With our weekend hiking trip with friends less than a month away, I decided that it was time to pull out the hiking gear and start taking inventory of what we’ll need for the trip. My husband is one of those who like to wait until the last minute to pull everything out, but I know if we do that and need to replace a few things, then we’ll be rushing around at the last... Read More
We decided that this year for our summer vacation that we’re going to do some hiking into the mountains in the state next to ours so it’s time that I start pulling out the hiking gear and deciding what we need and don’t need for the trip.
After my brother gave me a call this past weekend to tell me about a hiking adventure that went somewhat wrong, I have a renewed sense of importance when it comes to going out with the correct hiking gear. He went out with a couple of friends to a well-traveled mountainous trail that has a lot of switchbacks. It is a popular trail but physically demanding just because the... 
My family and I love camping outdoors and we decided for the first time to spend two weeks this summer doing exactly that.
For the past few years, during the summer, I’ve been coming back to a great river that wraps through hilly forested terrain for miles. Through June, this river is pretty high and the only people who raft or kayak down are those with some skill. I’m just a leisurely kind of guy who likes to float down a river, drink a couple of beers and pull over into the various inlets... 
Last night during dinner my husband and son were excitedly talking about a camping trip they were planning and at one point I asked them how they were going to go camping without any camping gear.
Living in the Los Angeles area it was hard for me to believe my friend had gone on a hike no more than an hour away from where we live, last week, and trekked through snow at the higher elevations. This is easy to believe if there were tall mountains around us but there aren’t, at least not in eye shot. He had the pictures to prove it though. Right after seeing the... 
