Hundreds of New Trips Are Here! Trips for Young Participants Service in California's Los Padres National Forest Women's Adventure in Paradise, Costa Rica Adventures in Your Inbox Sign up for The Explorer for email updates on new and featured trips. See More Featured Trips Why Travel With Us Adventures With a CausePart of the largest grassroots environmental organization in the country, Sierra Club Outings provides environmentally friendly outdoor adventures—from Tahoe to Tibet—for people of all ages, abilities, and interests. Whether you’re seeking lodge-based explorations or supported treks, backpack journeys leisurely to strenuous, or vacations near home or in far-flung destinations, you can be sure to find a trip that feels like it was designed for you. SEE ALL TRIP TYPES Roman Halbhuber, bearded and six foot three, strode out to greet me as I drove through a pine branch gateway, past a flag sporting a flying horse with

a beer keg torso. “Welcome to Free Land of the Vogelsang,” he said, and handed me a cold Budvar. I had motored to Ranch Vogelsang, a trekkers’ lodge in the Czech Republic near Šmava National Park, after a tour of the Budweiser Budvar brewery. The American beer Budweiser was named after the world-famous style perfected here, in Bohemia’s vast expanse of rolling hills, verdant pine forests, and soaring church steeples. mcm backpack taobaoBut until very recently, that was about as close as Americans could get to the Czech original. wilson avp backpackNow craft brewers likebackpack sphax Lagunitas in California and Stoudt’s in Pennsylvania are creating fine examples of pilsner—golden, bitter, clean-tasting beer that has been “lagered,” or cold-stored, for smoothness. dunder mifflin backpack

Considered the hardest beer in the world to perfect, it can take a lifetime to hone the beer’s color, effervescence, balance, smoothness, and crispness. Bohemians have had since 1842 to get it right. And here, every other town (and at least one trekker’s lodge) boasts a local brewery, each with its own flavorful hops. That night, while Halbhuber and I cooked up a batch of home-brewed pilsner, he explained his vision for the lodge. luxurylite backpackVogelsang, he said, would someday be its own, independent country, a nation dedicated to “good friends, good times, and good beer.” tongass backpackHe’d even printed up money and fashioned a passport stamp. So as I worried about what U.S. Customs officials would think of my trip to Vogelsang, Halbhuber raised his glass and toasted the first (but certainly not the last) American to visit.

How to Get There: Ĉeské Budějovice, home of Budweiser Budvar, is an easy three-hour train trip from Prague. Vogelsang lodge and saloon, on the German border, has its own mini-brewery (a converted chapel) and sits alongside hiking-friendly Šumava National Park (from $27; vogelsang.cz). Sorry, your browser does not support iframes.It’s no surprise Yosemite is one of the most visited National Parks in the country – the place is beautiful. Backpacking is a great way to get away from the crowds of Yosemite Valley. The trails are still more heavily travelled than many others in the Sierras, but the scenery is unbeatable. There are several different ways to get from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley. Our route took us over Clouds Rest and up Half Dome. Red Tape: Overnight trips anywhere in Yosemite require a wilderness permit. The NPS website has plenty of helpful information on how to secure a permit. It can be a bit of a lottery, so it’s good to be flexible and make reservations well in advance.

Additionally, hiking Half Dome now requires a permit 7 days per week. There is a lottery system for day hikers, but it’s also possible to secure a permit when reserving the backpacking permit. Once all permits are secured, it’s a good idea to reserve bus tickets from Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows. There is only one shuttle per day and it fills up! Information can be found on the DNC website. In the summer, it’s also possible to take YARTS. We did not have this option (weekday service hadn’t begun in June) so I didn’t really research it, but I do know YARTS is slightly cheaper than the DNC tour bus. Note: GPS based distance is approximate. . . Trail Description: We spent 5 days and 4 nights on the trail. We planned to visit May Lake and Mount Hoffman on Day 2, but a freak rainstorm kept us at Glen Aulin for a second night.  We covered a total of nearly 40 miles with over 5000 feet of elevation gain and 9000 feet of descent. Day 1: Tuolumne Meadows to Glen Aulin

We drove to Tuolumne Meadows from Groveland early in the morning. Picked up our permit at the Wilderness Center (not to be confused with the Visitor Center), then waited at the Glen Aulin trailhead for the rest of our 8-person group. While we waited, a few backpackers parked nearby and began fiddling with gear. One guy took quite some time packing is 80L pack. Soon he looked ready to hit the trail, but suddenly he snapped his sunglasses in half. After some amount of cussing and laughter, we gave him a loaner pair of sunglasses that we keep in the car – ridiculous yellow hipster sunglasses picked up for free at a beer festival. We concluded: the new sunglasses really tied his whole outfit together. After more laughter, he was on his way. Soon after, so were we. The hike was easy: only about 6 miles and relatively flat. There are beautiful waterfalls along the Tuolumne River.  One particularly large cascade is right next to the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp. We swam in the river, relaxed, had tacos for dinner and drank wine.

