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…
The Arredondos and Ammeraals were with us for the balance of Thanksgiving weekend in Wrightwood, and Sunday’s plan called for a visit with the kids to Grassy Hollow and a hike of undetermined length along the PCT. Once we got to the first open views west from the trail to Mt. Baden-Powell, Chris suggested…
After yesterday’s hike over Throop Peak to Mt. Hawkins and back, we were looking Sunday for something a little lower impact on our sore muscles – Cynthia hadn’t yet been to the Grassy Hollow visitor center, so we dropped into the facility at about 10am before heading west on the PCT. We’ve hiked this…
Having been to Throop Peak twice before, we’re quite familiar with the trail ascending the mountain’s north ridge from Dawson Saddle. Cynthia was with us for the weekend in Wrightwood, and we figured the moderate climb would be just the ticket to get her four miles closer to sixty while allowing Jane to gather…
While Chelsea stayed at the cabin for some quiet time, we took the boys on another hike, this time up the Blue Ridge trail near Big Pines and the Mountain High ski resorts. From our two previous visits here, we recalled a trailside bench halfway up the route, a mile from both the trailhead…
One of the long-standing Wrightwood traditions is having garage sales on Memorial Day weekend, such that people come from all over to shop for treasures at several hundred simultaneous yard sales. While Jane and Chelsea ventured out with the crowds, Chris took all three boys on a hike. The plan was to start at…
We had all three boys with us in Wrightwood for a couple of days before Easter, and we had promised to take them on a hike. One destination that’s popular with locals (although not well-publicized officially, which is probably a good thing) is a small historic cabin on the east flank of Mt. Baden-Powell….
Hello, world! We’re still here, just had to take six months off hiking to let Jane’s feet heal from a bad case of plantar fasciitis. Now ready to get back in the saddle, we were joined in Wrightwood for the weekend by Jane’s cousins, Jean and Janet. We had wanted to hike up Mt….
In Wrightwood for the first time since both our Yosemite trip and the concurrent Blue Cut fire that nearly reached the community, we were anxious to stretch our muscles that hadn’t seen much activity once we returned to our daily grind. We had discussed hiking the 7+-mile Waterman Mountain trail again but decided to…
Family commitments and projects at home have conspired to keep us off the trails since our backpack trip in Sequoia, but we finally got a long weekend in Wrightwood with not many plans in it. Jane’s mom, Barbara, joined us for the weekend, and we wanted to do a short walk that would introduce…