#backpacking
Holiday Adventure: Yosemite, Cross Country Skiing
My wife and I took cross country ski lessons in Yosemite. It was more difficult than I imagined since you’re skiing uphill and downhill but once I got the hang of it I absolutely loved it. After our lessons we ventured off on our own and headed up to the top of Old Badger Summit. The uphill was easier for me but the downhill can be a bit tricky because the back of your boot is not locked to the ski. I finally got the hang of cutting back and forth by the end of the day but the easiest trick is just crossing your skis like a snow plow. We have some snow camping trips planned in the near future but we definitely need to build up some muscles and ski experience before we head out deep into the backcountry.
This time we camped around 3,000ft lower in elevation than where we were skiing. We stayed at Camp Curry, which is at 4,000ft in elevation. We opted for an unheated tent to save some money, and only a little snow remained at this elevation from the recent snow storm. It was $40 for the night, about twice the price of getting a regular campsite. I’d say the biggest downside of Camp Curry is you can’t cook anywhere on the premise which is pretty much B.S. since they have restaurants and food services not far from the tents. For us this ended up being a good thing because we discovered a cool little area not too far away to get our cooking on. It got down to about 20° in the middle of the night, and we came prepared with a 0° sleeping bag and a 25° sleeping bag and we were both quite toasty. Next time I’m guessing we’ll just bring our tent and hit a campground. We’ll be back to Yosemite soon as we plan to venture further and further into the snow with each trip.
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier is massive, a massive volcano. It’s covered by 25 major glaciers and numerous unnamed snow / ice patches. At 14,410ft elevation you can see it from Seattle which is about 60 miles away as the raven flies. We packed some Pizza Pi Vegan Pizza and Mighty-O Vegan Donuts for this alpine adventure. My wife crossed her first glacier on this trip. It was steep with a drop off at the bottom if you fell. You probably wouldn’t die if you fell but you could get pretty beat up. It was a bit unnerving. We brought crampons but I didn’t think we’d be hitting anything this steep so we didn’t pack ice axes. An adventurous family with younger kids about 11, 8, and 5 were also doing this section and they were completely unprepared. The five year old was carried across, the eight year old did splendid and the eleven year old cried the entire way. It took all of us about 30 minutes to cross a 200ft section. It was terrifying to watch him because he easily could of fallen and slid down the ice but he made it. We all made it. We ended our Mount Rainer expedition with some delicious Mighty-O Donuts. It was a joyous beautiful day.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
Northwest Adventure Post 02: Mount Hood
Northwest Adventure Post 03: Hoh Rainforest
Northwest Adventure Post 04: Elks of Hoh Rainforest
Northwest Adventure Post 05: Hurricane Ridge
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: Hurricane Ridge
We hiked Hurricane Ridge and down to the Elwha River Restoration in Olympic National Park. It’s inspiring to see a dam that has been completely removed and with such great success. The restoration is still in full swing and the salmon are finally swimming upstream for the first time in a century.
On our hike we made some tasty vegan BLTA’s while we had a gorgeous view of the glaciers in Olympic National Park. Just a couple posts left from one of my favorite adventures.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
Northwest Adventure Post 02: Mount Hood
Northwest Adventure Post 03: Hoh Rainforest
Northwest Adventure Post 04: Elks of Hoh Rainforest
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: ELKS OF HOH RAINFOREST
It was a beautiful morning in the Hoh Rainforest. We woke up and had oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast, then we quickly packed up our backpacks to hike out. As we wandered slowly through the forest we heard some noises in the bushes. Alix was the first to notice him. It was what I had been wanting to see for years, a Bull Elk about 50 yards off in the distance. He was partially obstructed by humungous trees but as he pranced away we could see his enormous size. The moment was too precious and I didn’t bother taking out my camera. I was just happy to be here. We waited about five or so minutes to see if he would reappear but he never did. We continued our stroll through the forest admiring the trees, mushrooms, banana slugs and droplets of rain. At this moment we were clueless to the fact that we were surrounded by a herd of Roosevelt elk. They slowly revealed themselves to us as we hiked through the forest. We were ever so quiet, moving in slow motion and rather delicately. If you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings you could easily not see a single elk at least until they were completely blocking the trail. When we finally realized that we were completely surrounded by we were in complete shock. It was just too cool. Leaning just a little to your left or to your right could reveal dozens of elk, that’s how hidden most of them were. We stood there in awe surrounded by babies, youngins and females. Then a massive bull elk lifted his head right in front of us, we were twenty feet away. It took my wife about a minute to even notice him because just one tree blocked her entire view of him. I slowly inched her over until she could clearly see him, then I took a few photos as he checked us out. As he slowly wandered away the elk bugling began. It was magical, a moment in time that I will never want to forget.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
Northwest Adventure Post 02: Mount Hood
Northwest Adventure Post 03: Hoh Rainforest
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: HOH RAINFOREST
We made it to the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park and I have very little to say because this was way beyond anything I could of imagined.
