EISPIRATEN

For Cecelia's Cheeseday, we stormed Slide Mountain and had ourselves a feast composed of grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, pasta salad, hot chocolate, and pumpkin pie. The day started with Cecelia, JJ and I meeting Jeff at the trailhead around 7:30 AM. Jeff found a dog collar, which he promptl...

What's it's name?

Yesterday Cecelia and I hiked to Mt. Williamson for her birthday and for the sunset. Since it was her special day, I thought, "What the hell? Let's drive the long detour through Tujunga to reach Islip Saddle!" First we stopped at the overlook for Big Tujunga Dam. DSC00404.JPG Then we check...

Weird, I'm in all three categories, depending on the need for a cairn in a particular spot.

Some of us are hiking to Slide Mountain Lookout on November 26th. Let me know if you're interested in joining. It's a ten-mile roundtrip with 2,775' of gain.

Related question - when did it grow? For years the elevation was 9399, now the signs both say 9407. Is this haunted peak actually stretching, or is it your imagination? And I'm going to say "no" to the cairn, because it appears to be supported by the back of the tree trunk. A cairn should...

Oh yeah!

There's a particular lizard in a favorite spot of mine. I talk to it a lot but it never replies. I'm confident, however, that it recognizes me. When I arrive, it comes out of its hidey hole to greet me.

Lately during hikes I've had the song "Roam" stuck in my head, but only the chorus, because I'm too dumb to remember all the lyrics. Actually I wasn't even smart enough to remember all of the chorus. I've had "run, if you want to" playing on repeat, when the actual lyric is of co...

What else ya gonna do on "Break A Rule Day"? Rules are made to be broken. Two rules don't make a right. You can't make an omelette without breaking some rules. If a rule breaks in the forest and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

tekewin wrote: ↑I found the skeletal remains of either a bighorn or a deer. It looked like there were two skeletons so they may have been dragged here by a lion.

Or, maybe a Bighorn tried to mate with a deer and it didn't end well for either one of them.

Thanks for the report!

JeffH wrote: ↑

Nate U wrote: ↑......THE CENTROID. Great news. Now lets hope our El Niño Winter doesn't wipe it out all over again. Knowing the Gabes, it probably will...

Don't jinx things!

Quick, someone drive to Islip Saddle and burn some sage to remove the jinx.

Here's a little taste of what the gusts were like on the ridge.

More Idlehour finds.

Found this beauty recently while heading up the Idlehour. On the way out someone had stepped in it and messed it all up. Doh!



This one I found earlier in the month.

Originally Jeff and I had planned to celebrate his birthday by camping at Highline Saddle, with others joining us the following morning for a summit of Mendenhall Peak. But a Santa Ana wind warning interrupted this plan. So we nixed the camping and started a day hike from Burma Road instead of Dillo...

Thanks for the report. There should be a Pirate Peg Leg Lake.

Thanks for the reports. It'll be fun to watch his progress and development into a pirate of the mountains.

We just finished trimming and raking the Lower Old Echo Mountain Trail from the power lines down to Rubio. We improved the tread a bit but there are still big ruts along the upper section. Fixing the ruts is a major project. It's on the to-do list but not a priority yet.

Some of us are hiking to Mendenhall Peak this weekend. PM me if you're interested in joining. Camping Saturday, summiting Sunday.

Wow, that's a great sheep encounter. Thanks for the report! Check your PMs for sticker info.

Tom.Kane wrote: ↑How can I get/purchase a super cool EisPiraten.com Sticker?

Check your PMs.

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑2023-10-17_6-22-30.jpg
Someone got their fee fees hurt. ?

Oh, and they didn't start mining the claim until the '70s, so you've been alive longer than the mine, and therefore earned the right to say anything about it.

jeko1034 wrote: ↑

dima wrote:Speaking of trash, did you see the 5-gal buckets next to the first bulldozer? Is that used motor oil?

I did find them and they are filled with dirt. Possible for panning

Maybe that's the actual tungsten. Apparently the final product looks like beach sand and they hauled it out in metal barrels.

There are several factors that combine to make Iron the hardest trail hike in the Gabes, if not all of SoCal. The elevation gain, steepness, sun exposure and lack of water are bad. The mileage is not so bad, but poor trail conditions make it seem longer than it is. It's been awhile since I did Iron,...

Uncle Rico wrote: ↑2023-10-17_6-22-30.jpg
Someone got their fee fees hurt. ?

Damn, Rico, he trash talked you for trash talking his trash.

JeffH wrote: ↑I found these in Desolation Wilderness. Odd, they were partially buried at Ropi Lake, about 8 miles from the nearest trailhead. I don't know what they are for, there is padding on the thighs and knees. MTB riding?

Was this on Bike Naked Day?

I like that map on the second to last page of the thesis. " Old Cabin ", " ??? Lodge " and " YMCA Hut " caught my eye. Also I had not heard of Alexander Spring before...maybe I just have missed it on newer maps? Alexander Spring is on maps. Mrs. Jim Alexander built a h...

I'm pretty sure Crystal Lake is on a fault which is what probably created it... I found a 1938 Master's thesis by John C. Wells. It looks like he was the first to argue for the existence of two faults within the basin. He calls them Crystal Lake Fault and Soldier Creek Fault. As against the prior g...

Bummed I missed out on the arguing couple. Those are my favorite wilderness sounds. "I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That's a bad place for an argument, because then I tried to walk out, and slammed the flap. How are you supposed to express your anger in this situati...