There hasn’t been much snow in this severe drought year, so when there was some fresh powder reported we wasted no time and headed out to the San Bernardino mountains. [Photo Gallery at the bottom]
Sycamore Canyon, Southern AZ
We hiked down Sycamore Canyon way down in southern Arizona for a few miles until we could go no further without climbing or getting wet. We need to go back there prepared for the getting wet part.Continue reading “Sycamore Canyon, Southern AZ”
Ken Point, Butterfly, Rock Point Hike
Saturday, Uwe and I met up and drove to the Desert Divide area. The plan was to hike Ken Point, Butterfly Peak, and Rock Point. The weather started out perfectly. The trails were well maintained and there has been a new trail portion which now avoids bushwhacking about the mines in the area. Unfortunately on the way up we did not take the new trail and instead took the Continue reading “Ken Point, Butterfly, Rock Point Hike”
San Vicente Reservoir Kayaking
We are not having a proper winter here in Southern California again. It’s too warm and we are experiencing another drought year. So when we were looking for a local hike and saw the forecast temperatures we decided for a summer time activity instead. Both of us had not been to San Vicente reservoir before. We enjoyed a nice 3.5 hours and covered about 10 miles on. There was not much boat traffic on that Saturday, but apparently that place can get very busy in summer.
Launching like the big boats
Approx. route taken (clockwise)
El Vallecito
On Sunday Dorie and I took off to meet up with Bob Steichen in Tecate to explore some Indian caves around La Rumorosa, Baja, MX. One site El Vallecito is preserved as an archaeological site so it was easy to find and walk around. I had researched some archaeological documents and old maps, plotting out where I thought several other sites could be found, about 5-8 miles south of La Rumorosa, but they are much more remote. We would need an entire day to find/explore those.Continue reading “El Vallecito”
San Onofre Mtn, Jan. 2018
It’s become a tradition that we start the hiking year with a nice 11.5 mile, 2500ft elevation gain hike in the coastal hills to climb San Onofre Mountain.Continue reading “San Onofre Mtn, Jan. 2018”
Mt. Shasta, August 2017
This is a story of minor equipment malfunctions. I arrived in Mt Shasta around noon, got my permit and a few last-minute provisions. A 16-mile forest road got me to the trailhead around 3p. Since I was hiking alone I decided to take the Clear Creek trail. Avalanche Gulch is the most popular and still has snow from 10,100 feet to summit. It’s shorter and steeper and a lot of crampon hiking. Clear Creek had less snow and I thought a better choice for me at the time.
Continue reading “Mt. Shasta, August 2017”51 Miles on the PCT, May 2015
The southern Californian outdoor equipment store chain Adventure 16 posted a challenge: Hike any three 16+ mile sections of the Pacific Crest Trail between May 8 – October 15, 2015 to win cool prizes! So Matt, Kevin and I decided to do it in one weekend. Matt looked for a reasonably “easy” section, we didn’t want to add a lot of elevation gain or time in the hot desert while climbing to the already demanding ~50 miles in 2 days. He came up with the idea to start up in Big Bear east of Baldwin Lake (6800ft) and then hike “down” to Interstate 10 (1600ft). We’d have some climbing at the beginning, but otherwise mostly downhill. It looked good to me, so we went ahead. Should have looked more closely at the contour lines…. We hiked from PCT mile 262 south to mile 211.
Continue reading “51 Miles on the PCT, May 2015”Shorty’s Well to Telescope Peak, May 2015
This hike has been on my mind for a number of years. People have done it in various variations, but the version that has the hike start at Shorty’s Well and ending at Mahogany Flats was the most appealing to me for a first attempt. I also wanted to do it as a day hike, i.e., without camping.
Continue reading “Shorty’s Well to Telescope Peak, May 2015”R2R2R – A Day Hike, September 2012
Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in under 24 hours
In 2011 we did this hike the comfortable way with a rest day on the north rim. See here for more.
This time our goal was to do it as a day hike, i.e. ideally in under 24 hours. Here are some stats and thoughts about this outing.
Goals:
- Complete the round trip without camping (sleeping)
- If possible finish in under 24 hours
- Be conservative in managing our strength
Preparations:
We all prepared in different ways. Matt focused on trail running and bicycling, including a triathlon. He also opted to go as light as possible using his trail running gear. I had done 8 hikes of 15 miles or more in the 4 month before this hike and focused on leg strength in the gym. Greg did numerous shorter hikes with a heavy backpack. Greg and I approached this as a hike and carried our typical day hike backpacks and gear.
Key Pointers Gathered from reports on the internet:
- Pace yourself. Don’t start out too fast
- Carry a variety of food items. One get’s tired of energy bars and gels over 24h
- Make sure to intake enough salt/electrolytes
- Be prepared for blisters
Route:
South to north: Down South Kaibab – Bright Angel Canyon – Roaring Springs Canyon. (21 miles)
North to south: Roaring Springs Canyon – Bright Angel Canyon – Bright Angel Trail (24 miles)
Time Splits:
| Where | Arrive | Depart | Duration |
| Start | — | 3:53 | |
| Phantom Ranch | 6:38 | 6:54 | 16 min |
| Cotton Wood Camp | 9:20 | 9:56 | 36 min |
| Tunnel Roaring Springs Cyn | 12:00 | 12:18 | 18 min |
| North Rim | 13:07 | 13:46 | 39 min |
| Cotton Wood Camp | 16:12 | 16:43 | 31 min |
| Phantom Ranch | 19:10 | 19:40 | 30 min |
| Indian Garden | 21:35 | 22:05 | 30 min |
| Bright Angel Trailhead | 00:21 | — |
Some Totals:
Time on trail: 20 hours 28 minutes
Major breaks: 3 hours 20 minutes
Moving time: 17 hours 8 minutes
Total hiking distance: 45 miles (72 km) (45 miles in the canyon; 5 additional miles on South Rim to connect trailheads/parking lot not included in times above -> Hiked 50 miles in a day)
Elevation gain > 11,000ft (> 3350m)
Conclusions:
- Good preparation pays off. Overall the whole thing went as planned. We actually exceeded our expectations. None of us had done anything even remotely as long and we had no idea how we would fare.
- Shoes which are comfortable for 30 miles may not stay comfortable for 50 miles. I had some hot spots an a minor blister
- We were probably extra conservative with our break time. I’m actually surprised our breaks where that long, but we didn’t want to hurry and did what felt naturally not timing our breaks while on the trail.
- While hydration and calorie intake was adequate I probably could have eaten more, particularly during the easy down sections (I brought plenty of food back). I estimate that I ate/drank about 7,000 kcal. Online calculators gave estimates as high as 15,000 for someone of my weight, for the distance and elevation gain involved.
