EISPIRATEN

Ha ha! Stop slackin' off David!

Were there any recent ascents?

The most recent one that I saw was about a month ago.

Yes, "sandier" and "sandiest" are the correct comparative and superlative forms of the adjective "sandy".

Whew!

Sorry I missed you boys on this adventure. If its any consolation, I didn't get back in time ...

You know that big ass peak between Yermo and Baker that you pass by on the I-15 on your way to Vegas (or in my case Utah)? That's Cave Mountain. I've driven by it a zillion times wondering about it and always wanting to get on top. Well, yesterday that became a reality. I had a free day from work so ...

Epic.

Nicely done.

Me and Mrs. Rico were in Las Vegas over the weekend for the Super Bowl. Ordinarily, I wouldn't go anywhere near Las Vegas over Super Bowl weekend, but my company was sponsoring an event so we went.

By Saturday morning, we'd already had enough of the Strip and everything that comes with it, so we ...

Jeff, Nate and I have been trying to get together for a Mt. Pickens outing for some time. We had the outing scheduled for early January, but the date kept getting pushed out because of closure orders. When the order was finally (partially) lifted last Friday, it was on.

We initially were talking ...

Me and the Mrs. decided to get out yesterday before the rain hit and ended up going up the Gridley Trail to the old fire lookout on Nordhoff Peak. We parked at the trailhead at the end of Gridley Road (which was packed) and started around 11 a.m. This is a popular trail with MTBers and we could ...

With the ANF and much of the Santa Monicas closed due to extreme fire conditions, I had to look elsewhere yesterday for some outdoor entertainment. Fortunately, there is a local range that is apparently impervious to burning and is not entirely closed down...yet. Being in such close proximity to the ...

I know David's New Years resolution for 2025.

Ha, ha!

Did you go up Rattlesnake AW?

Cool outing boys. What was your mileage/gain for the day?

Yuuuuge!

Christopher Lord did a variation on this route back in May of 2020, although he didn't do it in one day and didn't actually summit Cobblestone.

At Ant Camp (which Chris restored), instead of grinding up the ridge you ascended, he followed the old abandoned trail (19W10) up the Agua Blanca ...

Noice.

I assume that is Snowbasin in the rear-ground of some of your pics?

Good beta. Thx. OG of the SG.

When I go with others, I'm admittedly less prepared, especially if it's their route and they know what they're doing. But that's really me leaning into them when I shouldn't. Your experience Sean is a good reminder to not be so complacent about it. You never think shit is going to happen, but shit ...

Was Stepladder still a visible landmark? I suppose worst-case scenario you could have back-tracked to Stepladder to re-orient and then descend the same way you came up?

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.

You can make a really nice 15 mile +/- loop by going up Pratt, down Gridley (or visa versa) and across Shelf Road.

The Mrs. wants to try for Whitney next summer when she hits the big 6-0, so we went up Pratt to Nordhoff yesterday to gauge fitness and begin a series of training hikes. Nice day to be out. Warm enough but a bit overcast to make the skies interesting.

Trail is in acceptable shape. There are a ...

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

Ha, ha! Well played.

On second look, your proposed route doesn't get us that far up Beckley to worry about the challenges Brennen talks about.

Any idea if there is a firebreak along that ridge out of the canyon? Those south-facing slopes are pretty dang brushy.

Hmmm. I don't know about Hall Beckley.

http://brennen.caltech.edu/advents/halbec.htm

I know this will sound a little like a trip report, but i don't really intend it that way.

I made the pilgrimage to Owen Brown's grave Sunday afternoon. Instead of parking at the end of El Prieto Road and walking up the road, I started in the Arroyo Seco, went up El Prieto Canyon, and then ...

Weekdays generally don't work for me and I'm out of town 11/24. That leaves me with 12/14.

I know nothing of Beckley Canyon, but willing to give it a go. I think we ascend Beckley and descend Earl. Better to know what's ahead and how long it will take on the way out then on the way in IMO.

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

I'd like to get to these peaks if my schedule allows. When were you thinking of going again?

Well, we could go up Earl, tag Pickens, then follow the Lukens Fire Road southeast past Hawks (and grab that along the way) to the Teepee, and then down whatever that trail is called (the TeePee Trail) to the end of Harter Lane. Or we could reverse that and go the other direction. Leave a car at ...