I woke up to the early morning light. Outside our tent the air was thick with fog and heavy with moisture. Large drops of condensation clung to our rain fly, and everything that wasn’t covered was damp. We fired up our stove, boiling water for our Starbucks Via and ate awesome breakfast burritos while the sun […]
Lost Coast Trail: Mattole Beach to Sea Lion Gulch
We drove up Highway 101 from San Francisco, marveling at the beautiful scenery all the way. The golden coastal mountains, dotted with ancient oak trees slowly give way to towering redwoods that darken the skies. We turned off at Garberville and stopped for lunch before making the two hour drive to Shelter Cove. Oddly, our […]
The Lost Coast Trail: An Overview
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 […]
Backpacking on the Santa Cruz Trail in the Santa Barbara Backcountry
Backpacking in Santa Barbara? Usually when people think of Santa Barbara they think of Stearns Wharf, the beach, the shops on State Street or the wild college scene near UCSB. But what you might not realize is that the Santa Barbara backcountry takes you into the expansive Los Padres National Forest, with deep canyons, soaring ridge […]
Essential Planning Resources for the John Muir Trail
Planning an epic backpacking trip on the John Muir Trail is not only essential to a successful trip; it’s also part of the fun. Learning about where and how to ship resupply packages; planning your itinerary; poring over the maps and elevation charts all add to the sense of adventure and excitement. Having the right […]
Thru-Hiking the JMT: Guitar Lake to Mt. Whitney
Day 22 on the John Muir Trail… Technically, this day begins at the end of Day 21. We went to bed early last night, sleeping lightly for a few hours and waking to our alarm at 11:30 PM. We ate Clif Bars and packed up our sleeping gear and tent. Donning our headlamps, we made […]
Thru-Hiking the JMT: Wright Creek to Guitar Lake
Day 21 on the John Muir Trail… Last night we camped in the shadow of Mt. Whitney. We woke up excited, knowing that we were so close to our goal. We had been hiking on the John Muir Trail for three weeks. We had come a long way from that first day in Yosemite. We […]
Thru-Hiking the JMT: Over Forester Pass to Wright Creek
Day 20 on the John Muir Trail… At 13,200 feet above sea level, Forester Pass may not be the highest point on the John Muir Trail (that would be Mt. Whitney) but it is the high point of the Pacific Crest Trail. As we’ve hiked further and further south on the JMT, our average altitude has […]
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