hiking Archives

Hiking Landmannalaugar, Iceland

Paulina DaoOctober 16, 201711.4K views

Back in August, Josh and I headed off to Iceland for two weeks of adventure and fun. (This is a testament to my laziness since it’s been a month and a half since we got back.) Up in the highlands, our first stop was Landmannalaugar. Our first day in Iceland was a bit of a wash. With ridiculous jetlag, we did nothing but sleep to try to recuperate for the upcoming two weeks. We woke up bright and early our first morning at the Reykjavik City Hostel to catch our bus.

Hiking Peters Creek Loop

Paulina DaoJune 2, 20171779 views

Nestled deep in the Santa Cruz mountains, down some twisty roads, is my favorite local state park: Portola Redwoods. Creeks, short waterfalls and old growth redwoods are tucked inside this lesser traveled park. The trees aren’t as large as the ones found in nearby Big Basin State Park, but more often than not, you’ll find them in solitude. Weekend obligations kept me in the Bay Area a few weeks ago so I popped over to this park for a bit of solo hiking and mileage in preparation for long missions this summer.

Lady Squads and the Inaugural Feral Female Weekend

Paulina DaoMay 2, 20171581 views

Back in February, I headed down to SoCal to hang out with some very, very rad ladies: Kam Altar, Oshie Magturo and Shawnté Salabert. I think it was my first real ladies’ trip. No dude friends, no boyfriends, no men. I’ll come out and say it: female friendship is something that’s very new and different for me. When I talk about “ladies’ weekends,” my long time (male) friends mock me and ask “What girlfriends?”

Hiking Sugarloaf Mountain in San Mateo

Paulina DaoFebruary 24, 20171651 views

Three day weekends are not for sitting around. With the constant downpour California has been receiving, there was no place dry this past weekend within a reasonable driving distance. Josh and I got out on Sunday for a little bit. Suddenly, I remembered what it was like to be outside and not sloth-y. Josh had school on Monday so I was stuck at home sans car.

Try as I might, I laid in bed, watched TV, made biscuits… but by the time noon rolled around, cabin fever had hit. It was time to get out of the house. Luckily, there’s a good number of parks within walking and biking distance of where I live. I put on all the waterproof stuff I own and headed out into the downpour to Laurelwood Park to summit Sugarloaf Mountain.

Hiking Purisima Creek Redwoods

Paulina DaoFebruary 20, 20170792 views

It’s basically been raining in the Bay Area for the last 2 months. Save for a couple patches of sunlight here and there, I’m beginning to think I live in the Pacific Northwest. The gloomy weather has made outdoor climbing more or less nonexistent. Our favorite local crag, Castle Rock, is soaked. Yosemite Valley and Bishop have mostly been under snow, or just too wet to climb. Most of my free time has been spent training or hibernating or some combination of the two. Finally, this past weekend, we decided to get out and stretch our legs; rain or shine. Our pick was Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve just south of Half Moon Bay.