Decided that I would like to summit Whitney in the next few weeks by trying to grab a cancelled/unclaimed permit a day or two before hand…most likely a permit for a Friday. Plan is for a quick solo push. Drive from Long Beach Thursday evening, get a few hours of sleep in the car at the trailhead (if needed) and start sometime between midnight and 3am.
Looking for a realistic goal expectations for an honest effort.

For some background, I’m a pretty fit 51 year old that has 15 years experience in ultrarunning (including the Leadville and Angeles Crest 100’s so I’m not worried about altitude issues) was a long-time scoutmaster, have done most of the SoCal summits multiple times, and currently run 60 road miles a week. Haven’t done any real mountain running in the past few years, but back in May I did the Cerro Gordo Silver run (8 miles and almost 5k feet of vert) in 2 hours, and ran back down instead of taking the shuttle. Im not afraid to suffer a bit and enjoy a good challenge.

Any personal experience from those that have a similar background. Is 6 hours up and 4 down a reasonable goal?

Thanks!

Howdy fellow Hikers! If you haven't been following the news Oceanside PD has suspended their physical search in Palomar State Park for Angelica Brophy (missing since July 6th).

That said if you do happen to hike the area add your tracks to the public CalTopo map in an effort to keep the search alive, even just on the public side. Here is the map it self: https://caltopo.com/m/29N86BA

And you can email GPX files to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Happy Trails and be safe with the heatwave we are currently experiencing

Went on a local, popular hike with a friend today. While we were chatting, I suddenly got the urge to turn around... and there was a bear following us! I was obviously worried but still relatively calm since we only have black bears here in California. I did the standard protocol, yelling "HEY BEAR!", clapping, and slowly backing away, but this bear didn't react at all (what a brave black bear!). We heard a couple coming behind us and I warned them. The girlfriend was shocked and scared, but her dumbass boyfriend goes "Yo! I've never seen a bear before!" and starts approaching the bear while recording with his phone! Obviously, the girlfriend got upset, she yelled at him and even threw her water at him. Unfortunately, this guy didn't care and continued approaching this unfearful bear who was standing his ground. I'm at a loss for words here. An equestrian started coming down the hill as well. When I warned her, she and her horse promptly got the fuck out of there. This entire time, me and my friend were slowly retreating and eventually lost sight of the couple. Right before they were no longer in sight, though, this guy looked to be about 15 feet from the bear! I sincerely hope that was just some illusion of perspective. We continued our detour for a while before heading back carefully. We didn't see the couple again, but surely we would have heard an attack. I'm guessing they got away through the nearby road to the horse pasture.

Anyway, have you guys ever seen an idiot approach dangerous wildlife before? Black bears almost never attack people, but we say "almost" because of these types of guys..

My husband and I started backpacking recently and are both in good shape. We did the Rae Lakes loop earlier this month. At the end of July we are deciding between doing Big Pine Lakes, Cottonwood Lakes and Rush Creek to Thousand Island Lake. We have 3-4 nights to spend and want to keep it to about 10 miles a day. I do struggle a bit when we are above 10000 ft (I just breathe harder and my muscles get tired on inclines) but I am able to push through. Which would you do?

Plan is to do this like late September.

• Thursday
  • Print permits online
  • Leave in the afternoon
  • Drive from the Bay
  • Stay in Mammoth
• Friday
  • Wake up pretty early
  • Drive to trailhead (~2-2.5 hours)
  • About 6 hours of hiking - seems like about 4 miles, 4k feet of gain, on very "bushwhacky" trail
  • Camp at Red Lake (10.5k')
• Saturday
  • Wake up at ~3am
  • Seems like about 3.5k' additional feet of gain to the summit but very steep
  • Try to summit before 11am, anticipating class 2 on the way up with maybe some class 3.
  • Spend another night at red lake
• Sunday (reverse of friday)
  • Hike out
  • Drive home (around 8 hours)

Alternate itinerary: Spend Saturday acclimating, summit sunday, hike all the way down sunday, motel off of 395, drive back Monday morning.

The car situation seems like one of the trickier parts of it. I posted about this before but seems like here are the options, none of which are perfect:

• Use my car (Honda Fit) - disaster waiting to happen
• Rent a car / truck - Probably much more rugged, but would be out a lot of money if something were to happen.
• Walk to the trailhead - Makes Friday much more intense, adds 2000 feet of elevation gain + 4 miles
• Bike from paved road to trailhead - Might be the best option but would need to acquire and transport bikes.

