EISPIRATEN

@Sean , thanks for creating the topic. The photos didn't xfer over, so I'm going to try to add those.
@tekewin , hopefully you'll catch that this topic has been created.

HJ

Yeah, I have a mini Leatherman too. I think it's the Squirt. The pliers came in very handy on Catalina recently. Here's what happened: Good: A hiker dove into some bushes to get away from a charging bison. Bad: The bushes were cactus. We yanked the spines out with the pliers. The poor guy was really...

Do you think the boundary is marked? It's hard to say. The little square symbols on the map that are part of the boundary line imply a physical "monument," a marker of some type placed during a cadastral survey. The problem is that: The monument could just be a rock or stack of rocks, dep...

jfr wrote: ↑

@jfr , ya know, John, another decade or so, and you'll almost have gotten your money's worth out of that backpack.

HJ

I just got back from a roam through the Sierra Nevada, South Lake to North Lake and I found a few things..... I kept some - actually used the 6-ft piece of line the next night to help tie down the tent on a slab. I did not keep either pair of shoes and I also passed up a bandanna, a couple shirts a...

Long time no see HJ! I think the last time I saw you was 10 years ago on our hike to Pine from Guffy... I think I need to notify the moderator(s). That photo is obviously not from 10 years ago. If it were from 10 years ago, then I would be 10 years older, which clearly I am not. Therefore I declare...

Great report, HJ. It's my backyard, too, and I've made many trips into San Mateo and Bluewater. Got most of my good cougar vids in Bluewater, not far from the first switchback going uphill. I know! I've read some of your seriously hard core TR's. Thanks for posting by the way. Good stuff. I've seen...

Note to @Sean : This might be a good thread split point. See what you think. [Done. --Sean] I'd be up for a trip to very end of the public land in San Mateo after it cools off in the fall. I'm not sure you'd be happy with a slow poke like me, but I've had such a trip in the back of my mind for some ...

That little creek below Cedar Glen is surprisingly reliable -- although I don't know for how much longer given the drought. Great to see you up and around. You must be doing pretty well if you schlepped a backpack up to Cedar Glen! Hang in there. I have another friend who has "long" Covid....

Water level comparison photos, photos all taken at the same place.

• The first photo is from January, 2021. We hadn't gotten any rain yet that year.
• The second photo is from January 2022. We had had some good rains recently at that point.
• The third photo is from June 2022.

Elwood wrote: ↑On first reading I missed the part about the '80 year old gentleman' and thought you were talking about Sean. My bad.

No doubt he's getting up there (as are we all), but I suspect he's yet a bit shy of 80.

HJ

Hey Hiking Jim, I enjoyed reading your report. During Covid I hiked to a few peaks and waterfalls in the Cleveland National Forest because I wanted to explore a new area. It's very pretty. Also, nice to see you posting on the Forum. We missed you. Hi, Ms. C. ? Glad to see this forum is still active...

I'll try to post some kind of a trip report because you are no doubt just dying to hear about the CNF. Actually I'm curious to hear something from that neck of the woods. I haven't been there in years. We'll have to quarantine your TR though for 10 days unless it tests negative for Covid National F...

Thanks for the report. I drink a lot of water these days too. I think I'll go when it's cooler and I don't have to hunt for infested puddles. Besides ticks, did you see any wildlife? Yeah, the fresh, cool, clear, running water of March was so nice compared to the tepid, algae laden, still water of ...

I completed this past weekend an approximately 20 mile two day backpacking loop trip in the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness in the Cleveland National Forest. Marked up Caltopo link: https://caltopo.com/m/PJDGG I've been wanting to do this trip for some time, but I actually wouldn't do it again this time...

Updates: As expected, the trail to Four Corners was all but a freeway. Past the turn off to very popular Sitton Peak, we saw not even one person other than those in our party. The Verdugo Trail was eminently followable albeit a tad in need of maintenance. The first part of the Bluewater Trail (label...

Well, there was water, and, while not exactly stagnant, it wasn't really flowing, at least not above ground. I'm sure water was percolating through the sand of the creek bed because in places where the creek goes over bedrock, one could see actual flow. There was a lot of algae in the pools. The wat...

I'll try to post some kind of a trip report because you are no doubt just dying to hear about the CNF. Actually I'm curious to hear something from that neck of the woods. I haven't been there in years. I'll post when I can. I expect: The trail out to Four Corners will be a well beaten path because ...

[Split from Blue Ridge Road thread. The fire referenced is the 2022 Sheep Fire. --Admin] Is there a fire? Or is it out? Is the smoke bad? Or is it just fine? Is the road open or is the road closed? Yeesh. This morning's Inciweb report was no help. It was just boilerplate with no updates. :( In the l...

Yesterday, the US National Weather Service had "areas smoke" listed in the forecast. Today, the forecast says "sunny," then "clear." I also notice on Inciweb -- https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/8151/69105/ -- the following: Sheep Fire Update June 15, 2022 0900 ...

I was going to go to the Blue Ridge/Dawson Pk/Fish Fork area in the Angeles National Forest this weekend, but there's the Sheep Fire currently going on. Maybe it'll be out by this weekend, but that seems doubtful. So, I'm working on a quick Plan "B:" The Bear Canyon loop in the Cleveland N...

Which type of container is best depends on a few factors, weight, durability, risk of damage, etc. These days my hikes usually involve a very low risk of damage, so I go for the lightest plastic bottles possible. If I had to fight German soldiers in the trenches, I might opt for an aluminum canteen...

Well, this is weird. I asked around on Reddit, and a person who said he was a volunteer at Grassy Hollow said that the road to Lupine was open if you have 4WD. Dunno what to think. I guess if the smoke clears and all that, then I could go but just be prepared to do the road walk. If the road is open...

HJ, check out the Rico's birthday thread for pictures of that section - we went to Commanche Camp and all of us survived it. OK, thanks. There were parts that were very sketchy one time when I was there. It was like a slide area, and you could see that the slide went over the edge a few dozen feet ...

Hmm. The redirects aren't working for me, but I'm on my work computer and they may have some kind of restriction in place. @Sean , how far did you guys go up? How was the trail between 3rd Stream Crossing and Comanche? There used to be some sections in there that were a little "airy." HJ

I called the Acton Work Center. They confirmed that the Lupine Road is closed because it's in bad condition. Oh, so it's entirely closed? Good to know. Well, now my only hesitation is the Sheep Fire. The friends I want to go with a concerned about smoke and such (which is a legit concern of course)...

I'm just grateful that nothing bad happened on that hike. Very little went according to plan, but, on the other hand, it was a good day out. A nice ramble in remote, high country. I'm just not getting out the way I used to. Work, yeah, and my junior partner is a teenager now-a-days and doesn't neces...

Are these links still good? Comanche Camp appears to be pointing to sangabrielmnts.myfreeforum.org -- is that correct? Isn't that out of date? Speaking of Comanche Camp, has anyone been up the Middle Fork of Lytle Creek lately? My north backbone loop might have to be postponed due to the Sheep Fire,...

Awesome find. Serious cool factor. :) One of the big debates when I was a kid was between aluminum vs. plastic water bottles/canteens. Plastic was frequently brittle but pretty quickly improved as I got older and eventually won out for the most part -- although lately I'm seeing a lot of people hiki...

@HikeUp , nice pic! Dang, that goes back a ways. I still have that backpack although it's looking pretty ugly these days. That was a good hike that time -- except that Will was really freaked out about the slidey descent on the way back. How are you doing? We actually set out with possibly doing a ...