Beneath our souls
The Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Range are part of the American Cordillera, a continuous range of mountains that runs along the west side of the New World from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. [...]
getting out
Years long passed
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
The East Bay Regional Parks District boasts 121,397 acres of land preserved in 73 parks, and I have visited no more than a handful of them. In an effort to trim this ignorance, I recently reached out to two East Bay friends. Margaret Campos and Beth Ludwig, two hiking buddies [...]
Three seaside settings
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Outdoor photographer and mountaineer, Galen Rowell, wrote that a landscape is most alluring at the edges; where the mountains rise above the plains or a stream divides a lush meadow. But no scenic boundary has stirred humankind’s imagination through the ages more than the [...]
Devil’s Dance Floor
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Hell for Sure Pass. Gorge of Despair. Lake Lola Montez. Wonderful place names are scattered across Sierra Nevada maps colorfully depicting the difficulty of passage or honoring everything from the Devil to wayward Gold Rush dance hall girls. When a friend sent me a list of [...]
Brokeoff Mountain
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Where did it go? Didn’t we just uncork some bubbly and toast the arrival of 2017? And now, another new year is at hand. Whether you make New Year’s resolutions or not, the beginning of the year is a good time to reflect. We know we should be doing a little more of this or a [...]
Requiem for a backpacker
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Early October 2017. 9,500 feet. Emigrant Meadow Lake. Emigrant Wilderness. It is late afternoon. I lay tucked in my sleeping bag staring at the ceiling of my small one-person tent. Every two or three minutes, I slap the rainfly to remove snow collecting there. Six inches are on [...]
Sweeping Views
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Every January 1, we begin the year by making a resolution with an eye toward self-improvement. Each of us could do a little less of this or a bit more of that, but we rarely stick with it. Several weeks into the new year, we revert to our old ways. Last January, a group of [...]
A 360 degree seaview
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Here is a bit of trivia perfect for a bar bet that will surely win you a free round: From what Bay Area mountain top do you overlook seawater no matter which direction you face? In my footloose single days many years ago when the earth was still mostly molten lava, I lived in a [...]
Amazing Views on the Trail
Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
- After 10 years, Ron Erskine hangs up pen - January 9, 2020
- A Coe Park classic - August 15, 2019
- South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek - July 31, 2019
Russian Ridge is a crown jewel among the open space preserves strung along Skyline Boulevard atop the San Francisco Peninsula hills. From the preserve parking lot at the top of Page Mill Road, hikers on the Ridge Trail are quickly rewarded with amazing views: the Pacific Ocean, [...]