Hiking and Backpacking Sterling Lake
Hiking the Arnold Rim Trail to the “Top of the World”
The Arnold Rim Trail is a hike through a part of the Stanislaus National Forest that leads to a fantastic point dubbed the “The Top of the World” where the view is incredible. From the Sierras, you can see over to the Coastal Range and Mount Diablo nearly 90 miles away on a clear day.
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Hiking Upper Ritchey Canyon at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
The hike to Upper Ritchey Canyon at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is challenging, but along the way you can see a forest that is in recovery from a fire that burned through parts of it in 2020.
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Hiking Dipsea Trail To Muir Woods National Monument
This hike takes you under lush canopy at Mount Tamalpais State Park, up steep stairs, gives you a fantastic view overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and then you hike among the Redwoods at Muir Woods National Monument. But it’s also difficult for me to get excited about this hike.
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Hiking Old Man’s Beard and Sam the Eagle at Moore Creek Park
Like the other hikes we’ve done at Lake Hennessey, Old Man’s Beard and Sam the Eagle trails at Moore Creek Park are pleasant when hiked in the springtime with green hills, wildflowers as the foliage is coming back to the trees.
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Hiking Grand Canyon Of The Yellowstone To Ribbon Lake
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is an incredible sight to see and hike along in Yellowstone National Park. From different vantage points, you can marvel at Lower Yellowstone Falls. The forest along the hike was tranquil and mediative, and once we left the crowds, we probably saw a little more than a dozen people.
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Hiking Lost Palms Trail at Joshua Tree National Park
Hiking to Lost Palms at Joshua Tree National Park is like hiking through a desert garden. If you’re up for hiking through the desert, there really is a lot to see as far as plant life goes on this hike, along with great landscape vistas.
On this hike, you will more than likely come across cholla cacti, indigo bush, jojoba, California juniper, creosote bush, mistletoe, Mojave yucca, Mormon tea, barrel cacti, granite rock, palm trees, but no Joshua trees in this part of the park.
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Hiking Skull Rock Nature Trail and Split Rock Trail at Joshua Tree National Park
This is the hike that made Joshua Tree National Park my favorite park. The Skull Rock Nature Trail/Split Rock Trail for me were over the top with scenery and ease. The video below and pictures do not do it justice. This hike needs to be experienced.
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Hiking Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park
Mirror Lake in Yosemite National Park is a beautiful hike that is pretty easy and hikes through forests and next to big granite rocks. Upper and Lower Mirror Lake live up to their name where the reflections in the water of the landscape around them can be gorgeous.
There are several places you can start the hike from, and we jumped on the Yosemite Valley Loop Trail off of Ahwahnee Drive about .34 miles short of the Ahwahnee Hotel. The Mirror Lake hike itself is about a 2.4 mile loop, but we wanted to make a longer hike out of it, so we ended up hiking 7.2 miles.
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Mist Trail To Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park
The hike from Yosemite Valley up to Vernal Falls and then over to Nevada Falls is incredible, and one of many of many spectacular attractions of Yosemite National Park. But even hiking through the beauty of the forests, it does take work to make it to the top of either waterfall.
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Hiking Redbud Trail to Baton Flat
Originally posted June 8, 2018
Updated April 30, 2023
We hiked Redbud Trail in April 2023 after the California’s massive rainstorms earlier in the winter and spring. What resulted were superblooms in locations. For as often as I have hiked the Redbud Trail, I have never seen the wildflowers on the trail I saw in late April. The wildflowers included Indian Paintbrush, Warrior Paintbrush, Common Fiddlestick, Western Wallflower, Diogene’s Lantern, and many other colorful wildflowers.
Hiking the Redbud Trail as it meanders along hillsides next to oak trees and descends down to Baton Flat and Cache Creek is a pleasant hike through the foothills.
The trail starts off out of the parking lot on a service road and then to the right you’ll see a sign with Redbud Trail marked on it. Take the trail away from the road and hike along the edge of the foothills until you come to a creek bed that you have to cross. Continue reading “Hiking Redbud Trail to Baton Flat”
Hiking to Conn Peak at Moore Creek Park
This is a very pleasant trail in the Napa Foothills where you eventually end up looking over Lake Hennessey from Conn Peak, especially in the springtime when the hills and trees are all green and the wildflowers are popping.
Hiking Moses Spring Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park
The hike to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park starts off on the High Peaks Trail as you hike under oak trees and ascend to the Moses Spring Trail junction.
As the trail ascends, you start to hike amongst rock formations that take you to the caves on the Moses Spring Trail. If you are not comfortable with caves, there is a bypass trail that will also take you to Bear Gulch Reservoir on up past the Moses Spring Trail junction that leads to the Rim Trail, but the caves are worth exploring. Continue reading “Hiking Moses Spring Trail to Bear Gulch Reservoir at Pinnacles National Park”