DAY SEVEN on the High Sierra Trail –We decided to get up at 4:30 a.m. and begin hiking between 5:30 and 6 a.m. at sunrise. We had no interest in hiking in the dark and trying for the summit at sunrise – for our first time up, we wanted to see everything. We hit the […]
Hiking the High Sierra Trail – Junction Meadow to Crabtree Meadow
DAY FIVE on the High Sierra Trail The 9+ mile climb from Junction Meadow to Crabtree is really gorgeous! All five of us hiked together, which was the first day my wife and I had company on our hiking day. It was fun to have one day to hike as a group. First, you climb out […]
Hiking the High Sierra Trail – Upper Funston Meadow to Junction Meadow
DAY FOUR on the High Sierra Trail we hiked straight north up the Kern River – a gorgeous 10 mile, 2,000 vertical foot, gentle-but-steady ascent from 6,000 feet to 8,000 feet. We got an early start so that we could hike in the shade of the canyon all morning, as it can get hot in the Kern River valley. […]
Chantry Flats to Sturtevant Camp and Mt Zion
The beautiful Santa Anita Loop takes you on a 10-mile hike from Chantry Flats to Sturtevant Camp, then on to Mt Zion and back past Hoegee’s Trail Camp and along the Lower Winter Creek Trail. It’s got a 50 foot waterfall, babbling creeks, historical wilderness cabins, deep granite canyons and towering Alder and pine trees. It feels like […]
Hiking Mt Baden-Powell
The sky was a deep, cloudless blue. The only sounds came from the occasional wind through the sparse trees and the crunching of my boots on the trail. I had just climbed nearly 3,000 vertical feet to the summit of Mt. Baden-Powell (9,399′) — one of the highest mountains in the San Gabriel mountains. The […]
Lost Coast Trail: Miller Flat to Black Sands Beach
Today was our fourth and final day on the Lost Coast Trail. The last day of any backpacking trip is always bittersweet. We looked forward to sleeping in a bed and eating a meal that wasn’t rehydrated. Yet we want to linger and savor the sense of peace and connectedness we’ve enjoyed on the trail. […]
Mt Wilson Trail to Manzanita Ridge
The Mount Wilson Trail was built in 1864 by Benjamin “Don Benito” Wilson. He had planned to use it to bring down timber for his ranch. Not much timber was cut, and the trail was repurposed to construct the first Mt. Wilson Observatory, established by Harvard College in 1889. Hiking up this trail you can feel […]
Christianitos to Prima Deshecha Loop
Suburban trails often make great mid-week hikes. They are usually local and fairly short, making them well-suited for a quick after-work hike. A longer loop hike in-town is almost unheard of. Until now. I was examining the trail system in San Clemente and pieced together this 10+ mile loop that runs completely around the sleepy […]