We had planned to hike Waterman Mountain today, but Jane realized she hadn’t brought any socks when we were about halfway to the trailhead. By the time we got back to the cabin, it was in the 80s in Wrightwood and we figured we should do something a little closer to home. We had…
One stretch of the PCT near Wrightwood we had yet to fully explore is the 5-mile section between Guffy Campground and Inspiration Point – we visited some of the area when hiking Frost Peak last year but thought the full out-and-back would make for a nice longish walk that was close enough to home. Plus,…
We’re not sure whose idea it was to celebrate Chelsea’s birthday with a family hike, but we rose early Saturday morning to make the 2-hour drive up to the Trail of 100 Giants, one of the southernmost groves of giant sequoias, near Johnsondale. We had first visited this little preserve several years ago with…
We could have booked our Palm Desert trip several weeks earlier, but we chose to do it relatively late because we wanted to hike San Jacinto Peak, and we were worried that the higher mountains would still be snowy earlier in the season. Day 3 of our stay in the desert had us rushing…
Day 2 of our Palm Desert trip found us trying to figure out where to hike without killing ourselves in the heat. We had talked about a 7-mile out-and-back to Murray Hill above Palm Springs, but with the forecast in the 100s we knew we’d have to be on the trail before sunrise, and…
Part II of our Indian Canyons adventure led up Andreas Canyon and back, a short mile-long excursion along a perennial creek that was flowing nicely. Similar to Palm Canyon, there was a picnic area at the mouth of the canyon, and we quickly passed through it as we made our way west up the…
Months ago, we had made some reservations at a golf resort in Palm Desert through an email advertisement, thinking we’d enjoy some nice spring weather and a chance to hike in the desert. As the dates approached, however, it looked more like the area was going to be hot, hot, and hot during our three…
We were looking for something short and scenic today – coincidentally, earlier in the week Caltrans had finally opened Hwy 2 west of Vincent Gap (it had been closed because of rockfall since November), so we took off westbound to Buckhorn Campground about forty minutes away. Nestled in the drainage just north of Waterman Mountain,…
Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area lies south of the town of Pearblossom along Hwy 138 – coming and going from Wrightwood, we’ve driven past the turnoff dozens of times now. The visitor’s center at the park (which is a part of the LA County Parks and Recreation system) is perched on the west side of…
Not to be confused with Pinnacles National Park north of Paso Robles, the Pinnacles (elev. 5,737′) is an HPS-listed summit north of Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino mountains – when in the High Desert area near Hesperia, the peak’s conical shape is an appealing landmark on the southern horizon. We intended to hike here…