Travel

France 2017 – 1: Below Mont Blanc

After a arriving late in Paris due to an inflight emergency that had our plane turn around shortly after leaving the mainland we got our rental car and headed straight for the Alps.Continue reading “France 2017 – 1: Below Mont Blanc”

More Kayaking Lake Hodges

Went back to Lake Hodges with a friend for some more kayaking. The yellow line approximates the route from the last trip here, the blue line shows this trip. Continue reading “More Kayaking Lake Hodges”

Kayaking on Lake Hodges

This winter brought a lot of rain and so Lake Hodges now reaches east of I5 again. We went on a little kayaking journey to check it out. During the previous drought years bushes and trees have grown to considerable height. They are now all flooded and water birds use them as nests.

Continue reading “Kayaking on Lake Hodges”

San Bernardino East Peak, San Gorgonio Wilderness, California

Due to the Lake fire 2 years ago and the resulting closure of most of the wilderness area permits for hikes in the San Gorgonio Wilderness (SGW) are hard to get on short notice. There are only 3 open trails. Continue reading “San Bernardino East Peak, San Gorgonio Wilderness, California”

Los Padres NF, Memorial Day Weekend 2017

A little trip to the Los Padres National Forest west of I5 and east of Hwy 33. While there were no clouds the views were not too great due to a lot of humidity. Even with the haze we could see the potential for fantastic views. We could just make out the Channel Islands to our south and the snow covered peaks of the Sierra Nevada to our north east. They did not come out well on any of the photos though.Continue reading “Los Padres NF, Memorial Day Weekend 2017”

San Gabriel Mountains, Backpack May 2017

A one night backpacking hike up to Middle Hawkins from the Crystal Lake recreation area to see the night lights of Los Angeles.

For diversion some of us hiked along the ridge to the east to visit a few other peaks, including Baden-Powell.Continue reading “San Gabriel Mountains, Backpack May 2017”

Creeks of San Jacinto, May 2017

San Jacinto is quite a dry mountain. With the recent drought years there were very limited water sources available. So it was great to see all kinds of flowing surface water. We chose 7 Pines trail for it’s solitude and streams on the lower 3.5 miles before it meets up with the Deer Springs / PCT trail. 7 Pines should only be attempted by someone with trail finding experience and navigation aides like map/compass/GPS. The trail is not maintained and in places hard to find. Especially this year with lots of dead fall and big snow patches above 8000ft.Continue reading “Creeks of San Jacinto, May 2017”