Then second half of September also did not disappoint, and October is off to a great start! First, in mid-September, we had some friends who John used to work with over for dinner in our back yard. Great seeing everyone! Right after the autumnal equinox, which was on Sept 22…

The blog is back in the upper midwest, with lots of outdoors time in the first part of September. Over the long weekend at the beginning of the month, I met Annette for a bike ride along the Chicago river trail and empanadas at Cafe Tola (in the former Hot…

Ken put together a video of every mile we hiked along the John Muir Trail, all 75 miles, check it out!

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…