United States

Folsom damn was built in 1955. The resulting lake was part of the "Folsom Project" for flood control, hydroelectricity, drinking water and water for irrigation. Most of what was "drowned" in 1955, has been submerged since then. Due to the present extreme drought in California, Folsom Lake is at a historically low level - about 100...

What to do if the weather forecast is -60° windchill on the White Mountain summits? One can explore the (more or less) hidden jewels of the Greater Boston area, such as the Middlesex Fells Reservation. The Skyline Trail is not remotely as popular as its namesake in the Blue Hills, although it offers more or less the same type of...

My plan on this day was to climb Sawmill Ridge and Robinson Peak, they are both north of Twin Lakes (Mono County). I chose these peaks due to the fact, that they have steep south facing flanks, where the little snow which the Sierra got this season should have melted away again in order to allow the ascent without any 'snow-toys'....

As Delta showed not too long ago the Mono Lake Basin is definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in California. It was on my to-do list even before I moved here. As a "local" it is now "just around the corner" (for US standards only!). On this weekend I combined the trip to Mono Lake with a hike to the nearby Robinson Peak and...

When I drove to Carson Pass for this adventure, I knew I would be back soon again. Not only because I liked my snowshoe hike a lot then, but also because I saw many other potential and interesting goals in this area. The view of Thunder Mountain and in fact the whole ridge northeast of Silver Lake made such a good impression to me...

A good hikr-buddy of mine gave me a hiking book as a farewell present before I left Switzerland. The book was written by no one less then Daniel Anker himself and is called "Wanderungen in Kaliforniern". It covers 54 hikes (ranging from very easy to serious expeditions) all over the state of California. It has been out of print...

The Sierra Nevada hasn't gotten much snow so far this season. In fact it looks like this will be the driest year on record (all over California). Therefore the amount of snow in the Sierra is rather meager and after my last weeks test of the snow up there, I decided to not scratch my skis any further until some serious snowfall...

On my hike down from Freel Peak two weeks ago, I met two locals from the Tahoe region and asked them about back country skiing in this area. They recommended the west side of Lake Tahoe and its mountains there. After some research I found Rubicon Peak to be a good starting point for my Sierra Nevada ski adventures. It's not too...

Ein glasklarerMorgen an der Pazifik-Küste Nach denfünf sehr intensiven Tagen meines Trips durch Arizona, Utah, Nevada und Kalifornien (siehe z.B. hier, da oder dort) werde ich für heute in San Francisco erwartet. Arbeit, also der eigentliche Grund meines Ausflugs an die Westküste der USA, ist angesagt. Vor dem...

Drei kleine Wanderungen am unwirklichen Mono Lake - einem Salzsee in einer heute eiskalten Hochgebirgs-Landschaft Der Mono Lake ist so etwas wie ein kleiner Titicacasee der Sierra Nevada. Der grosse Salzwassersee befindet sich auf über 2000 m.ü.M. in einer eindrücklichen Gebirgsszenerie umgeben von fast 4000 Meter hohen,...