Category Archives: Hiking

Bears around Hawks Peak

We were hiking around Hawks Peak, in Tahoe Donner, when we spotted bear tracks: They were very large, and also very fresh.  And a dark shadow moving on a tree nearby caught our eye.  The bear!  With three cubs!  Climbing … Continue reading

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How to create top-quality topo maps of your hikes

Some time ago I posted some instructions on how to create on-line topo maps of hikes / excursions, starting from GPX files.  Joseph Elfelt of Gmap4 has recently written to me, announcing the availability of new, and much improved maps. … Continue reading

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How to get free topo maps

When I first arrived in California many years ago, it was difficult to find good topographical maps.  Sure, you could buy maps of Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks (at 1:62,000 scale or somesuch), but if you wanted to buy a … Continue reading

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How to obtain great maps of your hikes

I want to tell you how to obtain great maps of your hikes, such as this one of the hike from Squaw Valley to High Camp. First, you need to record a GPX track file describing the hike.  Most GPS can … Continue reading

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Started a section on hike descriptions

Lake Tahoe is a wonderful area for hiking.  We have started a section on this blog on hike descriptions; we plan to grow this section as we will do more hikes, and as I will have time to sort through … Continue reading

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