We (Amy, Mike and I) were excited to get out in the wilderness one last time before the predicted Thanksgiving snow. We like Adams Lake in the winter; it’s a short hike for short days. Read more

Yippee! A day hike!! Read more

All season long we had been looking forward to a two-night backpacking trip in the Trinity Alps in early August. But, as sometimes happens, life got in the way and we three found ourselves planning a day trip. Our big question was where to hike for a day that wasn’t too rugged and where we c… Read more

The Bear Creek/Boulder Creek trail connecting the Stuart Fork drainage with Canyon Creek in the Trinity Alps Wilderness received attention from five stalwart crew members during the weekend of July 11-14. Read more

We hadn’t seen each other in weeks so it was with much glee that we realized we could both get away from our respective responsibilities for a couple of hours together last Saturday. So, where to go with only three hours? When you’re hiking with a best friend, any space is sacred space, but … Read more

Overnight catharsis in the Alps Read more

This time of year, we start to get that itch. Local trails have served us well over the winter, but the wilderness beckons. In this wonderful, wet, snowy year, a big question among hikers is what trails are open? How far can we get? Can we make it to a LAKE? Read more

Wildflowers Galore Read more

We’re big fans of the Weaver Basin Trail System, so we enthusiastically headed out to do our part for the trail workday. Read more

We pondered and plotted the hike to Alpine Lake for a long time. When your top speed on flat ground is 2 mph, a certain amount of cunning is needed to avoid hitting the last three-plus miles climbing 2,600 feet in the glare of the afternoon sun. Read more

One of our hiking buddies had hiked to Lilypad Lake without us the previous week. Humph. Full of lilypad envy and determined not to be outdone, we set off for the lake one day in late June. Warned about the overgrown road, we took pruners and did quite a bit of lopping to make it to the trai… Read more

Hiking up Swift Creek is like going home. I have trekked up the trail over and over again in different seasons, different weather, different moods and with different friends. By this time, the trail is part of the fabric of me. I recognize every tree, anticipate every meadow, and have favori… Read more

A free day between dog-sits and a backpack with my hiking buddy Cathy ... I think I’ll go check out Poison Canyon again. Read more

Even though I grew up here, I didn’t start hiking in the Trinity Alps Wilderness until about eight years ago. It’s hard to believe now, when my life is so woven into the wilderness, that a mere decade ago I had never passed a wilderness sign, lounged in a mountain meadow, or enjoyed an alpine lake. Read more

Almost everyone goes left. I, however, in my quest for solitude, habitually go right. And so I found myself in early June standing with my hiking buddy Mike at the fork 1.2 miles up Swift Creek Trail excitedly veering left. It had been an unexpected Friday-morning summer-miracle that there w… Read more

We were giddy with anticipation as Memorial Day weekend and thus our first backpack of the season approached. Two friends, Susie and Jane, would be joining us for the Friday to Sunday trip. This was Jane’s first ever backpack so that made the planning even more special. We had new gear to br… Read more

It was time for my annual break-in-the-boots, brush-off-the-dust, late spring trek up to Stonewall Pass. My hiking buddy Mike happened to be dog-sitting for a friend so the three of us headed up Stoney Ridge Trail in the Trinity Alps Wilderness; me, Mike and a dog named One. We had the trail… Read more

On a sunny Sunday in early January we headed up to Poison Canyon in the Trinity Alps Wilderness hoping to hike to Lilypad Lake. We had reservations about the road to the trailhead, knowing that when it traversed to the north side of the ridge we could be stopped by snow. But the road was sno… Read more

On a Friday in late November, the Forest Service opened Canyon Creek trail north of Junction City after the long closure due to fire. And if that wasn’t enough to inspire us, the weather apps on our phones promised a warm, sunny Saturday after a cold, rainy stretch. With a recipe like that, we had to go hiking.  

Early the next morning we jumped in the car and headed to Junction City. We ignored the mean, double-crossing rain clouds looming overhead. Read more

Right around Halloween, the arduous climb to the top of Mount Eddy gets feasible. Not easy — but late enough in the hiking season to avoid heat stroke, early enough to steer clear of hypothermia. Read more

As the rain fell and thunder boomed early this morning (Thursday, Sept. 7), hopefully helping and not exacerbating our local fires, I cringed and thought of my backpacking experience earlier this summer. Read more

My parents and I decided to take our horses for a trail ride July 31 on the loop that connects Big Gulch Lake and Trail Gulch Lake, located near Forks of Salmon in the Trinity Alps Wilderness. Read more

It was 6:02 p.m. when we hoisted our packs, heading toward Lion and Foster Lakes — about eight miles distant. Before you think we were either crazy or very fast hikers, you need to know Boulder Lake was only two miles away, and our first night’s destination. Read more

One of my favorite Trinity County backpacks during June and July is the northern part of the Yolla Bolly Wilderness. It is the southern boundary of the Klamath Province and has all the beauty of the Trinity Alps on a smaller scale, but hardly any people because of its remoteness.   Read more

Toward the middle of July my brother and his two boys joined me for a trek into Caribou Basin, home of the Upper and Lower Caribou and Snowslide Lakes. The trail is also part of the Bigfoot Trail, a 360-mile route through the Klamath Mountains featuring the second-highest level of conifer biodiversity in the world.  Read more

Union and Landers lakes in the Trinity Alps Wilderness have their differences. Union is relatively easy to get to and has a lot of greenery around it. Landers, cupped high amongst some rocky pinnacles, doesn’t get a lot of inflow and often has a moonscape appearance. Read more

We were loaded for bear. Read more

There are many reasons to hike up the Stoney Ridge Trail, so we find ourselves doing this day hike into the Trinity Alps Wilderness several times each summer. In mid-June we decided to take a challenging hike to a marvelous tree in Red Mountain Meadow that we call The Lunch Tree. It was predicted to be over 100 degrees but we pictured ourselves lounging under the Lunch Tree in a meadow while staring at peaks and, umm, yes, eating lunch.  Read more

The Trinity Lakeshore Trail runs along the west side of Trinity Lake. It is captured between the lake and the campgrounds, so there are no long climbs, more like a roller coaster. The four-mile multi-use trail is an out and back so you may turn around when you feel the need. Read more