well off the beathen path

A transient was found guilty of starting the Day Fire that burned more than 162,000 acres Steven Emory Butcher was found guilty of starting the Day Fire that burned more than 162,000 acres in the Los Padres and Angeles National Forests in 2006, and the Ellis Fire in 2002. Congratulations to Special Agent Heather Campbell and the other Los Padres National Forest personnel who worked very hard to bring this case forward to its successful conclusion.

As the sun sets on Wednesday, FEB 20th, a total eclipse of the Moon will occur from 5:43 to 9:09pm PST. This lunar eclipse will be visible from North & South America weather permitting. California has a weather system moving in that day, so we may not see it depending on our cloud cover. But go outside anyway, at 6PM WED & watch for it - just to say you tried. You may be in for a nice show if the clouds are cooperating. [This great moon photo is from Lttlbddy Steve's collection.]

yeah. more snow, more, more.

Mono Lake Winter Kayaking1 Originally uploaded by Buck Forester This amazing photographers work will make you want to BE THERE. Right there in the photo, in the boat. This one image of the Eastern Sierra literally took my breathe away. Not as good as being there, but the next best thing. Mediate on Life.

For most of 2007 Total Escape Adventures has been taking a much needed break from leading our famous "guided road trips". This past year we worked at revamping the popular 3000 page web site - so we could get a better handle on the huge redesign process (learning new code, creating databases, & establishing the new blog @ Total Escape OUTSIDE); but now we are sick of the computer & itching to get back out there to travel again. Do not let those gas prices get you down. Find a friend, carpool & join us! Total Escape Adventures is back for 2008. DanaMite just posted the Spring line up which included Sierra Snowmobiling, Kern River Camping & Sequoia for Memorial Day weekend. Go check it out soon & join us for some back road excursions this season. We promise it will be cheaper to travel locally than you ever thought possible. And you might even learn a few new things! SEE THE 2008 ROAD TRIPS totalescape.com/trips/