Happy Thanksgiving! I was thinking about the many reasons I have to be thankful this year, and want to start by thanking you. I’m so grateful that you are part of this amazing community of hikers, backpackers and adventurers. Your stories continue to inspire me and countless others. And so I made this photo mosaic […]
2016 Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Recap
A big thank-you to all of the challengers and congratulations to those who finished our second annual Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge. Together, you have logged over 2,500 hikes up the six peaks, hiked more than 32,000 miles and climbed nearly 11 million vertical feet! Best of all, you helped raise $10,000 for Big City Mountaineers–and awesome […]
Four Big Adventures to Add to Your Life List
Do you want more adventures in the year ahead? Maybe you’ve finished the Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge, and you’re looking for a new challenge−something that takes you out of your comfort zone and pushes you beyond what you thought you could do? Big adventures don’t happen by dreaming−they require planning and preparation. Many big adventures require […]
Big Adventures Ahead
At the 2016 Six-Pack of Peaks Challenge Finisher’s Party, we asked folks to write down their next big adventure and clip it to a line with a clothespin. The end result looked a bit like a Himalayan prayer flag filled with inspiring goals from our challengers. Here’s a glimpse at what they’ve got planned for […]
Meet the Artist: Sarah Hernandez
Sarah Hernandez is the artist behind the Six-Pack of Peaks Series now available in our shop. She shares many of her eye-catching pen and ink drawings on her Instagram feed. As it turns out, she used SoCalHiker when she was planning her thru-hike a few years ago. But I’ll let her tell you… Tell us a […]
Creating a Legacy of Love for the Outdoors
It was a warm, moon-less summer evening. I hiked in silence along the damp lakeside trail, my father behind me. There were a couple dozen of us — young boys about 8-9 and our fathers, solemnly making our way from our campsite to the campfire. My foot slipped off the embankment and into the muddy, murky […]
Muir Monday: The Paths You Take
Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt.” – Anonymous In a survey conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) they found that people in the United States spend 87 percent of their time indoors, mostly at either home or work. Bear in mind, that’s an average. […]
Muir Monday: Going to the Mountains is Going Home
Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity.” – John Muir Seems like whenever I ask a friend how they are doing, the reply inevitably includes “I’m so busy!” or “I’m slammed!” It seems that we are all busy, […]