Living in the megalopolis that is Southern California, many people have no idea how many great hikes are available right here in our backyard. One of my goals for SoCalHiker is to correct that misunderstanding. But my primary goal is selfish-service. I use SoCalHiker to document my favorite hikes and backpack trips, complete with advice, tips, trip reports, checklists and “how-to.” I create the trail guides that I provide the kind of information I’d like to have when I explore a trail for the first time.
I started SoCal Hiker back in early 2010, with a goal to collect all the information pertaining to thru-hiking the John Muir Trail. At the time, there weren’t a lot of good online resources, so I took the extra step to document my training, gear lists, menu planning, scheduling, permit information and all the other details. I needed to do this for myself anyway, and figured that others might be able to leverage this knowledge as well. And SoCalHiker was born.
Since then, I’ve created guides to numerous trails in and around Southern California – and often far beyond. Most of the trails are day hikes, but others are multi-day backpacking trips like the Trans-Catalina Trail, the Lost Coast Trail, or the Theodore Solomons Trail. And a core part of my training regimen for the John Muir Trail – the Six-Pack of Peaks – is now an annual hiking challenge in SoCal, Colorado, Oregon and Northern California.
It’s my hope that sharing these guides will whet your appetite for outdoor adventure, and help you take the next step outside of your comfort zone and into the wild, wonderful outdoors.
If you have feedback, ideas or suggestions for SoCal Hiker, please leave me a comment.