Introduce Yourself

[Al Dyer]

Hi all! My name is Al, my wife and I have been avid hikers,campers,and all around outdoorsman(or outdoorswomem) up until our first son was born 8 months ago. Before our son came into our life we would tack down at least 10 miles a weekend, sometimes up to 30. Well were getting back into the grove of longer hikes again, or trying to at least haha. Our favorite local place to hike is up in the san jacinto wilnderness, we’ve made summit several times usually via fuller ridge( still our favorite local hike). Eventually we would love to thru hike JMT, ( went up to rock creek for our first big trip two weeks ago)but it seems section hikes will have to do for a while. Well anyway glad to find this site, seems like some good people and good information.
Al

[David Hekel]

Hello my name is David Hekel and I have lived in North County San Diego for 25 years now. I have always enjoyed the outdoors weather it be hiking, biking or rock climbing.

I am also the Senior Park Ranger with the San Dieguito River Park. I regularly hike the peaks and trails around SoCal and have made multiple ascents from multiple routes of most peaks in the area.

I saw your sticker just the other day on the summit of San Gorgonio and thought I would check it out.

[Chris Hartman]

Hi everyone, I am Chris from Canada. I am trying to decide an epic way to spend my summers off from teaching. I have been inspired to hike the JET and would love to do it in July 2015. I usually travel alone around the world but I’d love to do this hike with some new people. Let me know if anyone is interested.

[Tony Ruiz]

Hello everyone, I’m Tony from Los Angeles. I’m new to hiking and just happened to stumble onto the SoCal Hiker site. I’d appreciate any and all advice from the more experienced people. I’d really like to experience everything hiking has to offer.

[Jeff Hester]

Welcome, Tony! One of the best ways to experience hiking is… to go for a hike! You can start by using our interactive trail listing to find something that looks right for you.

Another great way to get started is to join a group hike. We have a wide range of groups hikes listed on our Event Calendar.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

[Ryan Lawrence]

Hello!

My name is Ryan Lawrence and I’m 28 years young from Delaware – I love backpacking despite living in a state that has zero opportunities for it. It is my absolute favorite thing to do and I usually go 3-4 times a year with at least one major trip. I would love to move out the west coast to be closer to more opportunities.

Two years ago, my wife and I backpacked the High Sierra Trail. We covered about 70 miles over the course of a week, starting in Sequoia and ending at Mt. Whitney. We did it in July and had an amazing time. It was my first backpacking trip that wasn’t on the east coast. The only issue – we hit a snow storm on Mt. Whitney that was pretty nasty, so instead of heading up to the summit when we got to the fork, we headed down to the Whitney Portal. So, I have yet to summit Mt. Whitney! So, since then, I’ve been determined to make it back to the mountain and try again (and this time, will even allow for an extra day in case this happens again!). Check out our photos here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101133794668304.1073741827.11321688&type=1&l=1b9d216568

And this past summer, we headed to Grand Teton National Park and did the Teton Crest Trail for roughly 40 miles, though avoided the last section at the warnings of rangers and apparently just before we were there, a woman died from slipping and falling down the mountain on some heavy snow areas. But, still had a great time. Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10101782055114174.1073741830.11321688&type=1&l=6f074e5fb0

This September, we are tackling Zion park with my father who has never been out west.

After watching the doc Mile…Mile and a Half about two weeks ago, my wife and I decided that the JMT was a must and the perfect way to tackle Mt. Whitney again and make our trip even more epic. We are planning a summer 2016 trip and so I’ve been obsessed with learning all I can. I read your entire day-by-day log over this past weekend and loved every minute.

Jeff – thanks for the valuable resources here! Looking forward to planning this trip

[David Ramirez]

Hey guys,

My name is David I love to hike whenever possible. I just recently hiked holy jim trail. It was a really good hike. The elevation gain provided a nice work out hahaha.

I have been semi stalking “socal hiker” for a few weeks. Finally decided to introduce myself. I will be checking the event calendar and hopfully be able to join some hikes!

[Eddie Adame]

Hi all. My name is Eddie Adame and I live in San Diego County. I’m somewhat new to the world of hiking but I’ve managed to do most of the day hikes here in San Diego (Mt. Woodson, Iron Mtn, El Cajon Mtn, Cowles Mtn, and Three Sisters….) but I’m ready to venture out of the county.

