All posts tagged 'hiking'

Big Sur with Bay Area Expeditions

Oct 17 2010

Camping in Big Basin

Sep 26 2010

This weekend I got together with some friends and headed down to Big Basin State Park to go camping for the weekend. We headed down on Friday, taking our time by going down Hwy 1 (beautiful coastal drive) and stopping for lunch (Burrito Friday!) in Moss Beach, then going through Pescadero and visiting Harley Farms Goat Dairy (awesome!). From there we wound our way in to Big Basin and secured our 2 camping spots, which turned out to be fantastic. We got a pair of walk-in spots right next to each other, all the way in the back of the available sites (away from the parking lots/noisy people).

Apart from all the awesome food we ate (we really ate like kings!), we went on a most excellent hike on Saturday that wound up (for Rick and I) being around 11.5 miles. Here’s very very roughly what it looked like (I recorded a few waypoints using MotionX-GPS, then pieced this together on Google Maps):
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Backpack Camping Mission Peak

Apr 03 2010

A few weekends ago, we went camping at Mission Peak, in the East Bay here near San Francisco. We drove in to the Sunol Visitor’s Center and then hiked from there to the Eagle Springs camp ground, which is just off from Mission Peak. The hike was pretty tame, and a lot of the way it was on quite well-made fire roads and unpaved private roads. Personally I prefer to hike (and camp) in more densely wooded areas, but I guess this was an interesting change of scenery.

Getting prep'd

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A Day in the Andes

Jan 14 2010

As one of the bonus services offered through Robin’s language school, students are able to take part in weekly activities, offered through a guy by the name of Pastor. He has a degree in ecotourism, and seems to be really into outdoor activities, which makes him a great guide. Oh, and “pastor” in Spanish translates to “shepard”, so it’s in his name to herd people around the place

On this Sunday, we had arranged to go along on a trek in the Andes. I don’t know exactly what we (Robin and I) were thinking, but we were pretty unprepared for the trip, turning up without a backpack (to carry our food/water), not much water and no extra sun-screen. We got it sorted out though, and had an amazing day; here are the details.

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More Fun in Santiago

Jan 12 2010

Time is flying here in Santiago, and we’re starting to realize that we’re much closer to the end of our trip than we are to the beginning. On the upside, we realized on about Tuesday that we still had as much time left as many people have when they first start a trip to Chile, so there’s plenty of time to do some fun things. Here’s what we got up to this week, excluding the details of our trip to the Andes, which will be a post all of its own!
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Hiking Half Dome in Yosemite National Park

Aug 05 2009

Over the weekend, Robin and I traveled with a group of friends (most of whom I know through Krav Maga) to Yosemite National Park here in California to hike Half Dome. I had done some research so I knew it was going to be a tough hike, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. What follows is as much detail as I can remember from the trip, for my information as well as yours. It looks like this guy hiked the exact same route that we took (updated Half Dome guide from EveryTrail!), although he did it while there was still some snow around.

Total distance: Approx 16 miles, Elevation gain: 4,796 feet, Round trip: 13.5 hours

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My Review of The North Face Megamouth Hydration Pack

Aug 04 2009

Simple and lightweight, The North Face Megamouth hydration pack ensures you won’t be parched by the end of the day. There’s also room for lunch and the 10 essentials.

Perfect for Half Dome

Beau L. San Francisco, CA 8/4/2009

Pros: Good Water Flow, Easy To Refill, Highly Adjustable, Stable, Comfortable

Best Uses: Mountain biking, Day Trips

Describe Yourself: Casual Adventurer

What Is Your Gear Style: Minimalist

I got this day pack because I was going with some friends to hike Half Dome here in Yosemite (California). It turned out to be an absolutely perfect pack for the trip (which ended up being a 16 mile, 13 hour round trip).

I bought it online, so didn’t have a chance to try it on or anything, which I knew was a gamble. I’m tall (6’4″) and so when I tried the pack on (with no load) and it stopped half way down my back, I was really concerned that the base of the back frame would dig into my lower back and make it completely unwearable. That all changed as soon as I loaded it up, and it settled down to be a very comfortable pack.

It’s a good size for day hikes with plenty of space internally (and LOTS of small pockets for bits and pieces). The built in bladder is a good size, and I really liked the magnetic mouthpiece that’s easy to grab-drink-release.

The “external” pocket was nice for cramming dirty/wet bits in (e.g jacket/socks) that I didn’t want in amongst my other items, and the reflector strip at the bottom doubled as a good place to hang my gloves from a carabiner.

All in all, I’m very happy with this day pack and am looking forward to taking it on some more short hikes around the Bay Area and beyond.