Getting on the train headed for New Mexico. Arrival will be tomorrow afternoon.
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This weekend Jacob and I went to the top of San Gorgonio Mountain. We started at the Fish Creek trailhead about 6 in the evening. To get to our camping spot for the night, we needed to hike in about 5 miles with an elevation gain of about 1,800 feet. Of course, on our way in, we caught the moonrise.  Moonrise on the Fish Creek Trail We made it to camp, put up the tent and fixed dinner. The wind was blowing and it was cold so we went to bed right after dinner. The wind gusted all night. It was like sleeping with several flapping flags continuously making noise. We were going to get up and make oatmeal, but who whats to cook in gusty conditions. As it was, we were up at 5:30 AM and caught the sunrise.  Sunrise at Fish Creek Saddle Camp Soon enough we were making our way towards San Gorgonio. There is one part of the hike that I really did not like. We had to cross some snow. You can see the trail of footprints in the giant snow field. If you cannot see the trail through the snow, click on the picture to make it bigger.  The snow field Then again, there is a picture that I took when we were on the snow field. You may notice a slight pink tinge to the snow. There is actually an algae that lives in the snow and turns it pink. On our way back down the snow was much pinker. The name of the algae is Chlamydomonas nivalis for those of you that want to know.  Crossing the snow field Jacob and I arrived at the top and had our picture taken. It was extremely windy on top. Jacob and myself on San Gorgonio Mountain Just for perspective, the following photo is taken from on top towards the north. You can see Big Bear Lake in the center area. Left of that is the highway that leads from Running Springs to Big Bear. On the right side in the forest at the bottom is Dry Lake, where we were a couple of weeks ago. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.
Part of the trip was to participate in Operation On Target, a Boy Scout Event, where flashes from mirrors are sent from peak to peak. Jacob is operating a mirror and Ron and Jacob are in the place where we can get out of the wind.
Then came the hike back to Fish Creek Camp where we packed up our backpacks and headed back to the trailhead. It was a lot of walking for one day, somewhere around 17 miles. I am just glad to be home where I do not have to listen to the wind blow all night long. Last night I went out for a run as I still prepare for the trek at Philmont Scout Ranch. Phone did not want to work with the GPS so I pulled the battery and took of running. I made it past the gate to Mt Rubidoux and came to a place to turn around. I turned on the application and ran home. Time was 11 minutes and 45 seconds with a distance of 1.2 miles. So I went 2.4 miles in about 25 minutes as I walked a little on the way to the Mt Rubidoux gate. So what type of training takes place the day after running? Sailing . . . Then it was packing as I will be off to the San Gorgonio Wilderness tomorrow evening for a stay at the Fish Creek Saddle Inn with lunch scheduled on top of San Gorgonio. As for the sailing, it was fun while it lasted.  A breezy evening on Lake Evans A few months ago we set out on a hike to Box Springs Lookout which came really close to the “M” above Moreno Valley. However, that day we saw the M. Today, as part of another training hike for Philmont this summer, we went in search of the M. We started at the two trees trail. It is a trail up Box Springs Mountain that is about 1.5 miles up with an elevation gain of just over 1,100 feet. Once we reached the top we to the picnic area and took a break at the tables.  Emily, myself and Matthew It was hot and we were all drinking a lot of water. As we headed up the road to the top we took the Spring Trail that is East of the Road. It is shorter than going up the road and had a quicker elevation gain. It also has an area that you walk through that has plants. Both Emily and I ran into something that left a couple of little blisters on our right forearm. As we stopped at a bench to take a break, Emily pointed at the location of the irritation.  Resting on the Spring Trail in Box Springs Mountain Park Did I say it was getting hot? It was, and we drank more water and Power-aid. The Spring Trail met up with the road that continued on towards Box Springs Lookout. I thought about getting out of the heat, but Matthew had always wanted to go to the M so we kept on. Rather than go up the short length to the lookout, we kept going to the far end of the ridge. We then took a small trail south and found the M where Matthew found a spot to rest. It was the M I C (see) rather than the C I saw this time.  Matthew on the M of Moreno Valley We found some shade to rest in. Emily was not sweating enough and she was hot. We figured that she had not drunk enough water, so we had her drink more before we made our way back. As we made out way down the road Emily seemed ever focused on one thing. A solution to a problem that was easily handled in other places for us boys.  