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
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 […]
Essential Wonderland Trail Resources
If you want to hike the Wonderland Trail, it pays to do your homework. There were a number of resources we used help us plan, prepare, and successfully hike the Wonderland Trail. First up is the wonderful book Hiking the Wonderland Trail by Tami Asars. I used the paperback version as I was researching the […]
Mushrooms of the Wonderland Trail
I was amazed by the variety of mushrooms I saw on the Wonderland Trail. I know some of them are edible, but I’ve no idea which ones. Click on the gallery to view larger, and leave a comment on a photo if you can help me identify them.
Planning an Ascent of Mount Rainier
Each year at our Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Finishers Party, we do an exercise we call Your Next Adventure. We ask everyone to take an index card and a permanent marker and write down their big adventure goals for the year ahead. The simple act of committing it to paper, and sharing it with others is […]
Backpacking the Red Peak Pass Loop in Yosemite National Park
Yosemite National Park features some of the most beautiful backcountry in all of the Sierra Nevada. Surprisingly, however, most people stick to a few main trails – namely the John Muir Trail between Yosemite Valley – Tuolumne Meadows – Donahue Pass and the High Sierra Camp trails leading to Merced Lake – Vogelsang – Sunrise. […]
Wonderland Trail Day 13: Maple Creek to Longmire
Our final day required a four-mile climb out of Stevens Canyon, a stop at Reflection Lakes, the descending almost exactly the elevation we climbed to the Nisqually River and the Cougar Rock Picnic Area to complete our loop on the Wonderland Trail. This final section of our Wonderland Trail trek began foggy and damp. It […]
Wonderland Trail Day 12: Indian Bar to Maple Creek
Day 12 would start with a foggy climb with no views, then take us plummeting downward 3,805 feet to camp at Maple Creek, our final campsite for the trip. Before we headed out, we took one more look at the ravine at Indian Bar, then started the climb up to Cowlitz Divide. The divide begins […]
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