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 [...]

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The San Diego Union Tribune printed an interesting article regarding the plethora of inexpensive personal locator beacons that have stormed the market in the last year or so.  (read the article here)  Do they save lives, or do they encourage the owners to attempt trails and conditions that are beyond their experience and skill level [...]

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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 [...]

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Four Day’s in the Canyon; 25 miles, a mile of elevation (down and up), spectacular views of a landscape that rivals any on earth, and a communal solitude that forged a bond between my daughter and I that will be a marker in our lives journey.

The idea of hiking the Grand Canyon with my very [...]

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We are all home safely from the Grand Canyon with fantastic memories and lots of great post to some on the sights and sounds as we experienced them below the rim.  I am most impressed as to what a young 7-year old accomplished on this trip (not that I am not biased or anything).   This [...]

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The annual Wilderness Basics snowcamp near Mammoth Mountain is coming up this weekend.  In just a few hours we will be boarding 3-busses,  traveling to the Sierras and strapping on our snowshoes for a weekend of fun and cold.   The weather looks condusive to snow camping,  with a chance of snow falling on us Sunday.   [...]

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Checking out Hi-Tec’s new Ion Mask waterproofing technology was a draw for me during the recent Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.  The new method for permanently waterproofing boots appealed to my geek nature, and I needed to find out how it was done.   I was not disappointed, as they had the vacuum chamber that performed the [...]

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I spent the weekend with a wonderful group of Wilderness Basics Students hiking in and around Blair Valley in the Anza-Borrego Desert. The weather was conducive to hiking, and provided enough rain to make us feel like we accomplished something by spending the weekend outside.

We spent the weekend hiking and exploring a lost [...]

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Things here at Outside San Diego are going to be very interesting over the next few months.  Here is a preview of what we will be doing in the weeks and months to come.
WBC-
The Wilderness Basics class will begin on January 20th.  The class is filling up very fast, and is expected to reach capacity [...]

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Cowles Mountain is the City of San Diego’s signature hiking trail.  Reaching the highest point within city limits, Cowels Mountain provides a 360-degree view of San Diego from La Jolla to the west to the Laguna Mountains to the east.
While there are multiple different trails to the summit, the southwest approach from the paved parking [...]

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