It sounds cheesy to say the beach is your safe place – I realize this. Realistically, this is the answer every melodramatic teenage girl would give, or any uncreative twenty-something year old guy trying to score points with his current what’s-her-name of the week. But overlooking any stale clichés and overused romanticisms, I promise that […]
My one true place in California is Death Valley, which is part of the Mojave Desert. Many people connote Death Valley to a gloomy, lifeless desert, but it is in fact one of the most fascinating places in the world. There are various types of deserts. Some are hot, like the Sahara Desert, and some […]
Cardiac Hill, as the name implies, is not for the faint of heart. It’s a steep mountain trail about 2/12 miles roundtrip that leads down to a remote and naturally wild section of the American River. There seems to be endless switchbacks and the trail is often unforgiving. A steady foot is necessary and you […]
Whenever I go somewhere new and people ask where I’m from, I’m always proud to say California. Of course, their immediate reaction/assumption is that where I’m from is constantly sunny, never cold, and right next to the beach. While there certainly are beautiful beaches to boast about, I always take pride in telling folks about […]
Perched high above Lake Tahoe with amazing views in every direction, the summit of Mount Tallac is my one true place. An invigorating, thigh-burning day hike brings one to the altar at which deep blue Lake Tahoe was christened many millennia ago. It can be a hard scramble. You may be exhausted by the steep […]
The ocean has always been a part of my life, I cannot imagine living more than a short drive from it. When I was younger, my mom would always take us to the beach if we had a spare day. If we didn’t have a spare day, we would play hooky. My sister and I […]
I love being out in the mountains. I guess that’s why I like snowboarding so much. It wasn’t until that last few years while living in Northern California that I discovered the real beauty of the sport—being out in the wilderness, battling the elements, having the feeling that you are the only person around for […]
We are running, hand in hand, down a small sandy hill. The four of us, laughing and moving as fast as we can to the bottom and suddenly lose one face down in the dust. Sandy boogers! I think I was pushing 6 years old and I still could ever forget that moment in time, […]
As the mix of burgundy and peppered-yellow leaves disappear from the gentle snow flakes sticking to the ground, a crisp and cold breeze blows by, swiftly kissing me on the cheek as I walk along the path. The world smells pure, and the trees whistle in the wind. I’m so giddy with happiness that I […]
As I look at the life of the plants sitting on the edge of a drastic drop, at first I feel there is nothing else, as if everything is back. The elegant colors of the plant stand out with the dark gloomy rocks in the back ground, like no life exists past the drop. It […]