Hiking Trails and Trips

On our first full day in Kauai we hiked the Pihea trail to Alakai swamp and just barely made it back before it got dark.  It was to cloudy to see any good views at the end of the trail, but it was still a nice hike and I got some great pictures earlier in the day.For the full writeup, check out my blog: http://www.gone-wandering.com/blog/waimea-canyon-the-pihea-alakai-swamp-trail-and-jurassic-park/

After our quick 2-day backpacking trip in the Ventana Wilderness we desperately needing a dip in the cold ocean, and Andrew Molera seemed to be just the spot. The parking lot was packed on Sunday, so we were forced to park on the road a little ways away (but it wasn’t too bad, since we didn’t need to pay). The trail to the beach was about 1-2 miles round trip and made...

On our final day in Hawaii we took the bus and hiked to Manoa Falls.  The hike to the falls was pretty quick (and the viewing area was crowded) so we decided to continue along the trail up to the ridge.  This was the type of hike that I expected to experience in Hawaii: huge plants, waterfalls, and lots of thick bamboo forests.We found that we could climb up a bamboo stalk...

Even though it was cloudy/rainy today I couldn't resist a hike (that, and I wanted to create some EveryTrail guides in San Francisco).I took a bus to the Presidio and started with the Ecology Trail, which was short and had a nice overlook at Inspiration Point.  Unfortunately, a good portion of the trail is under reconstruction/renovation (like several other trails in this area), so it was not entirely scenic.Afterwards I hard the 2.5...

This short hike combined two of the more popular trails in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park: Pfieffer Falls and Valley View.  Unfortunately, due to fire damage from 2008, part of the Pfeiffer Falls loop was closed for rehabilitation and reconstruction, but luckily the waterfall was still reachable.When I got to Peiffer Fall the water was barely trickling down, and my guess is that late spring may be a better time for this...

While Paul and Benoit were exploring the North Grove, Joost and I drove the RV to the other end of Calaveras Big Trees State Park and hiked through the South Grove.  The hike was about 6 miles long and we were able to see many giant sequoias along the way, which always amazes me no matter how many times I see them (first time here, but I've seen them in Mariposa Grove...

Today we all went for a hike in Sugar Pine Point State Park.  We decided to hike along the General Creek Trail and take the optional extra trail up to Lily Pond, which Joost was very fond of.  We had a great sandwich lunch out in the wilderness before heading back.There was some snow along the trail, but not enough to get in our way.Read more about our hike on my travel...

This morning we went to Empire Mine State Historic Park as part of our journey through the California State Parks.  We hiked the Hardrock trail and added in the Osborn Loop Trail as well to make it a bit longer.After the hiles we explored the Bourn Mansion and the old mine yard where we saw several old buildings, rusted machinery, and even went a little ways into Empire Mine.

The parking lot at Gold Discovery State Park was completely vacant, and there were no trail signs, which made getting started a bit difficult. After ending up at a junkyard and a dead end we finally managed to find the trailhead (it was well marked, a little further up the road).The 2.3-mile Monroe Trail was delightful and sprinkled with several nice picnic areas with some great views.  Before we knew it we...

Finally, we arrived at Folsom Lake State Recreation Area, our first stop along our tour! And it was closed. We expected the campground to be closed, but thought that we would still be able to drive in, but no luck. Instead we wrote a nice note explaining why we were there and walked down the road after we could drive no further. Luckily the Nature Tail was less than 0.5 miles further.We...