What sounds like a politically incorrect statement is what I told my wife the other day: "Can you pick me up at the Negro Bar?" However, I didn't go out to have a drink in a bar, but asked her to pick me up at the "Negro Bar" State Park, after I walked there from home. "Negro Bar" is the site which was mined by African...

California's weather is currently influenced by a so-called "blocking high" off the Atlantic coast which brought us nice warm and sunny T-Shirt days down in the valley for almost all of December so far (and it doesn't look like it will change any time soon). Unfortunately this prevents the winter storms from rolling in and the...

After my failed attempt to climb Tells Peak last week I did my home work, studied what went wrong and why I didn't find the Highland Trail. After checking the different topo maps on caltopo.com, I realized that the US-Topo Map which I had with my (and was on my GPS) was outdated and contained an old version of the Highland Trail....

Recently I discovered that the 4 peaks of the extended Crystal Range north of Rockbound Pass (Red -, Silver -, McConnel - and Tells Peak) have a relatively short access from west. The so-called "Ice House Road" from Kyburz to Loon Lake is a regular asphalt road and supposedly plowed all winter long too. The minor single lane...

Quick trip to the Sierra to check out the snow situation at Round Top. I should have brought my skis along, because there was more than plenty of the white stuff. Walked from Carson Pass to Winnemucca Lake to the saddle between The Sisters and Round Top and then via west ridge (snow free) to the top. Back the same way. (For...

After last weeks outing to Flagstaff Hill, I actually didn't think I would go back to this mountain (ever) again, because there wasn't really much which was extremely attractive for a mountaineer like me. However, I kind of had to, because I lost something precious up there (most likely during the bushwhacking up to the summit)....

Fall has arrived in California and with it the first winter storms. My plans for the Sierra Nevada were cancelled the night before due to extensive snowfall in the Tahoe area. As an alternative I planned to visit Flagstaff Hill, a mountain on Folsom Lake which should give me a rather good view of the Lake and the surrounding area....

Anderson Peak is one of the few mountain tops in the Tahoe area which haven't received a visit from me yet, even though I tried twice already. The first time, I failed due the icy steep north face and not carrying crampons with me and the second time I ran out of time due to an unplanned detour. This time I was rather sure I would...

An easy and short hike from Camp Sacramento to Lovers Leap on the way to Lake Tahoe. After a pick-nick at Camp Sacramento we hike along the obvious trail all the way to the top of Lovers Leap. Unfortunately the smoke from the many wildfires in the Sierra makes the view very hazy. Nice viewpoint along Highway 50. There are...

Stanislaus- and Sonora Peak are two relatively easy accessible peaks from Sonora Pass. They are both pretty high, with Sonora Peak actually being the highest peak of the Sierra Nevada north of Sonora Pass. I had plans to climb these two mountains at the end of September last year already. However, I miserably failed due to the...

For this day I had 3 concrete goals: Climb Mount Elwell, test my newly acquired trail running shoes and catch some fish for dinner. I didn't think that I would successfully be done with all of this shortly after 2 PM already... Climbing Mount Elwell didn't seem like a big alpine challenge since there are easy accesses from the...

The first time I saw the Horsetail Falls, I wasn't all that impressed. Due to the drought then and the late season, the waterfall had nothing but a tiny bit of water trickling down from the Desolation Valley. The current situation with record amounts of melting snow should give the falls a much more impressive character. In...

In Northern California we had an unusually long lasting period of very hot weather for more than a week now. The high temperatures were up to 110°F (43°C)! Luckily where we live, we have two options to flee the heat, we either go to the Pacific Coast where temperatures are always cool even during the hottest days in the summer,...

Even though almost all of the ski resorts in the Sierra Nevada are closed for the season by now, a lot of places still have more than enough snow left for skiing. I usually avoid ski resort not only because the day passes in the ski resorts around Lake Tahoe are outrageously expensive (typically > 100$), but also because I...

I had plenty of real life views and took many many pictures of Round Top in the last few weeks. Due to the massive amounts of snow this area got during this winter, I thought of an approach to the top from northeast. I did not find any reports in the www about such a line, but judging from my inspection last week from the top and...

If I had to name "my favorite peak" in my new home, it would have to be Round Top. Not only because I have been on top of it 3 times already, but also because it offers quite a few interesting routes, in summer and winter and with it's >10000ft altitude a very nice view as well. One of the little more adventurous routes to the...

I actually wanted to do another ski tour on this day, but the weather forecast predicted snow fall for the Sierra Nevada over night and cloudy skies until noon. Therefore, I decided to do something in a coastal mountain range instead, where the weather was supposed to be very sunny. I didn't have much time to prepare a hike and...

My current "extended back-yard" is the American River in Fair Oaks. The so-called Sacramento Bar Park is one of many parks which all together form the American River Parkway, Sacramento Region’s great recreational asset. The American River Parkway also includes a wonderful bike path along the Lower American River, from...

On this day I had a clear goal: to get a good workout with as much altimeter gain as possible. In the Tahoe area Freel Peak with is 10883 ft is one of the highest peaks and if you start somewhere around lake level (for example at the end of High Meadows Tail in Meyers (same as here), you get a good 4000 ft climb. So much for the...

Maggie's South Peak is a very popular hiking destinations in the Tahoe area. It is an easy marked path from Inspiration Point (a view point at Emerald Bay) to the top. During the summer months hundreds if not thousands of people visit this peak every year which offers a nice view to Lake Tahoe. During the winter, the peak is in...