Hiking, Climbing, Outdoor Sports Archives

This is a very large file. For the full smaller digest version, click here.

The Evening Bleeding Knees Report for Saturday, March 29 2008

INCIDENTS

Location: above Pasadena
Update on latest bleeding knees instance

Subject was mountain biking down trail, apparently feeling good about self. Went through section with loose rocks, got out of control. Fell. Somewhere between involuntary dismount and full-on crash. Almost went headfirst into rocky ground, snapping off helmet visor in process. Incident occured somewhere above 2 mile marker.

Points of impact/sources of flowing blood:
Front of left knee (no deep cuts, but will have restricted movement/bruising)
Palm of left hand
Inside of right knee
Outside of right forearm
Bridge of nose

Posted at 08:45 PM

Why are my knees bleeding?

A common question! I don't know about you, but in my case it's because I was jogging down the Old Mount Wilson Trail earlier today and, after getting a little out of control running down a rock I stumbled over another rock and fell forward. I had hiked up a couple miles and around 1500' (to around the unnecessary rope handrail) and then jogged back (total time: about 1:45, but I wasn't in a big rush). While I've been concentrating on biking and haven't been doing nearly as much unassisted hiking or "trail running" as I used to, I've just recently been doing the hike-up/jog-down in Griffith Park. While that's been at dusk or at night, the trail is not as narrow or rocky.

The OMW trail isn't washed out in any places, however there were a couple small sinkholes due to the recent "storm", and the outer edge of the trail had crumbled away or was about to do so in a couple places.

Unfortunately, there were four mountain bikers using the trail, and in my estimation, while it wasn't muddy, it was too wet to be biking there. I tried to point that out to them in turn, but as they sped past they didn't seem to understand that my concern was not with their safety but rather with the trail itself and also the fact that by riding a wet trail they were making the rest of us look bad. Even after it was dark the marks they made in the trail were quite visible. All it takes is a few activist Sierra Club member types to get front range trails like that closed to bikes.

Posted at 10:18 PM

A response to a critic, re: switchback

Reader "S. Gupta" writes:

I saw that video of you on the Mt. Wilson Trail. I'm familiar with that trail and with the still shots you included in it of the fence [ed.: about the 2:50 mark]. Others might not have picked up on what you did, but I did! You cheated! You didn't do that switchback! You stopped and took a picture, you didn't stay on two wheels! You're a cheater! Cheater! Cheater!

Well, I've got news for you. Yesterday I went to do this, but as I drove up Lake I saw some smoke coming from the hills, together with water-dropping helicopter. I kept driving, because it looked like I could at least make it to the big transmission towers, and the fire looked to be in the hills behind, perhaps up the Castle Canyon trail. But, when I got to the top of Lake the street had been blocked off so I drove all the way back and did the Mt. Wilson trail.

And, by "did", I mean that first, infamous switchback. Granted, what's beyond the fence isn't a vertical drop but it is pretty steep and if I crashed through and didn't snag on a rock I'd probably be in for a long trip. It's not that it's difficult, only that it's a bit precarious. No dabbing either, Mr. Gupta!

However, the "haterz" will be glad to know that I only made it part way through the first rock garden before I stalled out. I tried to get started from a complete stop, but that didn't work so I walked through that. That's also got quite a bit of exposure; it'd be nice to find something like that without so much of a steep drop.

Posted at 03:06 PM

Barry Bonds gets home run 756, surpasses Hank Aaron

And, the best part about it is that there will be no asterisk or anything: he did it completely legitimately. And, he's a nice guy to boot.

Posted at 09:31 PM

Time for a technique lesson

This short video shows you the proper technique to use when biking down wet slopes through bushes:

I was coming down a not-very-difficult rock and a I hit the soft, wet edge of the trail and, needless to say, just kept going. Just a few small cuts are the result. In my defense, I'm recovering from a strep throat and, more pertinently I was preoccupied with other thoughts. To make it even worse my chain gave me problems a couple times before then and later got stuck completely meaning I was only able to bike out of there on the downhill sections. I also did a very slow endo after the visit to the bushes. Things aren't usually this bad, but, like I said I was preoccupied with other things.

Posted at 09:51 PM

Here's another fun video

OK, this isn't as fun as the last one, but it's still fun or at least it was to me. I'm actually doing megajumps, bunnyhops, and advanced trials work, you just can't see it because of the camera angle:

If you don't like that one, watch this one instead.

Posted at 11:45 PM

Here's a fun video

This is a little slow at the beginning, but it slightly picks up speed - as do I - near the end:

Background on this here.

Posted at 11:35 AM

Dude! WTF? OMG!

Dude! Extreme! Wait dude, Extreme Dude! Dude? Dude!

Lonewacko comments: the guy in the second video is absolutely, positively, freaking out of his mind batsh*t insane.

Posted at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

James Kim, Part 3; "hikers" on Mt. Hood; MSM incompetence

A few random notes on recent outdoors stories:

First, my speculation about the search "effort" in the James Kim case appears to have been correct, in that not only did they fail to take advantage of the knowledge of locals, other aspects were handled incompetently. ("A FAMILY'S TRAGEDY: Fumbles, missteps hindered search; Father hiked 16 miles in effort to save family"; link).

Second, many media sources further compounded their negligence in this matter by noting that he left on his fateful hike without a hat. To my knowledge, none of those media sources have shown any common sense by noting that he had and should have availed himself of a huge resource: his car. There may have been sheets of plastic in the car doors and elsewhere, there are foam cushions in the seats, and it no doubt had a good amount of carpeting. While he couldn't tear the entire car apart, he could at least have taken a floor mat or similar or a swatch of carpet from the trunk.

Now, regarding the case of the climbers who couldn't get off Mt. Hood. The most nagging issue with the media in that case is many sources continually refering to them as "hikers" (example). While one can certainly hike in wintertime and in the snow, what they were doing was in no way "hiking" but was in fact "climbing".

One also wonders why this story became such a cable and regular TV staple. Were Fox and CNN crews already in Oregon twiddling their thumbs? Was the media hoping to keep riding the "hikers lost in the wilderness" wave? Why are media sources with multi-million dollar budgets unable to see the benefit in offering actual valid, useful information rather than constantly and exclusively offering only the Nancy Grace side of things?

Posted at 09:01 PM | Comments (1)

James Kim, "vandals", the "search" effort, and the MSM

This is an update to this post. I haven't extensively researched the case of the San Francisco family (James Kim) who were trapped on a road in Oregon, but what I've seen and read so far leads me to several uncomfortable questions that others don't seem to be asking.

First, some background: it appears that they took Bear Camp Road for twelve miles and then turned onto BLM 34-8-36, taking that for fifteen miles until they were stuck. The Oregon state map (PDF) shows only about a dozen roads leading off 5 to get to the coast between Roseburg (when they were last spotted) and Medford. Since they were trying to get to Gold Beach, focusing on those routes would seem to have been the first priority. In fact, Google Maps gives the directions for the route they took.

With that said:

1. Bloggers should stop offering tips unless they know what they're talking about. (1,2; note that both those posts have AffiliateLinks)

2. I think the search efforts should be reviewed, to say the least. On Sat. 12/2 the Oregon State Police posted this (quoted here):

Following search efforts Friday and early this morning, Curry County Sheriff's Office Lieutenant Dennis Dinsmore confirmed that the length of Bear Camp Road was checked by Search & Rescue personnel and deputies using 4 x 4 vehicles and a Sno-Cat without finding any sign of the vehicle. Support air search efforts also have not located any sign of the vehicle in their county. Their efforts, supported by similar search efforts involving Josephine County Sheriff's Office, found no sign of the vehicle between Grants Pass and Gold Beach.

And, they said they were going to check side roads.

Now, we're informed ("Vandal cut lock on gate blocking road where Kims stranded", link) that BLM 34-8-36 is normally blocked in winter, but "vandals" had broken the lock. That word is completely inappropriate in this case, because people don't break locks just for a thrill. This area site offers some possible suspects:

His job is to drive around the wilderness keeping an eye out for fires, poachers, wood thieves and stealth marijuana "farmers." He also helps out the good guys like snowed-in hunters and wild mushroom gatherers. When I heard about this "vandalism" today, I figured that it was most likely done by a poacher, wood thief or pot "farmer."

And, that tells me that plenty of locals knew about this road. Those searching this road should have known that the gate should be locked, and they should have sent someone to investigate.

Furthermore, on Dec 1, a local - calling the Bear Camp Road "infamous" - tried to contact various searchers, saying that a "search of the many logging roads off of the Merlin to Gold Beach route is called for here".

The bottom line appears to be that those leading the search did not take advantage of local knowledge. As I know from personal experience, local residents who work at outdoors shops and the like are familiar with their local roads and have a good idea which routes people are likely to take. They would also notice that a gate was not locked when it should have been.

