dayhikes

Before the devastating Eaton Fire in early 2025, you could hike from Pasadena up to Mount Lowe near Mt Wilson.

In this case, I took the Lower Sam Merrill Trail from the Cobb Estate at the top of Lake Avenue. At Echo Mtn I got a transfer to the Castle Canyon Trail. That trail starts fairly flat and then steepens a bit on its way to Inspiration Point. Many years ago I almost got heatstroke pushing to get to that destination where there are viewing tubes for things like Catalina (which you can see if the weather is clear). Unfortunately, it burned down in the fire.

Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes you turn around to avoid being eaten by one.

I started up Clamshell Peak north of Monrovia and wanted to get the peak at least, but it was a cold and drizzly day and I turned around at a cloud (see the pics). While I had bear spray, I didn't want to risk accidentally running into a bear or worse because neither of us could see more than a few feet in front of us.

"No, sir, that Minotaur isn't going to get out of this!"

So said the person who designed the western trail to Mt. Sally, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I had intended to hike three HPS peaks that aren't far from the Angeles Crest Highway: Barley Flats, Mt. Sally, and Mt. Mooney. I only got the first two.

This was a fairly easy DPS peak near Lucerne Valley and Victorville.

I did this with someone from the Meetup group that I ran at the time. Getting to the trailhead was a bit rough even with my Forester. I forget exactly how I deviated from the suggested route, but I started a relatively mild Class 2 scramble up a deadfall wash. I was actually enjoying that but the attendee wasn't, so I got out of the wash and began hiking up the slope next to it. From the map it didn't look like that had any cliffs or anything and that turned out to be right.

Still glowing from my visit to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, I hiked the fourth (or sixth) highest peak in the Santa Susana Mountains.

Clingman's Dome is just a walk along a concrete walkway, but you get several highpoints.

It's the highest point in the state of Tennessee, the highest point in Swain County, the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and the highest point along the Appalachian Trail. So, you can score big bragging rights from just a 1.3 miles RT walk with just 337' of gain.

IIRC, there was an elderly lady in a wheelchair who was having difficulties getting up to the peak or something; I and others helped her but I forget the details.

I did this 11,611' peak in the southern Sierras with a micro influencer I'd met online.

The influencer - let's call her "Soraya Montenegro" - arranged to meet me at the Cottonwood Pass campground. I actually got there on time but didn't see her so started driving around. I ran into her as she was pulling into the lot, and the first thing she said to me was, "you're going the wrong way". So, it didn't start well.

Electing and hiring people based on identity rather than job qualifications turns out to have been a bad decision.

DEI is nothing more than the new name for affirmative action, something California voters have rejected via Proposition 209 (from 1996) and Proposition 16 (from the year 2000).

No peak, however small, is spared my peakbagging efforts.

So, when I was driving by the Whittier area, I decided to hike to its eponymous hill. It's just 1,260' and it's capped with a water tower. And, it's not only decorated with antennae but every inch is covered with graffiti. Nonetheless, it was a nice hike in an interesting area and I'll probably be back. While I followed a different, longer trail, the specific route I took is here.

"I wouldn't say I'm specifically a hero for what I did. The real heroes do what I did and drive a Prius."

In March I drove out to Joshua Tree to do a DPS peak, Eagle Mountain. I turned around shy of the summit due to timing.

So, I decided to try it again and this time I got an earlier start. Things were going well until they took quite a turn for the worse.