Relief on the trail back to the car We continued our hike back to the Two Trees Trail and then down to the truck. It was a good hike that was about 8 miles long. Weather could have been cooler, but that is why you drink lots of water. Today I thought it would be a good idea to get some more exercise. My usual direction is Mt. Rubidoux. However, that is not an option as it is closed today so that the fireworks can be set up in an attempt to catch the hill on fire which is a yearly tradition. As for today, I headed to the Two Trees trailhead. Upon my arrival, I took note of how hot it was. Additionally, no one else was parked at the trail head. it was close to 8:30 am and 84 degrees Fahrenheit. I finished my first liter of liquid and I got out of the truck and headed up the trail. There were birds singing and it seemed like a typical morning. As I climbed up the trail it grew warmer. There was a nice breeze which helped. Just after 9 I stopped at Cassinia Springs and guzzled close to another liter. It was nice to stand in the shade, even if some of it was provided by an enemy – Poison Oak.  Poison Oak It was getting warmer, probably over 90 degrees. I was still amazed at all the birds singing. As for the lizards there had been several out sunning themselves. There was also several bushes that had the bees buzzing. One is the California Buckwheat plant.  Bee on the California Buckwheat I was keeping an eye out for the slithering type – snakes. Had not seen one so far. Just kept on going up the trail. Soon enough I reached the top and made my way to the shade and picnic area. I needed to check out the map of the area to see if there was really an Edison Trail. There is an Edison Trail, just not the “trail” we took on one of my last trips up Two Trees Trail. So the scouts were right, it was not a trail, just a path to get your socks full of fox-tails. I made my way back to the upper trail head to find the Geocache How Many Trees? Oh, Two. I had to think what trees as I carefully used my hiking poles to explore cracks in the rocks for the hiding place of the cache. No reason to stick a hand in a hole in a rock in snake country. Of course, the only reptile by this cache was a fat lizzrd resting on a rock. Soon enough I found the cache and extracted it from it’s hiding spot. I signed the log and returned it to its resting spot.  Fat lizard sunning on a rock The next cache in the area is Have A Drink On Me It required a little walking through the grass to a rock outcropping with some bushes around it. This one was easier to find and I quickly signed the log. I made my way back to the road across the dry grass on snake watch and much to my surprise I found a small plant with blue flowers hiding amongst the dry grass.  Blue flowers hiding in the dry grass I made my way back down the trail to a bench I had passed on the way up. I sat down and relaxed for a few minutes before making my way back down the trail. It was a good day for a hike in the local mountains.  A place to relax on a warm day As I made my way down the trail, I took time to look at things that I have not seen before. Perhaps it is that I am in better shape and can enjoy what is around me without thinking, how much further. Then again, it was 10:30 and close to 95 degrees out and the light breeze felt great. As I made my way down I saw this window in the rock.  Yellow flowers through a rock window Soon enough I made it back to the spring for a short rest in the shade. There was someone there that was making their way up the trail taking a rest there as well. I was glad that I was not headed up the trail as the temperature was getting warmer, or should I say hotter. When I got close the the truck, the heat was down right hot. It was well over 95 degrees and probably lose to 100 degrees. I would think that the birds, bees and other animals were taking refuge in the shade by now as I was taking refuge in the cab of the truck with the air conditioning on full blast. As the evening cooled down Jacob and I went down to Lake Evans for a little sailing.  Jacob on the dock with boat 1 and boat 8 ready to go The wind was moderate and we sailed around for a hour or so. We even took time to float in the middle of the lake and talk about thing you talk about in the middle of the lake.
Tonight Janet and I went to the Thursday evening barbeque and sail. We had a little to eat and then we came home. I wanted to sail, but I needed to do some exercise. It was off to Mt. Rubidoux running with some walking and jogging along the way. The air was cool and there was a light breeze. The sun was still about a half hour from setting so I declined to take a picture. As for measuring the productivity of the exercise and eating less, last time I weighed in I had gained some weight so I have not visited the scale lately. Perhaps tomorrow morning to see if my weight is up or down. Yesterday was a long day at the lake. It was the Riverside City Council Regatta. We got everything set up in time and the event went off without a hitch. I usually have a child there to take photos so I can post them on the blog. However, they were all off doing other things this year. As for the photos, there is a movie from The Press-Enterprise. They did a good job putting together the video. The dog bark in the evening now and then which does not bother us. Occasionally, they get downright noisy and sometimes it is late at night. One of our neighbors said they were going to call us in the middle of the night when the dogs were barking. I let the neighbor know that the dogs are barking at animals beyond their control. If the animal was within their control we would know about it the next morning. For example, our neighborhood is less two opossums because they acquired the ambient temperature of the morning air and were not playing opossum. Another example is one night the dogs were barking outside our window. I looked out to see what they were barking at. It was something in the front yard. I made my way out front, looked around the corner of the house and saw the tail of a