3. Kim was apparently only 27 miles at the most from finding some form of habitation. He walked five miles down the road and then five miles through a rough gorge. The energy expended in the latter could have been spent on the road, and he might have made it. The google Earth shots here supposedly show the location of the car and where he went into the gorge. Note that the road is level to downward-sloping, meaning that he could have traveled fairly quickly all things considered.

4. The media has been completely, utterly useless in this matter, concentrating only on the emotional aspects and failing to provide detailed information on how to avoid and get out of similar situations. They have also handled this matter from the perspective of those who are completely unfamiliar with hiking, the wilderness, and the like. See, for instance, the Seattle Times' PDF "map" here.

The media could help people be a little bit more self-reliant, and instead they just played to the emotional aspects of this issue and encouraged people to sit and wait for AAA to arrive.

Posted at 02:26 PM | Comments (1)

Notes on the couple stranded on the Oregon back road

The case of the San Francisco family who were lost on a back road in Oregon has been all over the news the past couple weeks. I'm not familiar with the specific circumstances involved there, but it might prove useful to look into what went wrong in order to prevent others from getting into similar situations. Unfortunately, in all the time that the media has devoted to this, they've spent little on giving advice on what should have been done. I'm certainly no expert, but on the other hand I'd like to think that I might have handled things a bit differently.

First, of course, they should have been aware of weather conditions and verified that the route they planned to take was open and their car could handle it. And, they should have constantly taken an inventory of their route and the road and weather conditions and always made sure that they could backtrack if necessary. Perhaps it's just me, but I usually try to make sure I know I can get out of something before going into it. And, they should have memorized or written down each turn so they could backtrack. When on a new trail I look behind myself occasionally to familiarize myself with what the route will look like when I'm returning, and I count features and remember characteristics of junctions and such.

Once in that situation, in addition to the survival tactics that they apparently used, they should have also tried to start an even bigger, smokier fire (without burning down the whole forest of course). They should also have constructed a large distress signal; three of anything placed together is generally considered such a signal. They could have done this by clearing snow, moving rocks in the snow, or starting three large fires. If it were possible to do so safely and without a great deal of exertion, they could have tried to get to a higher elevation in order to get a better idea of their surroundings and the exit routes. By doing that they might have been able to get cell phone reception. Even if the cellphone didn't work, they could construct another distress signal there.

And, of course, he should have stayed on the road. They were only at (according to one report) 3000', and another report said there was only 6" of snow in spots. It was also around 20 or 30 degrees at night, meaning it was not that cold during the day. And, he wouldn't have to lose that much elevation in order to get to a warmer area below the snow level. Starting at 7am and traveling at 3MPH, he could have covered at least 20 miles before nightfall. He might have traveled slower if he had to keep going over passes, or he might have been able to travel faster if it was mostly a gentle slope downhill. The sun could be used to verify he was headed in the correct direction and lacking that he could have fashioned an emergency compass.

I'm also a bit surprised that it took so long to find them, considering that the route they took was well known locally. They apparently took a side road a few miles, but even so with enough volunteers in appropriate vehicles I don't think it should have taken so long.

Posted at 11:08 PM | Comments (5)

Vindication at 14,246 feet

Last year I tried for White Mountain Peak - at 14,246 feet the easiest 14er in California - and turned around just shy of the summit due to a thunderstorm. At least that was better than 2003 when I didn't even make it to the campground but was forced to turn around when my water pump failed going up the road.

This year, finally, I attained the summit. All the details - including just how clear and copious I was - at the link.

Posted at 11:11 PM | Comments (3)

My mountain bike on Mt. Baldy

Yesterday I and my bike visited Mt. Baldy (10,064') outside Los Angeles. I basically pushed it up to the summit and then more or less biked down. Here are the details on my Mt. Baldy mountain biking expedition.

Posted at 09:50 PM | Comments (7)

Mid-level management at NPS politicized?

Do mid-level managers at the National Park Service need to be approved by a political appointee, and are they screened for fealty to Our Leader? Thus is the charge from the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility:

The National Park Service has started using a political loyalty test for picking all its top civil service positions, according to an agency directive released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Under the new order, all mid-level managers and above must also be approved by a Bush administration political appointee.

The October 11, 2005 order issued by NPS Director Fran Mainella requires that the selection criteria for all civil service management slots (Government Service grades or GS-13, 14 and 15) include the "ability to lead employees in achieving the ...Secretary’s 4Cs and the President’s Management Agenda." In addition, candidates must be screened by Park Service headquarters and "the Assistant Secretary [of Interior] for Fish, and Wildlife, and Parks," the number three political appointee in the agency...

Whether this group can be trusted in their interpretation of this matter is an open question.

Posted at 12:24 PM | Comments (0)

Rep. Richard Pombo's Swiftian satire: sell 15 National Park properties

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) out of the highway stop known as Tracy in Northern California, has written legislation that would sell 15 National Park properties in order to raise funds. He says this plan was just a "conversation starter" intended to encourage opening up ANWR, and that he has no intention of introducing the legislation.

Nevertheless, the idea that someone would come up with an idea like this illustrates the depth to which many Republican leaders have sunk.

...Pombo's spokesman said the proposal, written by Pombo's House Resources Committee staff, is intended only to influence lawmakers to support an item in the budget bill that would permit oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

If drilling continues to be banned in the refuge, Pombo's staff argued, the government would have to sell parks as well as advertising space on park buses, trams and ferries to reach the level of revenues expected from oil leases sales in the Alaskan refuge.

...The draft legislation also calls for the sale of several huge nature preserves in Alaska -- including the Lake Clark National Park and the Yukon-Charley Rivers Preserve -- and for commercial development of Theodore Roosevelt Island, a 91-acre wooded island of nature trails in the middle of the Potomac River in Washington. The National Parks Conservation Association estimated that the draft legislation would affect 23 percent of the National Park Service's land...

I never knew about that Island; I wish I'd visited it when I was there. Not all of the properties are National Parks, some are more minor features. Unfortunately, I've only been to one of them, the one that's linked below. And, that one requires you to hike in two miles to visit it (there's a road with restricted access):

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, Alaska
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Alaska
Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska
Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, Alaska
Noatak National Preserve, Alaska
Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska
Eugene O'Neill National Historical Site, California
Fort Bowie National Historic Site, Arizona
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historical Site, Massachusetts
Mary McCleod Bethune Council House, Washington, D.C.
Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, South Dakota
Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania
Thomas Stone National Historical Site, Maryland

Posted at 07:48 AM | Comments (1)

Everglades python tries to eat alligator... and bursts!

You may have seen the picture of a python that tried to eat an alligator and ended up split in half with a burst stomach. It's a real picture, as described here. The photo was taken 9/26/05 in Everglades National Park, and the American Alligator was 6', while the Burmese python was 13'.

The what?

Yes, there are indeed gigantic Burmese pythons in that U.S. National Park. It is Florida after all, and that's where all the strange things go to happen. For more, see "Huge, Freed Pet Pythons Invade Florida Everglades" and this NPS report. These pythons can reach 20 feet long. Want to go camping?

Posted at 01:10 PM | Comments (5)

Nature-loving Indian tribe plans glass-bottomed walkway over Grand Canyon

I'm sure many of you have woken up of a morning and said, "What the Grand Canyon needs is more tourists. There should be more parking lots, more infrastructure, a resort, and a golf course. But, even better, what about a glass-bottomed walkway jutting 70 feet out into the Canyon so tourons can look down at the bottom 4000' below? Wouldn't that be nice?"

Well, the nature-loving Hualapai Tribe is planning to make that dream a reality:

The horseshoe-shaped skywalk, scheduled to open in January, is part of the Hualapai Tribe's $40 million efforts to turn 1,000 acres of reservation land into tourist operations that someday could include a high-end resort, golf course and campgrounds.

The destination, known as Grand Canyon West, also will feature an Indian village and Western-themed town, which are scheduled to open Sept. 1.

Visitors to the skywalk will pay $25 for a bird's-eye view of the canyon below.

The skywalk could help double the number of visitors to Grand Canyon West to 500,000 a year, said Sheri Yellowhawk, chief executive officer of the Grand Canyon Resort Corp., a tribal-owned company that oversees the project...

Posted at 08:55 AM | Comments (2)

White Mountain Peak: I came THIS close.

On Sunday I tried to get White Mountain Peak, the third-highest summit in California at 14,246'. It's also the easiest CA 14er. I got to somewhere around 14,146' and turned around. On the one hand, I wasted a lot of gas getting there. On the other, I was able to avoid getting fried. Details at my new hiking site OutdoorLifestyle.com: White Mountain Peak trip report.

Posted at 12:55 AM | Comments (1)

Now that's an interesting vacation

Some people have... hobbies. I'm sure there's more than one person who's spent a week driving 3597 miles in a big circle (that's at least 8 hours of road time per day), starting in Houston TX, hitting various tourist spots along the way, and ending up back in Houston.

But, I doubt whether too many people have done so with a radiation monitor and a GPS.

