Tripbase.com is drumming up free publicity from link-hungry bloggers spreading the word about its series of awards for notable travel-related blogs. Two-Heel Drive ranks No. 2 in the walking-backpacking category, bested only by a guy attempting 36,000 miles, 4 continents,…
Monthly Archives: July 2009
Search on for missing Yosemite backpacker
by tom • July 8, 2009 • 3 Comments
Yosemite Blog posted an announcement yesterday that Joshua Gunther, 34, was supposed to be out of the park Sunday after a weeklong backpacking trip from the Ostrander Lakes trail head. The announcement says only that he acquired a permit to…
A penny-pinching hiker’s guide to day-tripping to the High Sierra
by tom • July 7, 2009 • 7 Comments
Round Top For the past five years I’ve been paralyzed by a prejudice against driving more than I’m hiking. It just seems aesthetically wrong to spend more time on the road than on the trail, especially when Bay Area trails…
First Sierra hike of the summer: Lake Winnemucca via the Pacific Crest Trail
by tom • July 6, 2009 • 9 Comments
Shimmering waters of Lake Winnemucca “I can breathe up here.” So said my allergy-prone wife, Melissa, whom I had talked into an “easy” jaunt down to Lake Winnemucca from Carson Pass. It was an odd thing to hear 9,000 feet…
Roadtripping today
by tom • July 6, 2009 • 2 Comments
Will post pretty pictures tomorrow, I promise.
Fourth of July tribute: American Discovery Trail
by tom • July 4, 2009 • 3 Comments
American Discovery Trail starts on the Atlantic Ocean and ends at the Pacific at Point Reyes National Seashore. Every summer a few brave souls attempt to hike the whole distance — and the few who pass our way see some…
Best day hikes in Monterey County
by tom • July 3, 2009 • 2 Comments
Point Lobos State Preserve Seemonterery.com suggests nine worth tramping. Frankly you cannot go wrong on any of the hikes along the Pacific Coast from Monterey down deep into Big Sur. I’ve done Point Lobos a few times, and camped out…
Cool archival documentary of California’s state parks
by tom • July 2, 2009 • 2 Comments
Found this at Blog Monterey: A 1935 documentary called “Land of the Giants” profiling Civilian Conservation Corps work in California’s parks. Must viewing for fans of our state parks. The National Archives is screening a bunch of historic films at…
Fedak’s hiking out the recession
by tom • July 1, 2009 • 3 Comments
Peaks near Tahoe, Nov. 2008 I once asked Fedak what he did for a living; he replied in English, the words all recognizable, but I have no idea what the hell it was. But it was something in high-tech, where…