June 03, 2007
Mt. San Antonio
Back up Baldy again. This trip was about 1:40 to the ski hut, half an hour taking pictures, then about 1:15 to the summit.
Tons of people on top:
It was almost 80 degrees on top. Down via the Devil's Backbone Trail to the ski lodge and then down under the lift and back to the car, hiking for the last part with some nice, serious hiker ladies who showed me the way (I was nearly purchasing a ticket to go down the lift).
It was so dry, but one nice flower, Cycladenia humilis, according to my mother:
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June 04, 2006
White Mountains (the other ones) & Sierras
Memorial Day weekend. I drove up to the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, high up in the White Mountains on Sunday and stayed in the sweetest little Forest Service campground, Grandview. No fee (donations accepted), no water, few people, great views, and very comfortable, spread-out sites.
5/29/06, Climbed Limestone Peak (12,277), then Sheep Mtn (12,497).
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February 11, 2006
Mt. Pinos
Last weekend, Super Bowl Sunday, I got out for a short hike to counteract three poisonous hours on the sofa with the tube on eating chips later in the day. I hiked up the Lost Creek trail in the San Bernadino N.F., up to snow and back, about an hour and a half.
Today, I went to Frazier Park in the Los Padres National forest, where I thought I would be cross-country skiing about now, but there's no snow. Well, some. I hiked on compact snow or ice about 80% of the time up to the Mt. Pinos (that's "Peye-Nos," in the gringo-speak that comes and goes in SoCal) summit and then over to Sawmill Mountain, just over 8,800 ft. I wouldn't want to ski on it though. It was enough for me to fall on, though, in a moment of distraction as snow gave way to sheer ice under a big tree, banging the hell out of my knee and putting a dent in the outer ring of my brand-new binoculars. That was a bummer. No harm to the optics, and I think I can unbend it. No condors, although the spot is known for them. On top is a beautiful stand of old-growth Jeffrey Pine, a new tree species for me. White fir. Some kind of falcon. I'll have to go back and backpack there in a month or two. Nice views of the snowy Sierra Nevada
Oh, and two new Wilderness Areas: San Gorgonio in the San Bernadino N.F. and Chumash in Los Padres.
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January 08, 2006
Baldy Ski Hut
This was Dad's first hike since his August accident. We hiked from Manker Flats to the ski hut at 8200' on a clear, warm beautiful December day, New Year's Eve, in fact.
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December 12, 2005
Baldy, finally
This weekend was the charm. Hiking Saturday, Dec. 10th., with new friend Dan, we left the Manker Flats Campground (at 6,160 ft., a much higher trailhead than that of my attempt last weekend) at 8:50, arriving at the San Antonio ski hut, 8,200 ft., at 10:40. After a break and a snack, we headed on up the ridge that rims the bowl and then up to the 10,064 ft. summit, arriving at 12:50. Half an hour on top for lunch (it was chilly but pretty calm), enjoying great views all the way up to Mt. Whitney, over towards Death Valley across the desert, the San Bernadino peaks to the east, Catalina Island and ships on the ocean. We headed down at 1:15, a fairly leisurely descent, getting back to the car at 3:45. Four hours up, two and a half down. There was patchy snow in the trees on non-south-facing slopes and some packed snow on the trail now and then, remnants of a few drifts on the summit. We were leery enough of snow and ice on the Devil's Backbone trail over to the ski area, so we skipped our plan for this alternate route back. No pix 'cause Leda took the camera with her on her trip to Huntington Gardens with her mom. Next time....
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December 04, 2005
Mt. San Antonio
I've been thinking that any day now, Mt. San Antonio (Baldy) is going to be covered in snow for the rest of the winter and I won't be able to climb it. I put off attempts lasts weekend (for variations on the obvious reason :-) ), and Friday's rain down in the San Gabriel Valley made me nervous. But the snow it put up high melted off Saturday and I set off for the summit today. My late start was too late for a time of the year when the sun sets at 4:30, and I didn't make it to the summit. I met several hikers who did, but they had started a 7:00 a.m. I did get up to about 8,000 feet, and I think it was still probably blowing hard and very cool on top, so maybe it was for the best. I get some great views south and west. Several people were apparently heading later than I, including one guy in shorts, who sort of made me wonder if the search and rescue team would get some more Baldy practice out of him later tonight.
The trail starts from the Visitor Center, climbing along a road with some spectacular cabins and real piles of junk along the Bear Canyon Rd. After fifteen minutes, one is on the real trail and after five more one passes the last power line, which goes down to a cluster of Robinson Crusoe cabins seen only from above. The ascent is through dense oaks in the canyon, open chapparal and then very open p-pine and sugar pine at the higher elevations. Wherever it was that I stopped, it took me 2 1/2 hours up and 1 1/2 down. Great views of the ocean, to which my camera failed to do justice:
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July 25, 2005
White Mountains weekend
Saturday morning I headed up 93 to the White Mountains. The White Mountain trails are not known for switchbacks, so I 'profened up the knees considerably in preparation. On the trail by 10:40, it took me two hours exactly to get to the 4,802 ft. summit of Mt. Moosilauke, the most westerly of the over-4,000 feet peaks, not bad for 4.2 miles with 3300 feet of elevation gain.
I took the Glencliff Trail/Carriage Road route (the AT) to the treeless summit. (The route offers a nice mile across the top above timberline).