And, I'm sure there's only one person who's put a graph of the trip mapping elevation and radiation levels on their web site.

Posted at 09:17 PM | Comments (0)

Boy did I take a wrong turn!

I drove into the Angeles National Forest earlier today and took a hike. To avoid further embarrassment, I'm not going to reveal the actual location. (For someone who's less interested in that side of things and had a much worse time, see this). So, I hiked up, climbed over some rocks, climbed down some rocks, climbed up several more, and eventually reached a nice place we shall call a "Peak." Then, I returned the eastern way, got to the saddle that would put me back onto an undisclosed road several miles up from where I parked my car.

It was only about three miles back to the undisclosed road which we shall call a "Highway." While I have successfully hitchhiked in the past, I decided to go around the north side, which should have looped around said "Peak", eventually leaving me at the saddle on the west side. Taking the trail down from there should have left me at my car.

"Should have." I had never come around the north side before. I ran into two junctions. One I took for a bit, but since I didn't know where it went and it didn't look too popular I eventually backtracked onto the main trail. The other one had a sign there which seemed like it was the one I wanted, but it didn't look like there was much of a trail there, but perhaps that was just because it was going through a sandy area.

So, I continued on the main trail for a few reasons: it was going down, there were footsteps and MTB marks so I knew it went somewhere, it had mile markers and I had passed 3 and 2 and soon passed 1 as well, and I was running out of water and I didn't have enough water and time to backtrack.

Boy was I surprised to end up in a parking lot instead of at a highway. I was actually on the other side of said "Peak", approximately 18 road miles (less as the idiot hikes) from my car. Thankfully I was able to get a ride. I'm a little dehydrated, but I had almost enough equipment to spend a very uncomfortable night in the hills or in the parking lot. I didn't have my water purification tablets, so that might have caused problems should I have had to start drinking green water. And, yes, in the future, I'll remember never to take unfamiliar trails when I'm hiking alone.

Now, let's never speak of this again.

Posted at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)

Is the Old Mount Wilson Trail possessed?

Almost a year ago I described an outing up the Old Mount Wilson Trail above Sierra Madre during which I twisted my ankle.

On Saturday I hiked the same trail and on the way back I started a slow jog and I twisted my ankle yet again, just about 1/4 of a mile further away from civilization than the last time. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as the last time, and I might be able to take a hike tomorrow or Wednesday.

Want quality trails information including descriptions and topo maps?
Sign up for this 14-day free trial offer.

Why would this happen twice in almost the same spot? There are other trails I take much more often and I occasionally do a slow or even a fast jog on them without a problem. Is this trail... possessed by anti-Lonewacko daemons?

Alternatively, it could be because:
* both these instances have occurred in gently sloped sections, so I don't concentrate as much as I do on steeper sections, and/or

* this section of the trail is shaded, making it somewhat more difficult to notice rocks and such, and/or

* I simply space out

Next time I go hiking there I'll be sure and pay more attention in the "easy" sections. Note, however, that there are steeper and rockier sections during which I make sure I don't space out. Fast jogging through those sections is quite entertaining.

Posted at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)

Hiking or biking in Azusa considered unaesthetic

Earlier today I bagged Azusa Peak. Unfortunately, said Peak is mainly a weed covered bump that's only at an elevation of 2081'. I decided to do this based on the description here of the Garcia Trail that leads to near the summit:

This great little trail starts at the fire station on Sierra Madre Avenue between Azusa and Glendora and climbs 1,040 feet in 1.2 miles! Once you arrive at the Glendora Ridge Motorway, a dirt service road that runs along the ridge, you can hike east to several summits with splendid views of Azusa, Glendora, and the valleys beyond. And there are great views up the San Gabriel Canyon and to the back ranges beyond.

Garcia Trail is steep, climbing some 866 vertical feet per mile... A typical trail in the San Gabriels gains 400 to 600 vertical feet per mile, so Garcia Trail not only gives the legs and lungs a workout, but it also provides a reference mark in evaluating other trails...

It is steep, but not as steep as I would have liked. Despite carrying a 32 lb. pack and it being hot out, it was only a moderate hike, mostly because of the short distance over which that steepness plays itself out and also because of the low altitude. If you're in the area and you want a short workout, the trail itself is not that bad. For a slightly less steep hike that's much more difficult, try Mt. Baldy's Ski Hut trail.

On the plus side, there was no one else around during the middle half of the hike and there were a fair number more flowers and interesting vegetation trail-side than other nearby hikes. And, because the trail is steep you're quickly looking down on Azusa.

Unfortunately, looking down on Azusa isn't exactly the treat for the senses that it would have been 50 or 100 years ago. Nowadays there's that catchment basin. And, the large bare area which used to be a nursery but which is now being prepared for a housing development.

And, lo!, off in the distance, what are those hammering sounds? Why, that's the folks at the local gun range. You mostly only hear that when you get to the motorway, but, together with the traffic sounds, it's still annoying. When you get to the motorway, keep walking a bit and you will get a good bird's eye view of the West Fork of the San Gabriel River. You will also, however, get a view of and the sound from Highway 39 (aka "Diaper Alley").

In a way this trail is similar to the new Fish Canyon Trail, which I hiked part of a few years ago. When I got to the fence I couldn't find exactly where the trail continued, so I turned around. That part of the trail is also steep and sun-exposed, and it affords a similar view. You can, however, hear the gun club much better.

And, some months ago I biked up the San Gabriel River bike path past the quarries, scoop loaders, possible Superfund sites, etc. etc. and that goes within half a mile or so of the gun club, so you can be serenaded even closer than both of the hikes can get.

My advice is to avoid front range hiking in the Azusa area.

Posted at 05:59 PM | Comments (1)

The upside of hot weather hiking

It appears to have been around 95 degrees in Sierra Madre when I started a brief hike up the Old Mount Wilson trail. It wasn't that hot, or it didn't feel that hot, but it was definitely hot. How hot was it? I personally spotted snakes and lizards falling out of trees and sizzling on the trail.

Want quality trails information including descriptions and topo maps?
Sign up for this 14-day free trial offer.

I only went to First Water, for about 2.6 miles round trip and 1000' of gain. I wasn't exactly being stingy with the water, and I drank over 2L going up and down. Total pack weight was about 22 lbs.

There was enough intermittent shade on the trail and a slight breeze so it wasn't that bad. Going up a trail without any shade would have been a different matter.

The upside is that I saw less than a dozen people on the trip. On a cooler day it could have been twice that number. And, there was no one else at the pool at First Water. So, it had that going for it.

Posted at 08:12 PM | Comments (0)

Snow climbing in Griffith Park?

When I go for training hikes in Griffith Park I usually use my hiking poles to which I've attached snow baskets. That occasionally results in inventive idiots asking, "where's the snow?" Oh boy, that still cracks me up.

Well, today there was snow in Griffith Park. In fact, carrying a heavy pack and climbing a steep slope with my hiking poles, it was almost like being in the "real" mountains. The snow was thin and powdery, so I didn't bother going back for my ice axe, I just plowed up the slope.

How is this possible, you ask?

...

Exactly! Due to this being the wonderland of Hollywood, they were filming a Hallmark Hall of Fame special in the park, and they'd covered a couple hundred feet of trail with "snow." They even had a couple Clydesdales. "Any big stars?" I asked. "Ann Haiche" was the response, so I kept hiking.

Now, the only problem is that there's only going to be a few days of rain over the next few months, so I have no idea how this stuff is going to ever go away. I even saw bits of "snow" about a half mile further on and on a different trail. One would have hoped that they could have done this at a place that's specifically for filming, rather than in a public park that's already struggling with the persistent and careless hand of man.

Posted at 05:30 PM | Comments (0)

Forest Service lands the size of Oregon could see roads

In a truly heartwarming development for American commerce and progress, up to 58.5 million acres of Forest Service land could soon see roads for the first time. Imagine! No longer would woodchucks and other furry creatures need to hew to decrepit forest paths. Instead, they can use nifty new modern roads and listen to the charming sounds of logging and other delights. Our forests: truly lands of many uses. And, of course, it's all thanks to our own "conservative" stalwart defender, George W. Bush.

97% of the land in question is in these states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. 34.3 million of the acres are apparently on the front lines. New forest management plans would have to be written for the rest.

To put that in perspective, Oregon is 60 million acres. And, 58.5 million acres is more than half of California's acreage. On the other end, that's 80 Rhode Islands.

More information in "New rule opens national forest to roads". See also the enviro-whacko press release "Bush Administration Guts Protection for Roadless Forests".

Sane use of natural resources should be a conservative thing, not a loony "liberal" thing.

Posted at 01:46 PM | Comments (0)

Clear, copious, hyponatremia, and you

Drudge is linking to the NYT article "Study Cautions Runners to Limit Their Water Intake" about hyponatremia, also known as water intoxication. My suggestion is that while the article has some worthwhile information, if you hike in the southwest U.S. you might want to consider the source. No, not because it's Drudge, or even because it's the NYT, but because of the fact that the NYT is from the northeast and their suggestions might not apply to the southwest or might not apply to hikers.

