Mary, Carolyn, Mike and I headed to the Tahoe National Forest and hiked up the Loch Leven Lake Trail today. This trail was chosen today mostly because there was a geocache from the Solar System Series that I wanted to find and Mary is a beginner cacher and Mike and Carolyn just got a GPS and were curious about it too. The first mile of the trail is relatively flat with only a slight rise, until you cross the railroad tracks and then you begin a good hard climb up for the next 1.5 miles and ... read more

Van Damme State Park really is a nice place to wake up. I packed up camp while slow cooking some breakfast, that little stove really is not very fast! Before leaving the park, I took a quick walk down the Fern Canyon Trail, which follows Little River, to try and find a hidden geocache. When I reached the second footbridge, I decided I'd gone to far and turned around thinking I wouldn't find the cache because of poor satellite reception, but the clue saved me and led me right to it. Next I... read more

When this trip was originally planned months ago, it was supposed to be a kayaking weekend, but life intervenes and plans change and so I took a solo trip to the Mendocino Coast and enjoyed a nice quiet weekend exploring. I arrived at Van Damme State Park late Friday night and quickly fell asleep to the sounds of the babbling creek next to my campsite and the sound of a fog horn regularly sounding to make the night safe for ships. I woke up nice and late and enjoyed a relaxing breakfast whi... read more

I joined Larry, his canine friend Gurr, Eric, Gloria and Martin for a lovely hike to Dardanelles Lake. We started from the Tahoe Rim Trail's Big Meadow trailhead off Highway 89. The trail starts off in the forest, but then it opens up on to Big Meadow, where Gurr went wild chasing large sticks that were being thrown for him. Some late flowers were still scattered here and there and the fall colors were starting to show. We continued on, through the trees and across some gentle stream cros... read more