Nob Peak

On December 4, we returned to Whitewater Preserve to explore along the ridge dividing Nob Creek Canyon from Whitewater Canyon. Our destination was the ridge's high point, called Nob Peak. At 4455', we were well below the snow line, but we could see it on many of the higher surrounding peaks. Although the hike was only 8 miles, it was very challenging due to steep terrain and brushy areas. But the views were spectacular, making it well worth the effort. Check out the photos, and if we go there next spring, consider joining us to enjoy the wildflowers along with the views!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/11116786@N03/sets/72157625530718932/

We'd like to know what you think!

Hi,

as stated in Tidelines, we're interested in your ideas on outings. We conduct many types of outings, from conditioning hikes to day hikes to backpacking trips. What do you like? What would you like to see more of? The floor is open!

Signal Hill Hikes

Seems the association on the southwest section of the hill has posted a guard near the pool who is taking names of people walking the trails after sunset. Also seems there are permits for residents to hike the trails after sunset. I checked with the city of Signal Hill and they are aware of the association's activities. I was notified that the impetus for posting the guard were acts of vandalism and unauthorized access to the pool. I understand needing to curtail vandalism and the like, but since they now have a guard posted do they really need to restrict access to us? We've walked the hill for over 40 years and have reaped the benefits of fitness, camaraderie, and stunning views that can only be found on an elevated vantage point. We've worked to reduce our impact on the residents by keeping our voices down and yielding to their vehicles when we traverse their neighborhoods. I think we're doing a good job at minimizing our impact and would like to see us have access to that section of the hill during our conditioning hikes, regardless of the orientation of the earth to the sun. What do you think?

A Mythical Beast, a Real Animal, and the Highest Point in Southern California

I led a very successful backpacking trip in the local mountains last weekend. I made some mistakes, but I learned from them, and hopefully it will make me a better leader for future trips. We had a convivial group, and that made a big difference. If you want to go straight for the photos, they're here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/11116786@N03/sets/72157620753734138/

Leader: Sharon Moore

Co-leader: Bruce Michaels

Participants: Roshawn Bowers, John Cederberg, Peter Ireland, Dave Levine, Cheryl McMurray, Asamanja Mallik, Elaine Shaw, Robert Wallsgrove

Trooper Award: Elaine "Big E" Shaw -always had a cheerful smile, even though she felt awful

Class Clown: John "99 Cents" Cederberg

Ultralight Award: Peter "20 Pounds" Ireland

Congeniality Award: Everyone!

Saturday got off to a rough start. Diana Rankin called at 4:45 AM to say she couldn't come. She had food poisoning. Ugh! I couldn't blame her, and we were both disappointed. So our carpool was down to two. Dave Levine picked me up, and we stopped to grab a quick breakfast at Starbucks. Turkey bacon, mozarella, and egg sandwich on wheat ciabatta turned out to be an expensive but healthier alternative to an Egg McMuffin. Not bad!

The group gathered at the trailhead. The day was warming up already, but fortunately we were only 15 minutes late out of the gate. I always forget how dang far it is to the start of the trail from the parking lot: half a mile up a rough road, then across Mill Creek. Then the fun part starts: almost a mile of steep switchbacks, which are no fun even with just a daypack. We got up them, though. Then the really beautiful part of the trail starts. It was an enjoyable hike after that, but I ran out of water as we hit camp. I should have filtered water immediately. I suffered a bout of altitude sickness that night, which rendered me incapable of enjoying happy hour or eating dinner. High Creek is in a gully just off the Vivian Creek Trail at about 9500', before you cross the creek and head up a long set of switchbacks. I don't normally get sick at that elevation, but I hadn't had a decent night's sleep for a week, and setting up my tent in the hot sun got me dehydrated. But after going to bed early, emptying my stomach (after the initial nap), nursing my way through most of a 2-liter Platypus, and a dose of Diamox, I recovered fully by morning. I was able to lead the peaks on Sunday, and we got em all!

Following Sherry Ross's route advice for Dragon's Head, we hiked up the trail to a specific elevation, then traversed around a gully, dropping only a small amount until reaching an easy crossing point to where we could head up another gully that leads to the saddle below Dragon's Head peak. My mistake here was to get impatient and start heading up before we reached the saddle. Rather hair raising! We eventually found the use trail to the summit, which made descending very easy. If I do that peak again, I'll use the standard route and call it a pathfinder. : ) The route to Bighorn was easy to find. It was mostly a duck hunt (for you non-hikers, ducks are rocks or small cairns place in obvious locations to mark a route. Mars Bonfire, maybe? His name was in the register for June 24, noting his 15th ascent. That name might be familiar to any Steppenwolf fans out there. Yes, he's that Mars Bonfire. We reached the summit right in time for lunch. The route I had chosen to Gorgonio looked very intimidating from the top of Bighorn, but it turned out to be very doable. I huffed and puffed up the gully, feeling my lack of dinner. Most of the group was huffing and puffing behind me. It intersected the Mine Shaft Saddle Trail about 2/3 of the way up, so we stopped there briefly to catch our breath before the final haul to the summit of San G. We reached it at about 2:15 PM. Clouds had drifted in, but this was a relief after the bright morning. We all enjoyed a round of summit euphoria, signing the register, getting a group shot taken, and digging into our remaining snacks. We returned to camp via the trail to relax, have dinner, and turn in early.

