Quick and Dirty
Gear Type: Pillow
Trail weight: 1.25 oz
Price: $19 (on sale), $29 retail
Link: REI Flash Air Pillow
Pros: Ultralight
Cons: Air moves around the baffles, small surface area.
Alright, I caved in. After years of using a stuff sack and dirty clothing, I ran into a problem: I do not carry a lot of clothes on the trail. That lead to my impulsive purchase of the REI Flash Air Pillow (Flash). For $19, it was worth a shot.
The Quick and Dirty:
Location: Sequoia National Forest, Mineral King
Distance: 28-29 miles (we looked at 3 maps, all different mileage)
Terrain Type: Rolling, high, and long elevation climbs and descents
Difficulty: Strenuous
Best Time: Late summer and early fall, the road is closed when there is snow fall Special Conditions: Permit needed for over night camping. Windy and difficult road to reach the last 20 miles to the trailhead. Aggressive marmots in the spring and early summer. Bear canisters required.
Duration: 4 days
Every labor day we try to hit the trails. This labor day, and to celebrate our one year anniversary, we spent it backpacking one of our favorite locations in California.
The Quick and Dirty
Location: Sespe Wilderness located within Los Padres National Forest, just north of Ojai, CA.
Distance: 10 miles out and back from Piedra Blanca trailhead to Pine Mountain Lodge. We stayed overnight at Pine Mountain Lodge campsite before heading back the next day.
Difficulty: Moderate, the peak is 6,000 feet with a 3,500 feet elevation gain over 3 miles.
Dogs Allowed? Yes, dogs are allowed on leash within Los Padres National Forest
Good to know: a National Forest Adventure Pass is required for parking at the trailhead. No backcountry permit is needed for overnight camping, however you do need a fire permit if you want a campfire or use your stove for cooking.
Spring is our preferred time to visit Los Padre National Forest because of several reasons:
Dakota with her pack and sleeping bag, ready to go.
For our last day in Kyoto, I wanted to visit Fushimi Inari Shrine in southern Kyoto. The beautiful orange colors of the torri gates in the midst of the bamboo forest really caught my attention when I first started reading about traveling in Kyoto. I was also eager to spend sometime outside hiking after almost one week of walking around in the city.
The orange gates of Fushimi Inari
After spending a day hiking around Zion National Park, we spent another night in Hurricane and left early Sunday morning and headed towards The Wave, in Arizona.The drive from Hurricane to The Wave is about 2 hours. One thing we forgot to take into account was the time difference between Utah and Arizona, since this was before day lights savings time, we actually gained an hour going from Utah to Arizona and made it to the trail head around 7:30 AM. Once you turn off from Hwy 89 onto Red Rock Canyon Road, the road becomes unpaved and this last 10 mile stretch will take about 30 minutes depending on the road condition and weather. Based on our permit, a high clearance, 4WD vehicle came highly recommended but since there was no rain in the recent forecast, we decided to test out the road with our 2WD. The trail was surprisingly well maintained and luckily, we arrived at the trail head with no problems.
My recommendation for anyone who wants to drive a 2WD to The Wave is to check the weather forecast and make sure there is no rain predicted in the forecast. The soil is fine and clayey on the road, with rain, it would be VERY easy to get stuck.
The start of the trail, note the bright pink permit I had to hang off my backpack. Only 20 people are allowed on this trail per day.
Continue reading
Hike Now, Work Later 
