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.

Night Hike in the Desert

Tonight I did a moonlight hike at Saddleback Butte State Park, in the desert about 20 miles east of Lancaster. I climbed the butte, in the background of this photo. Didn't see anybody else on the trail, but the view from the summit was fantastic. I watched the full moon rise, and took this photo on the hike back.

July 4th in the Sierras

I hiked for 4 days in the south Sierras with a buddy last weekend, and we even climbed a 14'er along the way. Visited Miter Basin on the backside (photo) which was spectacular, and then on Saturday climbed Mt Langley. Now much of the route above treeline on Mt Langley is across deep gravel, which makes for tough climbing, but the trip down is fun as you can bound down it with long strides like on sand dunes. Here's a video of highlights.

Downtown LA From Mt Lowe Summit

I took this one last night on a hike with hiking buddy Mark to the summit of Mt Lowe. It's a little grainy since it's on super zoom, but you can see the fog starting to roll into the downtown.

On The Pacific Crest Trail

I took this photo while out on 'PCT Patrol' today. Before it gets too hot, I decided to get out one more time on the southern part of my section, to dayhike up to Pelona Ridge. Here's a sunflower, with Bouquet Reservoir in the distance.
By the road I found a pair of through-hikers waiting out the midday heat under an oak. One was spooning a goopy peanut buttery concoction onto a peta, and the other was eating tuna straight from a can, with two more cans on deck. Far from gourmet....

Santa Rosa Island

I just got back from hiking for four days out on Santa Rosa Island. The hikes were great, but the boat ride out was four hours on a rocky ocean, and I got pretty seasick. I can't remember when I ever felt worse, but I recovered well. Anyway, Santa Rosa Island is quite remote, and has lots of wildlife. A few more pics and a vid are here.

My Favorite Swimmin' Hole

It got hot this week, so today I hiked to my favorite swimming hole in the San Gabriels. The swim felt great, and I even had the place to myself.