EISPIRATEN

I'll bring the ham.

Yeah, from the saddle from Sugarloaf there is really only one ridge to take, so it's quite obvious as long as you know you should be going SE and then S once it starts to level out and you can see the final ridge to Ontario. The use trail is faint and cairns are intermittent, but if you get off the ...

I actually found your trip report when I got home and was doing a little more digging on the surrounding area, looks fun! I was looking down that ridge from the Ontario summit and wondering what it was like, so that question is answered and I'll get out there myself at some point! Of course once tha...

Bugs were fine on the way out, but on the way back they were definitely active, and seemed to prefer aiming for my nose and eyes!

What is near the top of your to do list these days?

After writing a book on Thursday's hike to West Mermaid/Peak 4654 I'll keep this one about my Saturday outing short! I had to get a late start for a hike with my wife, so I picked Sugarloaf Peak and Ontario Peak via Falling Rock Canyon because I hadn't done it before and it's a short drive, but the ...

Yeah, it was surprisingly straightforward, the hardest part was really just trying to keep my feet dry (and totally failing). There was some minor bushwhacking in the upper section of the canyon, but it was quite mild and intermittent. The only real bushwhacking was the section between the cool rock...

I don't know the difference either, I did a quick search and most people seemed to call them salamanders and they looked sorta the same so that's what I went with. If somebody actually knows what they are I'd be happy to learn!

Looks like a fun trip, some pretty dramatic sound on that video too!

Cute salamander, I spend most of my time around the higher ridges and peaks so I was all excited the other day to actually see one in the wild for the first time after 6 years of living/hiking here!

I've got it on the calendar and will do my best to keep the date open!

No preferences on the route as I haven't spent much time in that area so am not worried about repeats. Something involving food does sound pretty deluxe though...

Last little bit before saddle opens up with some nice bare rock westmermaid10.jpg Panorama from saddle facing West Mermaid westmermaid11.jpg Scrambling up towards summit westmermaid12.jpg Looking east near summit of West Mermaid westmermaid13.jpg Cool rock formation slightly NE of true summit westme...

Bear Creek and West Fork Bear Creek junction westmermaid01.jpg Salamander! westmermaid02.jpg Starting up West Fork, faint use trail visible westmermaid03.jpg Lots of nice scenes like this in the first half of West Fork westmermaid04.jpg Nice green canyon walls westmermaid05.jpg Upper section narrows...

[ TLDR : Nice mostly off trail canyon hike to very rarely visited peak, encountered illegal pot grow stuff, stats and pictures at bottom of post] This was part two of my trip last month to East Mermaid/Peak 3702 and Middle Mermaid/Peak 4065 . I still wanted to reach the highest of the group of three...

I thought it was a little small for that, but looking at some pictures it looks like you are right, maybe it was a juvenile or something. Just for fun here is a partial sheep skull I found in West Fork Bear Creek. I want to add one to my small collection of nature-y stuff but it was too incomplete t...

Anyone have an idea what this partial skull and jaw are from? Found them today near Ontario Peak.

Yeah, I was a little nervous hanging around but was feeling spiteful over the damage they do to nature and public lands! If I had found the camp before the tubing I would have been a little less nervous as that part had clearly been abandoned for a while. Still no telling if/when they'll be back to ...

I sent the pictures and location info to the Forest Service, they replied and said they were passing it along to their law enforcement people. I know LE isn't going to worry about trash, but perhaps they'll send somebody else out for some cleanup due to pesticide contamination since it's right next ...

I'd like to try and make one of these outings! Destination isn't particularly important to me, whatever others are up for. I work Sundays so I could only do a Saturday trip. My schedule is pretty unpredictable and I can't commit to anything, so don't try to work around me, I probably won't know unti...

I made it to West Mermaid/Peak 4654 yesterday, trip report forthcoming. A couple miles upstream from where West Fork Bear Creek joins Bear Creek I found five large bundles of irrigation tubing clearly taken out there for an illegal grow operation. I marked the location and continued to the peak caut...

I've done it twice, but not in the winter (Sept 2016 and June 2017). I'll second what others have said about the road in (rough past the kilns when open) and route (easy navigation and moderate slopes until some steep switchbacks towards the end). Here are couple wild burros I saw on the drive in la...

First pictures and now drone footage too! Very cool. So where was the tail section in relation to the bits we found on the first trip?

Bummed I couldn't join you, well done!

Sean wrote: Damn, that's one seriously

4697055625_f9919592ee_o.gif

I'm definitely going to print and laminate this to put in summit registers...

Also that song is now stuck in my head.

dima wrote:
Wha? Did you bring the ham?

Yep. I made a joke about it to my wife while we were at the store getting some lunch for our hike to Mt Waterman last week. Then I decided to actually do it for the lulz. Also I like ham.

Why? It's like the 17th Essential or something...

Nice report! Bummer you didn't find the big stuff, but you got a lot closer and found more debris than our last trip for sure!

Third time's the charm perhaps...

I had a half day on Wednesday and did a short trip partway up Baldy from Bear Canyon (up to 7,600ft). There was a couple inches almost the whole way in the shaded areas and steady snow cover by 7k. By 7.6k it was maybe 4in with up to 12in drifts in places. With higher elevations and with the new sno...

Thanks for the heads up! Hoping to get out to Twin Peaks this weekend and play in the snow, weather and roads permitting. I'll have to remind myself to approach from the west!

Now is the chance to do Baden Powell in the snow without crowds if you are willing to hike in a few miles!

It was perhaps the greatest half-hour struggle in canyon scrambling history.

Battle of the Balloon 2018, Never Forget


Looks like a fun time! I would have liked to join in but I work on Sundays. Nice work hauling out so much trash!

Peak registers automatically make a point on a topo map legit

Very true!

Never been in that area before, did you take any pictures?