Kratka Ridge & Random Roaming
So I was back in LA for a wedding and had time for a quick hike on Friday. I was thinking something bigger, but didn't have much time, and was actually pretty tired. I had to think - if there's only one area in the San Gabriels that I can go visit or show someone, it would be the middle-high backcountry along the ACH. Great scenery & terrain, and less-visited. So I drove back with the intention of hiking up Kratka ridge (one of the few peaks I hadn't bagged in the San G's) plus potentially Goodykoontz peak.
So I drove back and parked near Buckhorn. Without following a map, just figuring I would hike up to the ridge and follow it to its high point. Which I did, but I was significantly to the west of the highpoint when I started. So I ended up doing a nice traverse to the summit, including some classic San Gabriel steepness. Excellent views of Triplet Rocks and ridge were at my disposal.
After bagging the peak, I was thinking about dropping straight down the north ridge all the way down to where it meets up with the southwest ridge of Goodykoontz. I started down this past the ACH, but was feeling pretty tired and thinking it would take too long, so I turned around and walked back on the road to Buckhorn. There I roamed around a big, including hiking partially up the Mt Waterman fireroad, before heading back to the car 3 hrs from the start.
~8 miles, 2700 ft gain
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199664339
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Bay Area - Mt Diablo from the south
Now in the bay area, nature is more easily accessible and all around you, but while the hiking is pretty, it is certainly not as challenging as in socal. People are more challenged by miles, not elevation gain, but I'm not into that. There are some exceptions, such as Mt Diablo, which has about 4,000 ft prominence and plenty of trails to make up some good routes. I've done a loop that gets 5000 ft in 12 miles, and is quite nice. This time I was looking for something that starts from the south of Diablo (most hikes start from the north) as it lessens the drive time.
One can start off Emmons Cyn Dr near Danville, and follow up some steep fireroads to the summit. This gets you over 4000 ft in 12 miles. It's quite exposed to the sun so it's pretty hot in the summer, but has really nice views.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/194718316
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Yosemite - Mt Dana & Mt Gibbs
I also made a quick weekend trip out to Tuolumne in early June with a view friends. We arrived late Friday night, slept in a bit, and started up on a great cross country hike combining Mt Dana and Mt Gibbs.
We started near Tioga Pass and followed the summit use trail to Mt Dana (~13000 ft). I was somewhat concerned about the elevation, but the short night sleeping at 8600 ft was good enough to only give me a slight headache on top. The climb up Dana gives great views to the west and north. The use trail is pretty easy to follow until the last few hundred feet where you are more likely to scramble up your own route. The summit has spectacular views - including Mt Lyell to the south and Mono lake to the east.
From the summit, we traversed south to Mt Gibbs. This was a pretty fun traverse. Lots of annoying talus to go down, but a fun scramble (~ class 3) up the north ridge of Gibbs. From there we headed down the long west ridge, full of talus, down back toward Mono Pass trailhead. We followed hwy 120 up a mile back to Tioga Pass.
This hike was about 12 miles, 4500-5000 ft gain. Very beautiful and rewarding.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/187832484
pics
For any that care, life is going very well up in the Bay Area. Work is good and interesting, but not killing me with extra hours. I am still hiking but not as often as I was in the extreme days. I mix in more cycling around these parts where every other person clothed in spandex.
Next time I make a trip to LA I look forward to doing another challenging hike. There are a few of those epic hikes I'd like to do again. Triplets anyone?
