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Fun little hill behind my motel in Yreka California.. I hiked up it twice because I lost my hat up there.  Hill was covered in California Black Oak. I think this is called Greenhorn Hill.


I never did find my hat.


I'm a senior now! My Spring quarter credits were just posted, I've earned 48 credits since returning to college after a 20 year break.

Maybe I will get some hiking in this week. I was looking forward to doing some solo backpacking trips this month but I don't know if I'm up to that. I think I could handle a few dayhikes though. I'll try to get my family to set up a basecamp near a trail head and they I can hike out during the day and re-join my family in the evening.

I really want go to a shelter that I just discovered on the South Fork Skokomish trail and camp there with my family. The place is so peaceful but I know there are bears around I saw plenty of scat near the shelter and I smelled a bear in the bushes when I was eating lunch there.

Yes I know when a bear is around because I can smell it. Bears smell really bad! What do bears smell like? They smell like bear shit. I learned this on my Enchanted Valley hike last summer.

I'm wondering how far into the back country I can go with my 4 year old. Not very far I'm thinking since just walking to the grocery store with her can be torture as she stops to pick every plant and pet every strange dog.

I was really out of my head during my most recent hike a few weeks ago so I won't write about it but I will post a few pictures from it. I actually forgot to bring my GPS on that hike.. now that is just not like me!

I can't post the summit shot of me from my hike in Yreka because well.. because this is a family blog.. (grin)



Near the shelter I want to camp at. I smelled and heard a bear while I was drawing this




One of many washouts on the Skokomish trail bewteen the two shelters




Other side of same washout, I bushwacked around it.




The shelter



This was the third large washout and I turned around here


Now some highlights from my redwood hike when I was even more out of my mind..


A tree penis to go with my mushroom porn

Now a before and after picture.. the same kid is in both pictures..poor kid she's only 11 but has all the issues of a teenager



When my oldest was the same age as my youngest



My oldest and my youngest together




Wildfires fouled the campground air but provided spectacular sunsets over Trinity Lake