Bees?

While staying in Fremont-Winema National Forest, I entered a seemingly endless struggle with yellowjackets. Nope, not bees, actually. Hornets! They swarmed the front of my car, and entered me in constant distraction.

Published
Categorized as Stays

More Volcanoes and a Whole New State!

On Friday, I left my spot in Lassen National Forest and headed on to Redding, before making my way up towards Lava Beds National Monument. On Saturday, I continued through Lava Beds National Monument, into Oregon. After another drive through Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and a stop in Medford, I continued on to a spot I scoped out in Fremont-Winema National Forest. Sunday, I also took a stop into Crater Lake National Park, returning to the camp in Fremont-Winema. It’s been an eventful weekend!

Heaven and Hell : Lassen

On Friday, I decided it was time to head on out of Lake Tahoe, and I moved over to Sacramento for a night before continuing on to Lassen National Forest. I had a wonderful time visiting in Sacramento, and am excited about my new spot in Lassen. I also visited Lassen Volcanic National Park, which I fell in love with again, despite it’s ominous naming of Bumpass’s Hell.

Mono Lake area to Lake Tahoe

Mono Lake
Mono Lake
Mono Lake

After staying in the wonderful area of Inyo National Forest for a week, visiting all of the alien planets of volcanic activity in the area, I hadn’t quite had enough. I decided to visit Mono Lake and the nearby Panum Crater before heading up to a new camping location I scoped out in the Lake Tahoe area.

More Alien Planets! Devils Postpile and Volcanic Fissure

Devils Postpile
Devils Postpile

I decided I haven’t had enough of the alien worlds, so I decided to go ahead and head over to Devils Postpile National Monument. In the meantime, I stumbled across a “Earthquake Fault” which is actually a volcanic fissure near the area. All of this area is full of prior volcanic activity, making all sorts of interesting worlds. To add to this, I hiked through parts of the Pacific Crest Trail and John Muir Trail in the process!

Published
Categorized as Places

To An Alien Planet: Inyo Craters

Looking down on the Southern Inyo Crater
Looking down on the Southern Inyo Crater

Sometimes, living on Earth gets a little boring. Cravings for some alien planet come to mind. Impossible, you say? Why, of course not! Alien planets exist far closer than in the range of impossible! With some lucky finds and a little bit of imagination, an alien planet could turn up in your own backyard!

Published
Categorized as Places

Adventure in the Southern Sierra Nevada

Google Maps Route
One long weekend adventure!

On Friday, I left the Keyesville SRMA area near Lake Isabella, and began my journey through the Southern Sierra Nevada. I had scoped out a pathway through the area, with three campsites, which I had hoped to take a good, long while to get through. Due to lack of cell reception, however, I ended up traveling them all, seeing all of the following: Sequoia National Forest, Giant Sequoia National Monument, Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, Sierra National Forest, Yosemite National Park, and Inyo National Forest.

Weather, LNT Fail; Moving to BLM in Keyesville SRMA

Moon!
Night sky on the first night
Night sky on the first night

After a few nights at the Black Gulch area of Sequoia National Forest, a lot of negatives were surfacing about the area. Almost all of this was caused by careless campers who came before me, but with rainy weather rolling on into the area, it was time for me to move away from the river. Luckily, I passed through the Keyesville SRMA area–a BLM operated recreation area–on the way to Black Gulch, and this would serve a perfect stop for two more nights in the area.

Published
Categorized as Stays

Pinnacles, another Laguna Mountain, and Black Gulch in the Sierras

Ended up in the southern end of the Sierra Nevada a bit early
Ended up in the southern end of the Sierra Nevada a bit early

After more than long enough hanging out in a motel room, the weekend finally came, and I was off to see some more adventure! I planned to hit up Pinnacles National Park, the BLM operated Laguna Mountain Recreation Area in Central California, and finally end up in the lower, southern Sierra Nevadas Sunday night. It didn’t quite happen exactly like that.

Setup Inside of the car

Set up for cooking, sleeping, etc. in the car
Set up for cooking, sleeping, etc. in the car
Set up for cooking, sleeping, etc. in the car

There’s some common questions I get asked about everything that I have in my car, from the solar panel setup to details about the specific things I carry. How do I make it all work? How much did it all cost? What do I even actually have in there? I spent a good amount of time considering this before taking the plunge, so I think it would be appropriate to address some of these.

Published
Categorized as Car Setup