skunk. The dogs and the skunk were in a standoff facing each other and I was at the business end of the skunk. I thought to myself that I was not going to change the course of history so I went back inside and luckily the skunk wandered off the other direction. Then there are the raccoons. A couple of years ago there was a mother raccoon and three babies wandering around the neighborhood. They live in the neighbor’s backyard. I have seen them on the roof of the neighbor’s garage and house. Mama raccoon is too big for any trap that I have. I tried to trap the youthful offenders with no luck. Now that time has passed, we have more baby raccoons in the neighborhood. Scott reported a few nights ago that mama and the babies were outside his window in the tree. He was not the only one that was looking at the raccoons. The two dogs were sitting below the tree waiting for some action. My thought was, just what we need, more baby raccoons next door. So back to the beginning, when the neighbor complained about the dogs barking, I asked if the neighbor was going to do something about the raccoons in their yard, the very raccoons that the dogs bark at. Hence, the barking heard at 7:00 am this morning. I looked out the window and I could see mama raccoon trying to walk past the neighbor’s house, safely behind the chain link fence separating the two yards. Mama coon would walk out, the dogs would bark, the fence would rattle, mama would fluff up and show her teeth, the dogs would really bark and mama would retreat. This was repeated a few times. During this barking ballad I did pick up a strange noise that was coming from closer to the front yard so I investigated. Lo and behold there was a baby raccoon treed in a yucca plant about seven feet up. I moved the dogs further in the back yard as to let mama rescue her young one. We must protect the little ones, even if in the future the dogs will continue to bark and it very well could be a “teenage” raccoon causing problems.  Baby racoon "treed" in a yucca plant There is a time when one has to say, “Do I really want more exercise tonight?” Last night I went for a run/walk of about 3 miles. I felt good afterwards even if I got a little winded when I ran. Tonight I determined that I still needed to exercise. Perhaps a little upper body workout. If I had the tiller in one hand and the sheet in the other hand, would that constitute exercise? Sounds good to me.  Sailing on Lake Evans I saw this cartoon this morning and it brought a smile to my face.  by Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner This Fathers Day weekend was a little difficult. Two years ago, on the Friday evening before Fathers Day Jacob and I were headed out for a Boy Scout overnight campout at Blue Ridge and then a hike up Mt Baden Powell the next morning. Dad passed away just four days after our trip up to the top of Mt. Baden Powell. I found myself driving up the road into the San Bernardino Forest thinking about my father. I thought about the times I spent with my father as a young boy. I hoped that someday, my boys and daughter will have fond memories of the time we spent together as well as the time they spent with their grandfathers and great-grandfather. I looked back and grabbed a few of the old pictures of the children with dad, grandpa or great-grandfather. In 2000 Scott was visiting his Great-grandfather Rogers and had a Christmas morning surprise, snow. He thought it would be fun to shovel a little snow. I also have taken time to think about the last Fathers Day I spent with my father two years ago. My brothers Alan, Wayne. And Eric and I gathered around our father’s bedside. We talked about the years that had passed, the fun that we had. We talked about the river trip that we took together in 2004. The five of us had a great time. I also remember that we sang to our father on that day. It put a big smile on Dad’s face.  Dad Again, the year has quickly passed, I remember back to Dad passing away days after Fathers day. In some ways it feels like two years ago was a long time ago and in other ways it feels like last week. This Fathers Day, I woke up to my lovely wife who wished me a Happy Fathers Day. A hour later I received a text from Emily wishing me a Happy Fathers Day as she was on her way to work. Scott gave me a big hug and wished me a Happy Fathers Day as he and friends went to the beach for the afternoon. Eric received a call from work that they wanted him to come in. He quickly got ready, gave me a hug and wished me a Happy Fathers Day. This evening, he came home, wished me a Happy Fathers Day and went out with some friends. Jacob and I spent most of the day together. He wished me a Happy Fathers day a few times throughout the day. Overall it has been a good day. This afternoon Jacob and I arrived back in Riverside after an overnight backpacking adventure. The adventure started Crew 6 at the trailhead for the South Fork Trail which leads into the San Gorgonio Wilderness. We started there with a group shot at about 4:30 PM
We then headed up the trail in a small cluster. One of the boys, who had been to dry lake a couple of weeks before was telling the other boys about the killer switchbacks. There were also little gold wrappers that kept showing up on the trail. A Ziploc bag was employed to capture the golden wrappers and it was to be carried by the person that was not following Leave No Trace principles by leaving a trace. It was passed between two boys that continually were dropping wrappers. In addition, if any of us had trash, we kindly placed it in the bag and handed it back to the keeper.