I don't think I've ever had the problem of having had too much water to drink. On the other hand, I can think of at least a couple cases where I didn't have enough water and I felt really bad afterwards. If you're hiking in hot and dry weather drinking copious amounts of water is a necessity. The idea is that your urine should be clear and copious. See this, this, this, and this.

What I do is take about a liter of water per hour plus Gatorade or similar. For longer hikes I eat something sweet and something salty occasionally. Then again, I don't just perspire, I exude. And, I probably have a good deal more mass and surface area than the marathoners mentioned in the article.

Note also that both the desert and snowy mountains are generally dry areas. While snowy mountains are almost always colder than the desert at the same time of the day and year, I've also been less than clear and copious in that environment. So, I'll continue to drink enough to maintain my clarity and in large enough volumes, I just won't overdo it.

[DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional and this post does not constitute medical advice, simply person opinion. Consult your medical professional.]

Posted at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)

El Diablo is in the details

Someone from the North Bay has petitioned to change the name of Mt. Diablo to Mount Kawukum. Mt. Diablo is, of course, the highest peak in the S.F. Bay area at a whopping 3849'. Quoting from the application:

The proponent, a resident of Oakley, suggests that the existing name is "derogatory and profane" and should be changed, preferably to one of the names used by the area's indigenous population. The proposed name reportedly means, "laughing mountain, everywhere seen," although the specific origin or linguistic derivation of the name is not known...

That points to the article "How Did Mount Diablo Get Its Name?" To me, the name sounds a bit Turkic, as if it might be a corruption of karakum.

The MSM report is here. They discuss how a group tried to change the name for similar reasons back in 1866.

I "climbed" Mt. Diablo sometime in either Winter 2000 or Winter 2001. I think the elevation gain was about 2000'. I had "climbed" Mt. Tam earlier in the day, for about 1500' of gain. I don't think I wrote up either trek, but from memory: the first part of the trail up Mt. Tam was fairly steep. When I found the trail I wanted there was a sign saying "Danger! Closed!" I took it anyway. There was a brief hailstorm up top, but no snow.

However, when I got to the lofty peak of Mt. Diablo there was - believe it or don't - about a foot of snow on the top. The steps to the observation hut were icy as were the railings and since I hadn't taken gloves that was a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately the snow had not deterred the hordes who, like me, were somewhat shocked to see such accumulation in the Bay Area.

Posted at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)

Do you like waterfalls?

Earlier today I hiked from the top of Lake Avenue in Altadena to Inspiration Point. I took the Lower Sam Merrill trail and then then Castle Canyon trail:

Distance: 10 miles

Gain: 2800'

Pack weight: 32 lbs. (2L drinking water, 1L Gatorade, 6L of weight water which was jettisoned at I.P. All drinking water and Gatorade was consumed.)

Tick worry: high moderate

Power glutes usage level: low

Snakes, bears, antelopes, etc.: none

Flesh pylons: lots and lots, even on the C.C. trail

Time up: <2:45 (blistering!)

Time down: ~1:30

As for the trail condition, there are a few good-sized slides across the lower portions of the S.M. trail. These slides look very similar to those in Griffith Park: a section of the top soil has sheared off. A narrow trail has been cut into these slides. For experienced mountaineers it's nothing, but for your average touron it might be a little too rough considering what's on the downhill side is a little steep and probably wouldn't feel too good as you tumbled. While I've biked up and down and even fallen off this trail (into bushes), anyone who'd MTB across these stretches would have to be either an advanced rider or just a bit crazy. Unfortunately, despite that there were many people on the trail.

In contrast, the C.C. trail shows very little storm damage.

The pictures above are, from the top: the viewing tubes at Inspiration Point, a runner crossing one of the slides, and a waterfall.

Unfortunately, the picture of the waterfall isn't that good; it looks better in person. Most of the hikers on the C.C. trail with that waterfall were men. That's a bit surprising, as I know there are large numbers of female hikers. If you're one of my female readers, I suggest you take this trail the next time you're in the area. By the way, if you are one of those female readers, what do you think of waterfalls? I realize that might sound like a bit of a strange question, but as for me waterfalls are one of my favorite natural features. I think there's something both wild and refreshing about them. I wish I'd spent a bit more time at that waterfall and taken a few better pictures. In fact, I wish I'd taken the opportunity to cool down a bit in the water there. Can you imagine yourself taking a break in that waterfall? Easing your hot skin into the cool water cascading down the hillside, feeling the bubbling water, feeling the thousands of tiny bubbles massaging your skin... Feeling at one with nature and experiencing your wild side as you let all your inhibitions and all your cares just slip away... Close your eyes and imagine that for a second... The feelings deep inside you as the water gently caresses your skin... Yes, waterfalls are certainly my favorite natural feature. Maybe you could write me an email and tell me how they make you feel?

Posted at 06:03 PM | Comments (3)

It's a Griffith Park weekend

Our sources tell us the Angeles National Forest is basically shut down.

The Angeles Crest Highway is closed just above La Crescenta, and Highway 39 above Azusa is closed too. They mentioned something about the road to Wrightwood probably being open, but since that's partway to Vegas that's too far. Mt. Baldy Road might be open, but that's questionable.

They said there was 10' of mud in places, and that someone had attempted to go up the Lower Sam Merrill trail that heads from the end of Lake Avenue in Altadena to Echo Mountain earlier today and had said "don't even bother." Apparently the possibility of large mudslides will still be there for at least another week. Eaton Canyon is... a wash. They had no information on the Old Sierra Madre trail from Sierra Madre to Mt. Wilson, but they said that was probably in very bad shape and risky too.

UPDATE: Whatever you do, stay out of small canyons.

Posted at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)

The aesthete's way to celebrate the New Year...

Whatever the aesthete's way is, it certainly wasn't mine.

I got up early and drove up the Angeles Crest Highway to hike to Vetter Mountain with a group from the - gasp - Sierra Club. The hike was about 12-13 miles round trip with only about 1200-1300' or so of elevation gain. Because the road to Charlton Flats is closed, the hike started at the big pullout around Mile Marker 44. It descends into a canyon, and then climbs the other side of the canyon to reach Charlton Flats. From there it's about 2 miles to the peak. I believe the trail taken to reach Charlton Flat is called the Silver Moccasin Trail, but that might be wrong.

However, don't take that trail yourself since there's a sign at the trailhead warning that the area was closed due to the use of pesticides. I was assured that five days of rain would have washed any dangerous dust away...

Because of the cloud cover there wasn't much of a view. There was a fair amount of snow near the top but not enough. Especially since the last bit was on a fireroad it wasn't exactly a wilderness experience. To add some excitement, I summitted by kick-stepping into slick, icy snow the last 15' instead of taking the stairs.

Still seeking some excitement after the hike, I decided to drive up the Angeles Crest and spend a little time practicing ice axe skills. Holy Moses! Apparently there's been news coverage of the fact that there's snow in them hills, because there were traffic jams in places and dozens and dozens of cars were parked along the road and filled every parking lot. To make it worse, the road was closed before the ski areas where there are appropriate slopes for the practice I wanted to do. The day wasn't that bad, but with a more vertical hike, many fewer people and with the road being open it would have been better.

Posted at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)

I just drove in from the westside and boy are my forearms tired

I haven't been to a rock climbing gym since March and the last time I climbed outside was when I pulled myself up the Third Flatiron outside Boulder last year. I would have taken a hike today but, since thunderstorms were still predicted, I decided to brave the drive and go to a climbing gym in the South Bay instead. In the past I've gone to the L.A. Rock Gym in Hawthorne. Over a year ago they changed ownership and they're now called Beach City Rocks. Shortly before they changed hands I bought a punchcard for $100 that entitled me to eight visits.

The last time I went to Beach City Rocks was in March. For some reason one of the new owners didn't seem to like me all that much. As they say in the Beach Cities, I kept picking up some very bad vibes from her. I don't think there's anything I said or did that could have caused that. In any case I was feeling quite unwelcome. So, after finishing my time with the self-belay device I asked for the money back for the remaining three visits I had on the card. She said that was the prior owner's responsibility and that she wouldn't give me money back. She did say I could use up the card.

However, when I went back there earlier today I was told they no longer accepted those cards. She claimed that in our earlier conversation she had told me that they would no longer accept the cards, which is not what she had told me before. She said the card was from L.A. Rock Gym, and they were a different company. She did offer to give me a rebate on one of their new cards, but I declined the offer. I just wanted to use up the three remaining visits that I'd already paid for. Based on those bad vibes I wasn't interested in doing any business with the new owners.

Despite telling me the opposite of what she had told me before, she might indeed have a point. Or, she might not. When they bought the company I'd tend to think they would have had to deal with the prior company's assets and liabilities, one of the latter being cards such as mine. What of the non-card-based memberships? Were they terminated and the money refunded when the company changed hands?