We broke camp Monday morning. I have a new tent, and although I practiced setting it up at home, it looks like I'll need to practice stowing it, too. But I eventually got all my act together, and everyone else was waiting patiently, so we departed around 8:20 AM. The hike out took under three hours. We had partly cloudy skies, and slightly higher humidity. We ran into Diana on the trail right after crossing Vivian Creek. She decided to head in solo and camp at High Creek, then do Gorgonio Tuesday and hike out. She's preparing for an upcoming trip, and I hope the weather held for her (it looked and felt a little tropical out there...). We were out before noon, and most of us met in Redlands for lunch at Chipotle for a final trip post-mortem and farewells. Now all that remains are photo links to exchange, and some great memories for all of us.

Weekend stats, thanks to Cheryl McMurray's GPS:

Trailhead to High Creek Camp: 5.67 mi. 3347 ft. elevation gain
Day Hike: 8.3 mi 2920 ft. elevation gain
Camp to Trailhead: 5.67 mi.
Total 19.64 mi. 6267 ft. elevation gain

Peaks:

Dragon's Head: 10,866 ft.

Bighorn: 10,997 ft.

San Gorgonio: officially 11,499 ft., latest GPS measurements 11,501.6 ft.

Whitewater Canyon Exploration

On Saturday, April 4, 2009, fourteen intrepid adventurers gathered at Whitewater Preserve Visitor Center to explore a section of the Pacific Crest Trail, then venture off along the Whitewater River to see if we could find Stills Landing and the remains of the East Branch Millard Canyon Trail on the edge of the San Gorgonio Wilderness.  It was a beautiful day, sunny but not hot, with an occasional cold breath of wind to refresh us. After some minor misadventures, we achieved these goals.

We proceeded slowly at first.  The PCT is lined with wildflowers, and although they appeared to be past their peak,  they were still very pretty.  The shutterbugs and the botanists stopped often to check things out.  Once we reached a formation called Red Dome (an intrusion of red basalt), we stopped and took a break  This spot is a worthwhile destination for an easy hike.  There's a bit of shade, rocks for sitting, and the view of the canyon and the peaks to the west is breathtaking.  We decided to stay on the PCT until we reached the river, then turn west to follow its course.  One can stay near the canyon walls, but the ground is a treacherous and exhausting combination of sand and river stones.  The river level varies a lot, and hiking near where it occasionally floods gave us firmer ground to walk on.  We still had to watch out for the rocks and driftwood from the forests in front of us.

We stopped for lunch about  mile shy of our turnaround point, where the canyon narrows.  20/20 hindsight: A little past this point is a small grove of cottonwood trees that offer more shade for picnicking.  I could see the ridge that marked the mouth of Boundary Canyon, and after the break I made a beeline for the end of it.  The problem with that is the tributary stream that flows out of the side canyon.  It's lined with a beautiful hedgerow of trees that grow right up against the end of the ridge.  I got up to it, but I couldn't see any way through it.  We ended up thrashing round in the thickets for half an hour, finally backtracking and crossing back out to the main river.  I could see some pine trees that might have been imported and nurtured by a past resident (purely wild speculation on my part).  A this point one participant signed out.  She felt she didn't have enough water or food to stay out much longer, and in truth, we were at our turnaround time.  But we were too close to give up, and eventually we did hike far enough upriver to see the way into Boundary Canyon.  We stopped here and dropped our packs for a break and a quick investigation of the area.

 

I did locate Stills Landing, which was right where the map showed it.  We were probably less than 100 feet from it when we hit the dead end at the end of the ridge.  The key is to keep the alder thickets on your left and the river on your right until you reach the pine trees.  Then you can turn south into Boundary Canyon and spot the remains of the East Branch Millard Canyon Trail.  The ruins are well hidden, and not impressive.  They consist of a pile of stones buried under dead grape vines, a small concrete footing of some sort, and a rusty old differential, probably from a Jeep. We did find a surprise: a waterfall pouring out of Grape Canyon!  We didn't have time to check it out up close, though.  Another day, for sure!  Sherry and I are determined to come back and find the way to Kitching Peak. We gathered up the group, and Sherry led us out at a spanking pace.  We reached the cars at about 6:30 p.m.

The on-site ranger was hovering when we reached the parking lot.  It seems they like to lock the gate at 5 p.m. but if you let them know you'll be later than that, they can accommodate you. Totally my bad: I was so wrapped up in trailhead business that I didn't check in and let them know we'd be late.  Quite a few of us gathered at Tortillas Restaurant in Banning for dinner and a celebration of the day before making the drive back to Long Beach.

I was too focused on route finding to take pictures, but participant Jim took enough for everyone.  Check it out!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimbresnen/sets/72157616474200838/show/

Zuma Trancas Canyon hike on Jan 17, 2009

This was an 11 mile, 2800' gain hike up, around, and through Zuma and Trancas canyons in Malibu. Wow, what beautiful views we had! Through the haze we made out 6 of the channel islands, San Jacinto, and even San Gorgonio! The canyons were lush and green, and further up canyon the water was flowing providing a great location for our lunch break. The weather was a bit on the warm side, too warm for most of our preferences, but we managed to survive. All in all, it was a fun outing with a great group of people.

Greetings!

Hi! I've just created this Blog to enable the members of the Long Beach Group to post comments regarding Outings Issues. I think there's a lot we can share with each other, particularly with regards to how our outings went, and what we'd like to do in the future. I'm hoping to spur some discussion, and disseminate ideas about what we can do on our own to improve our outings. Have fun! And get bloggin!