Bags of wine (taken out of boxes) make for a great backpacking treat. Onwards to May Lake tomorrow! Day 2: Glen Aulin (Again)Woke up to the sound of rain on the tent at around 4 AM. I was the only one who had put my boots under the vestibule. Rob frantically ran around putting boots under vestibules and leaning backpacks against tree trunks. The towel and socks I had left out to dry the day before were soaked in the morning. Turns out, our tent (the very lightweight Fly Creek UL2) does stay nicely dry in the rain! It continued to drizzle throughout the morning. After soggy breakfasts and some debate, we decided to stay put. Nobody wanted to pack up wet tents and hike in the rain. At around 10 AM, Rob magically started a fire with some dry sticks he found under a rock. I’m not sure how, but we kept the fire going for the next 12 hours or so. We ate, sat around, and met other campers including a PCT hiker named Eddie who provided some entertainment in the form of board games!

We snagged some ponchos and trash bags from the High Sierra Camp “store” and used them to stay dry. (None of us were really prepared for rain.) Eventually the rain stopped and we dried out our stuff around the fire. By the time we went to bed, we were all exhausted, despite having hiked zero miles. Day 3: Glen Aulin to Sunrise Lakes Today we finally moved onwards. We skipped May Lake and headed straight towards Tenaya Lake (to the south). The trail had some ups and downs, but overall was pretty easy. We took a long lunch break and soaked our feet in Tenaya Lake. From there, we continued towards Sunrise Lakes and Clouds Rest. The Sunrise Trailhead is the primary starting point for day hikers who wish to visit Clouds Rest. We crossed paths with many more day hikers than we had seen previously. The trail was flat for a few miles, then climbed steeply before reaching the short detour trail to Sunrise Lakes. It was a long, slow slog up the hill, but we reached the lower lake early in the evening and set up camp.

The bad: mosquitoes were terrible today. The good: we swam in the lake and had epic views while we cooked dinner. Day 4: Sunrise Lakes to Little Yosemite Valley Woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the lake.  Not a cloud in the sky and no chill in the air – we had a hot day ahead of us. The mosquitoes began to attack as we cooked breakfast. Rob and I made flapjacks with bananas and peanut butter – yum! We hiked uphill – gradually at first then steeply as we approached Clouds Rest. The approach involves hiking along a ridge with a steep drop off on each side. It was a little unnerving, especially with how crowded the trail was. After a long lunch at the top, we continued down the other side towards Little Yosemite Valley. Far fewer people on this trail (most start from Tenaya Lake and do not come up this side). After many miles and many switchbacks through the forest, we reached Little Yosemite Valley and set up camp. We all went for a quick swim in the Merced River and mentally prepared ourselves for climbing Half Dome in the morning.

Day 5: Half Dome Climb and Yosemite Valley Woke up early and began hiking by 6:30 AM. We retraced our previous day’s steps for 1.5 miles. After 30 or 40 minutes we reached the Half Dome Trail junction. From there, it was another 2 miles up to the bottom of the cables. No ranger was present at the base of the sub-dome (we were still too early!) We took a short break before heading up the cables. Again, it was a slightly unnerving climb. A large group came down as we headed up. Talking to them and seeing how panic stricken some of them were made me feel a lot better about my own abilities. We reached the top in no time! Took lots of pictures, ate some snacks, then headed down. It was now a zoo on the cables. I did think going down was easier than up, but it would have been much more difficult without gloves! As we headed down the trail, we ran into a ranger who checked our permit. We reached LYV sometime around midday.  We packed our gear and made our way towards the Mist Trail.

The weather had steadily warmed up and it was downright hot by the time we reached Nevada Falls. Not quite enough mist or shade along the Mist Trail for a day like today! It took quite a few hours to weave through the crowds and get down the granite stairs. We reached the Backpacker’s Camp in Yosemite Valley at around 5:30 PM. Long day! After setting up camp, we again swam in the Merced River. Topped the day off some beers at the Ahwahnee Hotel followed by pizza at Curry Village. By the time we left Curry Village it was dark and we barely found our way back to camp. Luckily, a nice shuttle driver gave us a ride even though it was late and her bus had already gone out of service. The following day we awoke early and caught the hiker’s bus back to Tuolumne Meadows. This shuttle also happens to be a tour bus. Maynard, our chauffeur spent most of the drive talking about Yosemite’s history and pointing out interesting sites. He had a wealth of interesting information, but his soothing voice lulled many of us to sleep.