Outdoor Travel Geek

Category: outdoors

  • burney falls

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    A long journey began today. Gid and I went to the Sacramento airport to pick up a rental car for a long road trip. We had reserved a compact car, but we ended up upgrading to a Prius V. My first impressions of the car are that it accelerates really slowly and the handling is…

  • bassi falls

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    I probably should be taking it easy, since I literally fainted into a face plant yesterday, but I figured a hike would be okay. I had already agreed to go on this hike to Bassi Falls, and it was supposedly a pretty easy hike. And anyways, I feel most recharged when I’m outdoors. The hike…

  • horsetail falls

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    I didn’t realize that it was Memorial Day weekend until Friday, when coworkers started asking what I’m doing for the long weekend. I didn’t really have any plans, just the usual, try to get in some biking or hiking. On Saturday morning I went biking on the American River Parkway. It’s nice out there this…

  • moon over mendocino

    This weekend I went backpacking at the Mendocino National Forest. It’s a pretty easy and short hike, which was good because there were a bunch of kids who were going backpacking for the first time. They had mostly grown up together in church. It kind of reminded me of when I used to be a…

  • watery wonder world

    This weekend I was in Monterey finishing up my open water scuba certifications. Apparently Monterey is the place to go for scuba lessons. There were several other classes out there even though the weather wasn’t all that great. The class I was a part of was pretty small, just me, my buddy Tim, and a…

  • the plunge

    I have liked watches for as long as I can remember. Ever since my first job out of high school I’ve been sort of shopping for a watch, but haven’t gotten around to buying one until now. I finally made the plunge and bought one this week because of my scuba class. It’s not a…

  • racked up

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    The weather has been incredibly nice lately– unusually warm for February. I’ve been taking advantage of the weather by going biking, if you couldn’t already tell from all the biking posts in February. This weekend I went biking out at the American River Parkway with Jiro and Ray. I’d forgotten how nice it was out…

  • feather falls backpacking

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    According to some people, Feather Falls is the sixth highest waterfall in the United States. According to Wikipedia, those people are wrong, and Feather Falls doesn’t even crack the top ten. Regardless of who is right, Feather Falls is a pretty amazing waterfall. It’s incredibly tall. To get a sense of the size of the…

  • fountain of youth?

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    Most people who read my crappy blog with any sort of regularity probably know that I’m not all that great at planning. Sometimes the lack of planning leads to some interesting stories. This weekend, for example, was pretty interesting. For a brief moment on Saturday I stood naked in the Ventana Wilderness, struggling to get…

  • first pho king five

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    This weekend I ran my first 5k run. Well actually, I take that back. To say I ran the 5k would be too generous. I ended up only running a bit more than half of the route, and ended up walking the rest with a cramp in my shin. The sad thing is, I know…

  • a special place

    This weekend I went on what will probably be the last backpacking trip of 2011. It was to a place called the Trinity Alps Wilderness. After having been to Yosemite twice in the last month, I didn’t have overly high expectations of this place. This trip was with the usual backpacking crew that Dan organizes,…

  • weekend of fun

    Every once in a while I get an email from one of my friends with the subject “weekend of fun.” Weekend of fun is his little euphemism for house work day. He bought a house recently and is slowly remodeling it. So he sends out these weekend of fun emails asking for help. I’d totally…

  • the dome

    Gosh. I had been looking forward to this trip for a long time. I had first tried to get my Half Dome permit in April, but I had overslept by 30 minutes, and by the time I had woken up and logged onto my computer all the permits were sold out. I tried again in…

  • yosemite backcountry

    Let me tell you something– when it comes to backpacking (or actually outdoor trips in general) I am lazy. It’s a weird kind of laziness. I will gladly drive two hundred plus miles to hike upwards of 20 miles. I will carry a 25 pound pack filled with gear up two thousand feet of elevation…

  • emeralds, rubies and hobos

    emeralds, rubies and hobos

    I have been to Emerald bay a few times now and the experience has been different each time. This time it was with some friends from college. I first started going to church in college, so these were among my first church friends. I’m not sure why this area is called Emerald Bay. Maybe it’s…