desert livin'

My husband's family has a great little yurt in Fields, Oregon. I use the term "yurt" loosely, as the only thing it has in common with an actual yurt is the shape. Regardless, it's the perfect respite from our busy and hectic, city lives. Completely off the grid, we are able to disconnect for a few days. This year, we invited another couple to join us as we headed to the high desert of South Eastern Oregon. 

Fields, and the surrounding area, offers hiking, remote natural hot springs, and, for those without a yurt, an abundance of free camping. Because of the lack of light pollution, there is an epic night sky perfect for star gazing. Fields Station, the only commercial structure in the town of 86 people, sells some of the best milkshakes money can buy. 

Desert hiking off of Arizona Creek Road

Sunset at Willow Creek Hot Springs

View of the Alvord Desert from Pike Creek Trail

Getting in a round of Kubb

public transit to yosemite

Ryan has always wanted to take public transit to Yosemite.  When we weren't able to coordinate a ride with friends, this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Turns out the train is fun, easy, and affordable.  

We left our apartment at 6:30am took Muni to Civic Center station then transferred to BART.  BART took us to Richmond station, where there is a transfer point for Amtrak.  After a seven minute wait, we were on our way.  

Sitting on the upper level of the train, we were able to stretch out, get coffee and breakfast, enjoy Bay views, and, best of all, we were not sitting in weekend traffic.

Two hours later, we were in Merced, where we transferred to a bus, YARTS.  The bus is part of Amtrak, and does not need to be booked separately.   

Waiting for the bus at Merced Station

The bus arrived after a 10 minute wait

The two hour bus ride took us right to Curry Village, where we were staying in a heated tent cabin, although the bus does make other stops in the park. 

There is a free shuttle, in the valley, so once there, a car is really unnecessary.  

At 1:35pm our trip was complete, and then, well, we were in Yosemite, so it was time to enjoy the park and our friends.  We did a mini-hike on Saturday and cross country skiing from Badger Pass to Dewey Point on Sunday. 

Alpenglow on Half Dome

Lunch break at Dewey Point

Dewey Point

If you're headed to the valley, Amtrak is the way to go.  I would definitely use public transit to the park again.  

Perks: No traffic, space to stretch out and move around, views, Amtrak fare includes $20 park entrance fee.

Lesson learned:  Between drunk strangers wanting to chitchat, families playing The Itsy Bitsy Spider on repeat, and a crazy punk kid singing along to Beyonce on his iPod, it became clear that headphones or earplugs are a must.

Muni: $2

BART: $4.30

Amtrak: $41 

Total: $47.30 each (one way)

downieville: most charming mountain town

It was time to insert some winter weather into our lives, so we grabbed some friends, packed up their car, and made our way to Downieville, CA.  

Downiville may be the cutest town I have ever been to.  It has saloons, not bars.  The hardware guys will flash you a toothless, and genuine, smile.  One family owns both tiny grocery stores and the only restaurant open in the winter.  This place is s-m-a-l-l.  

Ryan is basically our in house travel planner.  He picked our destination and handled the lodging with a few tips from the Weekend Sherpa.  We stayed at the Lure Resort.  A cluster of cozy cabins right on the river.  There's nothing rustic about these cabins.  Gas fireplace, kitchen complete with microwave and dishes, clean towels and bedding.  We definitely weren't roughing it this weekend.

Downieville, is known for it's summer activities and is a big mountian biking town.  The population is 282, but in the summer it can get up to 2,300.  Turns out if you go to Downieville in the winter you'll be the only one there.  You're hard pressed to find much of anything open.  This, however, did not stop us from having an awesome time.

They had gotten quite a bit of snow recently, and there is a small snowmobiling community in the area, so there are plenty of hiking trails where snowshoes are not necessary, although having snowshoes would have given us way more options.  

Our first day we hiked past the Wild Plum Camp Ground.  It was so picturesque.  Hugging the river, and with peeks of peaks (ha!).  It was blisteringly cold, but once we got moving, it was comfortable.  

This reminded me of freecabinporn.com

With a hike checked off our list, it was time for some football.  We might be escaping phones and computers by heading to the mountains, but come on, it's football playoffs.  Fortunately, we found a saloon on the drive back to our cabin that was having a 49ers/Packers playoff party replete with Jell-O shots and free wings.  Could we ask for more?

The next day we hiked up to a frozen alpine lake.  This was along a snowmobiling path.  Hiking in the snow without snowshoes is like trying to run on sand.  It's hard work, but the effort was well worth it.  I mean, can you think of a more beautiful spot to make a snow angel?

Downieville is a must do.  The drive is a bit far for just a normal weekend.  Next time I think I will hold out for a three day weekend.  Definitely want to come back and explore in the summer.