EISPIRATEN

Hikin_Jim wrote: ↑Note: señor Taco is going to be doing a lot of cycling these days. I'll be filling in on some of the admin duties.

Thanks for minding the store.

He's a peach of a toad.

You have done a great service for the hiking community. Thank you!

https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug.com/Nature/Miscellaneous/i-HK2wzgs/0/O/Glacier01.jpg https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug.com/Nature/Miscellaneous/i-6hHJJXM/0/O/Glacier02.jpg https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug.com/Nature/Miscellaneous/i-PkRx...

We never got to the upper lakes. Thanks for the pictures. I thought the Palisade Glacier hike was harder than Whitney. The last half mile of boulder scrambling up a 28% grade was tough.

I would be interested in getting together a group to try to undo the damage.. I would love to join you, but I moved to Florida last year. I will always have a place in my heart for the Mt. Baldy trails. Dewalt is a line of battery powered construction tools. They are common on construction sites, b...

The arrows are the product of some idiot hiker. The Icehouse Canyon trail was similarly marked a few years ago with white and orange stripes. Volunteers removed a lot of those tags with electric Dewalt wire brushes, but remnants remain. It's tough to get rid of paint. There was another incident wher...

I believe that the USGS 7.5' maps are highly accurate when it comes to terrain. Man made structures are less accurate because these things can and do change. I was very disappointed on my first hike to Gilman Peak in Chino Hills SP to find that the fire lookout tower was gone. https://eispiraten.com...

I believe there used to be a chain rope up there. The beginning of the Backbone trail just past the top of the ski run had cables similar to the cables on Mt. Whitney's 97 switchbacks. The remnants of the iron posts are still visible in a few spots. I read that they were installed long ago in respo...

put workers in danger by compelling them to test unapproved safety features

Wow! If you worked for that outfit, you were cannon fodder.

Yes, Bedford is a great training hike. The next time anyone is there be sure to walk to the far eastern end of the summit area. Someone placed a memorial bench there. It is a great spot to sit, eat lunch, and view Santiago Peak.

Everyone heads to the Sierra in August. Thanks for the report!

Thanks, guys! Finding a parking spot at Mosquito Flat can be a challenge. We made a point of getting to Mosquito Flat by 8AM. There were always 6 to 8 parking spaces open. This was Friday and Sunday mornings. There is an overflow lot about a quarter mile below. It was half full. So, some people are ...

We just spent three days hiking in the Little Lakes Valley. This valley offers world class scenery compacted into hikes of four miles or less with easy grades on well maintained trails. Put this place on your bucket list. After living at sea level for 16 months, I knew we needed an acclimatizing pla...

It has always been my understanding that the problem is 75 years of fire suppression which allowed huge fuel loads to accumulate. The Smokey the Bear approach that all forest fires are bad started decades before anyone heard the word "environment". We now know they should have let it burn ...

We just learned that the Summit Inn was destroyed in the Bluecut Fire. We stopped there on every trip to the Sierra and Death Valley. It was a fantastic piece of real Americana. We were looking forward to eating lunch there next week as we are are flying into Ontario and driving to Tom's Place. Now ...

Oh, the boulder hoping was fun and we regained the trail soon enough. We like to take pictures of the same things. Here are a few of mine from 2006. We think alike. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug.com/Nature/Miscellaneous/i-35sh8KP/0/X2/Pano4404_4407-X2.jpg https://eispiraten.c...

We did the Chocolate Lakes loop back in 2006. We lost the trail on the descent to Ruwau Lake and started boulder hopping down. About halfway, I looked to my right and saw a perfectly maintained trail. Where did that come from? It's a great hike in beautiful country. Thanks for the post!

I never knew blackberries grew in the mountains. Nice pictures - thanks!

tekewin wrote: ↑I wonder if recreational pot gets approved in November whether it will impact these types of operations.

Recreational pot will do for grow sites what the repeal of prohibition did for moonshine stills.

An alternative to filters is iodine tablets. You have to wait 30 minutes for them to kill everything in the water. Then, the iodine taste is neutralized by a followup vitamin C tablet. They are sold by REI under the brand name Potable Aqua. They sell iodine only and iodine plus vitamin C combos. Aft...

I think my opinion is unpopular, but I just don't see the big deal in paying the forest service $30/yr. I just put my pass up every time I park regardless and don't worry about it. I mean it's a $30 entry fee to go to Sequoia for one week. $30/yr for four forests seems like a bargain. And theoretic...

No pond or anything like that. They seem to enjoy the lawn sprinklers and the water that drips out of the air conditioner.

Our backyard has miniature frogs. These guys are so small that they can literally sit on a dime. I found one hiding inside a flower blossom. https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug.com/Little-Frog/i-KV2F8xm/0/XL/DSC00426-1-2-XL.jpg https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/photos.smugmug....

Since you are starting from Manker Flat, I assume that you are hiking the Ski Hut trail. The last time my wife and I hiked this trail, it took us 5 hours to reach the summit. We are in our 60's and slow. Some fit 30 year old's do the hike in half that time. The average grade of the trail is 15%. The...

Really nice pictures! This board doesn't get many off-roading reports. Thanks for posting the different perspective.

Was this group part of the San Gabriel Mountains Trailbuiders? We watched them work over several Saturdays repairing the collapsed section of the Icehouse Canyon trail. Now that we are retired in Florida, we have volunteered for some trail work ourselves. We figured that it was time to give back. Ma...

It's a view you can never get tired of. I love the 360 degrees.

Those use trails have been there for some years. It is not the winter hikers, rather the way up is not clear so everyone just takes what seems to make sense. 15 years ago the trail was well defined. Then, it was downhill hikers who started routinely cutting switchbacks. More and more use trails app...

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