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.

It Must Be May

This Southern Pacific Rattler was spotted today in the shade of a big log by some of our hiking club members. Its behavior was the same as most every other I've seen, which is to stay still and imitate the background rather than pop off and cause a fuss. These snakes are really active in May, we almost always see them on our May club hikes.

May 9 on Mt Baden-Powell

Climbed the mountain today with hiking buddy Mark, and it was a great day. Here's the view of the Antelope Valley from the north face, near the summit. The top several hundred feet or so was still under snow, which actually is part of the reason to go during this season. Also the summit was weirdly swarming with ladybugs, a kajillion of em, flying around, landing on you, bumping into your head (VIDEO, no sound). On the drive home I got this great snapshot of Iron Mountain and the East Fork from Inspiration Point. The East Fork is the deepest gorge in southern California, even deeper than Grand Canyon.

Climbing Iron Mountain

8000' Iron Mountain (MAP) isn't the tallest peak in the San Gabriels, but the guidebook calls it the toughest dayhike in the range. Its elevation, remoteness, low trailhead elevation, rollercoaster ridgeline route, steepness, and lack of a summit trail combine to make it tough. So on Friday with hiking compadre Nina we tried this 6000' climb. It's a 15-mile day that took 13 hours.
These guys posted some funny reviews of the Iron Mountain experience.
The 2000' trailhead is in the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. The first 2500' or so ascends the southwest ridge. This ridge has 8 or 10 bumps on it, so you keep ascending and then losing elevation, sometimes a lot, so you probably end up climbing an extra 1000' or so on this hike on top of the 6000 feet of climb. The ridgeline is covered in brushy chaparral, not impenetrable but hot and exposed. At mile 5 it gets more unfriendly, climbing the remaining 3400 feet in 2.5 miles with no real trail. The grade in places probably exceeds 3000fpm, easily fitting into the category of 'scrambling'. The summit view (video) is probably among the best in the range. The tricky descent took the same time as the ascent - 6 hours. We returned to the trailhead at 9pm, the final two miles with headlamps.
While it tops out at just 8000' elevation, in some ways this climb rivals the Mt Whitney mountaineers' route in difficulty.

April Club Hike

Hiking Club was out again this weekend, on a ten mile loop hike in Santa Anita Canyon. SAC is one of the more historic canyons of the San Gabriel front, with several backcountry camps and dozens of pretty little weekend cabins, all accessible only on foot. The canyon also has many waterfalls. Here's our group photo in front of 50' Sturtevant Falls.

Hike In Griffith Park

Today the weather in LA was perfect for a hike in Griffith Park. Here's a shot of the observatory from the top of Mt Hollywood.

Inspiration Point

Should have been named Perspiration Point, since it is a very steep hike to get there. But this historic pavillion is 2700' above Altadena. (Here's a short video.) People came up here in the 1920's, during the days of the backcountry inns, by a mule powered railway. I read about it after my hike, but I guess a guy built a railway from the nearby Mt Lowe Tavern, behind the lookout, and to keep the dust down, the mule pushed the cart. Here is a photo from the 1920's.

March Club Hike

Hiking Club was climbing peaks in the San Gabriels this weekend. Here's a photo of me on Mt Disappointment, with a thick marine layer covering the LA Basin. It looks like an ocean of cotton....

Walking in LA

Hiking Club was in downtown LA again this weekend. This year we picked the LA Conservancy's art deco buildings walking tour, and again had a great time looking at buildings that thousands of people hurry past every day. This is the Eastern Columbia Building, a magnificent 1930 building of turquoise, green, and gold. A good time was had by all.

At Vasquez Rocks

One of my local favorites for winter hiking is Vasquez Rocks County Park. The best time of year to visit is now, when the rain greens everything up and creates lots of little pools and waterfalls.

Tragedy

Old fans might remember the 2006 GC trip and this old guy we met at Phantom Ranch, who went by the trail name, 'Maverick'. You can reread my commentary next to this photo in the triplog. He subsequently has become a hiking celebrity of sorts. Then there's the recent news story from Grand Canyon Village of his death.

Chicago

Paul and I drove from Grand Rapids MI down to our hometown of Wheaton again this year, and took Bry and Maria. Overnighted there, then spent today in Chicago at the Adler Planetarium. Here's a pic of us having lunch, with the Chicago skyline behind. It was a bright sunny day outside, quite a nice visit.

Thanksgiving at the Beach

Had a club hike planned for today, but with the recent weather, which often means uncertain trailhead access and mountain conditions, I opted for a beach hike. So today was a 7-mile walk from Santa Monica Pier to Venice Pier and back. But the weather cleared and it was a perfect day.

Club Hike to the Topanga Overlook

Had a great club hike yesterday in Topanga State Park, here's a group photo of our group of 24. On Friday an offshore wind cleared out the basin, so we got treated to a clear view overlooking Santa Monica Bay...

October in Zion NP

Spent a few days hiking in Zion National Park, and camped in one of the park's campgrounds. Here's a shot from atop Angel's Landing, and here's a video of the hike to the top, which is a quite remarkable hike. This was the fourth time I have made this hike. The weather was perfect, but unfortunately the park was mobbed because, evidently, Utah public schools had a fall break. So the next two days I picked other less popular hikes...

Sept 6 on Mt Whitney

This year I used the Mountaineers' Route instead of the trail. It's a route pioneered by John Muir, the upper 2000' or so ascending a steep chute on the NE side of the peak. I met my hiking buddy Mark on the summit, and we descended by the main trail. Here's a fun video (5.3Mb) of that day.

Full Moon Hike

26 Hiking Club members were out to hike under a full moon this weekend, here's my best photo of the evening, once again from the Mt Lowe summit.
There was a lunar eclipse tonight, which was over before the moon even rose on the US' west coast. No matter to us, though. The view from Mt Lowe is breathtaking, as you can even see as far south as Orange County. We watched the nightly fireworks going off at Disneyland.

Climbing Sierra Peaks

Hiking Club was climbing peaks in the Sierras this weekend. Friday we hiked from Whitney Portal to Meysan Lakes Basin, made a camp at 11,200', and Saturday climbed 13,770' Mt Irvine and 12,200' Candlelight Peak. Click on our summit photo, or watch the vid here.