EISPIRATEN

So after a fairly sustained dry spell, I've seen a rash of snakes lately. In the past 2 weeks, I've seen 5 Southern Pacific Rattlesnakes and 1 King Snake in my local hills. Yay! That's more snakes than I've seen in the last 2 years. Anybody else experiencing an up-tick in snake sightings or am I ju...

Looks like thirty miles of hot and burly! Thanks for the TR.

Very nice tarantula. That fox or coyote looks like it is well on the way to a leather jacket.

Great report. That was also my first slot canyon. I am not sure hiking the desert in July is the best idea, but we all survived it. I counted six coyotes on the day, including the pups on Borrego East Butte.

I considered getting one to train for Whitney, but after reading some articles on it, decided it would not help that much. As Jim mentioned, less air flow is not exactly the same thing as lower density air, and doesn't have the same effect on your physiology. A vacuum chamber can do what you want, b...

Grande habanero chicken tacos del rio with guacamole, and a side of rope.

To go.

Impressive bit of canyoneering. The big falls looks death defying, but probably not a biggie for your crew. I can't believe how much excess rope and webbing you pulled out of there. OTOH, I don't get how to secure a rope for rappelling, then magically retrieve it using secret knots. It's all David B...

I am not a lawyer, but here is the LA Times article on it.

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/opinion- ... story.html

I've read interpretations that as long you don't use facilities like bathrooms, picnic tables, etc, you don't need a pass. I still display mine whenever there is any doubt.

Wow, what beautiful pictures. Professional grade.

Love those animals and they seem to be frequently above that trail. Bighorn mountain was well named.

Mike P wrote: ↑Avocados! Maybe that's why his coat looks so good!

Happy to provide him all the healthy fats (avocados) he needs in his diet, I just don't want to provide the protein.

AFAIK, you can park there as long as you like. I would display an Adventure Pass if you have one. The Adventure Pass requirement is somewhat murky now after a court ruling.

Sad and scary. Apparently on "Sahara Terror" route. Sincere condolences to the climber and family. http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum ... uitz-Death The most recent entry on mountainproject.com for this route had a big WARNING about the loose rock. http://www.mountainproject.com/v/sah...

Wow, looks like a rough and tumble trip. Big rappels, rotting leaves, thorny bushes, and wild blackberries. What else could you want? Sean, you look comfortable in that harness, but you were probably figuring out in your head how to down climb those walls without rope. I'm sure you will pick up the ...

Climbed the Strawberry west ridge yesterday from Josephine Fire Road. As a rock climber, I would rate myself an advanced beginner, and I had no trouble getting up and down. The painted arrows help both ways. The rock is good and there are no tricky moves required. There are several places of airy ex...

Clear Creek Fire Station and started up the Josephine fire road. The climb to Josephine saddle was uneventful. We headed right to pick up the Colby Canyon Trail and got our only shade of the day on the north side of the saddle. We were looking out for the use trail on the right up the ridgeline to S...

For some reason, Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park seems to attract aggressive lions. This small OC park has seen three lion attacks since 2000. I've hiked all parts of it and been to the site of each attack. There is food (deer) in the park for lions and the area is wedged in between housing developmen...

Nice sunset. Did you take any photos of the fireworks? Sounds like a good place to be on the 4th.

Congrats, Jim!

I'd say you beat the odds. Glad it was a happy ending.

Thanks for the link, Rico.

Seems like some facts are still missing from the public account, but we may never know.

That first anchor looks like it is attached to a small bush. How do you judge how much weight a plant like that can hold?

They both could be shadows from the big cloud to the SW. Random. I put that screen shot up as a goof, but now you have me looking at closely. Ha!

They were not visible. I walked right by them. Kinda creepy, right?

I think they might be the A's in this map from the Twin Peaks TV show:
http://www.suaveandwhiteroses.net/graph ... lmap50.jpg

The black lodge must be close to Clamshell Peak.

Popular and easily accessible places tend to get trashed eventually.

I wish they would have left the canyon route itself open for the canyoneers.

I did the alternate route starting on Clamshell Truck Trail, then up the firebreak. I underestimated the effort and water required for this hike. 2450' gain in the last two miles. Trail degenerates to animal trails about half way, went a little ways down the wrong ridge on the way back and ran out o...

I work with a local police force and every detective I spoke with off the record thinks there was foul play, likely with someone's wife/girlfriend involved. The bare feet is the thing I can't get over. Every step in rough off trail travel, on sticks, rocks, thorny bushes, your feet would scream at y...

We actually have those Great Basin Collared Lizards in California. See this forum post . HJ Cool lizard photos, HJ. I was reading up on them, and they can run on two legs, per wikipedia: Like many other lizards, including the frilled lizard and basilisk, collared lizards can run on their hind legs,...

Love that view of backbone.

That is one big snake. It seems the rattlesnake season is on with no shortage in the Gabes.

Mike and Sean: the canyon has the coolest shades of lizards I've ever seen. Another lizard below near the river. I need to go look up a collared lizard. Tom, RichardK, and Hikin_Jim: glad you enjoyed the pictures, there was so much I could not shoot in one day. Bison on the north rim? I didn't know ...

This story smelled fishy to me from the start, like the two young hikers who supposedly got lost on the Holy Jim trail who later turned out to be eating psilocybin mushrooms. I loved my dog before he died, but I would not have run into the forest without my shoes to find him. How far or fast could h...

Snakes that eat rattlesnakes are snake friends of mine.

I've only seen a brown and white striped one like this, but I think they can be other colors.

Saturday, 6/21 hike date. Bright Angel -> North Kaibab -> North Rim Lodge. Here are some photos. 23.9 miles rim to rim, 25.7 miles rim to lodge. 12 hours 7 minutes. Would have been easier going north to south. Full novella trip report: http://ironhiker.blogspot.com/2014/06/g ... im-to.html https://e...