What with all the heat and smoke the day before, plus the prospect of more crowded trails as we approached Yosemite Valley, we decided to rise at 5:15am and start hiking at first light, 5:45am. It was a great call, because the smoke only got denser, and we managed to…

Lower Cathedral Lake was probably our best campsite of the trip, amazing setting, close to water, and on nice flat, dry, ground, so we both woke up feeling pretty refreshed and ready to enter Yosemite valley itself, after which it would be all down hill. But Cathedral Lake had one…

That lovely Lyell river that was so lovely to wade through in late afternoon after a long day hike, was a very different proposition the next morning when we woke up. The temperature had dropped down to the 38f/3c overnight, so wading through a icy mountain river first thing in…

Despite the deer and coyotes interrupting our sleep, on Day Three we really felt our bodies had finally adjusted to the higher altitudes and the muscle aches of Day One were behind us. This was really good, as in many ways, Day Three promised to be one of the tougher…

Morning came, and its amazing what a good night sleep can do for tired muscles, and a relief that my sleeping pad/bag and tent we’re all able to provide a good night sleep. We were both still a little sore from the previous days hike, so we decided it would…

Before I start on the trail, I should explain how we got here…. Basically back in January myself and Ken Muench, an old work colleague/friend – who now lives outside of LA, we’re catching up, comparing how we both loved to go on big long hikes, despite this being a…

In early August, we all had a lot of fun looking at our wedding photos – can’t believe it was 30 years ago! Here are a few for fun and nice memories! Long summer days means you can really fit a lot into a day. This year on Friday Aug…

We had a lovely drive back to Portland and with some time before our airbnb was available, had a quick stop at Muji, our favorite Japanese retailer for stationary with stores in Dublin, Portland and New York! They have a coffee shop in there run by a robot! Miles came…

We also did some really great hiking on the Washington side. In fact, I think my favorite hike of the trip was at ‎⁨Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area in White Salmon, Washington, right across the river from Hood River, Oregon. Highlights included a really spectacular view the entire time…

Massive blog oversight discovered – we never posted about our trip to see Miles in May! Not sure what happened, as cndkmen both thought it had been posted. Better late than never, hope you enjoy these photos of us celebrating early summer in the Pacific Northwest with Miles! We flew…