One San Gabriels destination that’s been on our list for a while is Winston Peak, elev. 7,470′, located at the head of Cooper Canyon on the north side of Cloudburst Summit. A couple of years ago, we had hiked down the PCT from here to Cooper Canyon Falls, but going up and over Winston…
Pedro wanted to get another hike in today before taking all the kids to the lake to swim, so we decided to get an early start on the Blue Ridge Trail that runs up from Hwy 2 to the top of Blue Ridge between the Mountain High East and West ski resorts. We got…
We got to Wrightwood for the weekend late Saturday afternoon – Pedro wanted to do a short evening hike before dinner, so Chris decided to join him. We’re doing a four-day backpack trip over Labor Day weekend, so this was a chance to get out with a full-ish pack. We’ve lost count of how…
Chris’ dad, Ray, passed away on June 28th at age 88, and, as Ray had been very active in the Boy Scouts for many years when he was younger, we thought it only fitting to hike Mt. Baden-Powell in his memory. Carter and Dani drove up from Pasadena to join us in Wrightwood, and…
Last year’s CASA hike and picnic was such a success that we immediately began making plans to host another event in 2019. To refresh your memory, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Kern County provides invaluable advocacy and support to children in foster care, and Jane has served on their board now for a…
Today became an exercise in logistics. From the start, our plan was to hike out from May Lake some 3 miles down to the Tioga Road where we could catch the daily shuttle bus at Tenaya Lake to get back to the car at Tuolumne Meadows. The shuttle, which originates in Yosemite Valley, passes…
The principal reason we stayed an extra night at May Lake was to have a shot at hiking Mount Hoffmann, elev. 10,850′, which lies just west of camp. There’s a steep use trail that guides one up open slopes toward the summit, but the final 200′ are a Class 2-3 scramble up jumbled rocks…
This trip’s longest hike was Day Two, a net 1,500′ climb from Glen Aulin up to May Lake over 8 miles. This was the second day of our 2016 hike as well, and the one during which we both ran out of water, having taken only two liters apiece – we didn’t make that…
While backpacking the full High Sierra Camp loop in Yosemite two years ago, we had made formative plans to come back and do a mini loop with Cynthia and Pedro – in fact, we had won a lottery spot last year to do one night at Glen Aulin followed by two at May Lake,…
For three years in a row now, we’ve had a backcountry permit to visit Gem Lakes in Little Lakes Valley, and for three years straight we’ve had to cancel because of lingering snow (the lesson here is to not book a LLV permit for June dates). Needless to say, the place has been on…