EISPIRATEN

What a great time to visit! Were you wearing spikes?

This is a really nice story, you and your family are excellent examples of the fact that we can meet good people in the mountains.

Sounds like that snow was better suited to snowshoes rather than crampons.
I'm also 64 and don't hike as fast as 10 years ago, glad to still be out doing it.

It is really green up there. I always enjoy being above the clouds like that.

Cool trip. That's the largest gathering of sheep I've ever seen.

That is going to take a long time to rebuild.

I could see the ocean and Catalina on Sunday afternoon from CHWP.

why not just camp down at the bottom and hike out refreshed? best night's sleep I ever got. also had the best beer of my life at phantom ranch.


Reservation/permit required for that. Planning ahead takes away some of the adventure.

And for the BA route, the creek is crossed at least five times ...

Down and back up SK? That's bold considering the lack of water. I've only gone down SK and back up via Bright Angel. That's my favorite National Park.

Sean mentioned this in my local walks https://eispiraten.com/viewtopic.php?t=9426 post so a couple weeks ago I decided to visit, making a death-defying drive through dense SoCal morning fog. It's an interesting mixture of jurisdiction and legality, as it goes along what is listed as a private road ...

This is cool stuff. Yosemite of Southern California might be a little overstated. I'd like to get one of those Edison Diamond Disc phonographs.

....I'd like to go all the way to the River and I'd probably just use SK for the whole thing: going to the River in the morning, and then only going back up starting in late afternoon. One slight issue is I'd need to get back before the shuttles stop, or I'd need to use a bike, or, I'd need to ...

The end of that ridge is not just thin, it's pretty steep. You chose wisely to turn back.
Great day out with Forest.

My understanding of the forest service is they are severely underpaid and understaffed. Who wants to clean remote disgusting toilets for minimum wage? Or haul away over-stuffed trash cans from weekend tourists who treat the forest lands like shit (used diapers on trails and in creeks; thousands ...

That red (Maple?) is pretty amazing.

I was looking at Google maps - as many of us are wont to do - and saw this little spur off the trail as it heads toward Glendora Mountain Road. It looks odd on the picture as looks like a line of trees is nearby.

Monroe.jpg

This got me curious as I had never seen any other road/trail there so ...

October 4-5, 2025
I like to go visit around the first weekend in October to see a dusting of snow and the Aspen trees changing from green to yellow to orange and red. This year I drove up through way too much traffic on a Friday night, camping in the Alabama Hills. Saturday I got up pretty early and ...

I'm catching up on some walks I've done...
September 28, 2025
Last month I was avoiding the higher mountains as it looked like rain so I drove over on ACH to the parking area for Georges Gap trail. From there I walked through the fog/clouds on a use trail up the ridge of Hoyt Mountain. It was shorts ...

Damn, that's ambitious. I bet the desert temps will be pretty low at night.

Is navigation completely necessary or is it picking what appears to be the path of least rock and stickers?

The REI Flash 18 has a couple of loops on each side.

I get my Altra shoes on eBay at much less than full price. I'm also happy with last year's model, in fact I have two new-in-box pairs in the closet right now because they were good deals at the time. I come from a shoe family and with wide feet I've always been willing to pay for comfort.

Kings Peak looks really hard as a day hike. 25+ miles? That's a tough day.


25 is a short round trip for Kings. I went via Henrys Fork, spending two nights and the RT would be 34 miles if one stays on trail. We chopped a few off by skirting the ridge just after Gunsight pass and then scree ...

Nate U wrote: Sun Sep 21, 2025 5:46 pm

Elwood wrote: Sun Sep 21, 2025 8:43 am Strangely close to where Monica went missing.

The X-Files theme just went off in my head...

The truth is out there.

Something I really like about this forum is that there are so many unique adventures, and this is an epic example. Nice going for the three of you!

Isn't there a way to hike Johnstone Peak from La Verne? I also found similar local walks in Rancho Cucamonga, starting around Beryl Avenue, I think. Thanks for the report and photos.


Johnstone is surrounded by fire roads, I haven't looked to see where they connect to pavement. It would be a ...

That is some nice scenery. I've never gone up the Mono Pass trail, always headed to the Gem Lakes instead. Now I'll have to go back.

Sitting in traffic on the 57/60 merge today. I could not see inside to verify if he was actually there.

Are these all single trips? Do you bring a separate backpack just for the trash?

Near Reno, (South Lake Tahoe) I saw Squatch wanting to play some mini golf with Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues.