We peered up at the ridge above the cirque, straining to find Lamarck Col. Checking our maps and double-checking the GPS, we found what looked like a playground of car-sized boulders. The silhouette of a lone backpacker sitting at the top confirmed our suspicions — our route was going to involve some scrambling. Little did we know that the other […]
Hiking Mt San Jacinto via Humber Park in Idyllwild
If you’ve hiked up a peak many times before, taking a new route to the top keeps the adventure fresh. That was my goal as I hiked Mount San Jacinto via the Devil’s Slide Trail from Humber Park in Idyllwild. I’ve been up Mount San Jacinto more times than I can remember, and I’ve hiked […]
Book Review: Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California
My longest thru-hike (so far) is the 211-mile John Muir Trail, which I’ve hiked twice. The Pacific Crest Trail beckons me, but at 2,650 miles from Mexico to Canada, it would take a five-month commitment to thru-hike, and that’s if I were lucky enough to avoid calamity along the way. Fortunately for those of us […]
Interview with Shawnté Salabert, author of Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail – Southern California
Recently I received an advance copy of Shawnté Salabert’s new book Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: Southern California: Section Hiking From Campo to Tuolumne Meadows. Shawnté has been active in the SoCal hiking community, and we were lucky to chat with her about her experience writing the book. SCH: How long have you been hiking? […]
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 […]
Cooper Canyon Falls
Cooper Canyon Falls is a beautiful waterfall that flows almost year round, but roars in April-May as the spring snow melts. The falls can be spectacular when you time your hike right, and I’m surprise more people don’t talk about this trail. This hike includes a side trip to Cooper Canyon Campground — a wilderness campsite right […]
Hiking the PCT in Vasquez Rocks
The famous Vasquez Rocks will be familiar to most people. They have been used as a film site for Star Trek (Captain Kirk battling the Gorn), Blazing Saddles, The Flintstones and many others. What you might not know is that the Pacific Crest Trail runs right through the park, and that there is a rich […]
Movie Review: Tell it on the Mountain
The Pacific Crest Trail is one of three famously long trails in the National Scenic Trails system. It extends over 2,600 miles, from Mexico to Canada. Established in 1968, the trail itself was not completed until 1993 — just twenty years ago. And each year, about 300 hikers from all walks of life step out […]
