Weekend Sherpa

Since we can't always rely on Andy Isaacson and Laurel Kellner to send us their NorCal tips, we subscribe to Weekend Sherpa, a free weekly e-mail newsletter giving "insiders' recommendations on the best outdoor pursuits exclusive to Northern California" (and written in part by one of Traveler's contributing editors, Andrew Nelson). Delivered to our e-mail inbox each Thursday, the newsletter suggests how we should spend our weekend. Sometimes it sends us (virtually, of course) hiking up local peaks like Mt. Tamalpais and Mt. Diablo, navigating untrampled ski trails in Tahoe, or overnighting in yurts near the ocean in Big Sur. Weekend Sherpa lists easy, inexpensive ways to spend your weekends—the perfect source for people (read: most of us) that don't have time during the weekdays to research Saturday's activities. If you'd rather not subscribe to the free newsletter—though we suggest you do—you can visit Sherpa's well-designed website, which offers access to their archives and allows you to search getaways by activity (bike, hike, water) or location (San Francisco, East Bay, Peninsula). While IT thanks Sherpa for such a great product, we must ask: When will D.C. get its own edition?

Comments

[Bloke]

My wife and I used Weekend Sherpa on many occasions. What we like about Sherpa is the research they do - finding places we have never heard about (ex: old mines in the East Bay?) - and keeping the selections to only the best. Very smart!

Sherpa goes beyond simply providing a list of destinations like any other site - they turn it into an adventure. Sherpa has a story to each adventure - meet the owners, learn about some local history, something that brings a personal meaning to the adventure. When they covered Mavericks - how to best watch the contest - Sherpa interview Jeff Clark - so they have access to the best sources. I recall one hideaway we plan on doing soon - requires a five mile snow shoe/bike/hike (depends on the season) from the road to get to the comfy lodge - the lodge sends an ATV to carry your luggage - you simply hike it five miles - now that is a real hideaway adventure!

[Lake Tahoe Ski Bum]

They have some great info on some of the california ski resorts like lake tahoe. I love these guys!