Outdoor Travel Geek

  • mount whitney

    At just over 14,500 feet above sea level, Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in California. It’s actually the highest point in the continental United States, the only taller mountains in the United States are in Alaska, with Mount Denali standing over 20,000 feet. Mount Whitney is probably the highest place in the North America…

  • bypass area birds

    I’m lucky enough to live less than ten minutes away from a wildlife area. The Yolo Bypass area is literally just a few miles away from my house. Most people pass it every day without even realizing it. It’s a good place to go bird watching, especially in the fall. I had the day off,…

  • loch leven again

    This weekend I went backpacking at Loch Leven Lakes. It’s a pretty easy and short hike, at least as far as backpacking trips go– under 10 miles round trip. It’s also an easy trip to plan for, since permits aren’t required and because it’s so easy to get to, right off of highway 80. I…

  • training in tahoe

    In a couple of weeks I have a permit to hike Mount Whitney, which is the highest point in the continental United States. It’s a pretty long hike– 22 miles round trip and about 6,000 feet in elevation gain. So lately I’ve been trying to hike more to get into shape for this grueling hike.…

  • lassen peak

    Today I went with a few friends to hike Lassen Peak. It’s a hike I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but haven’t been able to since the trail to the peak has been closed for maintenance. It’s only opened a couple of times in 2012, and this weekend was the last scheduled opening…

  • royal gorge rerun

    A couple of days ago I went mountain biking at the Royal Gorge area with Dave. We didn’t get very far. So I decided to explore the area on foot. I heard there’s some epic scenery about seven miles in, so I decided to head up early in the morning to try to find it.…

  • royal gorge

    Today was my second time at Royal Gorge. Last time I came out here with Geo, Jack and Joe. We rode in Geo’s Prius, which we didn’t think could handle the rough dirt road to the trailhead, so we ended up hiking several miles on dirt roads just to get to the trail (the Palisade…

  • subaru love

    The last few months have been quite expensive for me and my Subaru. I’ve had all sorts of different car related expenses– a parking ticket (missed the meter maid by less than a minute), a moving violation (my first in four years), traffic school (what a load of crap), and an expensive repair (somehow my…

  • neglected hobbies

    Today was a fun filled day. I suppose what made it really fun was the variety of activities. I guess I have a wide variety of hobbies, and lately they’ve been somewhat neglected. Lately I’ve been pretty lazy, preferring to lie on my couch and watch stuff on Amazon Prime or lie in bed reading…

  • the omigosh meal

    At better Japanese restaurants you can order what’s called an omakase meal. Omakase means “I’ll leave it up to you” in Japanese. It apparently comes from the Japanese word “to entrust” because essentially what you are doing is entrusting your sushi selections to the chef. Supposedly it’s the best way to get the chef’s freshest…

  • trinity alps wilderness

    This weekend six of us went backpacking in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. I had already been here once before, so I know it’s a pretty special place. Typically I don’t like to go backpacking to a place where I’ve been before, and although I knew it’s a pretty amazing place, I was kind of wary about…

  • perspectives in practice

    A few years ago I took a course called “Perspectives.” It’s a course on Christian missions. At the time I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life (and in truth I still really don’t) and thought that I might want to be a full time missionary someday. I guess it’s obvious…

  • tour of napa 2012

    Today I rode the 2012 Tour of Napa century ride. I’ve done this ride enough times that I don’t really take it too seriously anymore, seeing as how I went on a hike the day before. And I guess there’s really nothing special about the Tour of Napa century– other century rides have better scenery…

  • round top attempt

    So I didn’t realize this until recently, but apparently according to the US Forest Service, every wilderness area is a special place. I know this because every time I enter a wilderness area I see a sign that says, “You are about to enter a special place.” It makes me think back to a previous…

  • marin century 2012

    Today I rode the 2012 Marin Century. Apparently this year is its 50th year– I wonder what kind of bikes they rode back then. I rode this ride once before, in 2009. I thought it was a fun ride, with nice scenery. I don’t remember it being particularly tough, but for some reason this year…