The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.” – John Muir About the Photo I took this photo as I was sprawled on my back, laying on a picnic bench in the backpacker’s campground in Yosemite Valley. I had picked up our permits to thru-hike the John Muir Trail, and was feeling […]
Muir Monday: All the Wild World is Beautiful
All the wild world is beautiful.” – John Muir The wilderness has a beauty that cannot be replicated. It is forever changing; familiar, yet always new. Nowhere is that more evident than when the leaves begin to turn colors in the fall. The experience changes day by day and even hour by hour as the […]
Muir Monday: Most People Are On the World, Not In It
Most people are on the world, not in it.” – John Muir At 4am, the alarm jolts me out of a deep slumber. It takes a moment for me to realize that, yes, in fact it is time to wake up. I have a mountain to climb. By 5am, I’ve got my coffee and am en […]
Muir Monday: Come to the Woods
Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to […]
Muir Monday: The View from San Jacinto
The view from San Jacinto is the most sublime spectacle to be found anywhere on this earth!” – John Muir At 10, 834 feet, San Jacinto Peak is the highest in Riverside County and one of the tallest in Southern California. It’s one of SoCal Hiker’s Six-Pack of Peaks. There are several routes to the […]
Muir Monday: The Power of Imagination
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” – John Muir This week’s Muir Monday photo comes from a hiking friend, Robert Randall. Bob and I hiked Mt. Baldy together a few years ago, and more recently, Echo Mountain. Bob captured this fantastic shot of the Milky Way looking southward over Middle Chain Lake in Yosemite […]
Muir Monday: In the Mountains of San Gabriel
In the mountains of San Gabriel, overlooking the lowland vines and fruit groves, Mother Nature is most ruggedly, thornily savage.” – John Muir The San Gabriel mountains are Los Angeles’ wilderness backyard. Within the San Gabriels are towering mountain peaks, covered in snow in the winter. There are dense pine forests shading steep, rugged trails. […]
Muir Monday: Our National Park Service
Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grass and gentians of glacier meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of Nature’s darlings. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their […]
