Today we headed up to my favorite go-to place for snowshoeing, Waterman Mountain. We started out on the fire road which had been plowed. When we reached the junction to the Waterman Trail, we hopped on it and began the climb up. The beginning of the trail had been broken by other snowshoers, but it was deep and difficult to maneuver. Eventually, the trail disappeared and there were no more tracks. We were on our own at this point to break trail. It was a nice challenge and we were having fun. Boy was it a workout! We were postholing a lot and it was hard work getting through the deep, heavy snow. It was definitely not the powder we all prefer. After we’d had enough of a challenge, we decided to head back to the fire road and take it easy. Coming back on the trail was just as difficult going down as it was going up. We returned to the fire road, hiked until we were satisfied and then headed home. It was beautiful winter day!
It had been raining the past few days, but we got out for a bit on Thanksgiving to do rain hike in Griffith Park. But what I’d really been waiting for was to get up into the forest. The snow levels came down to about 3,000’! We headed up Angeles Crest around 8:30 am and started seeing snow just past Clear Creek Station. We went as far the 6,000’ Day Use Area (just before Winston Peak and Cloudburst Summit) which is where they had the snow gates closed. The road was clear until that point with just little patches of snow/ice here and there, and although we carried chains we didn’t need to use them. We parked the car, geared up in our snowshoes and got to climbing up the hill. There was no trail so we broke our own. We snowshoed up to a high point near John Henge rocks. Our elevation top out was 6,600’. It was a steep, but short climb and enough to give us a good work out. The snow was super deep. We were both in awe of seeing the forest covered in snow at such low elevations. We took in all in and thoroughly enjoyed this gift of an amazingly beautiful early snowfall. I hope this is a precursor of what’s to come this winter!
I am really enjoying this snowshoeing thing! It was a beautiful day, so we decided to venture back into Angeles National Forest taking an alternative route around the recent rock slide on the ACH near Red Box and check out the conditions on Waterman Mountain. The ski lifts had recently been opened, so we knew there would be a good amount of snow. We past the lifts as skiers and snowboarders were just heading into the parking area and parked our car at the usual spot for the Mt. Waterman Trailhead. There was only one other car in the turnout when we arrived, and the air was chilly with an occasional gust of wind. We geared up (There’s a lot more to gear to deal with in winter.) and started up the Mt. Waterman Trail. At the junction with the Fire Road, we decided to head in that direction instead of our usual route. The snow conditions were mixed with sections of crusty ice on top of snow in the shade and a powdery mix in the sun. The snow was deep but packed and the fire road was a bit steep. We got a good workout as we enjoyed the views of snow capped Mt. Baden-Powell in the distance. We took our time and had the route mostly to ourselves. About two miles up we reached the junction with the ski runs. We stopped and watched some of the skiers and snowboarders do their thing. We could have continued on, but decided to take our time and head back. I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of another beautiful winter day!
The mountains are filled with snow! I wanted to take advantage of it while I could sans the crowds of people I knew would be heading up over the weekend. I took the day off on Friday and my husband and I drove to Palm Springs where we took the Aerial Tramway to Long Valley Station to go snowshoeing. We loved it so much the first time we went a few weeks ago, that we purchased our own snowshoes. There was over three feet of snow on top of the mountain and the conditions for snowshoes were excellent. We spoke with the rangers as we filled out our permit before taking off into the wilderness, and they advised to not go any further than Round Valley due to the potential of avalanche. I’d originally planned to go to Wellmans Divide, but since the rangers know these mountains a lot better then we do, we of course, took their advice. The weather was fantastic! It was a bluebird day with not a cloud in the sky. The fresh mountain air felt great and the snow was fresh powder most of the way. We took our time and savored the journey soaking in the beautiful winter scenery. These are the moments I live for! It seemed we reached Round Valley much faster this time. We ventured into the meadow floating atop three feet of powdery snow and breaking trail. It was my favorite part of the day. Just glorious! All too soon it was time to start heading back. We were about a half a mile from Long Valley when my husband’s snowshoe broke. Somehow the rivets popped out and he was left with just the crampon strapped to his left foot. Luckily, we were not too far away from the trailhead, and he was able to hike back without a problem. Lesson learned -- Always carry a field repair kit. Although we both had microspikes with us, they wouldn’t have been very useful with the depth of the snow. Aside from that minor mishap, it was peaceful day to be out on the trails. I left the big mountain with a feeling of gratitude; so happy to have been able to enjoy another perfect day in this beautiful wilderness!
