Adventure

My Explorations

Sawmill Pass

Riding in the Forbidden Zone

Perhaps the title for this post is a bit overblown, but I thought it sounded better than “Today’s Bike Ride”, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that anytime you do anything outdoorsy or moderately adventurous, exaggerations always make things sound more epic. I remember while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, one of […]

January 3, 2016

Back to Horsethief

I always expected to return to Horsethief road sooner. We had a good ride out this road over a year ago, and I meant to get out there again and push a little further relatively soon after our first trip. Unfortunately, I just haven’t made it back. It’s a great road for hauling a kid […]

September 26, 2015

Klonaqua Cradle Loop

You do what you have to do to play in the Mountains

A Run and Sunset Dinner

We left at 5:00. We had originally planned on heading up to Mt. Laguna to do a run earlier that morning, but we were worried that it would be too warm for the little man in his stroller, so we decided to push the run back to the evening. To make the most of the […]

Solstice in the Sierras

Camping in the Eastern Sierra

Boulder Creek Road Bike Ride

The Ten Best Waterfalls In The Pacific Northwest

Running to Liberty Station

Jeannie proposed a run to Liberty Station, a park area and collection of various shops and restaurants. It’s about five miles from our home, but since Jeannie has been working towards a half-marathon, we extended it a bit more and attempted a route that is closer to 10 miles. The idea was to run all […]

February 8, 2015

San Diego Urban Canyon Explorations

I love to get out and explore the more wild areas surrounding wherever I live, but I sometimes overlook the good stuff that’s really close to home. We decided this week to explore two canyons, both within walking distance of home. Maple Canyon On Saturday we did a four mile loop, making our way down […]

January 19, 2015

Little Man Training

Did a short hike yesterday up at Mt. Laguna. It was only about three miles in total, but the little man walked all but probably a half-mile of that all on his own two feet. This is in part because he decided that he really doesn’t like being carried in the backpack carrier. Decided he […]

December 23, 2014

My Big Sis Kicked My Ass

Yesterday I had an epic run. I missed last week’s 8.5 mile after work run, so it was good to get out on a sunny day here in the Pacific Northwest and run through some trees. It was a nice gradual climb and the road, which zig-zagged up the hillside kept pulling me further, enticing […]

December 7, 2014

Success on Horsethief Road

After quite a few failed attempts, we finally found a great road to ride our bikes out towing our 15 month-old in his own private chariot. It’s got a great surface — not too bumpy for the little guy, has no traffic, thanks to the gate at the top, and while there are some good […]

December 6, 2014

My Favorite Images From Our Pacific Crest Trail Adventure

November 29, 2014

Another Unsuccessful Bike Ride

We moved last weekend. It was pretty unexpected, and a super-quick move, and we’re still working on unpacking boxes and organizing our stuff. We had the long Thanksgiving weekend that I actually had bigger plans for before we were informed that we needed to move — maybe a trip up to the Sierras or out […]

November 11, 2014

Maggie Lakes Backpack in November

October 25, 2014

Mt. Laguna Bike Ride

We got off to a bit of a slow start today, so we only did a six mile bike ride, but it was nearly perfect for those six miles! It was a lightly travelled back-road on Mt. Laguna with a good surface, and it had some good climbing involved — not so much that I couldn’t […]

October 18, 2014

Will Ride for Pie

Enough with the concrete already. We need dirt, and trees, and hills to ride up and down. And pie. Yes, dirt, trees, hills, and pie! Brilliant! Well, almost. Our bike rides have mostly been on city multiuse paths. Nice, paved, level paths for easy bike riding. The goal however has been to get our bikes […]

October 12, 2014

Another Bay Bike Loop

We did another bike ride today — this time for 17 miles. We circled down the east side of Mission Bay, then connected to Friars road, which we actually rode out for a little ways, almost all the way to the mall. We were hoping to find some path along the San Diego River, but […]

October 5, 2014

Mission Bay Loop

Today we took another bike ride to help get the little man get used to the bike trailer. We took a pretty decent ride a couple weeks ago, which went really quite well. This was in sharp contrast to the first time we took him out, where it was clear to anyone within a half […]

August 30, 2014

A Solo Backpack

August 25, 2014

Finally. Back to Backpacking

First Camping Trip With a Toddler

Yeah, I was pretty hesitant at first. Camping with a 10 month old seemed like misery, but I also really wanted to see some mountains. To walk in alpine meadows. To look at the stars. I think a lot of people fall into the trap of not doing anything once they have children, or perhaps […]

Breakfast on the Bay

I’m looking for ways to inject small bits of adventure into our daily lives — fighting normalcy and routine. Today’s little adventure of sorts was to eat breakfast differently. Normally we eat breakfast on the couch, occassionally at a table. If I had a patio or deck, I would probably eat out there a lot […]

A Solo Mt. Laguna Hike

Mt. Laguna is quickly becoming a version of the Gorge for when I was in Portland. The scenery is nowhere near as spectacular as the Gorge, where waterfalls, cliffs, mountains, and forests greet you, but Mt. Laguna does offer a fair number of trails, and it works well in situations where I know I want […]

Lena Lake in April

First Hike with a Small Child

Last week: walking through cactus, yucca, and a sparse desert landscape to a hidden palm oasis. This week: walking along a rushing, clear, and cold river, through tall trees and a totally lush and verdant understory. Quite the change. We did our first real hike with Mason, who is currently 7 months old. We have […]

Exploring Cuyamaca State Park

I really didn’t have a plan today, other than explore some of the maze of trails at Cuyamaca State Park. I ended up creating a nice 12.5 mile loop, that took me up near to the top Cuyamaca Peak. I’m probably one of the few people to to get that close to making it to […]

Biking and Running Tecolote Canyon

I need adventure. I haven’t been able to do any large adventures recently, so for now, small, one-day explorations will have to do. These aren’t necessarily always about exploring new stuff, but more like exploring new ways of doing the familiar. Today’s little exploration was to run Tecolote Canyon. I’ve done this run several times […]

October 14, 2011

Three Days in Glacier National Park

One early fall afternoon, much like this one, I was randomly looking over the Amtrak route map. I quickly realized that it will take residents of Portland, Seattle, and Spokane directly to Glacier National Park. Even better, the time spent travelling on the train doesn’t really cost you any time–you can leave on a train […]

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