#040. Hike 10 new trails (4 of 10)

New Hiking Trail #4

Who: the extreme things crew

What: hiking, canyoneering, rapelling, getting really wet

Why: It seemed like more fun than spending my Saturday house cleaning

When: 03/20/10

Where: Rubio Canyon, Altadena, CA

Step 1:  Hike to the top of Rubio Canyon and collapse take a short rest on the ground.

Step 2:  Get snapshot of the view.

Step 3:  Rappel down 90 foot waterfall.

Steps 4-9:  Rappel down 6 more (smaller) waterfalls.

Step 10:  Get in 1 "Brenda pose"



 Step 11:  Hike out wet and happy.  Drive home.  RELAX.  Begin looking for other places to do this again because this, my friends, kicked ass.

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#040. Hike 10 new trails (3 of 10)

New Hiking Trail #3

Who: the extreme things crew

What: hiking, rope climbing and swinging, scrambling, and hip deep water crossings

Why: I love a good hike!

When: 03/07/10

Where: Santa Ynez Canyon in Topanga State Park, Pacific Palisades, CA

I really liked this trail and need to get back to it again soon.  


The view started out with grassy open fields...and a few deer if you look closely at the center of the photo.



It may say no bikes, but we saw some crazy mountain bikers getting ready to head down just as we reached the top and finished our hike.  By the size of their calves, I would have to say this wasn't their first time doing this!

View before heading down the trail into the canyon

Things started to get a little more woodsy the further down we went.

Near the bottom we reached a stream which followed along the trail and had to be crossed several times.

One of the stream crossings and small climbs.  (I'm in the front with the orange pack.)

Waterfall!

First rope climb up the rock just to the left of the waterfall.  Out of the 30 or so people on this hike, my friend J and I were the only females to climb this while the rest sat and ate lunch.  Come on ladies (and half the gentlemen), this isn't called extreme things for nothing!

Another one of the crossings after the first rope climb.  There was a rope to swing on, but the angle was too awkward to get across...so we decided to just walk right through.  It was around hip-deep.  J and I were the first ones through which earned us the honor?? of being called bad ass chicks.  I think that's a compliment.

Another rope/rope ladder climb.  This one was HARD and only 4 of our now 10-ish crew made it to the top.  Some didn't try out of fear that the rope was not ours and others simply could not make it.  I think I finally found something my body knows how to do right and this was something I really needed...

Back at the end of the hike.  So pretty!

And then off to a BBQ pit for lunch and a beer.  A beautiful way to spend a Sunday morning.

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#040. Hike 10 new trails (2 of 10)

New Hiking Trail #2

Who: the extreme things crew

What: Snowshoe hike, tram ride

Why: Because it was snow that I didn't have to shovel

When: 02/20/10

Where: Mt. San Jacinto in Palm Springs, CA

Yeah, so this one happened way back in February.  There will be a few of these.  It's okay though because I wouldn't want to risk losing my Queen of Procrastination title.  For the record, I have officially completed all 10 of my hikes and now just need to document them.  Exciting, huh?  Right.  And on to the pictures.

So we started off here.

And we needed to get to here.

So we hopped on this cool tram looking thing and went for a ride.

It didn't matter where you stood because the floor inside rotated around and around.  One minute you were looking at your (hopeful) destination.

And the next at the view from where you came.

The idea to build this now historical civil engineering landmark came about in 1935 by an electrical engineer named Francis F. Crocker.  If you know anything about Palm Springs, you know that it is blistering and unbearably hot in the summer.  Ol' Francis wanted a way to get out of that heat and up in the cool of the mountains.  Of course getting approval, designing, funding, and building this very much got in the way.  During the eventual construction the engineering challenge of the tramway earned it the label of "eighth wonder of the world'' because of the ingenious use of helicopters in erecting four of the five supporting towers.  Crocker's dream finally came true with the first inaugural ride on September 14, 1963.  Okay so I likes me a little engineering anyway, but this thing was pretty cool to see working in action.  Thank you, Mr. Crocker from a fellow engineering nerd (who is much less creative and ambitious), but who is always up for a good adventure on a mountaintop.

Childhood flashbacks of snow shovels were short-lived when I remembered we were only there to play.  That was some deep snow, my friends.

The views were incredible and the trail pretty strenuous.

But I still managed to get a "Brenda pose" in (snowshoes and all)

After a few hours, the weather looked a little more like this and we were ready to head back down the hill.

Fortunately Frank's new threads (which he bought on clearance and couldn't believe his luck because it was one of his favorites) were bright enough to light up our way.  Go Frank.

Of course with the usual tone of this group, we stayed warm with a couple rum shots thanks to our friend Trails followed by a stop to the mountain top bar for a celebratory beer.

Great day.  Good fun.  And new hike #2 is officially done.

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#040. Hike 10 new trails (1 of 10)

New Hiking Trail #1

Who: the extreme things crew

What: hiking, caving, climbing, scrambling

Why: It sounded like a good idea at the time

When: 01/09/10

Where: Las Flores Canyon - Pasadena, CA

So I've known there were trails in this canyon, but the caves were a new thing. Granted they are not "on" any of the trails so I likely never would have thought to look for them, let alone crawl inside to check them out, but I went with a great group and fearless outdoorsman leader (who also is part of a search and rescue crew) so I felt in good hands.

The first cave we went into required a 25-ish yard full belly crawl. I can belly crawl just fine, but entering head first into this tiny little opening requires one to have their head together. The cave is pitch black sans the headlamps we wore and we do live in coyote-skunk-mountain lion-rattlesnake territory so um, yeah, there's that. The crawl was hard on the elbows and forearms because there were a lot of little rocks on the ground. There was a cool old mining car in this cave, but as luck would have it there were also mice - some dead and some alive. They didn't bother me and I would say I steered clear of them, but really, where else was I going to go - there was a person blocking the way ahead of me and a person blocking the way behind me and no room to move on the sides so I was pretty much committed...you can use whatever definition of committed you feel best suits this situation. This is not a thing for someone with any claustrophobic tendencies!!

The cave itself was pretty cool and was better once I was able to stand. It went from belly crawl to duck walk to hunchback to standing in about 50 yards. The walls were pretty "sparkly", but I won't even attempt to play geologist as to what I was looking at.

Me climbing back out of the first cave covered in filth


So getting to the other 2 caves was well off any beaten path and required some free climbing. There were not a lot of places to get a good foot hold on some of the walls so the person behind would spot hold the foot of the person in front of them for a bit. If you look at the top right, you can see one of the guys holding a stick. This was used to help people pull themselves up towards the end of the steeper climbs


The opening of cave #2 - no belly crawl, but a nice duck walk for a bit


Climbing to cave #3 was more of the same as cave #2. Only one person up at a time and a bit of waiting as there was only enough room for a couple people on each new "ledge".


Inside cave #3 - this one was heavenly and required no crawling or duck walking


Me inside a cave in all my dork gear, covered in filth, and looking as nasty as can be


So the only thing worse than climbing up all those steep rock walls was knowing we had to climb right back down. This required a lot of "butt sliding", leaps of faith, and a slight bit of free fall for those of us of the shorter variety. I'm right up there in front trying to figure out my next move.

As much fun as this caving thing was for me, it doesn't hold a candle to the after-caving lunch. Let's just say the restaurant we went to had a 3 margarita limit posted at the bar...but they managed to serve us pitchers of that potent concoction. This part of the story allegedly involves lost people, lost keys, hours of sitting on a curb and shopping bench followed by some awesome Thai food. I don't think we need to talk about which role I found myself cast into...

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