was camped at the base of Yosemite Valley in the early 1800s.
On each side of the valley floor, […]
(08-08) 04:00 PDT Jeffrey Grove, Kern Canyon — From our perch on a boulder above the river, you could see three dark silhouettes in the pool below.
“They can’t be fish,” said my brother, Rambob, “because they’re too big.”
The morning light poured down over the Great Western Divide and to the floor of the Kern Canyon. […]
(08-07) 04:00 PDT Junction Meadow, Kern River Canyon — It was a crisp 38 degrees at dawn. I filled my water bottle at Whitney Creek, and then heard a buzz. I turned to my left and looked up, and a hummingbird was eyeing me from three feet. It hovered, facing me, as if asking, “What […]
Outdoor writer Tom Stienstra’s 70-mile trek across the Sierra in Sequoia National Park is truly inspirational. Here is the beginning of part 2 of his series:
(08-06) 04:00 PDT Crabtree Meadow, Mount Whitney Wilderness — - Rising trout swirled on the surface of a small, pristine lake. The morning was so quiet that you could hear […]
While I have taken many long weekend trips that mean carrying a pack 30 miles, I have found it much more enjoyable — even with my ultralight backpack — to take trips where the pack-carrying is limited and day hiking to explore the wilderness is the order of the day. One of those short trips […]
U.S. award-winning outdoor writer, columnist and TV personality Tom Steinstra is writing an eight-part series in the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper about a 70-mile backpacking trek through Sequoia National Park, starting at Siberian Ridge and ending at Mineral King, which takes in Mt. Whitney, one of highest points in North America.
Steinstra says in this […]
