Spending time in the mountains this past weekend with some great people was extremely inspiring. We biked, we hiked, and we did so much more. I will do a full break out of good eats, trails, and viewing spots. This was one of my favorite days when we hiked Death Canyon. The views were stunning and the weather was perfect!
Phelps Lake.
Stunning trails.
Does it get any better?!
My good friend, Sheena, and her friend, Arel, have just moved to San Francisco from Barbados. I’ve been so excited for this day and it’s been fun exploring the bay area with them. There are so many amazing places to visit and it was such a treat to get to take them to Muir Woods the other weekend!
Sheena behind the redwoods 🙂
The trail has these fun little bridges to cross over water streams when there is a large water flow.
Look at these cute Bajan babes!
Rob came along, too 🙂
Beautiful trails.
They are adorable!
Sheena and I being yogi’s at the top of the trail near Panoramic Highway.
Views for miles.
You can access the Muir Woods trails from many different access points. We started from Panormaic Highway on the ridge and hiked down before hiking back up and out. If you park at the bottom and end up at the National Monument for the Redwood trees, there is a fee but if you are just going for the hike, make sure to look up access points before you go. It’s a great hike!
All photos by Arel!
Rob and I spent one Friday evening in the Marin headlands just wandering through all the beauty it has to offer. It was a gorgeous night as people were fleeing the bay area and we took full advantage of a desolate staycation. In this situation, we claimed the mountains as ours and just soaked it all in.
Follow me here.
Ocean breeze.
Rob snapping photos with my dad’s vintage film canon camera.
Can you spy?
Summer nights, le sigh.
Tunnel back to the other side.
It was a perfect night!
I went on a beautiful hike while in Switzerland and saw this beautiful waterfall. Waterfalls are everywhere there but I got very lucky on this day. I can’t wait to share all my photos when I get back!
Since it hasn’t been too rainy, I’ve been trying to enjoy the outdoors on the weekends. The trick to this is layering your clothing because naturally you will get warm from a hike but it’s not worth sucking up the cold at the beginning in just a long sleeve shirt. Adding a warm beanie or ear covering fleece headband can help too. I hit some East Bay trails this past weekend with my mom and we really enjoyed the colors and paths that the hiking trails had to offer. The same trails can look different throughout all the seasons.
Blue skies
We had to go through a farm gate or two because some areas cows were roaming freely.
Mt. Diablo
It’s always nice to get exercise with fresh air. I’d prefer working out outdoors over a gym any day. I can’t wait for the nights when it’s light out longer and I can enjoy being outdoors after work. There are a TON of trail heads throughout the bay area that are worthy of checking out. You never know, there could be one right in your back yard!
Hiking is pretty much the best cheap activity there is because it is free, good for you, and once you get to the top you feel really impressed with yourself. This trail is called Valencia Peak and it is in Montana de Oro near San Luis Obispo.
(I had to take a photo of this beautiful bird because all of the blues in my focal point were overwhelming. And I know what you are thinking, 2 miles? It was uphill! And I am not a very good hiker so it was more like 22 miles if we are being technical!)
(This is how hiking with Nick goes. He is always a few dozen feet in front of me while I am taking pictures and catching my breath but I like it; we decided he is more like a boyfriend slash personal-trainer-I-never-signed-up-for. This is also a picture from just halfway up. SPOILER ALERT: I made it to the top)
(The side of the mountain was made of this rocky sandstone type material that I was obsessed with. I wish I had taken buckets of it home and made some weird project with it, it was light weight and beautiful)
(Here is Nick at the very top! Aside from him always leading the way and bringing me to new places, he also carries all of my trinkets. And he never complains. He is kind of extremely awesome. You all should find a tour guide like mine!)
(This is the view I was promised. I said I wanted to take pictures of the ocean and he gave me the entire mountain too. You can’t buy experiences like these, some of the best things in life are definitely free)
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