Tahquitz Peak

If you’re in the Idyllwild area do yourself a favor and go on this hike. We were in Idyllwild to celebrate my birthday and it was definitely the highlight of the trip. Tahquitz Peak is an extremely prominent peak overlooking Idyllwild and features a fire lookout. You’re treated to expansive views of the Inland Empire, […]

Lake Katherine - New Mexico

Lake Katherine

As a final adieu to New Mexico we decided to celebrate 4th of July weekend by backpacking to one of the elusive lakes in the Sangre de Cristo mountains just outside Santa Fe. We’ve been to Nambe Lake many times and nearly every time we ran into fellow hikers raving about the natural beauty of […]

Ventura Harbor - Santa Cruz Island

Scorpion Ranch to Potato Harbor (Channel Islands)

During our spring California trip we took advantage of the opportunity to visit Channel Islands National Park. For years I’d always marveled at the few Channel Islands you could see from Hwy 101. The islands are tantalizing close to the California coastline. They’ve also been featured in numerous magazines and blogs I’ve read over the […]

Tom’s Thumb

After an impromptu breakfast with friends at Carefree Resort we were eager to walk off Thanksgiving turkey (thank you Whole Foods). We were running short on time but decided on Tom’s Thumb Trail just outside Scottsdale in the McDowell Mountain Preserve. Unfortunately we didn’t realize the park closed at sunset 5:30pm and there were signs […]

Nambe Lake from above

Raven’s Ridge

After spending the last week looking at Nambe Lake from eye level we decided to take a different approach and get a commanding view over the lake from Raven’s Ridge. This hike starts at Ski Santa Fe parking lot using the Winsor trailhead. It starts with a series of moderate switchbacks quickly gaining elevation. At […]

Nambe Lake

Nambe Lake

During the long hot New Mexico summer we were beginning to feel the need to see a sizeable body of water. New Mexico has the least amount of water area (0.7%) of all US States, your random fact of the day. We had heard great things about Nambe Lake a lush alpine lake in the […]