The second part of our late-March sun break in Andalusia. We capped off the trip with a few days in a rental car exploring the white villages (pueblos blancas) of Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema and the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park.
Category Archives: Day Hiking
Trip notes and guides for day hiking around the world.
Andalusia in March: Part 1 – Málaga, Córdoba, Granada, and Ronda
The first part of our late-March sun break in Andalusia, built around southern Spain’s excellent public transit: a Córdoba stopover between trains, two days in Granada split between a Sierra Nevada foothill hike and the Alhambra, and a pivot to Ronda when Caminito del Rey was closed due to weather.
Andalusia in March: Planning a Spring Break
We needed a sun break in late March 2022 and decided to visit the Andalusia region of southern Spain. Our trip plan covered four areas, while maximizing use of the region’s excellent public transit. We started in Málaga, with a day of exploring in Cordoba, before heading to Granada. We capped off the trip with a few days in a rental car exploring the pueblos blancas of Zahara de la Sierra and Grazalema and the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park.
What’s in our backpacks: Day Hiking
We’ve refined our day hiking kit over years of trips across the Alps, New Zealand, the American Southwest, and the Pacific Northwest. This list covers what we always carry — safety gear, layers, water, navigation — as well as the gear we rotate in depending on season, conditions, and hike length. We’ve also noted what’s held up over hundreds of miles and what we’d do differently.
Death Valley in January: A 3-Day Weekend of Hiking
Death Valley has a reputation as the hottest place on Earth, which makes a January visit delightful. For those of us coming from the Pacific Northwest, it’s also a welcome excuse to chase some sun in the depths of winter. With mild temperatures, long golden hours, and a fraction of the spring crowds, a winter visit lets you actually hike the place. We easily filled three days from sunrise through sunset, with hikes and views.
Tour of the Bernina – Prelude: Arrival in Zurich, Oeschinensee, and transit to Pontresina
For the Tour of the Bernina, we flew into Zurich. The next day, we took a train to Oeschinensee for a day hike, returning to Zurich in the evening. The following morning, we dropped our luggage and took the Bernina Express train to Pontresina.
Two Days in Yellowstone National Park
Kyle and I had each visited Yellowstone National Park on our own. I had spent about a week there when I was a kid and passed through several times on cross-country drives. Kyle had visited only briefly on his move to Seattle, and was unable to stray far from parking lots because he was traveling with a dog. We decided to take advantage of our summer 2021 Wyoming trip to spend a couple of days in Yellowstone together, before heading to the Tetons.
Cascades & Sierra Nevada Road Trip Part 3: Lassen Volcanic National Park
On our way home from backpacking Ediza and Thousand Island Lakes in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, we added a day for Lassen Volcanic National Park. Because of smoke from wildfires, we decided on a day of short walks and hikes combined with stops at various viewpoints, rather than climbing Lassen Peak.
Cascades & Sierra Nevada Road Trip Part 1: Bend, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and Crater Lake National Park
For the first part of our July 2021 Cascades and Sierra Nevada road trip, we visited central Oregon, stopping in Bend, Newberry National Volcanic Monument, and Crater Lake National Park. Each of these destinations merited more time than we had, but we still enjoyed the three days we had to explore.
A Cascades & Sierra Nevada Road Trip
One summer at Cold River Camp, another guest presented on backpacking the Muir Trail and through the Ansel Adams Wilderness. This presentation inspired our summer 2016 backpacking trip from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. The image that most stayed in my mind, though, was a sunset photo at Thousand Island Lake.
Kyle & I finally visited in July 2021, stopping at Newberry National Volcanic Monument and Crater Lake National Park on the way there, and Lassen Volcanic National Park on the way back. This made for a one-week road trip with three days of backpacking in the middle.
Compared to the photo that inspired our trip, the sunset over Thousand Island Lake sunset was muted, but it was still excellent.