Allison Mine / Iron Mountain Part 2

Readers here may remember the epic trudge up Iron Mountain last year. This year I joined my friend Nina again on another brutal 12-hour hike, this time to the Allison Mine on the slopes of Iron Mountain.
The hike to the Allison Mine is 15 miles round trip. 6 of the miles are on what at times can best be described as a treacherous game trail featuring steep slopes, yuccas and scratchy brush that really slow down the progress. In fact we saw a pair of hikers on their way up to the summit of Iron Mountain, and then we saw them again on the way down.
The Allison Mine operated for several decades by a father and his three sons, until the 1940's. What remains are several shafts and a stamp mill and other machinery in scenic Allison gulch at about the 4500' elevation. Click on the photo to watch the 2.7mb Quicktime video.

Night Hike

Hiking Club was out for a night hike to Echo Mountain this weekend. Here's a fun group shot that Tohru took with us sporting our glow-in-the-dark accessories, and one of Mark's photos here.

Hiking Club's 100th Hike

Starting out with 35 hikers from Fern Dell, we hiked a big 13-mile loop in Griffith Park (map, showing route marked in orange), visiting the Griffith Observatory, Mt Hollywood, Mt Lee and the Hollywood sign, Cahuenga Peak, and Bronson Cave before closing the loop. A great day it was, our 100th event since the club started hiking in spring 1997.

Santa Ynez Falls

I shot this photo today in Topanga SP, where the hills look like Ireland right now. That's Santa Monica Bay in the distance. It was a great day to be hiking in the sun, and Mark and I hiked to Santa Ynez Falls.

Hiking Club in LA

Hiking Club's February trip was to take the LA Conservancy's tour of the Angelino Heights 1880's Victorian homes. We even got to go inside a few, but photography wasn't allowed inside. This was, like the other tours we've taken, outstanding, and a good way to spend a Saturday.

Santa Clara River

After 5 days of rain, I was curious to look at the local stretch of the normally dry Santa Clara River today, and here's what it looked like. Looks like it flashed and ran bank to bank at some point in the last few days, but I got here too late to see it...

Poppies

Hiking in the local mountain park today I found the first poppies of the season in bloom. With weather in the upper 70's recently, these flowers were tricked into blooming early....

Kev's Kristmas

OK - I made updates to my Christmas list, and I was pretty good this year, so I'm hoping it'll be a very good year for presents! So once again, here is the link to check out my favorite gift choices for Christmas 2009. Hurry, time is running out, so break out that credit card, and happy shopping!!

December Hike in Nightmare Gulch

Was out today with a few friends to hike Nightmare Gulch in Red Rock Canyon State park, about 40 miles north of Mojave. It was a great day to be outside in the sun! We saw no other hikers, which is not surprising since this hike isn't in any guidebooks.

Thanksgiving Day Hike

Climbed Mission Peak this morning with hiking friends, and we were treated to one of those awesome fall views of the San Fernando Valley and Greater LA. We could see Catalina Island, 65 miles away. Click on the photo to view the labelled higher-res photo taken from the summit.

November in Death Valley

Just spent three days in DV with my old buddy Steve. Camped at Furnace Creek CG and did 5 different hikes in the park. Weather was perfect for midday canyon hikes. Here's a shot of Steve and me at Badwater, and I also posted a 4mb video here.

Worst Fight Scene Ever

Ran across this YouTube video today, shot at Vasquez Rocks in 1967. It sucks more than anything has ever sucked before.
It's interesting to see how denuded the ground was then, compared to now.
Click on the pic to watch the video on YouTube.

Club Night Hike in the Mojave

The October hike was to Saddleback Butte SP, in the big empty area of the map east of Lancaster. We had a group of 7 hikers, and I took this shot of a Joshua Tree with the little crossroads of Pearblossom in the distance.

Hiking Club on Santa Cruz Island

Another great weekend trip to the Channel Islands. Here's a late afternoon shot I took overlooking Potato Harbor. On Sunday a couple of us climbed 1500' Montanon Ridge for a view over the fog toward the California mainland. Here's a summit video.

Angeles NF Fire

This photo from the LA Times pretty much tells it all. Nearly half of the acreage of the Angeles National Forest in the San Gabriel range is now lost to the Station Fire. You can see a burn map here. Most every local hike I've posted photos on is within the fire's footprint. Though the higher elevation peaks like Mt Baden-Powell have not burned, this arson-caused fire is now the largest fire in LA County history.

Hiking Club in the Central Sierras

Our August event was a three-day trip to the Mammoth Lakes area. About 20 hikers attended, and we hiked in Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows and the adjacent wilderness areas. A video of our dayhike on the Mammoth Crest is here.

Mt Baden-Powell Pano

On Mt Baden-Powell last weekend, a guy named Leroy did this pano and sent me a copy. It's a pdf best viewed at 100% scale.

On Mt Gould

On a July 4 outing to climb 13000' Mt Gould in Sequoia - Kings Canyon NP. The summit pinnacle is about 3' square. See more slides here, and check out the vid here (3.7mb).

On Mt Gleason

On an evening hike on the PCT to the Mt Gleason summit, mountain fog materialized and started spilling over to the desert side. This is only the 2nd time I've actually been up by it when it happens, but it's sort of hypnotic to watch. Watch the video (no sound) and see...

June Club Hike

A pic from the June hike in the San Gabriels, in Bear Canyon, one of my local faves.