This weekend I completed a May “trifecta” of sorts. Nothing epic or out of the ordinary. Earlier this month I posted about trips to the desert and the ocean, and this weekend I capped those trips with a mountain backpacking trip.

What is “special” about this trifecta is simply taking advantage of the diverse hiking opportunities near home. It seems many backpackers don’t hike often; they plan and fret about an occasional backpacking trip. And I bet many of them have plenty of hiking opportunities close to home, they just don’t think about them because they are too busy dreaming about trips with spectacular vistas. Sometimes when we take a macro look at the places around us we can find some real gems. Of course, if you live far from wilderness areas, maybe it would be best to move (see my post Hike Where You Live, Live Where You Hike).

Some pictures from this weekend —