In the past I've seen reports of health clubs changing owners and I was under the impression that clubs had to honor prior memberships. However, glancing at the law doesn't show anything about that. Perhaps it's in some other section.

In any case, I won't be going back to Beach City Rocks unless they change owners again.

However, after that unfortunate incident I drove to Rockreation in West L.A. I was able to meet someone else who needed a belayer and I spent a couple hours climbing a few 5.6's and a couple 5.7's and some other easy things. I'm sure you're impressed just as long as you don't know what those numbers mean. Hey, it has been 9 months, OK? If you're in the market for a rock climbing gym, I'd suggest you go to Rockreation instead, even if it means a longer drive for you.

Posted at 10:52 PM | Comments (0)

Mt. Lukens: Day Two

I've already visited Mt. Lukens - the highest point in the City of Los Angeles - and I don't necessarily want to go back. It's not that the view is that bad, it's just that the top is devoted to a very large antenna farm so it's not exactly an aesthete's dream.

However, when I went there I took an fairly gently-graded fire road. As a training hike, I wanted to take the Stone Canyon Trail, which gains 3200' in 8 miles round-trip. It doesn't go straight up, but that's still a workout.

Since the trail is said to be a bit difficult to find, I decided to scope it out first. Yesterday I drove up Big Tujunga Canyon Road in an attempt to follow these directions. First problem: the Wildwood Picnic Area was closed. It was later in the day and there was no sun in the canyon, so, rather than parking on the road then hiking down to the canyon bottom I decided to keep on driving. I'm not that familiar with the other hikes in that area and I was cutting it too close to go exploring.

So, earlier today (stop me if I'm boring you) I decided I'd try to explore the ways to Mt. Lukens from La Crescenta side. The link above mentions a route from the Deukmejian Wilderness Park at the northern tip of Glendale. However, there's no trail named the "Cresenta Valley Trail". There is a "Crescenta View Trail", as the guide pictured here shows. Yet, it seemed to me the Dunsmore Canyon Trail would be the one that would be the one to go to Mt. Lukens rather than the Crescenta View Trail. So, I took the Dunsmore trail up. After less than a mile, it dead-ended. There looked to be a very rough use trail at the end and I went up it about 10 feet until I decided it wasn't really a use trail at all and I didn't want to pick up dozens of ticks crawling through brush.

So, back down and I asked at the Ranger's station (there had been no one there when I left). They told me both the Rim-of-the-Valley and the Crescenta View Trail go to Mt. Lukens, but they couldn't quite figure out what "Roy's" comment at the first link was talking about.

So, for Mt. Lukens: Day Three (which probably won't be tomorrow), I'll try one of those two, or I'll see if this Doske Road exists (Route 1 here). I believe that's also the route taken by Roy Randall. Or, I'll take one of the routes from the Wilderness park.

On the way up the Dunsmore trail, I noticed that I was being followed by a guy carrying a black case, and he was gaining on me (truly a rare occurence). As he passed me he asked, "You don't mind if I" - at this moment I thought he was going to say something like "fall back and let you pass me instead". However, what he said next "blew" me away: "You don't mind if I play my saxophone?" Well, that's a new one on me! He walked ahead then over onto a dam. As I hiked ahead and then back I had a musical soundtrack.

On the way back after my mini non-adventure, I was leaving a parking lot when I noticed an elderly gentleman collapsed on the sidewalk. He was bleeding from his mouth and he couldn't get up. I summoned the paramedics and he was hopefully OK.

Posted at 12:55 AM | Comments (0)

1000' a day is almost all I ask

Over the past week I've gained an average of 1000' a day on these hikes:

Altadena to Inspiration Point: 11 miles RT, 2800' gain

Red Box to Strawberry Peak: 7 miles RT, 1500' gain

Griffith Park Ranger Station to Mt. Hollywood: 5 miles RT, 1300' gain (times two)

Let's just say there's more than one blogger with power glutes!

Posted at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

Snow Watch 2004

...workers were working to remove the cash from the beaver's dam. That was worth more than a tinker's dam, eh Paul?

That's right Colleen. Now, let's go over to meterologist Lonewacko. I thought you said it was going to be warm?

Sorry Paul and Colleen! I tried! In fact, today, we were supposed to have snow levels down to 3500' with accumulation of a few inches at 5000'.

Wow, Lonewacko! What is this, Colorado? So, did you see any of the white stuff?

I tried Colleen, Lord knows I tried. But, that goldarn Billy Graham was having a meeting at the Rose Bowl and the freeway was completely locked up. In fact, I reversed off the on ramp it was so bad. I was hoping to hike up from Altadena to at least the clumps-of-slush level, but I just couldn't make it. So, I went to Griffith Park instead. It was pretty cold with the wind! I almost wished I'd brought my balaclava! Now, back to you Paul!

Posted at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)

Yes, it does hurt quite a bit

My left ankle looks like it has a golf ball embedded inside it.

Earlier today, I hiked up the Old Mount Wilson Trail above Sierra Madre. On the way up, I dropped one of my water bottles over the side of the trail, and it skittered down into the bushes. I decided to pick it up on the return trip since I had a liter of some Gatorade-style thing. I also ran into a group from the Sierra Madre Search & Rescue on the way up; apparently one of a group of three had become dehydrated and had had to be airlifted. They were escorting the two other members of the party down.

Proceeding onward, I hiked up about two miles and 1300', then, since I was wet, it was hot, and the green Gatorade-thing was over half done, I decided to turn around.

Shortly after starting a moderate jog down, I spotted a (too) young lady coming up the trail. Momentarily distracted and jogging through a small gravel slide, my left foot twisted inward about 50 or 60 degrees.

Seemed OK. For about a second. Then, the massive pain began.

The young lady offered to walk me back down, perhaps to meet up with the Search & Rescue team. I had to sit down the pain was so intense, but, after assuring the young lady that I'd be OK, I was able to hobble down the trail towards "civilization," Jack London style. Walking down the rocky sections was a bit painful, but on the dirt sections I was able to achieve a slightly faster hobble.

On the way back, a young rattler slithered across the trail just two feet from where the water bottle had gone over. I decided not to go for it.

Needless to say, there could have been much worse places for something like this all to happen.

Posted at 08:13 PM | Comments (0)

$35,000 over 5 years to get all the state highpoints? Sounds like a bargain to me.

An article written by a Highpointer appeared earlier this year in the San Antonio Express-News. It's apparently not available online except in this excerpt:

In the annals of mountaineering, standing on top of all 50 state high points ranks right up there with, say, crossing America on a unicycle. It's ambitious, physically and logistically difficult, and more than a bit off the wall. There's even a club for it. When a friend and I began our esoteric pursuit six years ago, 58 people had climbed all 50 state pinnacles. By the time we completed our final high point last July — the 20,320-foot Mount McKinley — the number had nearly doubled. The Highpointers Club (see "Hanging with the Highpointers," page 3M) likes to point out that more people have climbed Mount Everest than made it to the top of all 50 state summits.

While many of the high points are accessible to anyone with a car and the ability to put one foot in front of the other, standing on top of all 50 is surprisingly hard: You need time, money, mountaineering skills and amble motivation. Not to mention a good car stereo.

To accomplish our goal, Nels Akerlund, a 31-year-old photographer who came up with this enormously impractical project, and I drove approximately 12,000 miles and flew about as far again to Alaska and Hawaii. Tallying gas, motels, airfare and food, we spent roughly $30,000 — and 150 days — over the course of five years. Nels took pictures, I took notes, and together we produced a book documenting our journey called "To the Top" (NorthWord Press, $24.95)...

Posted at 02:05 PM | Comments (0)

"How to climb 5.24"

All you need are 624,000 setules attached to your claw tufts.

Posted at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

"Climbers Breach Ape House Walls At Lincoln Park Zoo"

The Lincoln Park Zoo brought in professional rock climbers (how many professional rock climbers live in Chicagoland?) to test whether amateurs - specifically our ape ancestors - could escape from a new ape house.

Details here.

Posted at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

Sioux warriors seize part of Badlands National Park

This is news to me, but apparently for over two years a group of Sioux have been occupying part of Badlands National Park.

According to Backpacker Magazine:

A band of armed Sioux warriors have seized 134,000 acres of Badlands National Park to protect what they say is a sacred burial ground...

This local article attempts to downplay the Backpacker article.

See also this and this.

Posted at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)

John Lear reveals: Elk deaths caused by "soul catcher" glitch

LONEWACKO HEADQUARTERS OUTSIDE PAHRUMP, NEVADA -- As this blog previously broadcast using our giant antenna, elk have been mysteriously dying near Yellowstone National Park. Almost all possibilities were discarded: "calcium deficiency, chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes..."

