3 Days and 2 Nights Distance: 5.1 Miles Elevation Gain/Loss: 810 feet/780 feet Trail Map Russian Ridge is the northern end of several uninterrupted segments of the Ridge Trail which are in close proximity to a couple of the rare backpacking camps in the area. So I thought I would try to string them together into…Read more
A great beginning, 5.8 miles completed, 403.9 miles to go Distance: 5.8 Miles Elevation Gain/Loss 1,215 feet/1,290 feet Having 403 miles remaining of a 400 mile hike is hardly a cause for celebration. But getting started is a worthy event, and picking a starting point from so many choices took some time. After pouring over the…Read more
A Quiet Trail and a Bike Return Distance: 7.4 Miles Elevation Gain/Loss: 715 feet/845 feet one-way In spite of the name, the route for this hike includes only a short section in Huddart County Park and a couple of miles in El Corte de Madera. The majority runs along a relatively direct and seemingly rarely used…Read more
A Docent Lead Hike Distance: 12.8 Miles Elevation Gain/Loss 1,725 feet/1,490 feet Much of the ridge trail in the southern end of the peninsula passes through a dense forest of coast redwoods. Conversely, in the north, the Sweeney Hill section leading into Pacifica is dominated by coastal sagebrush and similar dense, low vegetation. The Fifield-Cahill trail sits…Read more
Hiking Through the Fog Distance: 3.2 Miles (7.1 miles total for the day) Elevation Gain/Loss: 785 feet/300 feet Sweeney Ridge Trail Map The official map of this section combines it with the segment just north, Skyline College to Pacifica. We decided to also combine them into a single hike. For this post I’ll just focus on…Read more
Descent From Ridgeline to City Distance: 3.4 Miles (7.1 miles total for the day) Elevation Gain/Loss: 115 feet/670 feet We started the day at Sweeney Ridge to complete both sections as one hike. We spent much of the day in a comfortable descent down from the ridge line toward the ocean. By the time we…Read more
A ridge trail with no ridge, and very little trail Distance: 8.6 miles (4.5 miles and 4.1 miles) Elevation Gain/Loss: 655 feet/565 feet I’m hate to say it, but the two ridge trail sections that make up this hike were both my least favorite so far. I was not expecting much from this primarily urban…Read more
This route, which starts and ends in Las Vegas, packs a whole lot into 8 days. This doesn’t include the additional 3 days in Las Vegas which we added to the end to rest. Although I would not consider Las Vegas a particularly restful place. Still, it’s nice to stay still for a few days…Read more
A short drive today of only 2.5 hours to get from the Las Vegas airport car rental to Springdale, AZ outside of Zion National Park. https://goo.gl/maps/Gopfy4T26q3JWp7k8 The short drive passed through all 3 states included in the road trip. The scenery began as an empty desert but improved significantly as we entered the Valley of…Read more
We had only a 2 hour drive planed for the day with two hikes. First, before driving anywhere, we would hike the Zion Narrows. Then on the way out of the park we planned to hike a one hour out and back on Canyon Overlook Trail. So, on this day we woke up very early,…Read more