If you spend enough time on the trail, the practice of hiking will change you. Once upon a time, I was hellbent on the summit, pushing at maximum speed to rack up the miles and check the destinations off an ever-growing list of challenges. I've come to call that sort of hiking "bucket-listing." Bucket-listing stems …
Last Sunday (11/23), I took a trip out to Cuyamaca Rancho State Park to take a look at trail conditions up along the Cuyamaca Crest. I heard about an SDG&E project that was blocking access to the summit, which was of interest given Cuyamaca Peak's inclusion into the San Diego Six Pack of Peaks. I …
At the beginning of the song Grown Ocean by the band Fleet Foxes, drummer J Tillman counts off two half notes and then four quarter notes right before a pounding, lush acoustic arrangement erupts into the band's cavernous reverberated sonic environment. Within these first moments of the song, my memory transports me instantaneously to Sequoia National …
Last Sunday, I woke up with the dawn and broke like the wind to get in a solid walkabout. I initially had my eyes on a Cuyamaca walkabout, which has become my go-to for a longer, more involved hike that also features good views and a splash of fall color. But for a variety of …
Before I get into clothing, I have a confession to make. I'm going to say it loud, and I'm going to say it proud: I. Don't. Care. About. Gear. There. It's out. I don't care about gear. Not in the slightest. Sure, I love to wander around REI looking at expensive high fill down jackets, …
Imagine for a moment that you just completed an epic hike. Your handy dandy GPS application reported your distance at a whopping 17 miles. You screenshot your app, and post is to social media. Within minutes, you get some know-it-all saying, "Well, actually, that hike is only 15 miles." Punked! Either that know-it-all on social …
Continue reading "Hiker’s Handbook: Why Your GPS Track Lies about Distance"
Recently, I wrote a post breaking down the Ten Essentials, and there was some feedback about including cell phones on this list. To recap, the Ten Essentials are items that you need to have on you when you're hiking to ensure a safe situation AND protect you in case of most emergencies. They should be …
Continue reading "The Hiker’s Handbook: Are Cell Phones the Eleventh Essential?"
In previous posts, I broke down where to find reliable information, how to incorporate a knowledge of climate into your planning, and various means of determining what the weather will be like when you hit the trail. I even talked a bit about the sunk cost fallacy, a thinking error where we fail to recognize …
You did it! You somehow managed to emerge from the Half Dome permit lottery with permits in hand. You've tried for three years to get those permits, and now you've finally managed to obtain what was starting to seem unobtainable. You plan for months and months, which includes multiple challenging day hikes designed to build …
Continue reading "The Hiker’s Handbook: The Sunk Cost Fallacy"
In the last blog, I did a quick and tidy breakdown of climate and how it factors into general planning. I compared climate to "personality" by pointing out how it's a collection of traits, tendencies, temperaments, and characteristics that remains stable over time. I then compared weather to "moods," which are day-to-day, or even moment-to-moment …
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