As a final tune-up before our backpack trip in the High Sierra near Mammoth next weekend, Pedro organized a hike to Mt. Pinos and Sawmill Mountain with some friends from work, Shane and Michelle, and we tagged along since we’re all about the fun – the reader may remember that Mt. Pinos is the high point of Ventura County, just as Sawmill Mountain is the high point of Kern County. We left early from Pedro’s house, reaching the trailhead at…
Before heading home from the cabin, we decided to take a “quick” jaunt down the PCT from Inspiration Point to some undetermined location where we’d turn around and retrace our steps – Chris’ upcoming backpack trip would average around 7-8 miles a day between 8,000′-10,000′, and he still felt the need to do some major conditioning work to be able to handle that activity set under a full pack. We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve hiked down to…
One San Gabriels destination that’s been on our list for a while is Winston Peak, elev. 7,470′, located at the head of Cooper Canyon on the north side of Cloudburst Summit. A couple of years ago, we had hiked down the PCT from here to Cooper Canyon Falls, but going up and over Winston Peak was going to add a little too much effort to that hike and we bypassed the mountain for the time being. After Chris’ poor performance…
Pedro wanted to get another hike in today before taking all the kids to the lake to swim, so we decided to get an early start on the Blue Ridge Trail that runs up from Hwy 2 to the top of Blue Ridge between the Mountain High East and West ski resorts. We got through the initial rolling terrain and crossed the wooden footbridge in good order, but Chris again began to tire as we transitioned to the more continuous…
We got to Wrightwood for the weekend late Saturday afternoon – Pedro wanted to do a short evening hike before dinner, so Chris decided to join him. We’re doing a four-day backpack trip over Labor Day weekend, so this was a chance to get out with a full-ish pack. We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve walked the mile on the PCT between Inspiration Point and Grassy Hollow, but it seemed like the perfect little workout – a good…
Chris’ dad, Ray, passed away on June 28th at age 88, and, as Ray had been very active in the Boy Scouts for many years when he was younger, we thought it only fitting to hike Mt. Baden-Powell in his memory. Carter and Dani drove up from Pasadena to join us in Wrightwood, and we got to the Vincent Gap trailhead shortly before 9:30am – we right away discovered that Chris’ camera battery was dead, meaning that all of today’s…
Last year’s CASA hike and picnic was such a success that we immediately began making plans to host another event in 2019. To refresh your memory, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Kern County provides invaluable advocacy and support to children in foster care, and Jane has served on their board now for a couple of years. The organization is funded largely by benefit parties underwritten by volunteer hosts, and, like last year, Jane teamed up with her friend Kat…
We were in Wrightwood once again for the garage-sale-crazy Memorial Day weekend, and by Monday afternoon the boys were surprisingly ready for a hike with Pop. One place Chris has been interested to visit is a blocked-off trail on the west slope of Lightning Ridge – from the satellite image, the trail appears to be an extension of the Lightning Ridge nature trail above Inspiration Point, looping around the north side of the ridge and reconnecting with the PCT west…
It was Cinco de Mayo, and we had that rare combination – or so it seems anymore – of a desire for exercise and a free day in which to do it. Of our various options, we settled on a repeat of our 2014 hike to Mt. Islip, elev. 8,261′, which we remembered to be about 7-ish roundtrip miles with manageable elevation gain for our lately-atrophied muscles. Plus, it would get us out on the PCT, the first thru-hiker waves…
Several months ago, Jane was invited to serve as a director on the board of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Kern County, a non-profit organization that provides advocacy and support for abused and neglected children in the local foster care system. CASA is largely funded through private donations received by way of an annual sequence of special events, fully underwritten by host individuals with all of the proceeds from event ticket sales going to CASA. Jane and fellow board…