Category Archives: Best of

Best trips of 2010

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Another year of hiking comes to an end. Elizabeth and I spent the spring in the Bay Area, as usual. But with summer came bigger adventures, including two backpacking trips in the Trinity Alps and a vacation to the Olympic Peninsula. We also did our longest backpacking trip yet, the Rae Lakes Loop.

Thanks for reading Remembered Earth. I love writing about the wild places I see, and I hope you love reading about them.

1. Trinity Alps Four Lakes Loop and Siligo Peak hike

Diamond Lake and sunset wildflowers from Trinity Alps Four Lakes Trail

In the fall of 2009 I made a promise to myself that I would really explore the Trinity Alps for the first time; this summer, I made good on it. This overnight trip had the most spectacular and diverse scenery of the year, and good friends and perfect weather made it even better.

2. Olympic National Park Hurricane Ridge hike

Elizabeth on Olympic National Park Mount Angeles Trail

Elizabeth and I spent four days hiking on the Olympic Peninsula in July and, to be honest, every day was great. But this short ridge hike with my brother had not only amazing scenery, but encounters with bears, mountain goats, deer, and snowshoe hares. The best wildlife of the year, by far.

3. Rae Lakes Loop hike counterclockwise

Fin Dome from Middle Rae Lake

At 46 miles in 4 days, this was the longest backpacking trip Elizabeth and I had ever done. This trip had everything the Sierra has to offer, in massive doses: ancient forests, roaring rivers, alpine meadows, and granite peaks.

4. Olympic National Park Ozette Loop hike

Ozette Island from Olympic National Park Cape Alava Trail

Another Olympic Peninsula hike, this one was a wonderful mix of lowland rainforests and wild, open beach. This trip was easy, scenic, and included ancient Indian petroglyphs carved into seaside rocks.

5. Trinity Alps Canyon Creek Lakes backpacking

Trinity Alps Canyon Creek Lakes

We kicked off the summer hiking season with this Fourth-of-July trip to the most popular part of the Trinity Alps. The popularity is well-deserved: Canyon Creek delivers with stately forests, huge waterfalls, and awesome alpine scenery.

Best trips of 2009

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I had a pretty good run this year: traveling or hiking almost every weekend and writing about my most interesting trips here on Remembered Earth. Now that the year is almost over, I thought it would be fun to look through my posts and pick my favorite trips. Here are my top five, listed in descending order.

Thanks for reading Remembered Earth. I look forward to more adventures next year, and I hope you look forward to reading about them.

1. Red Slate Mountain from McGee Creek

Meadow, Mount Crocker, and Red and White Mountain from McGee Pass Trail

Elizabeth and I got perfect weather for this 3-day backpack in the eastern Sierra. We started in the sagebrush and climbed through forests and meadows up to an alpine lake where we camped for two nights. We also scrambled to the 13,156-foot summit of Red Slate Mountain for excellent views.

2. Miners’ Ridge and James Irvine loop hike, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

redwood-forest-on-prairie-creek-redwoods-miners-ridge-trail-3

This was the best hike through old-growth redwoods I’ve ever done. Starting from a fern-covered creek, we hiked along a ridge, then dropped into a dark, primeval canyon of giant trees to emerge on a windswept beach filled with wild elk. But that wasn’t even the best part! We looped back through a spectacular canyon whose vertical walls were lined with ferns.

3. Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

Marshes and Sutter Buttes from Gray Lodge Wildlife Area

We didn’t even get out of our car for this one. An unplanned stop at a wildlife refuge in California’s Central Valley turned into an awe-inspiring experience when we saw a million geese and ducks fly overhead at sunset.

4. The most direct hike to Mount Diablo’s summit

mount-diablo-from-bald-ridge-trail-in-april

A hike with friends to the top of Mount Diablo in early April had great scenery and the best wildflowers I saw all year.

5. Indian Head Mountain via the Devil’s Path

view-from-devils-path-east-of-indian-head-mountain-in-catskill-mountains

A summer trip to New Jersey gave me a chance to return to the Catskill Mountains after an absence of two years. The hike gave me just what I wanted: beautiful forests, great views, a few good scrambles, and a thunderstorm.

Honorable mention

These three trips didn’t quite make the top five, but are worth mentioning in their own right.

Toughest hike: University Peak north face

University Peak from the east at sunset

This scramble from 9,200 feet in Onion Valley to 13,632 feet at the summit of University Peak took 11 hours, starting at 8:30 and ending after sunset. Tiring, but with awesome scenery.

Most scenic: Chocolate Peak loop hike

Bishop Pass and Mount Goode from Chocolate Peak

Mile for mile, this was the prettiest hike I took this year. Countless alpine lakes and flower-filled meadows, followed by an easy climb up Chocolate Peak where we had great views of the Inconsolable Range and the Sierra Crest.

Most exciting wildlife encounter: Bears on the Trinity Alps Stuart Fork

Mountains west of Stuart Fork in the Trinity Alps

The two bears we saw while hiking up Stuart Fork were the biggest, most exciting wildlife we saw this year.