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Emily Dawn🦋

@wilderness_chick

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🥾 HAPPIEST OUTDOORS🌞🌸💫
Texas Gal currently residing in the Bay Area 🌉
✨Let’s go eat sweet treats & drink coffee in the mountains 🌿🧁☕️
HAPPY TRAILS 🫶

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an easy, single-origin coffee in the backcountry please!

📸: @wilderness_chick

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when we say we know a coffee spot, THIS is what we mean 😍☕️🏔️

📸: @wilderness_chick

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Happy September! Pick up the colorful new copy of STYLE on stands or check your mailbox for the latest scoop. What’s inside? An article about @donuts_coffey, 10 of our favorite things to do + where to stay in @visitseattle (@populushotel_seattle and @saltharvest_seattle); peaceful pursuits (@urbanbaths_folsom and @reverieretreat) + exhilarating adventures (whitewater rafting, rock climbing and hardcore hikes) found locally; easy weeknight recipes; 6 wonderful waffles we can’t get enough of; and SO much more. Happy reading! 💛 🍩 ✨

Cover photo taken by @food.in.focus (c) @stylemags

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How your email finds us… 👀📧

Sometimes that means Reese, a contributing writer for STYLE, taste-testing for his next Foodie Find while our staff photographer, Taylor, works her magic behind the camera—or we get outside with Emily, our contributing writer, finding her next adventure.

Just another day at STYLE! ✨

@food.in.focus
@realtorreese916
@wilderness_chick

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The Minarets have captivated hikers, climbers, photographers, and dreamers for generations. Rising in a jagged line above Minaret Lake, these dark volcanic spires are among the most iconic peaks in the Sierra Nevada.

The tallest is Clyde Minaret, with Michael Minaret standing just a few feet lower. Michael Minaret is forever linked to Sierra mountaineering history. In 1933, legendary mountaineer Norman Clyde located the body of climber Walter A. “Pete” Starr Jr. after weeks of searching, a story that became one of the defining chapters of Sierra climbing history.

There are two primary trailheads used to access Clyde Minaret and Minaret Lake. The Minaret Lake Trail, which branches off the John Muir Trail from the Devils Postpile Ranger Station, is the shortest approach at approximately 7 miles one way.

A slightly longer route—about 8 miles one way—begins at Agnew Meadows via the Shadow Lake Trail. While it adds about a mile, it has slightly less elevation gain and is widely considered the more scenic of the two approaches. Passing Shadow Lake, lush meadows, and dramatic views of the Ritter Range, the Shadow Lake Trail is highly recommended if you’re looking to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

The view of the Minarets changes dramatically depending on where you stand—from the John Muir Trail, Minaret Lake, or this overlook at Minaret Summit, each perspective reveals a different side of these iconic granite spires. Minarets are primarily volcanic rock (andesite/diorite-like intrusive and volcanic rocks associated with the Ritter Range), which is part of why they have that dark, rugged, serrated appearance compared with many of the lighter granite peaks nearby.

📷 Photo attributions: Slides 1-4, 14 @jmtgirl, Slides 5-6 @gtr_mike, Slides 7-8 @jamesqmartin, Slide 9 @dynoandaaron, Slide 10 Davefoc, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons, Slide 11 @caltopo, Slide 12 @jeantucky, Slide 13 @wilderness_chick. Huge thanks to all the amazing photographers who contributed to this collection!

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Ok what do you think? How good did we do? 4 days/ 3 nights of backpacking in Yosemite! (Don’t worry about @mountainmads_ she was fine 😉)

Do you weigh your pack before each backcountry trip or just go on vibes?

👀Notice how all of the photographers didn’t include our camera gear in the backpack weights 🤣

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Red Peak Pass humbled me... and then humbled me again on the way down 😅

This loop ended up being more than 48 miles over four days, with long mileage, big climbs, snow, post-holing, boulder hopping, route finding, and enough sore feet to last a lifetime.

Meanwhile, trail runners were out there completing the entire trail in under 24 hours. They are truly a different species… 🤯

Also... shoutout to @backcountryemily for half of this footage. I somehow fell asleep on my phone the second night and managed to start a 2 hour video recording session in my sleeping bag while simultaneously draining my battery to 10%. Safe to say I became very selective about what I filmed after that. 🤣

But honestly, my favorite part wasn’t even the scenery (and that’s saying something). There’s something really special about spending four days in the backcountry with a group of women. You start the trip as strangers or acquaintances, and somewhere between the endless miles, shared snacks, freezing lake swims, trail gossip, and collective suffering, it feels like you’ve known each other forever.

Comment “RPP” and I’ll send you the full trip on YouTube!

📍 Native Ahwahneechee, Southern Sierra Miwuk, and Mono (Monache) land

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#yosemitenationalpark #yosemitebackpacking #womenbackpacking #redpeakpass #redpeakpassloop

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and I didn’t even get a video of the mosquitoes at our second camp 😅 🦟
Send this to that one friend always planning the “fun” trips 😆 🏕️
And hit the follow button for more outdoor fun!

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I gotta say, ambushing @hikeology on the top of Red Peak Pass was a bit savage (sorry Emily🤣)
We also decided mid-hike it would be best to end in Yosemite Valley instead of with a 2,000 ft. climb back to Glacier Point 😇

📍Red Peak Pass “Loop”, Yosemite National Park
📏Length: 47 miles
⛰️Elevation: +6,075 feet -9,255 ft
📆4 days/3 nights (don’t worry, we were passed by ultrarunners doing it in a day on day 2 🙃)
Great hike! Hard first trip of the season! Amazing views!!!!!

*stay tuned for a real trip overview coming soon*

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I spent Fourth of July weekend (and then some) trading fireworks for granite peaks, alpine lakes, and four unforgettable days in the Yosemite backcountry. ✨

We tackled the Red Peak Pass Loop, starting at Glacier Point and finishing in Yosemite Valley (so more of a horseshoe than a loop?). It was officially my longest backpacking trip to date and some of the biggest mileage days I’ve ever strung together.

🥾 Trail Stats
• ~50 miles
• 4 days / 3 nights
• ~8,000+ ft of elevation gain
• Highest point: Red Peak Pass (11,180 ft)
• Longest day: 15 miles (Triple Peak Fork to Twin Bridges)

There were definitely moments where I was the last one up the climb, taking a few extra breathers and strategically plotting photo opps, wondering how many more switchbacks could possibly be around the corner. But every day I kept putting one foot in front of the other, and somehow ended each one with a smile on my face.

This little slice of Yosemite completely blew me away. Endless alpine lakes, off-trail route finding, tons of cascading waterfalls, crystal clear swimming holes, and those claaaassic Sierra views.

Huge thank you to @backcountryemily for putting this route on my radar and planning such an incredible trip. And to the amazing women I got to share it with - you made every mile, every swim, and every little sore tootsie worth it. 💚

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#backpackinglife #femalebackpacker #womenwhohike #redpeakpassloop #yosemitenationalpark

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Peak girlhood 💕 Ya know… questionable hygiene, route finding across a boulder field and eating dinner out of a bag.

Nothing bonds women faster than backpacking together long enough to discuss bowel movements before breakfast 😂

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#backpackinglife #girlsbackpackingtrip #womenwhohike #yosemitenationalpark #redpeakpassloop

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just keeps getting better!!

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