Happy 2014! We wrapped up 2013 with our annual road trip to Oregon to visit family. Of course, we also took the opportunity to explore some trails and see some sights along the way. We always look forward to this trip. And with 2013 having been a difficult year, we really were ready to put […]

The theme of local exploration continued over our Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Eager to avoid the “Black Friday” crowds and shopping (did I mention that I’m allergic to malls?) and knowing that we’d be stuffing our faces with rich foods on Thanksgiving itself, I had planned a short family hike for that Friday. We’d go to […]

  Friday After completing Big Pine Flat Trail, it was a short drive into Big Bear City where we planned to refuel and pick up some food. Despite its name, it more like a mountain town than a city, with a population of about 12,000. Driving down what seemed to be the main drag looking […]

Friday morning, I grudgingly awoke and climbed out of my warm, cozy sleeping bag in the back of the Land Cruiser. The fall temperature had dropped into the upper 30s overnight and we were camped at about 6,500′ elevation. As always – but especially when it was cold like this – coffee was the absolute […]