EISPIRATEN

50% off topic: If you find yourself housebound or too productive, there is an antidote named Flight Simulator buried in Google Earth . http://lifehacker.com/software/games/fl ... 295797.php To activate Flight Simulator in Google Earth there is a hot key combination [Ctrl+Alt+A] for the first run; af...

Nice photos.

HikeUp wrote: What time were you on the trail? We might have crossed paths as I was heading down from the ski hut between 8:15a and 9:15a, wearing an orange jacket and black cap. It was fairly breezy at the hut around 8:00a. HikeUp, last Saturday I started up Ski Hut Trail solo from Manker Flat TH a...

Rick K, the server handling your photos responds well.

dhstein31, on Saturday (11/10/2007) from Ski Hut Trail I had a good view of adventurers like you slugging your way along the wind-exposed "backbone" of Bear Canyon Trail. My heart went out to you. On Ski Hut Trail I didn't feel the northern wind until I reached Baldy Summit.

Thanks, HJ -- Good link.

Definition of "beta" used outdoors:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_%28climbing%29

One apparent lesson learned from 2007 wildfires is that Google servers and Google Earth overlays handle information demand and detail better than older mapping solutions in some California counties. A few days ago, as wildfires approached 100% containment, San Diego County Office of Emergency Servic...

Apparently Michelson had many speed of light experiments over 50 years, from US Naval Academy to Irvine Ranch: Following this series, Michelson endeavored to try with the same equipment a series of experiments over a path from Mt. Wilson Observatory to Mt. San Jacinto, a distance of about 82 miles, ...

In 1926, Michelson used a rotating prism to measure the time it took light to make a round trip from Mount Wilson to Mount San Antonio in California, a distance of about 22 miles. The precise measurements yielded a speed of 186,285 miles per second (299,796 kilometres per second). http://en.wikiped...

muddeer, I was at Baldy Summit during Santa Ana winds on 10/7/2007. As I recall the temperature at the summit was in the low 50s and most of the snow that fell the day before melted before we reached the summit. Perfect hiking weather. A couple of hundred feet of trail spooked me -- an exposed narro...

Autistic teen who wandered off during hike found alive http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/18/hiker. ... index.html CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- An autistic hiker lost in the Dolly Sods Wilderness area for four days has been found alive and reunited with his family, a spokesman for the search effort...

Rick Kent's 17-peak SG loop required a heap of planning.

Hunting season dates, as I read California web sites cited above, are complicated. It depends on zone, game, and weapon. For example, SGW, SJW, and East & West San Gabriels are each in different deer zones (D11, D14, D15, & D19). Dates differ for deer, bighorn sheep, elk, and antelope. Dates...

When does hunting season end?

Mt Baldy Visitor Center hours are flexible.

Forest Service web site says 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Ranger who answered phone today says 8 a.m to 3:30 p.m.
Ranger who worked last weekend says 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In other words, flexible.

So now I fill out a form each week where I provide info such as where we’ve parked, trail and peak names, estimated time I’ll call and estimated time I’ll return home. It also includes color of clothing worn, contact numbers, vehicle information, hiking supplies on hand and vital statistics for me ...

. . . but for planning (say I've got a dinner to go to at 5:00 PM) and such, I try to get some kind of a time estimate on a hike to see if it's within the realm of reason given that day's time constraints. HJ, exactly. Although my time estimates are improving as I learn from my mistakes, estimates ...

HikeUp, yes, thank you, the discussion has helped clarify planning considerations. I spend as much time planning as I do executing the hike. Then I spend several days dissecting the hike.

AlanK, you're on my list of "Hiking Heroes."

HJ, thanks, I ran my numbers through your formula and found it works well as an approximation of actual hiking time.

HikeUp, I wonder if I'm reinventing the wheel here. As I stare at my hike data, it's obvious that (like you) my horizontal speed drops as my vertical speed increases. However, when I add together horiz + vert speed, I get a number that's kinda constant. For example, last weekend I moved forward at ....

HikeUp, good suggestions -- thank you!

What's a good way to measure hiking performance? Horizontal trail speed (miles per hour)? Vertical speed (feet per hour)? What matters? I started charting uphill segments of my hikes, looking for patterns, in order to help me plan length of future hikes, to help me determine if I'm improving, and to...

Travis, thank you for posting GPS tracks. Using your track data and Google Earth I was able to visualize a hike before my feet hit the trail. I have a question concerning time stamps on GPS track files. When I converted one of your Google kmz files to Garmin gdb format, I saw no time stamps on the G...

I meant to say, "They wore bells, and at a distance we thought there were cell phones ringing at Bear Flat."

Taco, great trip report. By the time I reached Baldy Summit on Sunday afternoon (10/7/2007), most of the snow was gone. Spotted a couple of exotic animals (domestic llamas?) grazing at Bear Flat. Are they regulars? I think they were on a leash, but I did not get too close to examine. They wore bells...

I have the annual sword carry permit.