Geo: 36.5544, -121.924Since we didn't get to Point Lobos the first day, we figured today would be more optimal in terms of crowds. We got up, ate breakfast, packed up and then headed to Point Lobos State Reserve. This is one of those nostalgic places in the world I just keep returning to time and again. The ocean, rocks, trees and plants in this area are all so beautiful to me. We grabbed more coffee on the way, and parked inside the reserve at the first spot we came to. We usually head south down the coastline, walking along the rocks. This time we decided to go the opposite way, north, on the trails. I hadn't been on them that I remember but I've also been coming here since before I can remember as a child ... read more

Geo: 36.5544, -121.924We had planned to pack up the car, and then drive over to Point Lobos to have a picnic lunch this day. Carmel is only a 50min drive from our new home. We stopped at The Barn, got some small sandwiches and then drove down the road to the preserve. But I had forgotten it was a holiday weekend, and the preserve wasn't allowing any other cars inside for the day because it was too full. You can still park outside the park and walk in but the cars lining the road lasted a good 1/4mile. That plus hiking into the park with a toddler, the wrong shoes and our lunches just turned us both off right away. So we figured we'd return a less busy day and headed to downtown Carmel to eat ... read more

Geo: 38.055, -122.88I honestly didn't think I was going to make this trip. I had gotten a few rounds of tonsillitis this year that took heavy duty antibiotics to kill. I had to have surgery at the end of September, and initially the surgeon figured I'd be healed in a couple weeks. My tonsils ended up having major abscesses and so the healing process was more excruciating and extended than the surgeon had initially estimated. It took months to get this reservation at Wildcat Camp, though, so you can imagine my disappointment. It was near the end of backpacking season in California so I didn't think I'd get another chance this year. A few days before I was still hurting and had developed a cold virus to boot so I had the reservation name changed to ... read more

Geo: 37.2227, -122.303We got a later start than anticipated which was our first challenge right off the bat. Three people in our group got into a thankfully minor car accident. It still took time to handle the car afterwards, though. Our group was unanimous in not leaving anyone behind so we waited out the time, grabbed lunch and set out on our drive to Butano State Park late. It was somewhere around 3pm when we arrived. We only had a 5.5mile hike to Trail Camp, where we were staying for the night. However, large groups tend to move slower and need more breaks. And we had to beat the sun because hiking in the dark on our first trip didn't sound appealing. So this started out challenging as we raced to camp.Ok, we definitely didn't race. ... read more

Geo: 36.5077, -118.575Today we got up, ate breakfast and packed up to set out on a roadtrip to Kings Canyon in the far northern part of the region. I had heard the valley there paralleled Yosemite Valley so I was excited to see it.It ended up being an all day drive. Our first stop was at a small lookout with a view of the Kings Canyon range in the distance. It had a neat quote at the info podium-"We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope." - William Stegner.It reminded me of my upcoming backpacking trips. I'd never backpacked before ... read more