EISPIRATEN

Super cool! Yeah, wish I could have joined, would have definitely appreciated the geology.

According to my geologic maps, they dug their shaft into the moon-rock anorthosite, but pretty close to its contact with Mendenhall Gneiss and Mt Lowe Granitic intrusion, so knowing the Gabes and knowing 200 ...

So after reading Tekewins report on the Rincon road I got my permits to drive the Rincon road from Glendora Ranger station (by the way is very nice)

Anyways, they gave me 3 codes to the gate so I have access until December 14th.

As Tekewin said the road is nice. Some areas are smoother than others ...

Timing Is Everything

Report and pics

Snow Creek isn't a viable route every year. The mountain needs the right amount of snowfall at the right times in the right places with the right temperature systems during our short SoCal winter. Thankfully, January and February made it clear that 2024 ...

I've been helping one of my Wednesday crazies accompliish the Sierra Club HPS list.

Last Wednesday we scheduled Mt Lewis. Since the road was closed to Dawson Saddle we decided to walk up the road.

I was also curious about the progression of the construction.

We started around 8am. There was only ...

As a friend of mine would say, "Gnar!"

Fun hike despite having no point.

I did the Emmas the same way. The Karen on Old Emma looks like it has been knocked about a bit!

Circa 2009...

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The BM on Cole is (was in 2009) attached to a rock that has been kicked around the summit so god knows where it is now. I found the ...

This is a link to an old post all about Cole BM.

https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=1139#p11511

More pointless HPS peaks, well, Cole Point (HPS #222) is actually a "point" so by definition not pointless.

Ha, ha! Well played.

For Cecelia's birthday I took her to the Mojave National Preserve for a bit of desert scrambling. We left LA at 4:00 AM, shopped in Barstow, and rolled into the Preserve at 7:50 AM.

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We then reached Hole-in-the-Wall by 8:15 AM.

IMG_20241124_083149994_HDR.jpg ...

Thanks for the reports! Oh, so in addition to watching for the rape van, I also need to look out for the murder truck?!?

I guess it could be worse...

Often I've stood atop a peak in the Gabes and looked across the Mojave Desert at the various buttes that pop up here and there. Sometimes I'd even daydream about putting in the effort to drive here and there, and actually climb them. Well, Cecelia and I finally efforted our way to a couple of them ...

Thanks for the report. That rock on the ledge section is gorgeous.

Really nice views from up there. Looks like good weather for hiking.

It was a fun hike, different for me because I usually just walk along trails so this was a slightly more technical journey. I spent the night on Saturday, while setting up camp I realized that I didn't have any trekking poles to support my tent- they are usually in my vehicle but I'm driving a ...

In 2017 Cecelia and I failed to bag Middle Benchmark due to me being stupid . Today we rectified that mistake and finally got our butts up there. Yes, we drove 99% of the way, but, hey, at least we walked the non-road portion (i.e., the firebreak) and stood on the true summit. We also found the ...

Thanks for the report. I didn't do this but it may be neat to try something similar sometime. I went up from the West Fork of the San Gabriel River to the last waterfall in you report earlier today. I didn't feel like trying to climb over it, and I didn't see an obvious use trail around it either ...

My fitness is moving along quite nicely so I decided on some possible xcountry exploration. I had noticed that there were a bunch of old trails that had existed between the 5 and Lake Piru. This area is pocketed with private properties in the middle of the National Forest but the trails definitely ...

Several years ago I painstakingly compiled a list of named peaks in the Gabes, both officially and locally named ones. From Peakbagger I learned of a small bump called The Moon, situated above the Acton Conservation Camp on Soledad Canyon Road. For my fiftieth birthday I wanted to hike something ...

I didn't particularly like the Moon Cheese.

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It's a novelty freeze-dried snack that I found at Albertsons supermarket.

I did, however, enjoy leaving our pirate flag up there.

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We considered bushwhacking to point 3665, but after a ...

Throwing the best birthday parties in the most obscure locations!

Some route notes:

More pics

Sean assured me this would be a uniquely stupid outing. Happy to report that it was actually quite a fun day with several of the forum goofballs.

Thanks, Tekewin, for planning and leading this hike. It was a nice challenge, and tons of fun.

Because of my various health issues, I tried to take a less rocky, less sidehilly route back to the car. I had studied the landmarks earlier and figured I could at least get within view of the car. But ...

That is a seriously remote location! You were as close to Phoenix as you were LA. Getting lost would be spooky.

That area is poorly mapped geologically but your interpretation of a volcanic tuff conglomerate is believable.

Where to begin! Eaton Canyon is pretty grand and I must say, it might be the most pretty canyon I have spent time in in the entire Angeles Forest. Harvard Branch has always caught my eye as I’ve come down the idlehour trail. The thing is filled with large pine trees and winds all the way up to… a ...

The article: https://archive.is/GKrFY

They’re closed because they “provide access to other trails that did burn,” she wrote.

So based on that logic, everything needs to be closed when a fire occurs as all the trails eventually connect. I would say PCT down in SoCal should close after a fire wrecks the trail up in Oregon. It is all ...

So I'm trying to get to Cobblestone mountain. The usual approach from Sewart peak isn't an option because of the Post fire. I tried to approach from the West , but that route is laughably rough and un-bikeable. That leaves the approach from the South as the only remaining route that I've heard of ...

My father and I have a tradition, dating back to Cowen Hill in Maine from the year 2000 when I was 14, of doing a short and sweet hike on Christmas Eve. We've been able to get one in most years since.

With my parents in Ogden, Utah over Christmas, the family made the 10 hour drive to visit and we ...