Early March 2012 and it was time to ditch the LA Foothills and head to Sequoia National Park for a long weekend.  We brought along our xc ski gear hoping to find enough snow to ski the trails.  Normally this wouldn't be a concern, but this year there has been very little snow in the Sierra Nevada range.

 

What we found was  enough snow to ski one day in the fog, then two bluebird days to hike the trails on patchy snow (at elevation) and dry trails at lower elevation. The lower elevation hikes beginning at Hospital Rock trailhead were new to us, but were most enjoyable. Instead of tall Lodgepole and Sequoia trees, the area is dense with old growth oaks, open grasslands, views of snowy peaks as well as sprawling chaparral.

 

Got 6 minutes and 30 seconds?  Check out our video:

It's the end of July. The LA Foothills are hot, dry and the mountains of the Sierra's are calling. Time to collect a few friends, pack up the buggy and head north on Hwy 395.

Well, that's exactly what we did. Our hiking buddies (Dick and Chuck) joined us on Thurs night for an early morning Friday departure. Our destination: South Lake, at the end of the mountain road out of Bishop, CA. We had a cabin rental waiting at Parchers Resort just a mile down from the lake. At nearly 10,000 ft elevation the air is exceptionally cool and clean. The creek behind our cabin (as with every creek in the around) screamed with high levels of run off from the winters whopping snow season.

We hiked, rented a small boat, fished, drank a beer or two and generally had an excellent time. Yeah, our cabin was a little rickety, but that didn't get us down. There was too much fun to be had on the trail, the lake, the snow fields and around the camp fire.

Check out the video, and take a 7 1/2 minute trip to South Lake to see for yourself. Enjoy!

 

 

 

More snow = more joy in Mammoth.  Currently it's the happiest place on earth.  If you recall, this is where we took our honeymoon in March 2010 (video here).   We can't wait to get up there this season!

 

For my friends and family back East: Where is Mammoth Mountain? It's located in California's Eastern Sierra approximately 30 minutes South of the Eastern entrance of Yosemite National park. In other words, it's here.