EISPIRATEN

Maybe mud...that can be treacherous (to me, anyway)...there are several "viewpoints" along that road with great views into the canyon...would be easy to slip off one if muddy...also, Christopher Brennen's Hike D7: Upper Eaton Canyon ( http://www.dankat.com/advents/upreat.htm ) begins along...

Cool report and pix! I tried Oat Mountain via that route in March 2015, and got as far as the gate…it was closed, and I chickened out as I always do when encountering such an obstacle…at that time it would have been simple to bypass it on the right (see attached photo)…I see from your photo that the...

Another reminder of the hazards of trying something that requires lots of skill while under the influence…ATP (Airline Transport Pilot) is the highest-level pilot certificate there is, and 3390 hours is amazing for a 24-year-old (when I "retired" from mostly recreational airplane flying at...

NTSB report on the 1970 event:

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.avia ... 7656&key=0

oldcoot

It was bad enough before the Station Fire brought out the guard dogs...who knew Cerberus was a poodle...no point in trying to look for stuff up there until the poodles are gone...maybe all the rain will encourage them to finally go back to the kennel... My thanks for this forum for saving me from po...

My LPC guide for Bonita was written in 1986, but is older (last revised in 2001)...it did not mention a benchmark or reference mark, but said "Continue until you see a USGS marker on the right (east) side of the trail. The marker is placed on a rock in an unusual horizontal position. Note the a...

Thanks for this... While I greatly enjoy reading your death-march adventures (and all the reports here), it's also nice to occasionally see one where one of you superguys/gals does something I've actually done... FWIW, I'm a benchmark freak, and I could not find one (or a reference mark) up there in...

Nice pix! Love the buff's tail over the yellow guy line... Back when I could still pass a flight physical, I flew the family plane to Catalina more than 500 times over 40+ years. Did a lot of hiking there, including once from the airport down to White's Landing, stuck toe in ocean, then up to island...

I can't answer that question (have always wondered about that myself), but can say the the WATERMAN I-8 benchmark is on the next bump to the east, along with at least two reference marks...those are much newer (1954 vs 1930, and were installed by LA County Surveyor vs US Geological Survey for TWIN.....

Encountered him climbing Markham (solo) in September 2014 (I was 68 at the time)...amazing and cool guy...

oldcoot

Always love your trip reports, Sean, whether death marches, explorations or urban outings... Especially glad you posted this one...I've long thought about bushwhacking up that bump to look for THORN...and wouldn't have found it...thanks for finding and restoring it... If you can come up with an excu...

Thanks for the nice report! My friend Kate and I (Mike) are two of the few entries in that register from 2011 (we did it in June and again in September...but somewhat more slowly than you!)...guess not a lot of people do that hike, which is too bad, because as you say, it's got some wonderful views....

http://www.venturacountytrails.org/News ... wsPage.htm

they are out there...

oldcoot

I think you can still do Smith Mountain via the standard HPS routes...it looks like they don't go through the closed area...and the closure order says you can drive through the area, just can't stop or park...

Coming back down Smith to the saddle was scary...once was enough for me...

oldcoot

From the Cal Trans website:

SR 2
[IN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM ISLIP SADDLE TO 5 MI WEST OF BIG PINES HWY (LOS ANGELES CO)
- DUE TO MUD SLIDES - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Dunno when the slides occurred...

oldcoot

About halfway down from Baden-Powell to Ross, July 5, 2003...rattler was coiled and wagging tail but no sound...very strange...it would not move, so I walked well around it (after taking a couple of bad pix with wide-angle point-and-shoot camera...now I take my DSLR on hikes...)... Also, near the to...

Nice pix! (And Richard's caterpillar, too!) It didn't look much different back in 2004: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1865210/IMG_1114sm.jpg ...and from a little higher up (in 2003): https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/gallery.myff.org/gallery/1865211/IMGP2246sm....

Yes, very nice try and report...sounds exactly like my last attempt (on my 62nd birthday in 2008)...we even turned around at the same spot! So where are those pix? (We want to see what it looks like now..) Here's a shot of the FANG benchmark from 2004 (forgot to get a shot of it in 2003...) Thanks f...

I can't tell you anything about what it's like now post-fires, but it took me 1.5 hours longer to get up and back in August 2004 than in February 2003...and a very experienced HPS hiker (200+ summits) died of heat-related issues on the way back down in summer back in the 1970s...not a summer hike......

CM --

FWIW...

On my old Safari browser, the top of your test is a blank white rectangle, and the bottom video is there and plays fine...

On my newer (current?) Firefox, both rectangles are gray and blank...

Computer is 4-year-old iMac running OS X 10.6.8...

oldcoot

I did Josephine Peak via the Josephine Peak fire road this morning...checked with the ranger station yesterday afternoon to confirm the fire road was open to hiking...it is, and is in fine shape... Where the fire road reaches the ridge and you turn left to go to Josephine or right toward Strawberry,...

Thanks! Now I can just enjoy the views when I'm up there, and quit looking for that benchmark...

oldcoot

Is the actual "Sister Elsie" benchmark still up there? I've seen the "Sister Elsie" azimuth mark near the HPS register site, and La Crescenta H4 reference marks 4 and 5 at the other end of the summit, but not the actual Sister Elsie benchmark with triangle in the center -- those ...

Probably best to call the appropriate ranger station (not sure which that would be) and ask...when I went out there to do Josephine Peak via the fire road at ACH and AFH on May 25, there was a huge almost billboard-size sign saying area closed, no parking, stay out, etc. And the Colby Canyon trailhe...

If anyone is planning to head up there to meet the man next Saturday, the switchback trail from Vincent Gap was snow-free and in great shape yesterday (more than could be said for me...)...

No, I'm not the guy, either...

oldcoot

Here's a picture of the start of the second pitch, from Bob Burd:

http://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_photos/ ... 076_w.html

oldcoot

I've chickened out twice on the first (shorter, easier) class-3 part...have done Strawberry twice from the easier east side, including climbing neighboring Lawlor via the south "firebreak" along the way, in 2005...the first time I was a San Gabriels "newbie," but the second, I ha...

I've always wanted to try that one...one of the few in the Verdugos I haven't done...I haven't checked it recently, but the few times I did there was a chain-link fence and locked gate at the bottom on La Tuna Canyon...think it is no-enter zone...but the La Tuna Singletrack starts just a bit (1/4 mi...

Did Runyon Canyon in the Hollywood Hills for my New Year's morning hike... Went up east ridge to high point, down to Mulholland, down main paved road to bottom, up bottom of canyon and middle ridge to high point, back down paved road to bottom, then up east ridge and paved road to high point again, ...