Your Guide

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=167 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sierra Spirit Discover the Soul of the "><B>Home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Backpacking"><B><U>Backpacking</U></B></A></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="5" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="158" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#0066FF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#003399" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="142"><div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Backpacking Trips"><B>Backpacking & Survival Courses</B></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Free REI Slide Shows"><B>Free Slide Shows</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="142"><div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Your Guide"><B>Your Guide</B></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="142"><div> <A HREF="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/"><B>Pictu</B></A><A HREF="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/"><B>re Site</B></A></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 WIDTH="142"><div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><B>FAQs</B></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Serene Lakes Cabin Rental"><B><U>Serene Lakes Cabin Rental</U></B></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=127 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="72b8b6b0.jpg" border=0 width="139" height="107" ALIGN="LEFT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Backpacking with Karen   </B></div> <div> <B>   </B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#330000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#330000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="mailto:sierramaclure@sbcglobal.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:sierramaclure@sbcglobal.net"><B>email Karen with Questions or Concerns</B></A></FONT></div> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="1" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="502" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#0033FF" BORDERCOLORDARK="#0033FF" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 33 WIDTH="109"><div> <A HREF="id6.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Backpacking Trips"><B>Backpacking & Survival Courses</B></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Free REI Slide Shows"><B>Free </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Free REI Slide Shows"><B>Slide Shows</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id4.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Your Guide"><B>Your Guide</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photo Album"><B>Photo Album</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER WIDTH="42"><div> <A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><B>FAQs</B></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=CENTER><NOBR><div> <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Client Info."><B>Client Info</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <div> <B>       </B><A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Backpacking"><B>Back</B></A></div> <div> <B>_________________________________________________________________________________________________</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#3300FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>___________________________________</B></FONT></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=353 width="100%" colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>Your Guide</B></div> <div> <A HREF="id137.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My favorite picture of Me"><U><IMG SRC="72897830.jpg" border=0 width="151" height="131" ALIGN="RIGHT" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/gallery/3738567" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://sierramaclure.smugmug.com/gallery"><B>REI Adventure Guides' Pictures </B></A><B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >   </FONT></div> <div>       Karen Najarian is a native Californian who grew up in the East Bay, graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Bacteriology and went on to become a Clinical Laboratory Scientist working at various hospital laboratories, her latest position being at Alameda Hospital on the island of Alameda in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Beyond her work she's devoted herself to her passions: her family, the Sierra, photography, and writing.  </div> <bR> <div>      Believing, like Edward Abbey, that “you can't see anything from a car window,” she's been backpacking the Sierra for thirty years and teaching the art to others for 20.  Along with the plain old nuts and bolts expertise in comfortable backcountry living that comes with time spent in the wilderness, her passion about the Sierra has called her to learn about what she's hiking through, whether it be the wild flowers, the geology, the human history of the place, or the little pikas that live at 10,000 feet and up.  She's published articles about her experiences in Sierra Heritage Magazine, the Yosemite Association Journal, and the Martinez Gazette.  And, Karen has a Sierra wildflower photographic display on permanent loan to the natural history museum at Diablo Valley College.</div> <bR> <div>      While swaying in a hammock perched between two trees in Yosemite in the Fall of '99, Karen discovered the lump that would take her on another sort of journey - through surgeries and chemo and radiation - and ultimately back on the trail.  (See <A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Karens Story">my story</A>.)  </div> <bR> <div>      Karen Najarian is presently a backpacking instructor and guide for REI Adventures.   <B>She was recently chosen as one of 7 Top Guides from REI Adventures guides from all over the world.</B> She's a Leave No Trace Trainer and Certified Wilderness First Responder, who was voted by her WFR Class as "the Person They would Most Trust To Save Their Lives" .  While teaching skills, she shares her knowledge of the Sierra and, by using the land and the backpacking experience as a metaphor for our daily lives, she facilitates a space for new personal awareness and an opportunity for personal growth that can be taken back home and used to make lives more fulfilling and meaningful.  Like John Muir said, “Between every two pine trees lies a door to a new life.”</div> <bR> <div> Hope  to  see  you  on  the  trail ! - Karen.</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <IMG SRC="8b2cf550.jpg" border=0 width="463" height="341" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> Morning Coffee - photo by artist  <A HREF="http://www.sonic.net/aquatint/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.sonic.net/aquatint/">Steve McMillan</A></div> <bR> <div> <B> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="90" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" BGCOLOR=#FFFBF0 > <tR> <tD VALIGN=CENTER HEIGHT= 16 ><NOBR><div> <A HREF="mailto:sierramaclure@sbcglobal.net" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:sierramaclure@sbcglobal.net"><B>email Karen</B></A></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> </TABLE></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Discover the Soul of the Sierra"</B></div> <div> <B>"Changing Lives One Trip at a Time"</B></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>