It was partly sunny but with pretty long views over to Mt. Lafayette and Mt. Washington in the distance to the northeast, Vermont to the west. After lunch and some pictures in the cold wind, I headed down the Benton Trail, 4 miles to the Tunnel Brook Rd. trailhead. A mile up the road from that I caught the Tunnel Brook Trail, 6 miles or so (plus another .3 miles on the road at the other end) back to my car. This was sweet 14-mile loop. The last leg rolled gently up and down -- perfect to stretch out the quads and hamstrings after the steep ascent and descent. This goregous little trail had no one on it, and few footprints even. It follows streams and beaver ponds. I saw several garter snakes, a large tree frog, a rabbit, and the same white-throated sparrow that I had heard near the summit (doesn't he know about climatic zones?). Oven-birds in the deep woods, especially late in the afternoon. Signs of moose and beaver, but none in the flesh.
Back in the car, I cut across the North-South Rd. to the Wildowood Forest Service campground off NH 112, where, on a Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in mid-summer, there were still a few spots left, but not for long. It's a nice little campground, although a little noisy this weekend. Logging trucks cruise NH 112 just a few hundred yards away, the campground "hosts'" car alarm went off a few times around 10:00. The campground has one isolated spot that would be a good grab next time. I had dinner and a few beers at the Truant Tavern in North Woodstock, then read in the hammock until sleep and too many moths flying at the headlamp drove me into the tent. The chilly night was a nice respite from Boston's recent swelter. The next morning I saw a fox and weasel on the road.
Moosilauke was a warmup for Sunday, when I charged up the Airline Trail to the Mt. Adams summit (5799') over in the Presidentials. Four miles, 4400 feet gain: rated at four hours, I made it in three flat, on the summit by 11:40 after a departure of 8:35. LOTS of company on these trails, of course! (A nice couple from the area I ran into just below the summit recommended the Bondcliff trail in the Pemigawasset Wilderness. Said it gets you up above timberline for a good long time. Next New Hampshire trip, maybe, whenever that will be....Another couple, these with a smallish, very enthusiastic puppy, said it was their fourteenth 4,000 footer since April, together with the dog!) Hardly a cloud in the sky, just like my last Presidentials hike, Mt. Jefferson/Great Gulf Wilderness with Leda back in 1998. Stupendously long views all around, and a great view up over Jefferson to Washington.
As I headed off the south side of the boulder pile at the summit, I dropped down on (almost literally) a group of ten people on a south-facing ledge, eyes closed, hands raised, softly chanting a mantra of some kind while a leader with a slight, possibly fake British accent of some flavor went on about God the Creator and salvation and some other vaguely Christian stuff. Charismatic Catholics? Unitarians on drugs? Don't know, but I'm almost positive I heard him say "blessed are the cheesemakers." Some other guy was non-chalantly eating his lunch just off to the side, and we shared a bemused look as I clambered past them. Possibly the strangest sight I've experienced in the mountains. I dropped down and across to little Star Lake, and then over to the AMC Madison hut just below the pass to fill the water bottle and watch the hippie girls make soup for a few minutes (ah, college...). Then a quick scramble up Mt. Madison (5366') for my third 4,000 footer in two days. Down the Watson Path, which was most unpleasant. Very steep, even down into timber, and poorly maintained. It did give me a quick look at Duck Falls -- not worth it! Then to Valley Way, which was lovely, curving a little down through sunny, south-facing broadleaf forest, and over to the Brookbank Trail (it's an L.A. cloverleaf of FS/AMC/RMC trails on this side!) to pass several really nice waterfalls. Took a splashbath and soaked the feet in the stream in the sun of the powerline cut, and then to the car. 'Bout ten miles or so, the whole loop, back by 4:20. My thighs were jelly by the end.
Steak and roasted vegies on the grill, followed by a brief walk in the darkening woods around the lake down the road to look for moose. I didn't find any, but I did have a nice crepuscular chat with a guy revisiting some spots from his 1978 AT hike. He started in Georgia in mid-March, took two separate weeks off for family things, and finished by July 14 or so. Pretty good pace!
I hit the sack early and slept in an hour past (and apparently through) the 6:00 alarm. Before returning to Cambridge, I headed north to check out the intriguing Connecticut Lakes my eyes have always been drawn to on the map, way up at the northern tip of New Hampshire. It was a rainy morning, and the misty mountains gradually gave way to rolling, thick north woods. The lakes look nice, and there are beautiful mountains to the east. Decent state park camping at Lake Francis (some walk-in sites that look nice) and lots of cabins for rent in the area. Colerook, right on the Connecticut River and a couple of miles south of the Vermont/Canada triple border, is the nearest real town. As I sat in my car in the rain looking out over Second Connecticut Lake at a deserted boat launch, by myself and five miles from the Canadian border, I was amazed that some anti-terrorist or anti-drug squad didn't come crashing down through the trees to see what I was up to. Maybe they did check me out with binoculars :-). I also had a look at the Balsams Wilderness ski resort on the way back: beautiful hotel, no sign of the apparently amazing nordic area (95 km of trails). The alpine slopes look a little tame (but it IS cheap!). Back along the Androscogin River. Nice state park camping right along the river's edge, and I'm sure there are great canoe trips that head out of there into Maine. Made the perennial mistake of North Conway, but the Kangamagus Highway was beautiful, especially now that the sun was out full.
Drive times straight to Second Connecticut Lake from Boston would be 4 hours, 3:15 from Manchester, a little less from either to the Balsams.
(Some pictures to follow...)
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June 10, 2005
Icehouse Canyon
Hiked up to Icehouse Saddle (Angeles N.F., Cucamonga Wilderness) with Leda today. Two hours up, one and a quarter down. Saw snowflower, spectacular yucca, wallflower, lots of birds in the saddle, lizards, chipmunks, squirrels, and a black diamond rattlesnake. Still patches of snow at the saddle and a lot on the north slopes. Cool sunny day. Back by 12:30.
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