Backpacking

[Part 1] [Part2] [Part 3] [View Gallery] Joshua Tree National Park is located 140 miles east of Los Angeles, and borders Nevada, Arizona and Mexico… The National Park Service (NPS) is responsible for regulating visitor park resources, including centers, permitting, facilities, activities and campgrounds (Modified Map from NPS above). The park is well known for […]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] Yosemite National Park is one of the greatest spots in the Western US for hiking, climbing, backpacking / camping, or even just site-seeing. Barely remembering Yosemite as a kid, it was imperative that I returned to the national park to redeem my lack of memories […]

Lowe Trail and Echo Mountain are well known mountain trails in Altadena, CA. For those of you who are not familiar with this city, it is just outside of Los Angeles, north of Pasadena. The first of my California adventures this year; friends Luke and Merilee (new LA residents) and I packed for a short […]

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[Part 1] [Part 2] [Photo Gallery] [Mapped Photos] After a short and sweet victory dance, it was time to get settled in at Campground #2. Taking off our wet shoes and socks, and putting on slippers was of the highest priority (left). Changing out of our sweaty clothes was almost as critical (right). Setting up […]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Photo Gallery] [Mapped Photos] Waimanu Valley is located in the Kohala Forest Reserve on the northern coast of Hawaii Island. To access the valley, you either have to helicopter, kayak or hike it in. On foot, it’s approximately 9 miles from Waipio Valley to Waimanu via the Muliwai Trail. A permit […]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [View All Photos] In addition to the many activities to experience while camping at Kalalau, this trip was specifically planned around watching the full moonrise from Kalalau Beach in July. As the beach gets moonlit to near daylight, a different perspective of landscape illuminates. This […]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [View All Photos] Arriving in Lihue around 6am, the Lost Trailblazers (Jenelyn Castillo, Jennifer Liu, Reanne Solomon, David Chatsuthiphan, Troy Takara and myself) made sure to eat a caloric McDonalds breakfast and purchase the rest of our camp checklists at Walmart, i.e. alcohol and bottle […]

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] [Part 4] [Part 5] [View All Photos] In addition to 6-weeks of rigorous physical training / conditioning for the Kalalau Trail (slow twitch muscle/ endurance exercises, strength training, joint conditioning, pack weight balancing etc.), there are several items you will need to acquire and be familiar with before your […]