This blog is now prepared to announce the real reason for these mysterious deaths. After an exclusive interview with John Lear - son of Lear Jet founder Art Lear - we have determined the cause to be a software glitch - related to Moon Year 3000 - in the software that runs the "soul catcher" apparatus on the Moon. This information had previously only been available to Jimmy Doolittle and other members of the super-ultra top secret level MJ12 - or higher -.

Now, we are able to report this information here.

The cover story provided to the public in order to calm their fears is lichen.

Stay tuned to my giant antenna to hear updates as they are available. If you are using the RonCo wind-up compass, orient yourself facing Orion 3 and tune into Channel 382.

Posted at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

Is a space alien battle taking place near Yellowstone National Park?

LONEWACKO HEADQUARTERS OUTSIDE PAHRUMP, NEVADA -- Are one group of space aliens - code named 'Zerbians' by ultra-top-secret besuited government scientists - fighting another group of space aliens - code named 'Realians' by that same group of top-secret spooks-?

Have the Zerbians - disguised as elk and located near Rawlins Wyoming in the northwest part of the United States - been affected by chemical agents specifically targeting their DNA? Why have no other space aliens disguised as animals been affected? Why have the crop circles in the area suddenly changed their submodulation characteristics?

Steve Quayle and Earthfiles are demanding answers.

Here is the Intergalactic cover story:

The number of elk dying from a mysterious affliction continues to climb. With nine more reported dead in the past week brings the total to 289, according to Tom Reed of the Wyoming Game and Fish department...

"They were given all kinds of supplements and still died so we've pretty much eliminated some type of deficiency," Reed said.

"We're still keying in on some sort of toxin. Many things have been eliminated like insecticides. It's a slow process but eventually something will just pop up," Reed said. [yet again -- LW]

Personnel have now ruled out calcium deficiency, chronic wasting disease, bacterial and common viral infections, tick paralysis, meningeal and carotid artery worm as causes. Mercury poisoning, selenium toxicity, many of the common plant toxins, a variety of metals and salt, nitrate and sulfate poisoning have also been eliminated.

Another thing officials have dismissed is that someone ran the animals to death. Reed said [yet again one more time --LW] that theory is pretty much off the table.

I will broadcast updates to this story using my giant antenna. Orient yourself at compass heading 89 degrees (heading 76 degrees if you're using the new windup compass) and tune to channel 492.

If you're west of the Rockies, please leave a comment. East of the Rockies, use this website's trackback feature. First time commentators send a fast blast. Wildcard users please leave an off-topic comment referencing this post at someone else's weblog.

Posted at 01:37 AM | Comments (0)

4.2 Quake Is Reported Near Northern California Geothermal Field

From this:

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered near the Geysers geothermal field north of Santa Rosa shook a wide area of Northern California Wednesday shortly after noon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The 12:37 p.m. temblor was felt in San Francisco and was the latest of a growing number of quakes in the area. Many scientists believe the quakes are related to the injection of large quantities of waste water into the geothermal field to assist generation of steam used in electric power production.

There were few quakes in the vicinity near the Sonoma-Lake-Mendocino counties junction prior to development of the geothermal facility in the 1960s, but there have been hundreds of quakes there since then...

WTF? This is the first time I've heard of this. Somehow I don't think we should be doing things that are going to cause earthquakes, but that's just me.

Posted at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

"America to Fight Fires with Russian Aircrafts"

According to Pravda:

...Hawkins & Powers, one of America's leading fire extinguishing companies based in California will use [eight Be-200] planes for fighting forest fires along the US western coast...

The Be-200 amphibian aircraft is meant for extinguishing fires, aid in emergency situations, search and rescue operations by sea, also for sanitary and freight transportation. The aircraft can take up to 12 tons of water while gliding during one flight, transport and drop it at a fire site; at that, the aircraft employs high-precision navigation and flight control systems...

Why should you care, you ask? Well, as I pointed out here, the Russians have different ways of doing things.

I don't know whether these planes damage forests or not, but I certainly hope that that possibility is being considered and we aren't just going to let them go out untested.

Dropping huge sheets of water is quite a bit different from what trees and bushes are used to. If these planes put out fires, but take small trees, bushes, and large quantities of soil with them that will only make it much worse vis-a-vis mudslides and future fires.

Posted at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)

"Walk Softly and Carry a Big Gun"

The L.A. Times has a guest comment advocating carrying guns when one goes into wild areas:

...I am puzzled now by the strange way people here are dealing with mountain lions — which is to say, letting them kill you...

I don't know much about big cats. We don't have them in Alaska, and the few I have encountered southward were pretty spooky. They are elegant creatures, and I do respect them. I do not go where they are without the means to protect myself. And I keep my eyes peeled. It is in my genes not to be eaten by bears, large cats or anything else.

Why would anyone go into mountain lion country without the means to protect themselves from attack? I notice the police are armed. The wardens and rangers are armed. Indeed, anyone with any clue where they are would be armed...

I've only seen mountain lions in zoos, and I don't know much about them either.

However, I do know that they're stalkers, and they prefer to strike from behind. They attempt to snap their victim's neck.

While I usually hike with my Uzi strapped to my pack (that's what that loop at the bottom of the pack is for, right?), in the case of a mountain lion attack it would seem to do little good. While I have no special knowledge, it would seem that protecting your back from an attack from above and behind would be the best defense from a mountain lion attack.

That would include things like making sure that your back is against a wall or a cliff if you're doing bike repairs, carrying a large backpack that covers your neck, and, most importantly of all, going out in large or medium-sized groups.

UPDATE: I started a thread about this here. I also changed the text above from "editorial" to "guest comment."

Posted at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)

San Jacinto Peak hike, June 28, 2003

On Saturday, I hiked up San Jacinto Peak outside of Palm Springs, CA. The pictures are here.

Originally, I had wanted to take a trip which had been listed on the Sierra Club's website. That trip was to Cornell Peak (near San Jacinto Peak), and it involves some Class 2 or 3 climbing. It sounded interesting. Here's a trip report from a past SC trip. However, when I got to the designated meeting place in Monrovia, there was only one other person there. He'd been waiting without luck for the trip's organizers to arrive. However, no one besides we two showed up.

However, my interest piqued, I decided to head off to Palm Springs by myself, perhaps to check out Cornell Peak. I had been up to San Jacinto Peak before, there are pictures from that trip here.

As before, I took the tram up. I asked a few people about Cornell, and as I got somewhat unclear and conflicting information, and since they said there wasn't even a use trail, and moreover a couple of the rangers said that no one else would be up there, I decided that just doing San Jacinto Peak would be the better option.

I took the heavily-used route from the upper tram station through Round Valley and to the peak, for a round-trip of about 11 miles with 2400' of gain. The hike itself is fairly easy; the problem is in going from Palm Springs at 450' to the summit at 10,804' in less than five hours. Time going up was about 3:15, time going down was about 2:15. I carried 3L of water with me, all of which I had drunk by the time I got back to the tram. I'd drunk 3+ liters while driving in, and I filled up at the tram stations as well.

I started from the Long Valley ranger station after 2pm, meaning that almost everyone else was going the other way. Unfortunately, one of my hiking poles' sections was stuck, and even with a ranger-supplied wrench I couldn't get it working. So, I decided not to use the poles, which would had made things a bit quicker and easier. However, as I had hardly used my power glutes during the hike, I was able to go up the cement ramp heading to the upper tram station without stopping by taking long slow rest-steps.

Epilogue: On a visit to REI earlier today, they replaced (free of charge) my two-year-old poles with a brand new pair.

UPDATE: Also, I wouldn't recommend starting as late as I did. I did that because a) I was slightly familiar with the route, b) I knew approximately how long it would take me, c) the sky was clear, d) I had a specific turn-around time which I would have stuck to, e) I knew there would be people both on the trail and camping at Round Valley, f) I had extra clothing, and g) I knew I could run back moderately quickly if the need arose.

Posted at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

I'm back from the Verdugo swamplands

Earlier today, I pushed and carried my bike up the large firebreak on the southwest side of the Verdugos. That's the firebreak that's visible for miles and that goes up above the Brand Library. I made it up to about 50' below the fire road before I turned around. Close enough. The ride down was lots more fun than the trip up.

On the way back, I took the fireroad mentioned in this post. In that post, I approached that fire road from below, only to find out it was washed out, complete with a creepy little stream.

This time, there was a little more water there, and it was green, fast becoming a mini-swamp. I tried to avoid it as much as possible, and I think I'll make that a permanent decision. This was only about 1400' of gain, but that firebreak is maybe 1.5 miles and pretty stepped and loose, making bike pushing fairly difficult. The library is in the center of this topo map, and the destination is the radio facility up the firebreak.

Next time I'll just take the (un-washed-out) fireroad up and down.

That's about 3800' of gain this week, down from close to 5000' last week. But, I also took a short bike ride and went to the climbing gym one day.

Posted at 08:27 PM | Comments (0)

Let's go to Utah, again

The call has become urgent... As soon as I can acquire a notebook, I think it's time to load up the SUV with my bike, backpack, camera, and other miscellana and hit the road. I think I'm going to spend some time in Utah and Arizona.

