Category: Mountains
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Splendors of La France
K and I took a glorious early summer trip to France: half in the Alps and half on the shores of the Mediterranean. We hiked up snowy mountains, descended cliffs into turquoise waters, made unfamiliar dishes like poulet noir in unfamiliar convection ovens, and lived the high life watching the sun set over Marseille. We…
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Grand Canyon by Helicopter?! [Part 3]
Ok, final set :) I really tried to soak in every moment of the ride back to Las Vegas. That end-of-day light brought out all the colors of the terrain and draped a sense of calm over the landscape. There are so many striations, rivulets, grooves, nooks, crannies, and gorges here. And colorful mineral deposits.…
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Grand Canyon by Helicopter?! [Part 1]
My beloved college roommate got married last year, and her bachelorette party involved —-a helicopter ride to and through the Grand Canyon—- (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). It’s the most visually overwhelming thing I’ve ever done. It felt so unreal the entire time. I can’t imagine being a helicopter pilot and seeing it day in and day out. We…
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Mount Baldy
Mount Baldy = Mount San Antonio Baldy sits [presides] at 10,064 feet. It’s the highest point in LA County, and the highest point in the San Gabriel Mountains. It’s also within Angeles National Forest. At the summit K and I met up from our northern and southern residences [now swapped] to hike this awesome mountain…
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Sunrise at Knapp’s Castle
East Camino Cielo snakes along the Santa Ynez Mountains in Santa Barbara. Up here, there are great views of the ocean and, to the north, Lake Cachuma. Along this road lies a short trail to Knapp’s Castle, originally built as a mountain lodge in the 1900s by George Owen Knapp. In 1940, the mansion was…
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Huntington Lake
The grad school gang got back together again for some camping, hiking, and hot springs fun in October 2015. There were some cold nights and some pretty sad views of the drought impacts on Huntington Lake, but warm and sunny times with friends. The lake is nestled in the Sierra National Forest, south of the…