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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/

Let me know if you ever need a fluent Spanish speaker to come along! :lol:

Love these reports! Thank you.

I did hear from a few people that I work with as a volunteer. Their seasonal wilderness rangers are not getting hired this year, and they lost their only intern. That leaves one wilderness ranger for the entire forest. Meanwhile, all funds have been frozen, so the contracts to clear and burn...

Nice! We didn't find his gold mine, either. Sigh.

Right. But we very clearly told her we'd done extensive hiking and backpacking in Death Valley. The other ranger and volunteers we spoke to weren't nearly so negative.

More on Anna,the discouraging ranger: When we first stopped in at the visitors center in Borrego Springs, a young ranger named Anna offered to help us plan out our visit. We were delighted. We shared with her that we had camped, hiked and backpacked extensively in Death Valley, and done some...

We spent the last week camping and hiking in Anza Borrego, and really enjoyed it. Cold at night, warm during the day, great dark skies, slot canyons, cool geology, and even some Native America artifacts. It's a long drive from our home up in Napa, and we still prefer Death Valley, but the...

It has not rained in Anza Borrego since last March. It's dry

Now you, too, can climb Everest in only a few days! https://explorersweb.com/you-can-now-climb-everest-in-a-week-using-xenon-doping-the-implications/

The local paper in Calistoga published an article I wrote about overtourism and its impacts. It's a long read, but that's because it's complex topic. Their website doesn't have the story up yet, so here's a link to my version: https://www.paulwagnerwine.com/post/over-tourism-issues-face-napa

This is a bit more than I am willing to tackle, but the report from the rangers who winter over in Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite are always good reading--and have great photos. Laura and Rob Pilewski are amazing--and have been ding this for years...

Nice photos! Keep posting those...and keep us posted on your adventures.

Great photos--and we're grateful for your work out there. I do similar projects in the Sierra Nevada. Highly recommended!

I volunteer quite a few hours each year to work on trails, clean up campsites, and generally try to improve the conditions (and minimize the impacts of visitors) in the wildernesses where I live. I am hopeful that this funding will help with those efforts.

This is good news. The new legislation (Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences Act, for those keeping score at home) generally funds improvements to our outdoor recreation infrastructure, from campgrounds to long-distance trails, as well as upgrading the permitting process and...