I headed back to Zion with some friends to hike The Narrows. We had originally obtained Top-Down Day permits (Virgin Narrows Dayuse Trail From Top -12), but due to some scheduling issues, we cancelled our permits and opted for a bottom-up day hike (no permit needed). On the day of our hike, it was a rainy and overcast and we thought about cancelling … Read More
My wife and I are hiking Half Dome with friends later this month. We don’t have much time to train, so we need to get out whenever we can. We had a 4 hour, kid-free block of time, so we loaded up our packs and headed out to a local mountain. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of wildflowers … Read More
Having been obsessed with statistics for most of my life, I’ve also been very goal oriented in much that I do. If there aren’t any inherit goals in an activity, I always seem to create them. This carried over into my hiking: a desire to take on the toughest trails I can safely handle, wanting to improve my performance each successive … Read More
I had a very strenuous hike planned for this day (16 miles, ±5500 ft), but had to cancel due to some exciting news. Kurgo announced that Riley (my dog) and I are finalists for a $5000 sponsorship. The sponsorship would give me the financial means to purse and amazing adventure – we are hoping to hike NH’s 52 With a View … Read More
I signed up for this event late, but due to the generosity of some family members, I was able to meet the donation requirements. I knew this event supported a great cause, which I wrote about in a previous blog entry (The Heroes Project 2015), but it didn’t really “hit” me until I was on the mountain, hiking amongst and talking to the … Read More
My family and I spent a night camping at Whitewater Preserve. The next day we hiked and played in the water. It was a great opportunity to spend some time together, as well as test some of my gear for my upcoming High Sierra Trail (HST) hike. I got up around 2:30 am Saturday morning to snap some pics of the … Read More
My family and I met up with some friends, including fellow Oboz Footwear Trail Ambassador Karin, to go look for some wildflowers.It was a short hike (~4 miles) and it was great to get out for a relaxing day, visit with friends, and enjoy the views. Notable Gear Hydrapak Stash I continue to be impressed with this bottle. I have … Read More
I joined the SoCal Hike and Peakbag Meetup for another epic day of hiking and snowshoeing. With the recent snowfall, I was hoping that there’d be enough snow to test my winter traction devices, put in a few miles with my snowshoes and summit one of the 10,000 foot peaks in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. The conditions ended up being the best that … Read More
With the recent snowfall, I was hoping to finally climb the Baldy Bowl, a goal that has been eluding me for the past 3 years. The Plan I asked members of the California Peaks FB group for conditions regarding the snow level in the bowl. Several responded to my inquiry and I ended up joining a group that was already planning to go. … Read More
While there’s still snow in the area, I am trying to get out as much as possible to test my winter gear. With the warm temperatures in Southern California over the last week, the snow is melting fast. Since I knew there was lots of snow within a few miles of the South Fork Trailhead, we decided to head to the … Read More