Our first hike of 2019 was to Mount Hillyer. I love this hike. There’s so much going on. Lots of great rock formations and change of scenery along the way. It was 39 degrees at Chilao where we picked up the Silver Moccasin Trail with wind gusts up to 50 mph expected at the summit. We had a great hike up. The breezy day was refreshing and there’s not much exposure on this trail with all the boulders, so we were protected from the wind for most of the route. There was a downed tree on the switchbacks of the Silver Moccasin trail. I’m not sure if it was caused by the winds, but luckily it was easy to maneuver over. As we continued our journey upward, the winds became stronger. My core was warm with all my layers, but for some dumb reason I didn’t wear a bottom base layer under my hiking pants. I don’t know where my head was this morning. I knew there would be a wind chill, and I’m usually the one who is over prepared with too much gear. When we reached the gusty summit, I could feel the tops of my legs getting numb. We hauled butt pretty quickly down off the exposed mountain top. I haven’t felt that numb feeling set in since Pennsylvania when I would spend the entire day at the barn riding and taking care of my horses in temperatures below zero some days! Once out of the big gusts, my legs warmed up and we continued our descent. About 1:30 pm, we heard a loud roar in the sky. As we looked up we saw two B-2 Spirit Stealth Bombers flying overhead. They were probably headed back to base after the Rose Parade. Last year we got to see one of them from the top of Waterman Mountain. I didn’t think we’d get to see that this year, but we actually got to see two of them! It was a great way to begin the New Year!
Today was a nice, low key snow hike around Mt. Pinos. The weather was predicted to be in the upper 30s with wind gusts up to 30 mph. We put on our layers and headed to Los Padres National Forest, which is just about an hour and thirty minute drive from Burbank. We arrived at the Nordic Base around 9:30 am. This is actually a lot later then I usually like to be on the trail, but since this was going to be an easy day with not much mileage to cover, I didn’t mind sleeping in and waiting for the weather to warm up a few degrees. Los Padres is absolutely beautiful in the snow. There was about 2 to 4 inches on the ground. We hiked the trail to the junction with the Vincent Tumamait Trail. The wind was pretty strong on the exposed switchbacks, and we did not continue on to Sawmill Mountain as we’ve done in the warmer months. I took a lot of photos of the twisted limber pines in the snow and enjoyed the views and the crisp, winter air before heading back. It was a perfect winter day and great hike to close out the year.
What an incredible day in Angeles National Forest! I was hoping to get to see more snow before the winter was over, and today I got my wish! I woke up at 5 am and we headed up Angeles Crest Highway just after the sunrise. I didn’t want to leave too early not knowing what the driving conditions would be like. As we got higher up in elevation, we started to see the snow. The roads still had a very light covering, but the driving was fine and there was no ice. It was beautiful just driving along the highway. Our destination was Waterman Mountain. This trail is one of my favorites in the summer and seeing it for the first time in winter was a treat! The pine trees were heavy with snow and icicles. The forest was incredibly serene and peaceful. The only sounds we heard were the birds singing and the ice melting off the majestic pine trees. The air was fresh and the sky was crystal clear. It was a bluebird day for sure. Today was also the first time I’ve ever had the opportunity to photograph snow. When I lived in Pennsylvania, I hadn’t gotten into photography yet. Also, I was just so used to having snow in winter, that I really didn’t think much of it. Well that sure changes when you don’t get to see it anymore. I could not have asked for a more perfect day.
Until I started hiking, I never thought I’d get to see snow here in Southern California. After spending 27 years of my life in Pennsylvania, you’d think I’d be over it. I guess I’m not. This past weekend we drove up through Angeles Forest with the intent to enjoy some snow. The plan was to do a short hike along the PCT from Islip Saddle to the beautiful Little Jimmy Campground. My husband had been feeling under the weather all week, so it wasn’t a good idea to do anything strenuous. When we got to Islip Saddle, however, the wind chill was so cold, we opted out. We got back in the car and headed over to the Blue Ridge Trail. This was one of the first trails we ever hiked in Wrightwood. It’s a great go-to trail when you just want to hike along a mellow trail through a pretty section of forest that will lead you to a nice vista on top. While I wasn’t expecting to be knee deep in snow, I was happy to at least get to see a little bit on some sections of the trail. They want another storm this week, so fingers crossed, Southern California will get to see a little bit more winter!
The plan for today was to hike about 9.7 miles from Inspiration Point to Vincent Gap along the PCT. The temperature was 25 degrees according to the temp gauge on my car when we arrived, and the winds were blowing at about 30 mph. This was going to be a good test to see how well we'd fare on the trail during the colder months and see what else we were going to need as far as layers, gear, etc. When we got out of the car, there was one obvious thing that my husband realized he didn't have... gloves! I knew he wasn't going to be able to do the hike with those winds whipping around the mountain on his bare hands. But rather then abort the mission, we drove over to Grassy Hollow where it's a little less exposed. I gave him my gloves since my fleece has sleeves that cover up most of your hands, and we got on the trail. I really enjoyed hiking in the crisp mountain air. My layering system seemed to work pretty good. The only thing I need to add as far as I can tell right now is a good pair of base layer tights under my hiking pants and a balaclava to cover my face when the wind is kicking up. After about a mile in, we decided to turn around and save the trail for another day when we were more prepared for the weather. Besides, I'd been thinking about a nice cup of hot chocolate covered in sprinkles and whipped cream from the Grizzly Cafe. On the way there, we saw Mountain High Ski Resort was blowing snow. We stopped to check it out. Even though this was a short day, we had a lot of fun getting our first taste of winter in our local mountains.
