After a tough 2nd day with 5300 feet of vertical we were looking forward to an easier day 3 with far less climbing. We started early in the morning from Scoiattoli rifugio with a commanding view over the Dolomites and is just a stones throw from the gorgeous rock formation ‘Cinque Torri’. Although the days […]
Posts in the Beyond the Bay Area category:
Alta Via Day 2 – Lavarella to Scoiattoli
Day 2 started with a short climb out of the valley past Lago di Limo which had magnificent reflections in the calm morning air. After passing a closed rifugio (Utia Gran Fanes) where we were hoping to buy a snack we pushed on and were rewarded with stunning views of a crystal clear pond. After […]
Alta Via – Day 1 (Badia – Fanes)
We got a very late start on Day 1 due to jet lag. The long trip from the US to the Dolomites left us exhausted. We spent the morning rushing to pack our backpacks. We also had to arrange to leave our rental car “poo brown’ (Fiat station wagon) at the hotel. Thankfully the hotel […]
South Boulder Peak (almost)
With the weather looking great we chose to get outside and start a late afternoon hike without a particular destination in mind. The Flatirons are practically spitting distance from our front door so we drove out to South Mesa trailhead (Boulder Open Space). One of our favorite features of Boulder Opens Spaces as they are […]
Devil’s Garden – Arches NP
We’ve never visited Arches National Park and thankfully after moving to Colorado it’s now only about a 5 hr drive from us here in the Boulder area. Late April is a perfect time to visit Arches & Canyonlands just outside Moab before it gets too damned hot in May. Arches is beautiful but compared to […]
Eldorado Canyon to Walker Ranch
With the weather looking great in early April we decided to hit the trails. Lucky for us we live quite close to Eldorado Canyon State Park. We weren’t quite sure how far we would go since we got a late start to the day. Small word of caution the road to Eldorado Canyon SP is […]
Devil’s Chair
Even though it was November the weather was brilliant and warm in SoCal so we set out for another hike in the San Gabriel Mountains. Devils Punchbowl Natural Area. It’s on the north side of the San Gabriel Mountains making it much less busy than a majority of hikes in the San Gabriels on the […]
Cottonwood Lakes
What better way to spend your birthday weekend than squeezing a late season backpacking trip in the Sierras, answer not much. We decided on a quick overnight trip somewhere relatively close to the LA area and came up with this little gem Cottonwood Lakes. These lakes are tantalizingly close to Southern California just outside Lone […]
Big Pine Lakes Trail
After a summer trip to Canada we were eager to get back on the trail and backpack again in the Sierras. We’ve been tempted for over a year by beautiful pictures of Big Pine Lakes on Instagram. Big Pine Lakes is a series of lakes in the Eastern Sierra just outside Big Pine, CA. Be […]
Berg Lake Trail
This is a trail that is not to be missed if you can fit it into your Canadian Rockies itinerary. Reservations are a giant pain and can make trip planning tricky but if you like spectacular scenery, waterfalls, and glaciers this is an amazing hike! We were extremely lucky to find a reservation for Berg […]