A short hike... 2-16-11

rokclimbr · Post by **rokclimbr** » Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:05 pm

I read a quote by Bill Bowerman (the founder of Nike) that goes like this: There is no such thing as bad weather, just soft people. So on that note I got out for a few hours this afternoon, I figured the rainy weather would scare off the softies

I had never been up to Echo Mountain, mainly because I had no interest in hiking up with typical crowd of rowdy teenagers and whining kids.
Only took 2 hours and on the way down the sun poked out and I got a few great shots of the sunset!

I was hesitant to post such a short TR but on the way down I could hear a bunch of sirens and shortly thereafter the LA Sheriff Sikorsky SH-3H Sea King rescue helicopter started flying just below the cloud layer right next to the mountain.

Then another 3 helicopters showed up and started patrolling right above Echo Mountain. Even had a LA Sheriff Eurocopter AS350 helicopter buzz right over me more than once. So I was wondering if anyone had any idea what was going on up there this evening...?

Oh and my hunch was right, I saw 1 hiker, 1 dog walker and 2 mountainbikers. Not bad for Echo Mountain trail.

Illusive · Post by **Illusive** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 7:55 am

I've been up to echo twice last year. It's a great place to go and explore the ruins and read a little history. (IF you can see through the graffeti)

I also wonder what all the activity was about. Sounds like something went wrong up there.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:00 am

Where was that first shot taken? Up near the very top near the old bull wheels?

HJ

rokclimbr · Post by **rokclimbr** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 8:15 am

@Hikin_Jim - How did you guess

The photo was taken by the really big rusty wheel.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:17 am

rokclimbr wrote: ↑@Hikin_Jim - How did you guess The photo was taken by the really big rusty wheel.

Well, I've only done Echo about a million times. It's been a couple of weeks and I didn't recognize the blooms, but that cement work is pretty distinctive. Great spot, and a great short hike with views not to be underestimated, day -- or night.

HJ

MattCav · Post by **MattCav** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:07 pm

Welcome to the world of Echo, rok. That was my main training ground when I moved out here and it is definitely a fun, relatively mild hike. If you go past Echo to Inspiration Point (and anything else, once it officially opens it [if FO is reading this]) you will find many more treasures in the different sub-climate zones and ecosystems. I'm glad the hike worked out so well. Hopefully no one got hurt up there yesterday.

MattCav · Post by **MattCav** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 2:17 pm

According to the emergency log, there was a false alarm up near Echo regarding a down plane. Not much more details, but here's where I got that info.

http://www.wildcad.net/WCANF.htm

rokclimbr · Post by **rokclimbr** » Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:51 pm

Whoa, that's crazy! Thanks for clearing that up Matt

I'll bookmark that sight too.