Last week we spent a couple of days recharging in the Sierras and accidentally stepped into Rivendell. The aspens are just about to enter their prime fall state and their yellows and oranges were stunning to look at against a beautiful blue sky. It's sad how I will never take a blue sky for granted …
One of our goals of this trip was to do a few short day hikes on the PCT. After hiking all these years in the Sierras, I've come to the conclusion that the most scenic trail is by far the Pacific Crest Trail. Every time we've hiked a segment of it, I get blown away …
Right before school started, we escaped to the Sierras to savor the last carefree days of summer. Ellie is in that weird in-between stage where she is almost too big and heavy to be carried in the hiking backpack yet too little to walk many miles by herself. The longest she's hiked on her own …
This year the snow made our trip to the Sierras both challenging and fun. We got to go sledding and have snow ball fights, but the deep snow made following the trail difficult. We had to do some tracking using the GPS on our phone and had to backtrack often, soaking our socks and pants …
When most people think of Oregon, they think of fog-shrouded evergreens characteristic of the Pacific Northwest. Before my husband took me there three years ago, I could not even have imagined that the eastern half of the state was actually a high desert, complete with the most desolate looking dried lake bed that turned out …
Being outdoors and off the grid always makes me feel refreshed and happy. Being disconnected in some ways made it possible to connect with things that are truly important to me: family and nature. I’m lucky to have a husband who is such a topography nerd. On almost every trip, he would take us on …
milkywaypicnic 