Category Archives: Hikes
InsideHook is the free daily email that inspires driven men. They recently recommended the Big Bear Valley Trail Foundation’s Skyline Trail. You can sign up to receive updates from InsideHook HERE.
Here’s their recommendation:
For a long time, if you wanted to hike the pine-topped ridge of Big Bear (up in the Los Angeles forest; it’s a beaut), you’d find yourself on a fireroad staring at trucks. No view. Just trucks.
That time has passed. Say hello to Skyline: eight miles of pure backcountry splendor, now open to the public.
Excavated and compacted by the Big Bear Valley Trail Foundation, a nonprofit run by sap-happy outdoorsmen, the Skyline Trail was a fire-break created during the Old Fire of 2003.
It’s now hikeable and bikeable. And pretty damn breathtaking.
Amusing Planet posted a blog with GREAT pictures about Half Dome and the joys of hiking to the top.
From the article:
The trail starts with a 13.7 km hike, followed by a rigorous 3.2 km approach including several hundred feet of granite stairs. The final 400-foot ascent up the peak’s steep but somewhat rounded east face is ascended with the aid of a pair of post-mounted braided steel cables raised on posts that lead to the breath-taking summit. This cable route was constructed close to the Anderson route in 1919 by the Sierra Club for visitors who have no rock climbing ability or equipment. Following the Half Dome Cables Trail is a unique experience, and it has become one of the most popular hikes in Yosemite National Park. As many as 1,000 hikers per day have sometimes climbed the dome on a summer weekend, and about 50,000 hikers climb it every year.
Redwood trees in Southern California? I had heard that there was a grove of Sequoia sempervirens somewhere in Orange County, but had never been able to figure out where.
As it turns out, the trees are located near Brea, California off State Route 142 near Carbon Canyon Dam inside Carbon Canyon Regional Park. The park itself offers visitors activities including fishing, hiking, volleyball, picnic areas, tennis, ball fields, and playgrounds in a idyllic setting, and virtually every review is positive. From my hike through the park, to get to the trailhead, I could see it was well-maintained, had plenty of grass areas and shade trees, and is certainly worth a visit. It’s a very family-friendly park. Parking costs weekdays is $3, and I believe I read that it’s $5 on weekends, or you can save the entry fee and park on residential streets nearby.
I’ll be the first to say that I’m not a fan of mountain bikes shooting down hiking trails. While there are certainly some mountain bikers who are cognizant of others, the vast majority of mountain bikers I’ve encountered have been rude, unsafe cyclists who don’t seem to be in control of their equipment; I’ve seen far more accidents involving bikers running into hikers than the other way around.
That’s not to say that I think mountain biking should be legislated out. I just don’t believe that having a bunch of speeding cyclists who can’t control their machinery sharing the road with hikers is a good thing. Mountain biking is a great outdoor sport, it is great exercise, and it results in some spectacular YouTube footage.