Posted at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

I need help with this AllStar ballot

It's a bit complicated. I haven't taken a test in a while, and I don't even know if this is a #2 pencil. But, all I need to do is just fill in all the circles under where it says "Yankees," right?

Posted at 04:52 PM | Comments (1)

At least it's my left shoulder

I went to the climbing gym last Thursday. Right afterwards, the front part of my left shoulder hurt a bit. It didn't hurt that much the next day, so I went for a bike ride in the Verdugos and along the L.A. River. I went up behing the Brand Library, along the asphalt road that runs past the Doctor's House and becomes a dirt road after about a half a mile. It comes to a fork, and supposedly you're supposed to take the left fork. I was thinking of taking the right fork, but the road had collapsed. Once before I had, for the most part, carried my bike up the steep, stepped trail that leads behind the library along the firebreak that can be seen for miles, and then I had coasted down the road. I was trying to get over to that firebreak, which would mean taking the right fork.

Anyway, there's something creepy about the Verdugos. I mean, they only go up to about 3000', so there's no snowpack, right? So, when you're standing there looking at this fork trying to decide whether to go up the intact or collapsed fireroad, and you notice a little stream, and it appears that that little stream has recently started, one might wonder, where did that water come from? I saw some trucks further up the road, so maybe it was from a water truck. But, considering that I felt like I was in the middle of a toxic waste dump, and since pulling up on the handlebars was bothering me, I drove to the Zoo and took a flat ride along the river instead.

The next day, my shoulder hurt like hell, including a sore top part and pec. Today, I can almost lift my left hand above my head, but even so it's pretty painful.

I think I hurt my shoulder when I was trying to stem at the gym. I know I was really reaching for a hold with my right hand, and my right side didn't hurt afterwards, but, I think it was twisting my shoulder back trying an ill-advised stem move.

There is no lesson to this story, I'm just keeping you updated.

Posted at 02:35 PM | Comments (0)

Pictures from the L.A. River Ride on May 18, 2003

Pictures from the Ride are here. "Damn roadies" is meant in good humor, and reflects the fact that I didn't see anyone else on a mountain bike like I was. The ariding shot was taken by strapping my camera bag to my chest; while riding I took the camera out and took a few shots. I was a little uncomfortable with that arrangement, so I stopped for the rest of the shots. I wish I'd gotten better shots, but a) there weren't an awful lot of riders, and b) I was for the most part concentrating on getting to the LBC. Last year's pics are here.

Posted at 01:10 AM | Comments (1)

Iroda's back!

Iroda! You're back!
Yes, Krees. Kak dela?
Ochen' khorosho. Just a bit tired. Where have you been?
I have been acting as secret agent for Uzbekistan government in Iraq.
That's quite interesting. I'm sure the long-time reader of this blog may remember our various imaginary conversations from way back when.
If not, there's always google. What have you been up to?
Well, Iroda, I just got back from the L.A. River.
Oh, so you took the River Ride as promised. How did it go?
Well, I didn't get much sleep, and I got a late start, so I didn't get to Griffith Park til after 9AM. There didn't seem to be too many people there, so I decided to go off on my own and just take pictures of the riders, in attempt to get better pictures than last year. Like Ansel Adams carrying his large format up hill and dale, I had my Minolta digicam and a tripod in my backpack. I wasn't intending to go very far, just down the river a bit. All I had with me water-wise was 1L, and I didn't bring any food.
So, why didn't you join the ride?
I guess I just didn't feel like it.
Krees, I know you. You're tighter than a [example deleted]. It was the $35, right?
Well, that would have been a donation to a worthy cause and all, but, then again, why should I pay $35 to do something I've done dozens of times for free?
But, it was a donation?
But, the $35 just screamed at me No! No! No! I like it much better right here in your pocket!
Wow. So, what happened?
Well, I biked all the way down to the River Center near downtown. Then, summit fever gripped me. Or, in this case, estuary fever. I tried to join the Ride, but they didn't have any of the handouts. And, the other riders had left there an hour earlier. So, I just decided to set off on my own, making up my own route. I knew approximately where the entrance to the River was in Vernon, and I headed across downtown and its eastern edges. I made the river, and eventually got to LB. Because, as I said, I only got a couple hours of sleep, I was a bit wore out, so I took the train back.
So, you just hopped aboard the LA Bike Coalition's ride, pretending to be a paid rider?
It wasn't like that. All I took from their Paramount rest stop was a power bar and .5L of water. I didn't even get a frigging T-Shirt.
Serves you right for being so cheap!
Now, Iroda! I was a volunteer last year, and, provided they give me my T-shirt, I might volunteer, or slip them a few bucks.
Goodnight, Krees!
Nighty-night, Iroda!

Posted at 05:53 PM | Comments (0)

3rd Annual L.A. River Ride: Sunday May 18

The Los Angeles River Bike Ride is this Sunday. There are three routes: a Kid's Ride, a 15 Mile Family Ride, and a 70 Mile River Ride. The last ride goes from Griffith Park to Long Beach and back; about 2/3 of the route is along the river. I might do that, although I don't know if I'll do the whole thing. I'll also probably bring my camera with me. I might take the train back

Posted at 11:46 PM | Comments (0)

Ice Axe practice May 4, 2003

The photo above is of your leader practicing his ice axe skills earlier today. Click the pic to see a couple more. As you can see from the pic of the Waterman ski area, unless there's a big, cold storm in the near future, there soon won't hardly be any snow left around the 6000-7000' level. I tried to practice self-arrest a bit at (I guess) around 7000' at the closed Kratka ridge ski area. The snow was thin and very mushy, making that a bit difficult.

I don't know the subject, but this is a good pic too.

Posted at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

Tuesday's snow level: 4000'

Tuesday or Wednesday I'm going to drive up the 2 and find a slope on which to practice self-arrest. Saturday I went out for a bit of practice and I ended up having to drive 40 miles up the 2 to the currently-closed Kratka Ridge ski resort before I found a suitable slope. That's about 8000'. If anyone can suggest a spot closer in that's also close to the road, I'd appreciate it.

Posted at 09:41 PM | Comments (0)

Boring post about ice climbing, Griffith Park, and the San Gabriels

It's raining, and Tuesday around noon or 1pm I think I'll don my raingear and gaiters and go get muddy in Griffith Park. I know it's a fairly bad thing to do erosion-wise, but there's a bit of a steep mud slide off ridge trail "c" mapped at the end of this page. I could come down it plunge-stepping into the mud, but it's better and more difficult to try to finesse it.

Alternatively, if any of my new blog readers would like to go to the San Gabriels say Wed. or Thu. to do something more difficult involving snow hiking, and perhaps even an attempt to climb Strawberry Peak from either the east side or even the west side (as described at the link), let me know. Here's the weather report.

Something I'd like to do in the next couple months is climb Mt. Hood, which would be my first experience with ice ax and crampons. Before I'd go, I'd like to get some prior ice ax experience, either with a self-belay and arrest style class or even with an ice waterfall climbing class, like this one. For timing reasons, I might end up having to hire a private guide for this class, but I don't want to pay the private guiding rate. So, if any of my new readers would like to form a group with me to get a lower rate, let me know. Either a weekend or mid-week class around the eastern Sierra area is OK.

Ice climbing pics:
pic
pic
pic
pic
pic
pic

I note also that the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club, much to my surprise, has formed a Mountain Biking Section. And all it took was five PDF files and probably months of politics.

Posted at 01:02 AM | Comments (0)

Clearcut the Sierras!

OK, it'll raise the avalanche risk in winter, but, during the summer, it'll make all those big peaks that much more accessible. Maybe even (finally!) let me do a drive up of Whitney.

Here's the article: "Bush Plan Seeks More Sierra Logging."

I'm stuck between being opposed to this, and being happy that the Sierra Club is pissed.

Posted at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

Hikers Are Special People!

Let this serve as notice that I'm starting an organization called H.A.S.P.: Hikers Are Special People.

This new organization was inspired by the efforts of a group called 'Safe Trails' that wants to ban mountain biking on certain trails in the Santa Barbara area. They might have somewhat of a point for this particular trail. However, they spoil their argument with anti-MTBer sentiments.

Of particular interest is their page that deals with Biker Psychology:

These "sensation seekers" [e.g., mountain bikers] as a group have substantially higher rates of engagement in a whole range of more risky activities than do individuals who are less inclined to seek thrills. These activities include drug usage, law breaking, risky driving, heavier alcohol usage and risky sex... This does not mean that all members of the group engage in these activities but that as a group there is generally a higher rate than other populations...

The low sensation seekers [e.g., hikers], in contrast, much more readily experience fear as a result of high levels of stimulation... This difference leads to the asymmetry which is commonly observed that hikers are much more upset by the presence of bikers than vice versa... Because of their temperament, hikers are also much more reluctant to press their concerns... Whatever the hikers are seeking on the trails, it's certainly not thrills and danger... They often are seeking the opposite in fact, an environment with solitude, free of the arousing stimuli of our everyday world. Because of their physiological difference, the hikers are typically startled by the sudden appearance of a mountain bike and take some time to recover a non-aroused state.

