River-rafting trips go with the flow in the West

Despite the drought that plagued Southern California last winter, river rafters can still get their paddles wet: Parts of Northern...

An inside-out adventure canyoneering in Utah

SPRINGDALE, Utah — There comes a moment when you step backward off a cliff, clinging to a rope the width of your...

Go ahead, play with the goblins of Utah

GOBLIN VALLEY, Utah — "The goblins will get ya if ya don't watch out!" wrote poet James Whitcomb Riley in 1885, probably just about...

Weekend Escape: At Mt. Baldy, any season is right

We admire this sugared peak from our downtown L.A. offices on the clearest winter days, a 10,000-foot postcard of pleasures. Indeed, Mt....

The John Muir Trail was his trip of a lifetime — just look

Every New Year, Jeremy Evans made a promise to himself. This would be the year the Los Angeles freelance photographer and cinematographer...

A journey on the John Muir Trail

Head in the clouds in the Southland's Mountains

Where is the John Muir of the San Gabriel Mountains? The Ansel Adams of the San Bernardinos? The Donner Party of the San Jacintos?

SoCal Close-Ups: Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead and Idyllwild

In Mammoth, snow has healing power

MAMMOTH LAKES — Before we get to the early snow, the new businesses, the zipping skiers and beaming boarders at Mammoth Lakes, let's...

Go West for ski resort deals

In real estate, it's "location, location, location." At ski resorts throughout the West this winter, it's "price, price, price."

Yellowstone National Park on a winter's day

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — It wasn't easy to tear myself away from the incredible skiing terrain at the Big Sky Resort in...

Spectacular fall foliage on view in the Eastern Sierra

JUNE LAKE, Calif. — Love turning conventional wisdom on its ear, don't you? Here's my little ode to the Eastern Sierra's amazing...

Colorado's Maroon Bells click with shutterbugs

Maroon Bells, Colo. — As fall temperatures begin to cool in parts of the West, sightseers and photographers flock to the Maroon...

The irresistible call of the Grand Canyon

GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. — Who hasn't peered into this brain-bending abyss and failed to conceptualize 6 million years of...

Thrills, chills and a few spills on the Rogue River

MERLIN, Ore. — Before my 23-year-old son, Matt, entered high school nine years ago, his mother and I signed him up for an Outward...

Weekend Escape: Trout fishing in Mammoth Lakes

This isn't one of those cushy Fish-Carltons like those über-expensive Montana trout resorts. Hot Creek Ranch in Mammoth Lakes has...

In the back and beyond, a.k.a. Carrizo Plain National Monument

CARRIZO PLAIN NATIONAL MONUMENT, Calif. — In his obsession to see every back road in Southern California, my brother, John, recently...

Will outdoor fun dry up in parched California?

How dry we are. By late last month, precipitation was half the normal level in California, and snow runoff was 35% of average, state figures...

Yosemite Half Dome's new lottery permit system begins

If you're hoping to hike Half Dome at California's Yosemite National Park this summer, you'll want to take action by March 31. That's...

The skiing and snowboarding are great in western Canada

Ski resorts — and their patrons — from the Sierra to the Rockies are cursing La Niña. Up in western Canada, however,...