I would also be curious if anyone has any feedback on how exposed it is - how sketchy do the class 3 sections feel if there are any?

Traveling to LA for work and have a free Sunday

Looks like it’s going to be super hot
Any thing realistic in this weather? About 3-4 miles

Planning to hit Langley this Saturday, and after a bit of research, I’m reading that going up Old Army Pass and coming down New Army Pass is widely preferred if you’re wanting to make a loop of it.

Has anyone done Old Army up to Langley, and then cutting over to the PCT exiting through Cottonwood Pass to make more of a loop of it? Any reasons why or why not?

San Jacinto Started from Devils Slide and spent my first night in Round Valley, moved camps to Tamarack Valley on my 2nd day and hit San Jacinto Peak. On my 3rd day took Hidden Divide back to Humber Park

I was planning on hiking Mt Baldy this Friday but looking at the temp it will be 90 degrees by mid day. I live in SF and am not often in SoCal so I would like to do this but am worried about the heat on a hike like this with so much sun exposure. Should I just save this for a later date? Is the temp that I am seeing on my weather app likely reflective of the temp experienced on the hike accounting for wind?

Heads up to anyone, I was hiking around angels forest yesterday 7/19/26 at 9:40am I caught someone breaking into this Honda Civic. Be safe and don't leave valuables behind.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for some advice on my first real hiking pack.
I’ve done multiple 10–15 mile day hikes, and my current setup is either a CamelBak with another backpack over it or a small drawstring sack over the CamelBak, so I’m ready to upgrade.
I’m considering skipping a smaller 30–40L day pack and going straight to an Osprey Aether 55. My thinking is that I’d rather buy one pack I can grow into instead of buying a day pack now and a larger backpacking pack later.
My long-term goals are hikes like Whitney and Langley, then eventually overnight backpacking and mountaineering. For those with experience in SoCal and the Sierra, is going straight to a 55L pack a good idea, or would you recommend starting with something smaller? I’d especially love to hear from anyone who owns an Aether 55.

Hey all!

Im on the more inexperienced end of backpacking/wilderness training etc. and am super excited about this Wilderness training class. Just getting out of college being broke af so I’m trying to see how much the gear cost is so I can set a proper amount of money aside in the next few months!

I have little to no gear, besides clothes, & average day hiking gear, so I’ve been trying to find a list of everything I might need to use but haven’t been able to. I don’t plan on actually buying anything before class starts, just wanna tally up a $$ number. Anyone that’s taken the class and knows the general vibe of what is needed? Any advice appreciated !!

About eight years ago a friend and I backpacked from Piedras Blancas to the Sespe Hot Springs. It's about 40 miles round trip. We arrived at the hot springs totally wiped out. I was setting up my camp and my buddy wanted to pump some water so he took off for a bit. About twenty minutes later he comes back to the campsite and looks kind of weirded out.
"What's up man?"
"Dude, I was walking down to the creek and I saw this guy up on the ridge, he changed direction and intercepted me. He was wearing Batman pajamas and said his name was Pan. He asked how many people I was with and where we were camped."
My buddy is no dummy so he said we were with a large group and camped somewhere else.
"Crazy! I'll keep an eye out."
A few hours later it was dark and buddy passed out in his tent. I decided to walk down to the hot creek for a soak. I put my headlamp on and started walking down the creek to find a spot that was a good temperature. Suddenly my headlamp shines on a rock next to the creek, someone's clothes (all someone's clothes) were piled on it. I looked around and didn't see anyone, and then I hear a voice out of the darkness.
"Helloooooooo!"
It was a very melodious, gay man's voice. I knew at once it was Pan.
"Uh, hey."
"Come on in, the water's wonderfullllll..."
"Nah, maybe next time," I said, and continued down the creek.
I slept with one eye open that night, but nothing happened.
When I got back to civilization, I had a look at AllTrails. There were several posts about this guy. Apparently he's been out there for quite a while, skulking around and creeping people out. He begs food off people and asks people to pack out his garbage (at least he doesn't litter). Some people have mentioned that they woke up in the morning with items missing from their camp.
On subsequent trips there I started asking people I passed on the trail if they'd encountered the guy, several had. He's fairly well known out there, it seems.
That area of the Sespe is no joke. It's very remote. People can and do get lost or stranded and die out there. It's wicked hot from June to October and aside from the hot spring creek, which is sulfurous and undrinkable, the Sespe River is bone dry. It can be treacherous if you don't know what you're doing, or even if you do know what you're doing and make a mistake.
There's a two week stay limit in the Sespe. Why the rangers don't do anything about a creepy thieving weirdo in Batman pajamas living out there is a mystery to me.
If you ever go to the Sespe Hot Springs, watch your ass (figuratively and literally).

