Time: ~2 hours
Difficulty: Medium
Elevation gain: 1596 ft
Dogs: Yes
When to go: Year-round
Back in 2011, several of us hiking bloggers planned our first-ever get-together. The initial group consisted of Derek of 100 Peaks, Casey from Modern Hiker, Kolby The Hike Guy, Pete of East-West Hike, Campfire Chic and myself. In the end it was just Derek, Pete an myself hiking Whale Peak in Anza Borrego. And apple pie. But that’s another story.
For 2012, the group grew and the Southern California Hiker Tweetup–or SCHT– (don’t try to pronounce it) was born.
We are a go! #socalhikingtweetup See ya soon! @greeneadventurs @campfirechic @zachbehrens @walksimply @jcmcnair @thesocalhiker @swiftcinema
— ADKinLA (@ADKinLA) November 10, 2012
Beautiful morning for the #SoCalHikingTweetup with @adkinla @walksimply @thesocalhiker @zacapplegate @jcmcnair… fb.me/1MBgpMnn2
— Greene Adventures (@greeneadventurs) November 10, 2012
Thanks to Pete’s persistence and Colleen and Jeff Greene’s organization, we finally met — many of us for the first time — today.
Our gathering spot was Schabarum Regional Park, straddling the hills bordering LA and Orange Counties. Starting out of Rowland Heights, we followed a figure-eight loop that took us through over 6 miles with oak shaded canyons and ridge-line vistas.
Our route took us sharply uphill on the Schabarum Trail. At mile 1.3, we veered left under on the Buena Vista Trail–a .2 mile short cut to the top of the ridge, connecting to the Purple Sage Trail. At the top, we soaked in fantastic vistas. The skies were clear, there was snow dusting the top of the San Gabriel Mountains to the east, and we could even see the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island in the distance.
We headed east and mostly downhill for almost a mile, turning south on the Powder Canyon Trail. This is the crossover for our figure-eight. Turning left at the Black Walnut trail, we headed up a small hill and back down the other side. Watch closely for a marker for the Nogales trail. While most of the trails here are fire breaks, the Nogales Trail is a single-track and easily missed. If you hit Fullerton Road, you’ve gone too far.
Nogales is a short hop that connected us back to the Powder Canyon trail. This is serene and shaded by ancient oaks, with a gentle climb to the saddle (our crossover point) and back north, down towards are trailhead. At the horse stables, we turned left over the bridge to the short Wildcat Loop, and back to where we began our hike.
Meeting the others was a real treat. I love hiking with other people. Hikers are good people, and this group was no exception. It was fascinating to hear about their own hikes, their lives, and what they do when they’re not hiking. Not surprisingly, the second-most discussed topic on the trail? Food.
And food was waiting for us when we returned to our trailhead. We shared a well-earned potluck lunch spread that left everyone satisfied.
Trail Map
Photo Gallery
Click on a thumbnail to open the slideshow. You can leave comments on any photo in the gallery, too!
@greeneadventurs @adkinla @walksimply @thesocalhiker great to meet everyone thanks for setting it up!
— Josh McNair (@jcmcnair) November 10, 2012
@jcmcnair @greeneadventurs @adkinla @walksimply @thesocalhikerso happy to meet you all! can’t wait for this spring!
— David Swift (@SwiftCinema) November 10, 2012
@greeneadventurs @adkinla @thesocalhiker @zacapplegate @jcmcnair #socalhikingtweetup Perfect temps. for #hiking!
— Traci (@WalkSimply) November 10, 2012
@thesocalhiker @walksimply @greeneadventurs @adkinla @jcmcnair Here ya go GPX opadventureteam.com/wp-content/upl… & EveryTrail Map everytrail.com/view_trip.php?…
— Zac Applegate (@ZacApplegate) November 11, 2012
Who’s Who?
Here’s who attended this 2nd Tweetup. Show them some love! Check out their hiking blog, and follow them on Twitter.
- Pete: East-West Hike | @adkinla
- Jeff & Colleen: GreeneAdventures | @greeneadventurs
- Traci: Walk Simply | @WalkSimply
- David: Red Tail Trails | @redtailtrails
- Josh & Amie: California Through My Lens | @CaliFromMyLens
- Zac: RansomedMan | @ZacApplegate
- Jeff & Joan: SoCalHiker.net | @TheSoCalHiker
Special thanks to Pete, Jeff & Colleen for bringing us all together. To those who couldn’t make it this time, hopefully we’ll see you at the next Tweetup in the Spring!
About the Author
Great write up and pictures! I was working on my own but you are def faster! Nice to meet you guys today and I really echo the statement that our group was a great selection of people. Can’t wait for round 2, or I guess round 3 based on what you said about the first group (I headed over to the link, that is a funny story).
Great trip report buddy! Can’t wait for the next Tweetup and the next hikes with y’all!
Again, great to meet everyone! We’re finally getting around to posting our full write-up on Powder Canyon today. Figured coordinating it with all of your posts about the TweetUp would make us seem less like blogging slackers.
Hi Jeff! So wonderful to have met you and Joan. You two are a wealth of knowledge and I loved hearing your Catalina and JMT stories! Nice writeup! I was so busy chit-chatting yesterday I barely paid attention to the details. HA!
Jeff, thanks for putting this post together so quickly and a big thanks to the Greenes and Pete for organizing! I know I’ll be bugging a few of you for more info on the JMT, wilderness travel, and CMS stuff. I learned a ton talking with people yesterday! Can’t wait to see other write-ups. Do we have to wait for spring???
Nice post! Thanks for posting a recap, Josh and I will have one up soon @ http://opadventureteam.com/ and it will have the group picture everyone can score.
Here it is: http://opadventureteam.com/2012/11/11/socal-hikers-meet-up-schabarum-regional-park/
I’m always amazed at how you find all these cool trails. I would have never thought that this cool place is here in OC. I have to get my butt in gear and make it out to a hike with you guys. Although I don’t know if I could hang for 7 miles.
I gotta get off my butt and join up with you guys next time! Seems like too much fun to miss.
That would be awesome! We have to get to work on the next SoCal Hiking Blogger Tweetup. Either way, I’m sure we’ll cross trails at some point.
This is actually only a portion (a very beautiful portion) of the whole trail system extending all the way from hellman all the way across to fullerton road. That trail system takes you under two tunnels (under hacienda and colima streets) with an elevation gain of 2500 feet. It is approximately 11 miles so a little long for walking but for a trail run it is great! Hellman however lives up to its name. Here is a hyperlink to the a map of the whole trail system. all trails/fire roads are legal for hikers. http://connect.garmin.com/player/252321341
This is my hometown trailsystem (two miles from my house) and i love them and appreciate all the work the various cities do to maintain them. Enjoy!