Grow a pair.

Posted at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)

Don't go mountain biking in Griffith Park

MTBs aren't allowed on the dirt trails; there are signs all over the place.

Sure, despite hiking a few hundred miles there, I've never once seen a park ranger on one of the trails. But, that's not the point. To the other visitors, it makes MTBers look like scofflaws, and might have an impact when, for instance, opening Griffith Park or another area up to MTBing comes up for discussion.

Bikes are, of course, allowed on the roads. You can get a moderately good uphill workout if you park in the zoo parking lot, continue down Crystal Springs Dr. to Los Feliz, head up Los Feliz to Hillhurst, and bike up to the Observatory. The Observatory and most of its parking lot is now closed, however. You can come back the way you came, or, after coming down from the Observatory, take an uphill left opposite the tunnel and around the barricade. After a couple miles you come to a stop sign (even though the road is closed to traffic). Either continue straight or take a right. If you take a right, you'll come back to Vermont after passing the tennis courts. Or, just start and end at the tennis courts for an abbreviated trip. Something which I've also done a couple times is drive up to the Observatory, chain the bike to the fence, drive back down to either the bird sanctuary or the ranger station on Crystal Springs, hike back up to the Observatory wearing a backpack weighted with water, dump the water, and then bike back down. Talk about fun!

You can signup for a 14-day free trial and get extensive information on a wide variety of mountain biking trails in SoCal and other areas here.

In other GP news, a MTBer (presumable while hiking) fell off a cliff there and spent four nights in a ravine. I don't know where he fell, but, except for a couple spots, I can't think of too many cliffs, and I doubt if there are any inaccessible ravines. GP isn't exactly the San Gabriels.

I found out about this from the Highpointer's Club forum. The Highpointers try to reach the highest point in each of the 50 states. I've bagged three so far. But, I also have (I think) about 15 CA counties. Bagging the county highpoints is the domain of another club, the County Highpointers. One of these days, I'm going to try to get me one of the unbagged confluences, which is the integral latitude/longitude meeting points.

For instance, 34N 102W seems to be doable.

Posted at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)

Did Honda steal my thoughts and replace them with its own?

The latest TV commercial for the Honda Element mentions: a) JTree, b) Highway 247, c) mountain biking, and d) rock climbing. All of which I did two days ago.

Now, 247 isn't exactly the most popular way to get to JTree. One would normally take the 10 to 62. Sure, if you're coming from Barstow, 247 is the way to go. If, as I was, you're coming from Vegas, 247 is one way, but so is 95.

So, was I programmed by Honda's ad agency to do what I did? Was I subconsciously trying to live the Honda lifestyle?

Posted at 01:48 PM | Comments (0)

I want to fuck a hippie chick

Just about two years ago, I had an epiphany out at Joshua Tree.

In the previous version of this post, I had a link to a poem I wrote at that time. I'm not a poet. My poem was very embarassing. If you like to make fun of rotgut-vodka-soaked mid-life crisisers, well then, you might have considered it funny.

Out at JTree the other day, after a day of scrambling not having a rope over the rocks, really really really desperately wanting to do some unroped 5th class stuff but not having a rope making me really really nervous about it, well, it's not so crazy after all.

The straight-haired hippie chick at the store selling the Wiccan books. My Karma, their camera.

Watching the twinkling lights in the hills above Yucca Valley, people actually live out here despite its gay and tat index being confined to a small segment of the population. It'd probably be only a month at that before I was getting Hassled by The Man.

But the Hippie Chick and I could climb the rocks all day study Wiccanism all night.

Posted at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

MTBing in Runyon Canyon Park

Went MTBing in RCP earlier today. Unlike the trip reports there, I ascended then descended, I didn't just do a one-way. Took eastern route (up the steps made with railroad ties to the overlook with the benches) instead of the route suggested as Ride #3 in the excellent book Mountain Biking L.A. County (Southern Section). I heartily recommend you buy that book. Heck, buy 100,000 or more, so I can get 8% instead of 5%. I biked to the start of the path to the "low overlook," then I had to carry/push the bike up to the overlook. I was able to bike the rest of the way to Mulholland, then to the "high overlook," and then I came down using the western route featured in the book. The western route is paved starting halfway; next time I'll reverse the procedure. I saw neither celebrities nor guys having sex in the bushes.

To find out about much more aesthetic MTB trails, you can signup for a 14-day free trial and get extensive information on a wide variety of mountain biking trails in Los Angeles, Southern California, and other areas.

I think I'm going to get a cheap old external frame backpack at a garage sale and convert it into a carrier for the bike. If that works out OK, I could take the bike with me to do something like Strawberry Peak. Doing third-class rock with a 30 lb. bike strapped to my back is strangely appealing.

Posted at 05:48 PM | Comments (3)

I need climbing and/or hiking partners

I'm looking for people who want to climb or go on hikes with me.

For the climbing, I'm a very responsible and moderately experienced belayer looking for the same or greater. I'm mainly interested in TRing at LA Rock Gym, but I might also be interested in Rockreation or the one in Upland, except that's an even longer drive than the other ones. Outside might be OK too.

I'd also be interested in finding people who'd like to go hiking with me.

letshike [atsign] lonewacko.com

Posted at 08:50 PM | Comments (0)

Angeles National Forest closed?

For the rest of the fire season? Mandatory evacuations of Mt. Baldy Village? That's definitely unfortunate and that's no fun, and I don't mean to make light of the situation, but, can I get a rebate for my yearly Adventure Pass?

Posted at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)

Non-"liberal" coverage of immigration, Iraq, terrorism, multiculturalism, Los Angeles, California, privacy, and occasionally celebrities and wacky humor...

Main

Atom feed · RSS 2.0 feed · RSS 0.91 feed · WML

Immigration 2008a · Immigration 2007b · Immigration 2007a · Immigration · Immigration (6/05 to 12/05) · Immigration (1/05 to 6/05) · Immigration (8/04 to 12/04) · Immigration (before 8/04) · Immigration & Terrorism · Immigration & Driver's Licenses · Immigration & Consuls · Immigration & Media Bias · Immigration & Europe · North American Union

Blogging Across America

MultiCulti Madness · General Politics · Privacy · Miscellaneous · The "Peace" Movement

Los Angeles · California · Outdoors and sports · Celebrities · Wackiness · Inside Blogging

Iraq · Beltway Sniper · Terrorism & Extremism · The Saudis · Warblogging · War On Drugs

• 2008: 1  2  3  4 
• 2007: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2006: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2005: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2004: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2003: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12 
• 2002: 9  10  11  12 

All Posts(links to each post by title)

• The Evening Bleeding Knees Report for Saturday, March 29 2008
• Why are my knees bleeding?
• A response to a critic, re: switchback
• Barry Bonds gets home run 756, surpasses Hank Aaron
• Time for a technique lesson
• Here's another fun video
• Here's a fun video
• Dude! WTF? OMG!
• James Kim, Part 3; "hikers" on Mt. Hood; MSM incompetence
• James Kim, "vandals", the "search" effort, and the MSM
• Notes on the couple stranded on the Oregon back road
• Vindication at 14,246 feet
• My mountain bike on Mt. Baldy
• Mid-level management at NPS politicized?
• Rep. Richard Pombo's Swiftian satire: sell 15 National Park properties
• Everglades python tries to eat alligator... and bursts!
• Nature-loving Indian tribe plans glass-bottomed walkway over Grand Canyon
• White Mountain Peak: I came THIS close.
• Now that's an interesting vacation
• Boy did I take a wrong turn!

My trip to Alpine County What not to do, again (September 1-2, 2002)

Boston Market Cornbread Temperatures Please help contribute to this important study (August 28, 2002)

Did The Gap Put Celebrities at Risk? An Open Web Letter to The Gap (May 20, 2002)

Humphreys Peak Arizona's highest point (May 19, 2001)

Go Heavy, Go Slow, Get Lost Bay Area highpoints (December 14, 2000)

Hubris in New England The highpoints of RI, CT, and MA (October 8, 2000)

Let's go to Utah Zion, Bryce, and Grand Canyon (August 14, 2000)

Your host, climbing Monkey Face (5.14d)

Your host's arm (circled)

Your host's hopelessly outdated conditioning progress

BigMediaBlog.com : "Comments for sites that don't have comments."

BoreAmerica.com: monitoring Air America Radio

tolstoy.com : my business site

Drudge
The John and Ken Show (KFI-Los Angeles)
The Stein Report
Gabrielle Giffords
Sam Zamarripa
Oh, that Liberal Media
RedState
Michelle Malkin
Res Ipsa Loquitur
PCWatch
Natalie Merchant
Samizdata
Tongue Tied