As many of you have noticed, Outside San Diego has been dormant for a while. This is due to a number of reasons, the primary being that I just returned home from an extended tour of Sierra Nevada Mountains with my family. My wife and I decided that our young children were a [...]

[Read more →]

I had the somewhat dubious pleasure of spending a very soggy weekend backpacking with a Wilderness Basics Group to the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness area this last weekend.  This fast, high mileage backpack from the northern edge of the park down into the canyon bottom was punctuated by almost continual rain from lunchtime on Saturday, [...]

[Read more →]

I had the pleasure of leading a group of WBC participants on a soggy weekend jaunt through Blair Valley and Little Blair Valley and all the wonders it contains.  It rained almost constantly.  This bodes well for the upcoming desert wildflower season  and I am looking forward to the explosion of color that will mark [...]

[Read more →]

Adventure 16 and Aqua Adventures are hosting paddling maniac Freya Hoffmeister this weekend on the “Race Around Australia”.  Kokatat and Thule are sponsoring this engagement where Freya will be relating her experiences about her first solo and unsupported circumnavigation  around Australia. Here is some more information directly form the source:
When you circumnavigate an entire continent, [...]

[Read more →]

One of my greatest passions as a teenager, and a young adult was alpine skiing.  I had a pretty significant knee injury during a ski trip to Colorado that pretty much totaled my confidence to perform again on the slopes.  I skied for a few more years after the injury, but it was never the [...]

[Read more →]

I took a short backpack with a group of friends into San Jacinto State Park. We used the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway to take us and our backpacks from 2643 feet up to 8516 feet, and then strapped on our packs, reeling a little from the sudden massive altitude gain, and hiked a few [...]

[Read more →]

I took my first backpacking trip of the season to Oriflamme Canyon in the Anza Borrego State park.  This canyon, nestled near the foot of Granite Mountain, is a bit different than the the cholla and creosote dotted flatlands that make up the surrounding area.  Oriflamme Canyon is fed by a spring originating in the [...]

[Read more →]

On September 25-27 I will be attending a very neat, and very worthwhile charity event called the Joshua Tree Experience.  This event raises money for Outdoor Outreach, whos mission states:
“Outdoor Outreach empowers at-risk and under privileged youth to make positive, lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming.”
In a nutshell,  Outdoor Outreach provides the [...]

[Read more →]

The Julian Starfest is returning for its second run from August 20 through August 23.  The sleeper event of last summer looks to surpass the fun by adding an extra night, and growing the event to accommodate the all of the interest surrounding the event. They are including a premium viewing area located away from [...]

[Read more →]

This September 25-27, will see me at The Joshua Tree Experience.
The folks at The Joshua Tree Experience drew me into this event by describing it as
By taking part in Outdoor Outreach’s 2009 Joshua Tree Experience, you will have the chance to enjoy a fully-catered, action-packed weekend in Joshua Tree National Park. Activities will include rock [...]

[Read more →]