We backpacked into the Hoh Rainforest and found the most beautiful campsite right along the river. We were the only humans in sight. Deer and Elk were amongst us along with a lot of cute little creatures and mushrooms which call the forest home. A light rain sprinkled on our tent in the middle of the night and gave us the full treat of being in this peaceful forest.
We watched the sunset while eating my new favorite backpacking food, vegan stroganoff from Leahey Foods which we had picked up at Food Fight! vegan grocery. The adventure continues next week with more Hoh Rainforest, Hurricane Ridge, Twin Peaks and the grand finale will be Mount Rainier. Time to get out there and explore.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
Northwest Adventure Post 02: Mount Hood
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: MOUNT HOOD
We’ve always wanted to check out the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. We knew that once we were in the pacific northwest we could hit up our favorite restaurants and check out some beautiful areas that we’d never been to before. My wife and I first stopped in Portland and gathered supplies at Food Fight, next we got vegan tarts and quiches to go from Back to Eden Vegan Bakery. Will filled up our backpacks and headed to the massive volcano formerly known as Wy'east.
First and foremost Mount Hood is awesome in the fall. It was very quiet and we only saw a handful of people all day. We were pleasantly surprised at the tranquility of Mount Hood. I’m sure we went at that time of year where the crowds are snuggling up inside.
The Overlook Hotel which goes by Timberline Lodge, had very similar weather to the opening of The Shining. They were getting ready for the winter and all the last minute repairs were being done before the big snowstorms land. The Timberline Lodge was used for the exteriors in The Shining, primarily the opening helicopter shot and a few exterior shots scattered throughout the film. Stanley Kubrick had the entire interior and part of the exterior built on a soundstage in England. It was quite a treat to see the location from one of my favorite films.
Checking out cool movie locations is fun but what you always find out is how filmmakers reframe and reimagine real locations. The true gems are the areas we stumbled upon when aimlessly hiking around the Overlook Hotel. For example Mirror Lake was breathtaking and a perfect place to relax and have lunch. Little Zigzag falls was lush and beautiful and our first taste of the temperate rainforests that rest on Mount Hood.
I highly recommend you copy this trip. I know we will be doing this again and again. After Mount Hood we head up to Washington to the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park for some backpacking. Check back in a few days for my latest post on this Northwest Adventure. And if you haven’t seen my first post click below.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
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NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: PORTLAND
Recently my wife and I went on a camping, hiking and backpacking adventure in the Pacific Northwest. Our First stop was Portland to hit up some of our favorite hang outs such as Food Fight!, Sweetpea Bakery, The Bye and Bye, Back to Eden Bakery and we’d try out A.N.D Cafe for the first time. This was our first time back to Portland after getting engaged here in 2010.
We got to Portland, hit up Vita Cafe for breakfast and stocked up on some backpacking supplies at Food Fight!, treats from Sweetpea and savory tarts to go from Back to Eden for our trip out to Mount Hood. We were about to check out the Overlook Hotel from The Shining which rests upon the volcano which was once called Wy'east. After exploring Mount Hood we’d be back to Portland to spend the night. Then it’s up to Washington to explore Olympic National Park, Seattle, Snoqualmie Falls from Twin Peaks and Mount Rainier National Park. Stay tuned later this week for my upcoming posts on the rest of this adventure.
Vita Cafe: Vegan Sloppy Biscuit Sandwich and Tofurkey Florentine
Sweetpea Bakery: Vegan Monster Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich and a Chocolate filled Croissant in the background.
A.N.D. Cafe: Vegan Feast Waffle stuffed with housemade vegan sausage. Full Nest, 3 hashbrown nests. herb tofu, vegan sausage with a biscuit.
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Redwood National Park: Camping
Completely breathtaking. Completely unreal. I love this campsite we stumbled upon right on Prairie Creek. Sleeping at night with the sound of the water gently moving by was so peaceful and relaxing. We spent several days exploring the ancient forests and golden beaches, we can’t wait to go back.
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Rocky Mountain National Park: There was still snow above 9,000ft and wonderful cool weather in the meadows. I was very excited to see a huge herd of elk and a large group of male bulls. This was our first time to Rocky Mountain National Park and it was simply amazing.
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Yosemite National Park: Full Moon Snowshoeing Video
Here’s the video footage that I shot last weekend in Yosemite National Park against the full moon. You’ll see the occasional headlamp and glow from Curry Village but otherwise this was completely lit by the Moon. The conditions were cold, foggy, and beautiful. Everything is shot handheld at 1/50 of a second. I did not color correct the footage.
JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK: Perseid Meteor Shower
This is a legitimate photo from early this morning. Not Photoshopped. The meteor flew through at the perfect time while I was simply trying to take a nice photo of Alix, the tent, a huge joshua tree all against a beautiful night sky. Then a meteor flew by. Unbelievable. The 15 second exposure helped.
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Channel Islands National Park: Santa Cruz Island
We got to hang out with the cutest little Santa Cruz Island Fox on our recent adventure to the Channel Islands. The little fox was very curious and came to say hello several times during our trip. It’s hard to believe these little foxes almost went extinct just a decade ago. They’re currently making a recovery. I’m so glad people figured out a way to save them.
Santa Cruz Island is roughly a 1-2 hour boat ride from Ventura and it’s one of the best ways to completely escape the city. It’s a beautiful, relaxing and extremely quiet place to visit. There are no services of any kind on this island. You have to bring all of your food and water. Once the boat drops you off you’re stuck there until they pick you up. This will give you some nice time to think and relax. Come prepared and you’ll have an amazing time.
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Carrizo Plain National Monument
This was our first time to Carrizo Plain and it’s a truly incredible place. It’s home to the largest concentration of endangered species in California and we managed to see a few including a Pronghorn and Tule Elk.
It’s hard to believe that such a cool National Monument is the least crowded place we’ve ever visited in California. The Carrizo Plain is just 100 miles as the bird flies from Los Angeles but by vehicle it’s a trek and be ready for dirt roads because that’s how you’ll be getting around. The Carrizo Plain gets brutally hot and dry in the summer and there are no services in the monument. Come prepared with lots of water and watch out for the low flying birds. The Carrizo Plain is a remarkable hidden treasure.
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Joshua Tree National Park
We backpacked during sunset and found a lovely spot to set-up camp. The following day we prepared breakfast then hiked into the desert in search of wildflowers and we found them. It was quite a treat. More flowers from the trip here http://cuteanddelicious.com/2015/05/joshua-tree-wildflowers/
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Muangboran, the Ancient City, Bangkok, Thailand
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#muangboran #muangboranancientcity #visitbangkok #bangkok #bangkoktour #bangkokthailand #bangkoktourism #visitthailand #thailandtourism #chinesetemple #budgettravel #luxurylifestyle #luxurytravel #asia #visitasia #asiatourism #backpacking #globetrotting #gay #lgbt #gayuk #gaythailand (at Bangkok Thailand)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcxHKE3jAFk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Ruined temple, Ayutthaya, Thailand
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#ayutthaya #visitayutthaya #ayutthayatourism #visitthailand #thailandtourism #thailandtour #mustseethailand #thailand #asia #asiandestinations #visitasia #asiatourism #backpacking #travelalone #travelling #travelphotography #budgettravel #travelgrams #instavoyage #luxurytravel (at Ayutthaya, Thailand)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcmxDEAMRKg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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In a lot of ways, quarantine has forced us all into a hard reset that I feel like is needed in ways. It has given us all time to slow down and focus on what we truly need going forward. That doesn’t mean it’s a clear path forward, nor will it be easy but hopefully it is a brighter path forward. One where we can come together more as a community or society and realize what things benefit or are necessary for us as a whole.
For me, it’s been hard coming to terms with the fact that my long distance hikes aren’t going to happen this year. It was a shock that I was going to have to cancel them this year due to this whole thing but it made me realize that despite how hard I had worked to achieve the goal of even attempting them this year, that I know I’ll be able to come out the other side with the ability to work towards doing them at a later date while still being able to take the time to slow down and work towards accomplishing other goals as well.
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#wishyouwerenorthwest #seekthetrails #lifeisbetteroutside #backcountry #optoutsude #keepitwild #greatnorthcollective #rei1440project #betterinthewild #oregonhikers #trailpics #backpacking #lifeofadventure #protectearth #takeahike #lookslikefilm #wildernessculture #goforahike #staypnw #pnw #bestofnorthwest #pnwonderland #hiking #quarantine #timetoslowdown #hardreset #covid #timetothinkandgrow #communtiy #wellgetthroighthis (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-utFcFFB7Q/?igshid=z3vi37kogm5r
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I’ve learned a lot between my hike of the PCT and my prep for my upcoming Oregon Desert Trail and Continental Divide Trail hikes. What gear I will need and what I won’t. What my specific preferences are as far as my hiking style and goals. But the most important part is how crucial a flat lay of all your gear is.
#cdt #odt #cdt2020 #odt2020 #continentaldividetrail #oregondeserttrail #ulhiking #ultralight #ulbackpacking #backpacking #flatlay #katabaticgeat #nunatakusa #palante #montbell #patagonia #kuiu #hyperlitemountaingear #mountainlaureldesigns #coldsoak #skylightgear #onda #cdtc #thermarest #altra #longdistancehiking #longtrails #triplecrown #getoutside #nitecore (at Portland, Oregon)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7_0dyWH5t8/?igshid=qvzmnsmnt6lg
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