EISPIRATEN

RidgeHiker wrote: Wed May 13, 2026 11:50 amI have always admired that ridge up from Wella's and been eager to try it, but don't want to alone.

I've only gone down that ridge. The views are great, as you'd expect. Going up would kinda suck, especially on a hot day.

Brown Mountain is great and I've never seen anyone up there except for the animal photographer "Cougar Magic." It's gotta be the most inaccessible/remote feeling peak in the front front country.

Slowest_Hiker wrote: Tue May 05, 2026 10:34 pm Sad. RIP. Do I remember another rock-head fatality on the Echo Mtn trail not too many years ago? Be careful out there.

Yes, similar situation

If I had 21 days off, I would get lost in the South Sierra. The JMT sounds great too tho!

I hiked this route last year and was surprised how good it looked. It’s a great route that avoids the crowds of the south facing trails to Lukens. Thanks for your work and RIP to Matt.

Amazing shots. That pic of Whitney zone looks fake!

tekewin wrote: Sat May 02, 2026 8:50 am Agree 100% on how nice the southern Sierra is and how fun Owens is. It has a striking profile from highway 395.

Speaking of profiles from the 395, Olancha is another one. It's high on my South Sierra to-do list. Will be an overnighter.

Here's Olancha from Owens

Yes, Maria Tice . The MeetUp group abandoned her near the top of Iron Mountain, probably because she was slow...
That's messed up -- you can't play around on a hike like Iron. Also a great reason to only hike with people you have a history with. Why didn't her story get as much attention as ...

I don't remember seeing ropes on this trail

Thats a nice big day!

The High Sierra is awesome and all, but I always feel intrigued by all the surrounding 'lower' peaks that are still so rugged and oak-adorned like this one.


I am really in love with the southern Sierra around Ridgecrest. Owens Peak is a favorite and I've enjoyed several ...

Thats a nice big day!

The High Sierra is awesome and all, but I always feel intrigued by all the surrounding 'lower' peaks that are still so rugged and oak-adorned like this one.


Other than the Kern, the southern most section of Sierra is overlooked and I'm glad it is. The hiking is incredible ...

There are many factors to consider, but I'll focus on just one, the proximity and interaction between leader and follower...


Well said. Different hikes require different levels of leadership. Some hikes are nearly impossible to get lost on, but a hike like Waterman West Ridge requires active ...

Im not a big proponent of this waterfall, but...its seasonally there?


We didn't come across a waterfall but there's a photo of one in "Trails of the Angeles." Not sure where it's located. I did notice remnants of a smaller seasonal waterfall. But didn't look like the photo in the book.


15 ...

Congrats on the babies!! A whole different adventure.

Nice photos. That's an area I haven't really explored either. I went down to the creek on the trail once, but never ventured along the creek.

Thanks for the report.


Highly recommended soon before the creek level goes down and it gets ...

Gorgeous stuff dude and nice rattlesnake! How was the fishing? Did you end up camping?


No fish which was surprising because this area is legendary for trout. Didn't camp but would love to some time. I definitely want to do an overnighter from Smith Mountain TH to West Fork or vice versa. I've ...

NOTE: I had issues when uploading my photos. My phone took them in HEIC and apparently I didn't properly convert to JPG so I couldn't upload all of them. Also some of the coloring got jacked up during the upload.

Hey folks. It's been a long time since my last TR. I've had two kids since then and ...

"which makes me think of the one short stretch of "u-shaped" trail above the very steep ravine just before you get to the ridge leading up to Harwood"

it's almost always that section. uber dicey if not prepared and skilled.

once in my yooth.. camped just below it in a raging, prolong snowstorm ...

Ross is one of the only SG HPS peaks I haven't bagged yet. The views look great but the ridge looks hot.

wow great to see that Jimmy was spared from the fire. there are some big trees there. also the entire hawkins ridge from the pct to the lookout is a delight. i rarely see people up there which makes it even better.

I saw Matthew yesterday and discussed this with him.
I agree that it doesn't make sense that she'd pass thru the Twin Peaks Trail and continue down a drainage. However it seems possible that she hit the Twin Peaks Trail, and instead of going to Three Points, went east towards Twin Peaks and then got ...

Extensive report on the reopening

https://www.latimes.com/travel/newslett ... safe-to-go

to be fair, i feel like hitting hikers with shovels sometimes too

Indeed. Great scenery and not crowded. Great fam hike too.

I wonder how big the post-fire closure zone is going to be. I imagine it might be quite big considering how much wilderness land is within the perimeter.

This is heart breaking. I have so many great memories in this area. If it was a naturally caused fire I wouldn't feel so bad. But at this rate we're going to burn our whole damn range down within 5 years. I wouldn't be surprised if some knucklehead started this one down by the river. They already ...

Sean wrote: Tue Jun 25, 2024 11:37 am I don't know about the water level, but are you entering via the West Fork? The San Gabriel Trailbuilders crew did some work starting from the Smith TH, but I don't think they reached the creek yet.

Yes, I'd be entering from West fork

Has anyone been to Bear Creek in the San Gabriel Wilderness recently? I'm thinking of going there soon but not sure what the creek level is like.

To be clear, I wasn't calling this young lady "stupid". I used the example of a young person in tennis shoes traveling in 2 feet of snow to point out that there are people ( and their parents) who do stupid things and DON'T learn.

I'm sure I'm still not expressing my ideas clearly. Sorry.


Yeah ...

Plenty of the hikers that get lost or need to be rescued are experienced hikers. No one is talking about the three experienced hikers that had to be rescued off the Bear Canyon Trail who went hiking in this same storm. Quite often the opposite is the issue, experienced hikers who think they can ...

This was a 22 year old girl, possibly not experienced with hiking. Although it obviously a poor decision, I'm not prepared to throw up my hands and call her stupid. Parents are supposed to teach their kids outdoors common sense, but if the parents aren't outdoors people like we are, then it should ...