Born and raised in the Tuolumne, Ca, a small Sierra foothill town less than an hours drive from the borders of Yosemite, Thomas is very familiar with the national park’s popular valley as well as its less traveled terrain. Immersed in such a beautiful environment, Thomas quickly picked up a passion for activities that would get him into the outdoors. Whether it’s snowboarding and snowshoeing during the winter, or fishing, swimming, spelunking, surfing, wakeboarding, rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking, backpacking or hiking during the rest of the year, if he can get outside, he will be there. Out of all of these outdoor options, hiking and backpacking are considered his favorites, and he has logged hundreds of miles on trails…and off.  With Yosemite’s breathtaking beauty at his backdoor, the majority of his trips take him within the park. Having an unquenchable drive to explore new terrain, his excursions often follow trails leading deeper and deeper into remote wilderness regions. However his favorite paths to follow are those carved out by the rivers and creeks snaking through Tuolumne County, and with his craving to discover what lies around the next bend, Thomas has extensively explored, mapped and fished the majority of these watery passageways.  Knowing the ins and outs of much of the county, Thomas’ biggest thrill is taking people to places they have never been, something he is looking forward to while working with Y*explore.

 

Thomas graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a degree in Journalism and enjoys documenting his trips through words and pictures. For three years he worked as a writer and editor for The Sierra Mountain Times, a weekly publication distributed in Tuolumne and Calaveras Counties, where his feature stories would focus on local people as well as places to hike and fish in the Sierra. Thomas has also done multiple U.S. road trips, backpacked across Europe and traveled to New Zealand, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, and the Hawaiian Islands.