High Trail, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 This year, Live and Let Hike celebrated its 10-year anniversary of bringing you thorough trail descriptions and extensive photo collections of day hikes and backpacking routes across the United States and beyond. The web design may not be world class—and no one would mistake my …
Sandstone Peak, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, September 2023 Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area comprises a patchwork of individual parks and open spaces—pockmarked by encroaching development—in the rocky and rugged highlands above Malibu, Los Angeles, and the San Fernando Valley in southern California. Even with the vacation homes and mansions lining the mountain …
Thousand Island Lake, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 Rising prominently above California’s Mammoth Lakes area, the Ritter Range boasts a clutch of spectacular peaks and majestic alpine lakes best reached on a multi-day backpacking adventure. The largest of the lakes is Thousand Island Lake, set in a basin below iconic Banner Peak …
Big Pine Lakes, John Muir Wilderness, Inyo National Forest, August 2023 The simple names—First Lake, Second Lake, etc.—belie the picturesque setting of Big Pine Lakes, nestled in a majestic valley across the High Sierra Crest from Kings Canyon National Park. Once a relatively well-kept local secret, the Internet and social media have turned the lakes …
Lower Lamarck Lake, John Muir Wilderness, August 2023 Named for a famous early 19th-century French biologist and naturalist, Lamarck Lakes are set below dramatic granite facades in the eastern Sierra Nevada and accessed by way of a steep and challenging trail in the vicinity of Aspendell and Bishop, California. The relentless climb ends at two …
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Winnemucca Lake, Mokelumne Wilderness, Eldorado National Forest, July 2023 Situated in the underappreciated section of the Sierra Nevada between bustling Lake Tahoe to the north and Yosemite to the south, the Round Top – Winnemucca Lake Loop is one of the more easily-accessible half-day hikes in the Mokelumne Wilderness. The two glimmering alpine lakes sit …
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Cataract Falls Trail, Marin Municipal Water District, Mount Tamalpais Watershed, April 2023 Described as “very rugged and demanding,” the stair-master challenge that is the Cataract Trail is nonetheless one of the most popular and rewarding hikes in the Bay Area’s Marin County. The well-trodden path follows the rumbling waters of Cataract Creek, which originates on …
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Goldstrike Canyon Hot Springs, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, February 2023 Most visitors flock to Lake Mead National Recreation Area—straddling the Arizona-Nevada border, a short drive from Las Vegas—for water-related activities on the United States’ largest reservoir by volume. However, adventure-seekers of the land-bound sort are also treated to a fair amount of challenging and …
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Inspiration Point Trail, Chiricahua National Monument, November 2022 At first glance, the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona appear little different from the hundreds of other small ranges of the Basin and Range area, which spans from southern Oregon and Idaho down to Mexico: an abrupt north-south range rising from open, scrubby valleys, seemingly the same …
Continue reading Chiricahua Big Loop (Chiricahua National Monument, AZ)
South Fork Trail, City of Rocks National Reserve, August 2022 Idaho’s City of Rocks National Reserve—one of only two national reserves in the National Park system—protects a 14,000-acre tract that includes an extensive cluster of granitic formations known as the “Silent City of Rocks.” While the chalky white and grey spires are perhaps not as …
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