EISPIRATEN

Nice report Burchey! Loved the photos of the morning sky over the tent -- they have a beautifully cold feel of isolation to them.

I found this item from www.canyoneeringusa.com called the Scuttle Butt. I want to buy it just for the name! The original name that Tom (Imlay owner) chose for the product was even better -- Baboonska! https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/957164/Baboon-pink-butt.jpg Sadly,...

Bump... just thought I'd give it another go 'round to see if anyone can offer any insights into these tracks.

Wow...

These photos bear closer resemblance to the Na Pali Coast or Milford Sound than they do the typical San Gabriels scene.

From Hawaii with love... woohoo!

He219 wrote: ↑Doesn't look like it will get cold enough.

The forecast for the higher elevations just got a lot more promising!

Maybe one of the math-savy folks from the HSS can add up the numbers at the upper end of the range and convert to feet!

hvydrt wrote: ↑ I once saw a lizard with an acorn stuck on his head. (he was alive and running around with it on)

Reminds me of something you'd see at a football game.

I try and get ... Corkscrew done every year. Last year I was also able to hike Towne Peak and visit the Albatross wreckage--very cool! Funny you'd mention those two places... Turns out the last time I did a solo overnight in DV it was atop Corkscrew Peak . And I've already decided that next year wi...

Zé wrote: ↑here's some saddles with benchmarks. clearly should be the highlight of such a list

I spent a night at "C" about ten years ago and concur with Zé -- it is definitely a spectacular perch.

Since you've offered, I'd love to see your waypoints or kmx file! Wes, I've attached a KML file that shows the route I took. (This is my first attempt at attaching a file, hopefully all will work okay.) Sheep Ridge and Canyon Loop [EDIT: Note that this file contains approximate (not GPS tagged) way...

Great photos Mark!I sure miss Death Valley. I went a few weeks ago but since I was immobile I couldn't really leave the car and could only drive around. That just didn't do the trick. It's just not right to hear you describe being confined to a car, Rick. :( I hope that all is still on track for a ...

Very nice... the Indefinite Hessian really takes well to the soft ground!

Thanks for the trip report Norma!

I'm glad at least one SGMDF'er was out there making a respectable showing on Baldy despite the weather!

Great TR Turtle, you really captured the atmosphere of high desert hiking in those photos, what kind of a time delay do you have on your camera to capture some of those self portrait shots, they came off real good, or did you use a remote. Thanks for the kinds words Phil. I used the built in timer ...

Hessians, Laplacians, Jacobians, null [spaces]... the dork is strong with this group. I feel most at home.

cougarmagic wrote: ↑What were the temps like on your trip?

Very mild. Daytime highs were probably around 60 once I got up high. Overnight I'd guess it dropped just a bit below 40.

A good weather forecast was a prerequisite as I did not want to haul a tent up that much elevation.

Elwood wrote: ↑ A nice day to hang out next to Jabba.

Sure is different than two weeks ago Saturday when it seemed only Jabba's breadth against the wind kept us from freezing into carbonite.

On the topic of solo backpacking - is it 'comfortable' for you? Comfortable is probably too strong a word. I do find it very enjoyable, though. I'm anxious on most any outdoor trip, it's unfortunately my nature. Somewhat paradoxically, going solo seems to calm my nerves. Or perhaps its just that my...

Amazing pictures, the coyote pics and the self timed shots are awesome. How much water did you carry? I started with 6 liters. My total planned time away from the car was about 30 hours. 6L would seem like plenty, but I wanted to make sure I'd have at least a liter should I get hurt and need to sit...

how close did that coyote come to you? He was not more then 4m away. Perhaps as close as 2m! My mind was very conflicted! "He's smaller than you, you've just had your rabies pre-exposure vaccine...", then, "But he's still a wild animal.", then "He's so cute! I wonder if he'...

Each year I make an effort to undertake a solo overnight outing. Death Valley is my preferred destination, as it's so impossibly vast and empty that complete solitude is attained within minutes of leaving the road. This year's trip did not disappoint. The route* was rather grueling (17mi, ~7500ft ga...

Dave G wrote:Turtle: Even though I've done quite a few all-nighters, the Baldy leg was a whole other level of weirdness. ... it felt almost like I was hiking backwards and had no hope of ever reaching the summit.

That sounds more than a little familiar!

Congratulations!!! That's indeed an interesting order... How bad was it finishing in the dark? On our recent trip I found the wee hours of the morning to be the most challenging, and I was quite relieved to have them behind me as we finished in the warm sun. I can't imagine having to pull the last m...

Zé wrote:that 2nd picture is crazy cool!

That's gotta be the best looking lenticular I've ever seen on Baldy!

Thanks for sharing!

Sweet! Nice going Zé!

turtle - wonderful post! the triple crown (or the 8,000 meter challenge, as we call it around REI) is one of my bucketlist goals. Thanks Matt! Do you know if Jansport and/or the local retailers are still holding a semi-organized event each year? My searches turned up nothing more recent than ~2005/6.

Great pictures, thanks for posting! Turns out my coworker was asking me about recommendations for fall foliage in the San Gabriels. Now I know where to send him.

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words. CM, while I'm surprised that we were able to finish as strong as we did, I still wouldn't go so far as to describe the hike as easy . :D HJ, the origins of the Turtle are somewhat obscure and make for a long and boring story. Suffice it to say that they trace ba...

My thanks as well for keeping us informed with such a detailed writeup, CM.

Was there any mention of the sluggish and apparently incomplete FS response to the FoIA request from the LAT reporter?

Will be looking forward to the upcoming LAT article.

Yikes... that was acronym-heavy.

The Triple Crown. The Three San's. 39mi, 12000ft gain and loss. It seemed the perfect challenge to undertake. Right at the limit of what I thought my body (might!) let me do given proper planning and training, it would be a fantastic way to see three familiar peaks in a new fashion. Working the logi...