Trail status note: We hiked this loop August 6-9, 2024. In summer 2026 the Grasshopper Fire closed the Timberline Trail, and it has since reopened. A forest closure order for areas east of Mt. Hood runs through December 31, 2026. Check current conditions with Mt. Hood National Forest before you go. In early August 2024, Jason,…
Yosemite National P ark, and in particular Yosemite Valley, is home to some of the most famous wilderness landmarks in America. But north of the Valley, and north of Highway 120 and Tuolumne Meadows, resides an area of the park known as the Yosemite Wilderness. And in the same way that the mighty Merced River…
Backpacking the Wonderland Trail in Mount Rainier National Park is a great way to test the thru-hiking waters to see if it’s for you. Joan and I visited Mount Rainier National Park for the first time in 2018, as we were scouting trails for the Pacific Northwest Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. We were awestruck by this majestic…
We arrived at Mattole Beach early in the evening. The trailhead has a scattering of car campsites, which we were eager to leave behind. We donned our backpacks, hit the trail, and promptly lost ourselves in the vast beauty of the coast. It feels somehow primal; the convergence of sea and land on this solitary, rugged section…