The San Gabriels - John Robinson

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Ze Hiker
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Post by Ze Hiker »

I just finished reading this book. What a great read.

It basically details the history of the front range exploration all the way back to Chilao. Basically the exact same area that has just burnt.

Such cool photos too. I'd like to scan them and mention some excerpts from time to time, really neat stuff and makes you appreciate the mountains and man.

Have any of you read it?
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Mike P
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Post by Mike P »

Hey Zé-

That's a great book. It is a slightly different book from his later, more popular book, The San Gabriels, The Mountain Country from Soledad to Lytle Creek, 1991, published by the Big Santa Anita Historical Society.

This 1991 book is somewhat of a combination of the book you mentioned and another he wrote dealing with the San Gabriel Range from Monrovia Canyon to Lytle Creek (ca 1983.)

I have the book you mentioned and the 1991 book. I wish I had the 1983 book. IMO, they are collectors items.
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edenooch
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Post by edenooch »

whens yyour book on the san gabriels coming out?
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simonov
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Post by simonov »

Because of my involvement with the San Gorgonio Wilderness, I have Robinson's The San Bernardinos and just recently read San Gorgonio: A Wilderness Preserved, which ironically was published while I was still a volunteer there. Of course, I have editions of his San B and San G trail books from around 1980. My old San Bernardino Mountain Trails was getting so ratty I recently bought the latest edition.

But I find I don't use trail guides very often, never really have. I much prefer the detailed narrative of the history books. The history of these mountains is really surprising. The more you learn about it, the more you realize you've probably never visited a spot in the San Gabriel or San Bernardino Mountains that hasn't already been discovered and visited by trappers, miners, loggers, laborers or tourists sometime in the last 150 years.
Nunc est bibendum
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Ze Hiker
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Post by Ze Hiker »

Mike P wrote:Hey Zé-

That's a great book. It is a slightly different book from his later, more popular book, The San Gabriels, The Mountain Country from Soledad to Lytle Creek, 1991, published by the Big Santa Anita Historical Society.

This 1991 book is somewhat of a combination of the book you mentioned and another he wrote dealing with the San Gabriel Range from Monrovia Canyon to Lytle Creek (ca 1983.)

I have the book you mentioned and the 1991 book. I wish I had the 1983 book. IMO, they are collectors items.

newman! I knew there had to be history east of Chantry Flats! well time to go find that book, should be great.

edenooch wrote:whens yyour book on the san gabriels coming out?
yeah, Cross-Country Hiking in the San Gabriels, Fitting a Square Peg in a Round Hole

simonov wrote:Because of my involvement with the San Gorgonio Wilderness, I have Robinson's The San Bernardinos and just recently read San Gorgonio: A Wilderness Preserved, which ironically was published while I was still a volunteer there. Of course, I have editions of his San B and San G trail books from around 1980. My old San Bernardino Mountain Trails was getting so ratty I recently bought the latest edition.

But I find I don't use trail guides very often, never really have. I much prefer the detailed narrative of the history books. The history of these mountains is really surprising. The more you learn about it, the more you realize you've probably never visited a spot in the San Gabriel or San Bernardino Mountains that hasn't already been discovered and visited by trappers, miners, loggers, laborers or tourists sometime in the last 150 years.
I have the Trails of the Angeles, but the best part about it is the tidbits of history it provides, basically leaving you asking for more.

I also have the Mines of the San Gabriels, a nice little book that just shows that we present-day folk are just a bunch of ninnies.
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tinaballina
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Post by tinaballina »

"yeah, Cross-Country Hiking in the San Gabriels, Fitting a Square Peg in a Round Hole"

that was pretty funny!
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Hikin_Jim
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Post by Hikin_Jim »

I've got the book, but I didn't know that there were mulitple versions. I'll have to see which one I've got...
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