Category — hiking

I’ve been avoiding anything coastal for the past few weeks because it has been really hot and it seems like everyone and their brother has been heading to the beach. However, I just read about the California Coastal Trail and now I am feeling ambitious enough to brave the crowds for this great hike. One of the coolest things about the hike is that it is more like a project, since it runs the entire length of the state and would be impossible to do in a day or even a week. I like the fact that I can hike it in sections, eventually completing each section so that one day I can say, “I hiked the entire California Coastal Trail!” For now, though, I will be content with checking out the Los Angeles and Ventura County sections. Especially with all the wildfires raging up north.

I would love to take Big Old Dog, because I am totally inspired by this article about Hiking with Dogs on HikingForums.net, but I am not sure if he is actually allowed on the trail. I wouldn’t even mind if they required dog leashes for the trail (although I am sure Big Old Dog would be a little disappointed!) I guess I will research that a little more before heading out.

Here are some more great links about the California Coastal Trail:

GORP: Hiking California Coastal Trail

California Coastal Commission: The California Coast Trail

Hike on the California Coastal Trail in Southern Marin County

The California Coastal Trail

MSN has a great article about hiking in 6 U.S. cities, and Los Angeles is on the list. I am really glad to see this article because I hope it encourages more people to get out and take advantage of the fantastic local hiking. I recommend taking a good water bottle or hydration pack on hikes because it is so easy to get dehydrated, especially if the weather stays so hot.

Here are some links to SoCal trails that didn’t make it into the MSN article:

LA Mountains.com: Hiking Trails

This Hiking Trail: Weekend Warrior’s Hike Finder for Los Angeles

GORP: Three Great Hikes Near Los Angeles

LA Trails.com: Hiking Trails

The Teva Mountain Games were held this past weekend in Vail, Colorado. I have been a big fan of Teva sandals ever since my first pair, and I especially love the company’s community activities. Sadly, I did not get to attend the Games, but luckily there was plenty of blogging to keep me up-to-date on the action. It’s one of my goals to get to the Teva Mountain Games in the next few years because it seems like a really great gathering of cool people who are all into the same thing: enjoying the great outdoors, having some fun and getting some exercise. Maybe if I step up my training now, I’ll actually be able to participate in some of the events. They have cycling, trail running, climbing, kayaking, bouldering and even fly fishing, so there are activities to appeal to every personality. They have events for dogs too, but I am pretty sure Big Old Dog is more content to be a spectator.

Here are some more links about the Teva Mountain Games:

• Active.com: 2008 Teva Mountain Games
• IFSC Bouldering World Cup Coming to the 2008 Teva Mountain Games

The Memorial Day weekend actually worked out fantastically for fun close to home activities. We hiked the Gardenland Trail to the overlook at San Vicente Mountain Park, which was a great variation to our usual Sullivan Canyon routine. The Garden Land Trail is a lot steeper than the fire road, so I was very happy in my last minute decision to change out of flip flops and into hiking shoes. I was also quite happy to be hiking it rather than biking it on my first visit. The climb is quite a workout! The Gardenland Trail isn’t as popular as the fire road so it gets a lot less traffic, which is great if you want to feel like your outside of the city for a few moments.

Here’s some more info for hiking in the Santa Monica area:

• Trail Map from Canyon Back Alliance
• Info from the Mandeville Canyon Association

Here’s a great way to plan your next hike: Google Earth! Lifehacker recently posted about the Trimble Outdoor Trips layer-feature on Google Earth that makes it easy for hikers, backpackers, and bikers to preview an upcoming route.

My favorite feature: if your cell phone has GPS tracking, you can have coordinates sent to your location with just a click.

We headed up to Ventura County yesterday to scope out Echo Cliffs. Partner-in-Climb (PIC) wanted to see how Big Old Dog would handle the trail before committing to a full day of climbing, and frankly, I am not quite ready to shove my nail-less toe back into climbing shoes just yet. (Yes, I know, that is not very hard-core outdoor-sy of me, but whatever. Unless I’m in some kind of competition, I don’t engage in personal discomfort unless it is an absolute emergency. :P)

But I was really up for a hike, and we had the perfect day for it. We parked at the Mishe Mokwa trail head parking lot and headed up the connector trail, then down into the canyon. The view from the trail is amazing. There were a couple of climbing parties set up on along the large wall, and another party on Balance Rock. I found this close up of Balance Rock online:

You can see it above Echo Cliffs in the first picture, but this close up gives a better idea of the kind of precarious perch the rock balances on.

PIC has climbed at Echo Cliffs before, but usually turned down a side trail to head straight to the climbing spots. We attempted to take the side trail, but Big Old Dog was struggling to keep his footing, so we returned to the main trail and followed it down to Split Rock. The main trail is incredibly accessible and easy to hike. There were a few trail runners, and we encountered several groups of older hikers who were doing fine with just a little help from trekking poles. After some scrambling on Split Rock and a quick snack, we headed back to the car. Big Old Dog seemed to make it back with no problems and was moving around pretty well today, so I think we’ll be heading back to Echo Cliffs in the very near future.

I also found a couple of cool sites while I was looking for info on Echo Cliffs and the Mishe Mokwa Trail, which I will be adding to my blogroll, but you can check them out here in the meantime:

• Rockgrrl.com
• GetBeta.com
• The (Single) GeekHiker