Tracklogs

Grizzly Trail

Sat, 3 May 2008 19:28:27 -0700

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Wunderlich

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 19:43:21 -0700

Macchu Picchu

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 17:52:00 -0700

Peru

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 17:51:08 -0700

San Francisco Birthday

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 17:54:26 -0800

Tahoe Snowboarding

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:54:41 -0800

Austrian New Year

Tue, 8 Jan 2008 17:50:43 -0800

Bavarian Christmas

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 17:49:47 -0800

Bavaria: the home of Christmas, inventors of St. Nick and keeper of the Tannenbaum. What better place to visit as the final days of 2007 are put to rest? Scott and I found a couple cheap seats on a United flight (a final flight good enough to bump me up to Premeire Exective status!) and jumped the Atlantic to spend our winter breaks in the land of beer and sausage.

Black Mountain Trail

Sat, 3 Nov 2007 08:58:35 -0700

This uphill but only moderately difficult hike reveals incredible views spanning the entire peninsula with every switchback: on clear days, the panorama extends from Fremont to Oakland. The trail is very well maintained, you will not find overgrown brush or significant litter on the entire hike (but please pick up any you see!). Deer frequent the area and the trails and side shoots show the scatological evidence. No water is available on the trail but nearly the full length has excellent shade making for a pleasant hike on the warmest of days.

Map: http://www.openspace.org/preserves/maps/pr_rancho_san_antonio.pdf

Official Site: http://www.openspace.org/preserves/pr_rancho_san_antonio.asp
http://www.bahiker.com/southbayhikes/ranchoblack.html

Pickel Meadow, Labor Day

Sat, 1 Sep 2007 17:33:46 -0700

Labor day weekend, the unofficial end of summer. I was feeling the itch, I had to take advantage of the last bit of warmth and sunlight before the days start to dwindle. Typical me, I left planning for the last minute which means every camping, hiking or outdoors area in the country that could take a reservation already had. Anywhere that didn’t take reservations was going to fill up by 10am Friday. Lucky me, I still know more than a couple areas few others have ever been. Pickel Meadow was the obvious choice.

Pickel Meadow: just over Sonora grade, halfway between South Lake Tahoe and Yosemite along 395. It is secluded, untouched, uninhabited and most importantly, unknown. The Marine Corps has set up a small school for mountain and cold weather survival there, the Mountain Warfare Training Center. If you are ever invited to take part in one of their survival courses I highly recommend participating.

Feeling the weight of a summer of work we weren’t in the mood to shoulder heavy packs and hike so we piled gear high in my pickup, dropped it into 4WD and kept to the many miles of dirt roads the Marine Corps and forestry service maintain throughout the area. The roads reach back into national forest land and lead to countless excellent camping, hiking and climbing opportunities, all relaxing and all gorgeous.

The entire weekend (remember, this was labor day weekend), we saw three other people. One, a hunter, his first time in the area, was looking for directions and trying to scout the place out. The other two were a couple cruising by in a small jeep. They waved and passed on, a cute dog with his head out the window, tongue in the wind.

The weekend was relaxing, quiet and fun; exactly what the doctor ordered. We discovered a few nice meadows with picture perfect creeks running through, a fun mountain to climb that opened up the skyline and revealed the forestry for miles, and many mountain bike trails. It was a perfect location and a perfect weekend.