A lengthy trip from the high desert to the high peaks of the San Gabriels. This trail will take you through several California Climate zones - from Joshua Trees to Jeffrey Pines - and show off some weird and wonderful geologic features along the way. A great, rarely-used path, nice for a long day hike or backpacking trip deeper into the mountains.
Archive for February, 2007
Rejoice! Hiking L.A. is making a welcome return to the blogging world with great new pictures from Mount Lowe, the Devil’s Punchbowl, and Henniger Flats (and she’s got two more reports en route!).
Definitely worth checking out, especially if you’re into O’Keefe-esque (O’Keefish?) photos from the Punchbowl.
Another discussion has been bubbling up on the burgeoning Hiking Blogosphere today - sparked off by an old post from Crow about why she prefers to go sans camera on her outings. In list form, I am honestly quite glad that:
1. There is now a Hiking Blogosphere.
2. Just like the rest of the Blogosphere, we can get sparked off by month-old posts.
3. We get riled up about cameras.
Crow’s got some good reasons for going lens-less, like having less to carry, having less to worry about when you get home, and being able to enjoy more of the “moments” of life.
Tom picked up on a re-post on Besthike, offering an even-handed list of pros and cons and coming down in the middle - slightly leaning toward a non-photographic experience, if I read right.
Personally I’m always going to be bringing a camera along with me. My point-and-shoot slings tightly across my shoulder and under my CamelBak, and is light enough that the only time I notice it’s there is when I’m reaching to get it out.
I don’t worry about spending too much time actively looking for good pictures when I’m out on the trail, but if a scene presents itself to me, I’m not going to argue with it. I do try to frame up shots in interesting ways (to varying degrees of effectiveness), but you don’t necessarily have to in order to get some nice landscape shots.
And with digital photos, online albums, and one-click-Photoshops like Picasa, you barely need to know your way around a computer to get everything nice and organized, either. It’s much less intensive and space-hungry as trying to organize physical photographs. At least, I imagine it is, as I don’t have much experience doing that kind of thing back in The Olden Days.
As for the missed-moments argument, let’s face it - hiking is not the most action-packed of activities. Having a camera along for those unpredictable times when you’ll see a beautiful vista, a gnarled old tree hugging a cliffside, or frozen riverbed is worth the extra ounces. If you’re really about to have a capital M Moment, just leave your camera aside.
I remember an early morning hike in Topanga Canyon when I was lucky enough to come upon three large deer grazing in a meadow not ten feet away from me. We looked at each other for a long, silent moment before they bounded off into the woods. Right now, I can still remember the vibrations in the ground from their hooves stomping away … but when my memory starts going, I’ll be glad I have other pictures from that day to jog it back into working order.
But when it comes down to it, do what’s going to give you the most enjoyment. If you love pretending you’re Ansel Adams, lug your SLR along. If you want to romp in a riverbed and not worry about getting your gear wet, leave your camera at home. We all go outside for different reasons, so it doesn’t make much sense to worry about what everyone else is doing.
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It does make good blog fodder, though.
Most hikers spend a lot of time looking at maps when we’re on the trail - one of the Ten Essentials, they let us know where we’re going, put us into perspective, and occasionally give us a glimpse into the history of the area we’re in.
For those same reasons, some of us even like to have maps around us when we’re not outside.
I’m a big cartography junkie. Always have been. Which is why I was thrilled to learn the venerable National Geographic Society has joined up with Maps.com to reprint a huge collection of their trademark maps, dating all the way back to 1891.
Even if you’re not buying, most of the maps are zoom-able on their website, and they’re still great to look at. Consider it your one-stop-birthday present-shop for map nerds with extra wall-space.
Ikea just announced it will begin charging its US customers five cents a pop to use their disposable plastic bags to carry tchotchkes and adult Legos from the shelves to their cars.
It’s all part of a program aimed to reduce the number of plastic bags Americans throw away every year - a number that is currently a mind-boggling 100 billion.
Currently, 70 million of those bags come directly from the Yellow and Blue Box, and they plan on cutting that number in half during the first year of the pay-to-bag program, and eventually eliminate them completely. A similar program in the UK cut British bag consumption by 95%.
It’s another step for a company that - despite its ‘cheap’ image - is incredibly green. IKEA’s packaging is significantly more efficient than most furniture companies, and their use of recycled materials and carbon-offsetting is an example for corporations everywhere.
And they’re smart enough to know the fastest way to get Americans to be more conservative is to hit ‘em in their wallets. God knows we’ll only change our actions if something becomes slightly more inconvenient or costly.
Via Grist.
Not of the trail-tearing ORV kind, but of the wheelchair variety.
Tom from Two-Heel Drive announced the new web-centric home of Mr. Bob Coomber, aka 4WheelBob, who was just inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame.
Now, I’m not sure what, exactly the California Outdoors Hall of Fame is but I know the following:
1. I’m glad we have one.
2. If anyone deserves to be in it, it’s a guy who had to fight his way through rangers to get to the wilderness, then went and got himself a Gubernatorial Apology and statewide Right to Pass certificate.
There’s not a whole lot on the site yet - but Bob’s got one hell of an interesting tale to tell, so I’m hoping he’ll get some original writing up there soon. Until then, you can acquaint yourself with Bob via this Backpacker article from last year, which is where I first heard of him.
Think about Bob next time you’re bellyaching about blisters or trudging the last mile to your summit.
Then keep going.
While on the subject of Joshua Tree, I figured I’d give a little shout-out to the place I always stop on the way out to refuel and relax.
It’s called the Crossroads Cafe, and it’s right outside the West Entrance in the town of Joshua Tree.
The sort of funky little cafe you really only find in liberal arts college towns, Crossroads serves up a wide range of mostly-healthy foods for the mostly-crunchy crowd that frequents Joshua Tree. I usually go with one of the cooked tofu dishes, but they’ve got fish and meats for our carnivorous friends.
More importantly, they’ve got a great selection of coffee and beer - the two liquids that comprise about 17% of my blood content. They’re mostly stocked with microbrewed bottles, but they do have a few on tap. It’s the perfect way to relax with some alcohol after a long hike or climbing trip, then immediately recharge with caffeine for the drive home.
I’ve never had a bad meal there, and both the staff and the customers are the kind of people who’ll engage you in an actual good conversation … and I want to make it clear that I’m not really one to talk to strangers, generally.
Oh, and it’s cheap, too. I got a giant seared tofu sandwich with a cup of lentil soup and generously-sized coffee for about twelve bucks.
This is definitely worth a stop if you’re heading out of one of the northern exits and don’t feel like slumming it at an In-n-Out off the 10. Highly recommended!
A quick up-and-down that not only escapes the crowds at popular, drivable Keys View, but also provides better vistas of Joshua Tree National Park and its surrounding mountains.
Joshua Tree, like all National Parks, has more than its fair share of cargoing sight-seers - that disproportionately loud and messy group that drives on paved roads to the designated vista spots, gets out to take a snapshot or two, and then drives away. This park, I think, has more of them because there’s such a clear and straightforward north-south car route through the park.
A short but strenuous scramble up a mountainside in the backcountry of Joshua Tree National Park. Opportunities for extra rock scrambling and exploring, with fantastic views of both the park, and the Mojave desert north of the park. Orienteering experience is helpful on this trip.
One of southern California’s best hikes - a 9 mile river-hopping trip along an abandoned, flooded out roadway. Plenty of mines, swimming holes, and a giant bridge in the middle of nowhere. Seriously, if that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what else to do.
Continue reading ‘Hiking East Fork to the Bridge to Nowhere’
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