Nice view of the San Gabriel’s on this moderate hike. UV Index gets up to 13 (maybe higher) in the summer so watch out

Search and rescue happened yesterday 7/19. But I dont see anything online. Is he ok?

UPDATE- he was found but no other details were given.

Does anyone have extra permits ? please let me know

This is the route I've come up with so far. It seems I would be skipping past Tri Peaks, which I'm guessing is the "must see" part of this route. I've never been to this area before, since I'm about 50 miles away.

The route is currently at 15 miles, 4300 elevation gain. About half the gain would be the western part between sandstone and Boney. As designed, I'm sensing I probably won't enjoy this hike very much, but curious on your thoughts. Would it be worth trying a totally different hike?

Really cool to see, beautiful Western Diamondback. Only the 2nd rattler I’ve seen in the wild.

Originally planned to take the Vivian Creek route but waited too long and permits were completely booked. As a backup, I went with the South Fork route. Definitely did not disappoint, though the altitude was a killer. Great time but I’m DEAD right now.

Had the "Veggie Chorizo Breakfast Scramble" from Mountain House as 'breakfast for dinner' - and it was stupendous.

Had the Peak Refuel "Three Bean Chili Mac" and it was the most bland, unappetizing freeze dry dinner I've yet to encounter.

That's all I got for now.

Has anyone done a hike to GoodyKoontz peak planning on doing a quick backpacking trip 2 days 1 night. The main focus is cooper falls and coming back or camping at Cooper canyon campground.

IM BACK FROM MY VACATION

Anyways taking a break from going up peaks till August 15, I decided to take another vacation from that. Honestly it felt weird to me that I was starting outside of the range and walking into it as all my hikes were driving inside the range. The weather was nice to me at the start with abundant shade everywhere. Very green and lush felt like a rainforest. Didn’t forget to visit Switzer Falls on the way up and climbed to the upper falls. Turned back as I got to the parking lot right by the bench with the camping grill. I will be back next week.

Next Episode: Gabrielino Trail part 2: Switzer Parking Lot to West Fork Trail Camp

My dog and I go on a full day hike 1-2x per month in a scenic area. However, this has become increasingly challenging with the summer heat. If unshaded for multiple miles, my dog's preferred temp is lower 70s F or cooler. In fully shaded areas, the limit would be upper 70s F or cooler. Ideal length is 15-23 miles. Elevation change doesn't matter. Prefer less rocky and less crowded. Some of my thoughts are below. Does anyone have suggestions I missed?

High Elevation -- Arrive early when relatively lower temp, get to high elevation before the hottest point in day, then return to lower elevation when temps cool later in the day.

* Mount San Gorgonio (via S. Fork) -- 7k base -> 11.5k peak
* Mount San Jacinto (via Idyllwild) -- 6.5k base -> 11k peak (I realize dogs are restricted near peak)
* Big Bear Lake South -- 7k base -> 8k peak
* Mount Baldy -- 6k base -> 10k peak

Coastal -- As close to coast as possible, with ocean moderating temperature

* Mission Bay Loop, Letting dog run off leash at Fiesta Island and cool off in ocean during hottest point of day
* Lagoon + Coastline
* Not familiar with OC / LA area, but probably has similar to above

How often do you encounter rude runners or hikers on trail?

Me and my buddies were taking a break earlier today when we caught two older female "trail runners" walking down the trail completely shove another female hiker going uphill out of the way, yelling "Excuse me! We have the right of way!"

Now there are plenty of hikers or runners who don't observe right of way, but I've never seen one blatantly claim they had the right of way going downhill lol. It was crazy. They weren't even running.