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Backpacking Grouse Ridge to Glacier Lake in Tahoe National Forest

Milk Lake sits below a ledge with the Sierra Buttes in the distant background.
Milk Lake sits below Grouse Ridge where the hike to Crystal Lake begins. The Sierra Buttes can be seen in the far distance.

Backpacking to Glacier Lake from Grouse Ridge in the Tahoe National Forest can be both challenging and rewarding. Backpacking it is hard.

The campground area at Crystal Lake is primitive but spacious. We arrived earlier than most of the backpackers the day we arrived and were lucky enough to be able to camp away from the main camping area and be down closer to Crystal Lake. We were able to do this because we spent the night before at the Grouse Ridge Campground and then headed over to the backpacking parking area and started early before the backpackers arrived.

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Hiking the Kīlauea Iki Trail in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park

A trail crosses a volcanic crater at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.
Kīlauea Iki Trail crosses the Kīlauea Iki Crater at Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Wow. That’s all I have to say about this hike in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

Having never hiked in an environment like this before, I was really impressed by the climate. The trail that went through the rainforest was humid and lush, and by contrast, the Kīlauea Iki crater was exposed, burned out and covered with lava rock where growth emerged through cracks in it where lava flowed in 1959.

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Hiking the Rift Zone Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore

A fence separates a hiking trail from a cow pasture.
The Rift Zone Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore follows pastures along forested areas.

The hike on the Rift Zone Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore is a hiker’s minefield.

The trail was loaded with cow pies, steaming horse apples, two hives of bees that swarmed next to the trail, swarms of flies on fresh cow patties, a lavish supply of spider webs that crossed the trail in more places that could be counted but could not be seen as you walked through them. There was overgrowth that reached out to touch you. Most of it was blackberries that looked like poison oak, but then there was actual poison oak that had to be dodged. Then there was mud – both sticky mud and mud that caused your feet to slide out from under you when you stepped on it. And then there was the heavy humidity.

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Hiking to Ooh Ahh Point in the Grand Canyon

A view overlooking the Grand Canyon out on the horizion.
The view from Ohh Ahh Point looking out to the vast horizon of part of the Grand Canyon.

The hike to Ooh Ahh Point, a short one-mile hike, is pretty easy on the way down. The way back up is another story and on an average of 11.2 percent grade for about a mile. Once you get to Ooh Ahh Point, it’s easy to see why it’s named what it is.

Looking out at the Grand Canyon is breathtaking from here. The colors and the vastness of the canyon are awe-inspiring as you look across to the horizon and down into the canyon where you can see the trails far below you go.

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Hiking Kennedy Meadows to Relief Reservoir

Relief Reservoir sits in the base of Granite cliffs.
Relief Reservoir sits in the Eastern Sierra Mountains just south of Kennedy Meadows.

We wanted to get out of our normal Northern California area and explore an area we haven’t been to, and we headed to the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Tuolumne County off of Highway 108 to hike to Relief Reservoir.

We pulled in at the Kennedy Meadows Resort & Pack Station, and we hiked out from there. This Kenndey Meadows is not to be confused with the Kennedy Meadows along the Pacific Crest Trail.

The hike starts out behind a locked gate on a mountain road at about 6,400 feet and eventually climbs to a little more than 7,300 feet. But don’t be fooled; the elevation doesn’t offer much summer heat relief.

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Hiking to Glen Campground from Bear Valley

Tents in a campsite under canopy.
Some of the campsites at Glen Campground at Point Reyes National Seashore offer shade under the green forested canopy.

The hike to Glen Campground starts out on the Bear Valley Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore, and I’ve written about the Bear Valley Trail a few times. This portion of the hike is an easy family friendly trail along the Bear Valley Creek under lush cool canopy.

After about 3.2 miles, you’ll come to a junction. Go straight, and you’ll go out to the ocean and to the Coast Trail. Go left, and you’ll start an ascent through lush, humid forest that leads to the Glen Campground. After about .6 miles on a point 6.6 percent grade, a fork appears between the Glen Trail we were on and the Glen Camp Loop Trail. We stayed left and went onto the Glen Camp Loop Trail and then hiked up about .9 more miles on an average of a 2.3 percent grade to the campground.

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Hiking Rush Creek Trail To Agnew Lake

Silver Lake in the June Lake area.
As you ascend to Agnew Lake, Silver Lake comes into view as you look down on it from the trail.

We wanted to see some fall color last year, and for years we’ve heard about June Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. We guessed the leaves would have peaked at the end of September, but we arrived about a week before the full fall color peaked last year, and we hiked it on September 29. Even though we didn’t see the colors we thought would be there, we were not disappointed. Timing fall color is always chancy, and last year it seemed to come late.

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Hiking to Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park

Grinnell Glacier high in the mountains with Grinnell Lake below.
Grinnell Lake sits below Grinnell Glacier in Glacier National Park.

The hike to Grinnell Lake in Glacier National Park is spectacular while at the same time can be spectacularly hard in places when you start climbing.

The hike on the Swiftcurrent Lake Trail starts off just to the south of the Many Glacier Lodge and heads to a trail that is really easy and nearly flat as it meanders around the south eastern side of Swiftcurrent Lake though the forest. The views of the lake, when you can see it from the trail, are amazing with views of Grinnell Point.

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Hiking Three Falls in Glacier National Park

St. Mary Lake with mountains in the background.
Saint Mary Lake from the Piegan Pass Trail in Glacier National Park.

This was our first hike in Glacier National Park, and I’m glad it was our first. We weren’t real impressed with the hike for about the first two miles until we started getting into the forest. Prior to that, we hiked through a burned-out area, and it reminded us of being back home in California where much of the state’s wilderness areas have suffered from wildfires. But we could see beauty in the distance as we looked to where we were headed.

As we hiked along, the view of Saint Mary Lake was quite beautiful with the snowy mountains in the background.

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Hiking to Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park

Hidden Lake sits below mountains in the background and forest in the foreground at Glacier National Park.
Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park is a sight to behold. From the viewpoint, it can be incredibly breathtaking, and we found it difficult to head back.

Overlooking Hidden Lake in Glacier National Park is awe inspiring, and looking out from here is one of the places where you can see why Montana gets the label “Big Sky Country.” No picture can capture this – it has to be experienced to be understood. The best way to describe it is that the sky above you doesn’t seem to stop, and you can seem to see forever over the horizon.

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