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And about Yosemite---Grrr. For our trip down to Onion Valley, I thought it might be nice to come back to the West side of the Sierra through Yosemite. What the heck, it would be a nice drive, and should be easy to organize. So I went online to Recreation.gov on July 14 and tried to book a...

I promised a few more notes on this trip: On our hike up to Kearsarge Pass, we ran into a woman hiking down from the pass. "You may meet two park staff up there," she said. "One of them isn't feeling well, and they may need some help." We promised to check on them, even after she told us that...

With a cabin above Sonora, California, we have a tendency to explore the central part of the Sierra: Yosemite, Emigrant Wilderness, Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, etc. And I do volunteer work in both Desolation and Mokelumne Wildernesses, so those northern areas also get our attention. But when we...

We met some truly memorable hikers on our visit to Onion Valley this past week. Some with interesting tales, some with confusing stories, and some that just made us shake our heads. We met one fellow in the campground the first night. He was going solo over Kearsarge Pass, and hoped to take in...

One of our favorite areas in the Sierra. We've been to Donkey Lake, and baboon Lakes, too! Nice report. And it looks like you had great weather.

I'm from Napa--farther away than I'd like--but I often volunteer for Desolation Wilderness and Mokelumne Wilderness, both very much in your neck of the woods.

Some people seem to need babysitters just about everywhere. I don't think the wilderness is any different. But I do find the people I meet when I am volunteering in the wilderness are friendly, basically cooperative and appreciative of what I'm doing. That's a good thing.

Or in this case, Zone 39. I spend quite a bit of time in Desolation Wildernessd doing volunteer work. And last year, I "adopted" Zone 39 of the Wilderness. I patrol it, answer questions, clean up after people and generally try to be a "presence" in the back country. And I had 39 all to...

Unless I am mistaken, that's the shop that rents huge numbers of wetsuits and boots and hiking poles to people walking the narrows. It's a massive operation.

I still manage to get in trips with my younger daughter, but she is a grown woman now, and outhikes me easily. There are advantages--she carries more of the weight, too!

If you ever wondered how good these guys are: https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/california-hiker-rescued-cliff-pacific-crest-trail-20277396.php

Happy to share this nice review of my latest mystery novel set in the High Sierra. https://napavalleyfocus.substack.com/p/sunday-e-dition-grave-concerns

Beautiful! thanks

Wonderful report. Man, you make me want to saddle up the van and get started! Do you have prices for the various tours you took: whale watching, kayaking, rock art? And if you think those potholes are bad...have you been to Mineral King or Florence Lake?

And you can add in the concern that the budget cuts have prevented the USFS from hiring the contractors who work with both rangers and volunteers to get such work done. That applies to fire reduction activities, trail work, etc. I've signed up to volunteer for a couple of week-long trail...

Yeah, most of the Sierra High Country passes will be under snow in May--in fact, some of the highway passes won't be open then. This year looks like a lower snowpack year, but these last storms certainly added to the snowpack. It all depend on how warm it gets between now and then. River and...

Given the way things are being managed in DC, waiting to see what happens may be a death sentence for anything you care about. Making a lot of noise and letting them know you care seems to have at least some mitigating effects.

If you want to get involved more directly, now that the weather is getting better, it's time to get back to work on the trails. I spent Saturday working on the Soscol Headwaters trail system--fourteen miles of new trails in a wonderful area in the hills above southern Napa. Terrific views, great...

I don't think so. But bear i mind that the DOGE cuts also prohibit signing any new government contracts, even if they have been pre-approved. Combine that with a $! limit of employee credit card purchases, and you can see how things have come to a screeching halt.

More rumors of bad news to come. Apparently, the USFS fears it won't have enough staff to properly maintain campgrounds this summer: https://ktla.com/news/california/thousands-of-california-forest-campsites-may-close-this-summer-amid-federal-budget-freeze-report-says/amp/