Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Featured Adventure in Southern California

The economy, rising fuel costs, and trying to stay within your means; encourages you to get creative with the activities in and around your area.  In this series of articles the focus is getting out and exploring your surroundings, keeping your costs down and creating memories that won't break the bank.  We are based in Huntington Beach, CA and this location offers a variety of family affordable outing options, from the beach to mountains to the desert to the glitter of Los Angeles.

A big winter storm dumped 4 feet of fresh snow on the surrounding mountains, and clear skies stirred thoughts of getting some elevation and enjoying the views. 
View of Mount Baldy from Huntington Beach
We set our sites on Mount Baldy
San Antonio Falls Road with Baldy up top
This is an intermediate to advanced hike depending on weather conditions, fitness level, route and experience.  Total mileage was just under six miles with total elevation gain of around 1900ft.  We parked at Manaker Flats, walked the mile up San Antonio Falls road, then continued up the single track trail to Baldy Bowl that is just past the Ski Hut.  We stopped there to enjoy lunch, and admire those who proceeded on to climb the face of Mount Baldy that rapidly rises 2000 feet from where we sat.
View of the LA Basin from the trail to Baldy Bowl
View from Baldy Bowl
The fresh snow required us to use crampons that were graciously provided by the REI rental department ($12 for the day).

We packed our lunch at home and brought along enough trail goodies to keep our energy up for the hike ($15 worth of food and snacks).  The driving distance clocked out at 120 miles round trip ($20 worth of gas).  You will need a parking permit for this area (daily $5 or you can purchase a yearly pass that gains access to most of the surrounding mountains for $35)

Chose to bring our new Canon G12 for this adventure.  For one, it is a new camera and we were anxious to test it on the trails.  Secondly, it is much lighter than our other cameras and every ounce helps when it comes to hiking in the snow.


This type of adventure is more of an exception versus the norm.  
Creek crossing near Baldy Bowl
Enjoying the fresh powder at Baldy Bowl

Usually you will find us enjoying locations closer to home.  Yet the snow, clear skies and photos from this excursion made the rewards vastly outweigh the dog tired feeling after wards.

Someone created a Snowtem Pole at the trail head
We recommend getting out in your environment as much as possible.  However, make sure you are prepared before embarking on any adventure.  Do your homework before going to places that are unfamiliar to you.  Check the internet, contact any local outfitters or drop us an email.  We will point you in the right direction.

Total cost for the day $47 plus the cost of the parking pass.

View the rest of the photos from the hike here.  Thank you and have a great week!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Photo expedition to Mt. Lowe

Every week we set out on a photo outing.  Last week we took advantage of the great weather and hit the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve.  This week we traveled to the San Gabriel Mountains for a hike up to Mount Lowe via Echo Mountain and Inspiration Point.  Again, the weather held out and we took advantage of the temperature hovering around 75 degrees.  This was a great gift, especially being the middle of February and the rest of the country was in a deep freeze.

The hike totaled out at 14 miles and our total time on the mountain was around 9 hours.  We hit the trail head at 12:30 PM in order to summit Mount Lowe in time to catch the sunset and capture some stunning photos.  The day was full of adventure, in addition to the photos, we were able to spend 3 hours hiking down in the dark and got to use our new headlamps.  Below are a couple of the photos from the day.  With the distance and elevation gain, taking professional equipment was a bit too heavy.  Instead we took along our trusty Canon SD800 Point-And-Shoot.  The camera did not let us down and the proof is below.  Thank you for the visit and if you have interest in joining us on one of our photo expeditions, give us a call.

Silhouette on the trail to Mount Lowe
I keep the Canon SD800 in my front pocket in order to capture those magical light moments.  This was at a bend in the trail that opened up to give a great view of the LA Basin and the Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Inspiration Point Sign in Black and White
We decided to bypass Echo Mountain and head straight to Inspiration Point for a quick refuel, a few photos and much needed break.
Pavilion at Inspiration Point

Keith Guyll taking in the view from Inspiration Point
Inspiration Point is a wonderful hike in and of itself.  There is a covered pavilion up there and the trail service set up scopes that point out the attractions that you can see from that point.
Locating Scopes at Inspiration Point
 After a quick stop we proceeded the next 1.5 miles to Mount Lowe.
View of Mount Wilson radio towers and snow capped Mount Baldy
This is the payoff spot.  Mount Lowe gives you a truly amazing unobstructed view of Mount Wilson, Mount Baldy and the entire LA Basin.
Sunset on Mount Lowe
Another successful outing.  If you are interested in seeing more photos of the day, click on the link below.  We are interested in your feedback, so drop us a line and let us know what you think.  Have a great week!