Medicine Bow Peak Trail, Medicine Bow National Forest, July 2022 At 12,013 feet, Medicine Bow Peak is the highest mountain in southern Wyoming’s Snowy Range, a small but exceptionally scenic slice of the broader Medicine Bow Mountains, which extend into northern Colorado. The peak is accessible via a relatively straightforward climb, with some decent elevation …
Continue reading Medicine Bow Peak Loop, including Lakes Trail (Medicine Bow National Forest, WY)
West Bluff Trail, Devil's Lake State Park, July 2022 It’s not too often that visitors are able to walk in a mountain range with rocky bluffs dating to 1.6 billion years ago, in addition to a rare freshwater endorheic lake—a body of water situated in a natural depression with no external drainage. And yet one …
Continue reading Devil’s Lake Loop (Devil’s Lake State Park, WI)
Wheeler Beach from Lost Coast Trail, Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, May 2022 Even as the northern half of the 53-mile Lost Coast Trail has become one of the hottest destinations for California backpacking, the stunning southern half—in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park—is much less visited. This is in part due to the difficulty of access and …
Wheeler Beach, Lost Coast Trail, May 2022 Traversing one of the few stretches of the California coast without a paved road, the Lost Coast Trail has become an enormously popular backpacking destination known for its striking cliffs, black sand beaches, redwood groves, and frequent wildlife sightings (seals, Roosevelt elk, black bears, ospreys, and many others). …
Continue reading Lost Coast Trail – Needle Rock to Wheeler Camp (Sinkyone Wilderness State Park, CA)
Chilnualna Falls, Yosemite National Park, May 2022 Yosemite National Park is the land of towering waterfalls—although seeing them often comes with a price: contending with throngs of other visitors for the best look at the majestic drops. Yet this is not the case everywhere: lesser-known waterfalls such as Carlon Falls or Foresta Falls draw fewer …
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High Peaks Trail, Pinnacles National Park, March 2022 So jagged, sharp, and forbidding are the towering spires of central California’s Pinnacles National Park that there is no road able to bisect it, leaving visitors to drive up to the base of the breccia wonderland—and then hike the rest. The High Peaks area, easily the centerpiece …
Continue reading Juniper Canyon Trail to High Peaks Loop (Pinnacles National Park, CA)
Rattlesnake Canyon, Joshua Tree National Park, January 2022 Rattlesnake Canyon in southern California’s Joshua Tree National Park is a rough-and-tumble, off-trail route that is well-known and advertised in Joshua Tree guidebooks—although perhaps it should not be. Despite its short length—the entirety of Rattlesnake Canyon upstream from the trailhead is less than two miles—the canyon floor …
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Flatiron and Siphon Draw, Superstition Wilderness, January 2022 Described as “one of the state’s top ten hikes to experience” and one of the “best hikes near Phoenix,” Flatiron in Arizona’s Superstition Wilderness offers an exceptionally scenic vista, but most hikers will remember it for its challenging and unique ascent: a seemingly endless scramble, including one …
Continue reading Flatiron via Siphon Draw Trail (Superstition Wilderness, AZ)
Arch Canyon, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, January 2022 Stenocereus thurberi, or organ pipe cactus, is the primary draw of the park bearing its name. But visitors to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southwestern Arizona are also rewarded with sweeping views of rugged mountain landscapes, broad valleys, and a Sonoran desert ecosystem with plants …
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Cerro Este Overlook, Sunol Regional Wilderness, December 2021 Spanning 6,859 acres of the northern Diablo Range, Sunol Regional Wilderness is a hiker’s paradise close to home in the East Bay, wedged between the massif of Mission Peak (2,517’) to the west and Ohlone Wilderness and Rose Peak (3,817’) to the east. This terrific loop hike …
Continue reading Cerro Este & Little Yosemite Loop (Sunol Regional Wilderness, CA)
Live and Let Hike 