I try to get out the trail twice/week so many times I repeat the trails mentioned above. I’m so glad to be introduced to this website. I never realized that were so many trails with in a couple hours of me. Hopefully I can see as many as possible. Until then…….. Happy hiking

[Kathleen M]

Hi my name is Kathleen. I’m from Huntington Beach. I have only been doing local hike around the OC. my first hike was Mt Baldy(loop) and second was Mt.Baden-Powell. Today was Los Pinos Peak in Elsinore. I’m signed up for the Six Pack peak challenge. I’m having fun so far. I’m in a hiking group called Hike Beyond the Hills-SoCal & Beyond. Looking forward to my future hikes and leading from all of you.

[Manuel Herrera]

Hello Everyone,
My name is Manny. I recently started running and have become addicted to trail running. I started to hike with a couple friends that wanted to become more active. This has definitely helped to encourage me to keep moving and remain active. I came across So Cal Hiker while looking for cool places to explore. The six pack of peaks challenge caught my attention and I am now planning to complete then. Im very excited to hit the trails and reach the top of each peak. Id love to get best practices, tips or feedback about my upcoming challenge. Id also love to join up with anyone that is planning a hike up one of the peaks.
Happy Hiking!

[Dan H]

My name is Dan Hughley, I was born in St. Paul Minnesota and lived in that area until I was 15. I then moved to Florida for a few years and have also lived in Ohio before moving to Los Angeles in 2004. My wife and I hike, backpack, or camp almost every weekend and we especially take advantage of long holiday weekends with extra fun trips.

I discovered my love for hiking by mistake about 3 years ago. I was trying to lose weight and started walking the trails of Ernest Debs Park in the Monterey Hills section of Los Angeles when I realized how much I loved escaping the city and being in nature. I soon did some research and with the help of the So Cal Hiker website and a book I purchased titled “Trails of the Angeles”, I was off and discovering new peaks and trails on a very regular basis.

So far my favorite SoCal summit is Mt. Baden-Powell with Cucamonga Peak finishing at a very close second. I really enjoy the views from the summit of Mt. San Jacinto but the lack of solitude defeated the abundance of beauty for me, for now…I’m giving it another chance in October and plan to reach the summit just before sunrise so I can enjoy the start of the day with a hot cup of coffee.

See you on the summit!

[CeCe Lorthioir]

Hello Everyone, My name is CeCe, and I live in Huntington Beach with my family. I am an avid runner, hiker and photographer. I started hiking when I was in my 20s, but sort of stopped when we had a child. We resumed hiking little by little when our daughter turned 5 yo, exploring different National Parks- Yosemite, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, etc. Now our daughter is 14, and we hike everywhere! We recently completed the 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. And that’s how I discovered SoCal Hiker in July when we were looking for hiking trails in SoCal to train for the Inca Trail. I learned about the 6-Packs of Peak in July and our first hike was Mt. Baldy. Through that, I started a hiking group on Facebook called Hike Beyond the Hills – SoCal and Beyond. It has 41 members. We just completed #4 of 6 Peaks. We also do urban hiking, finding hills and lots of stairs, and touring local cities. We had 11 people hike Mt. Wilson- biggest group we had hiking. I look forward to meeting everyone in November at the Finishers Party! Hike on!

[Austin Hartnell]

Hello,

I’m Austin, born and raised in SoCal. I have been hiking for over 20 years now, ever since Boy Scouts as a kid. My most memorable hike is with my father, hiking Mt. Whitney. In order to prepare for that, we hiked many of the So Cal peaks, and I’m looking forward to revisiting them in 2016! I currently live in Wrightwood. I think my favorite trails here locally would be Baden Powell and the Blue Ridge Trail. I’m lucky to live close to many great hikes that are right out my front door.

[Debbie L]

Hi all,

My name’s Debbie. I moved over to the States from Australia last year and have been lurking on here for a bit to get some knowledge about hikes in SoCal. I’ve been outdoorsy all my life and have been hiking and camping for as long as I can remember. Now that I’m in the San Gabriel Valley the mountains are calling to me and I’m really looking forward to exploring what SoCal has to offer. I’ve just signed up for the 6packofpeaks and I’ve got my eye on the Trans Catalina trail as well. This will be my first foray into solo overnight hikes so it should be interesting 🙂

[Jeff Hester]

Happy New Year and welcome, Debbie! The Trans-Catalina Trail is a great “off-season” trek and a a great way for someone to dip their toes into backpacking. It’s not an easy trail, but you’ve got a ton of options. And… we have a forum where you can ask questions about the TST. Cheers!

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