Some of the boys caught on that they needed to walk in single file when the trail narrowed and others did not. A couple of times a boy would find himself off to the side of the trail and would quickly merge back onto the trail. It was imperative to walk side by side to carry on a conversation. However, there were some that could walk in single file and still carry on a conversation even if it did not seem entirely natural.
The beginning seemed to have a moderate elevation gain. Some areas were more difficult and other pleasant, if one could call walking uphill pleasant.
There was also an opportunity to see some nice flowers and scenery if you were looking. Of course the Crew Historian captured over 300 random snapshots.
The next stop was going to be where the wilderness boundary sign was. The youth that had been to Dry Lake a few weeks before assured all that the wilderness sign was just a little ways up the hill. Being there before, I thought differently. I just let the banter of, “Oh, it is just a little further” and “How much is a little further go back and forth. In the overall length of the trip, it was just a little bit. However, to those that had not been to Dry Lake, it was taking some time to get there. The proverbial old “Are we there yet” was alive and well. Soon enough we made it to the wilderness sign for a much needed break. The adults were happy to take a break as well. We had made it to Poop-Out Hill, but we still had further to go.
Soon enough, we were back on the trail. The shadows were getting longer and there was a cool breeze which felt great.
Everyone was wondering when we were going to get to those killer switchbacks. The answer was, after we cross all of the water.
So between some of the water crossings, we took a break to eat some. We had traveled just over three miles and it was now 6:30. The pace of 1.5 miles an hour would put us at our destination after 9 PM. And we still had those switchbacks. Of course there was more water and more stream crossings.
As we climbed up higher we could see that the sun was setting in the west as well as the last light painting the peaks of the San Gorgonio Wilderness south of us around 7:30 PM.
We continued on hiking after the sun went down. There was enough light that as we made it to Dry Lake, you could see the water and the mountains behind them. It was a beautiful sight. It was also amazing all you could see with the faint light. We found our campsite in total darkness, dropped out packs and began to make camp. Once the first light was turned on, we became fairly blind and could not see much other than what was lit up and the stars above. Water was pumped and dinner was made. Soon enough, the youth were headed to their tents. Jacob and I sleep on a groundcloth and watched the stars. Jacob was looking for man made satellites in the sky. Around 11 PM we stopped talking and started thinking about sleep. The moon had come out and the night sky was not as brilliant. The sky grew brighter. I rolled over and looked to see Jacob bright eyed in his sleeping bag. He had been watching the sunlight begin to touch the peaks of the mountains around us. We got up to go take pictures in the morning light of the mountains around us across Dry Lake. The moon was still up as the sun was shining brightly above Charlton and Little Charlton Peak.
For a lake that dries up every year and some years really does not have any water in it, it was surprising to see a mother duck out with her young ducklings.
Of course, back at camp, everyone was still asleep.
Jacob and I thought it would be a good use of time to travel to Lodgepole Springs to get more water for the crew.
We arrived back at camp and soon enough the young men emerged to get breakfast going.
After breakfast we began to strike camp. As we left the area of the Lodgepole campground about 8:15 AM we took a group shot in front of some snow that was still sitting on the ground.
The trip back down was much quicker than going up. It only took us three hours before we were all back at the vehicles on in the trailhead parking lot.
We leisurely drove down the mountain to receive the antidote for freeze dried backpacking food. Of course, some made it in to the A&W with their boots on and other preferred stocking feet. This was a great trip with much learning for the crew members that will be going to Philmont this summer. Some dropped thing on the trail, wrappers, water bottles and other things that should have been attached to their packs better. Some learned about the padded hip belt and how important that was, especially after having their pack fully supported on their shoulders for a few miles. We also learned to hike in a group. We were complimented by a ranger on how we kept together because there were other groups spread out on the trail. They also learned that they can hike, with backpacks on for over seven miles with over a 2000 foot elevation gain and have fun. I know that Jacob and I had a great time. I have been trying to get in better shape for the past few months. My weight is lower than it has been in years and physically I am in better shape and stronger. Occasionally, I will eat more than I should for lunch so I will have a can of green beans for dinner. Tonight Emily was over for a visit and she felt the same way and also had a can of green beans for dinner. Turning the clock back several months, I did a little technical support for senior citizen that was having problems with her computer. The problem was solved and she said she would get me a pie for my help. I really did not think about it after that, until the phone rang last night. She was going to deliver a lemon cream pie for the help I gave her. I told her that she really did not have to do that and she insisted. The pie arrived. Emily and I looked at it, both of us knowing that we had indulged ourselves earlier in the day and had eaten a conservative diner. I determine that I would be proper to have a small slice. Emily tasted the top and then the filling. She determined that she would also have a slice, albeit, a generous slice. I determined that I was not to be outdone, and had a second slice. When life serves you a Lemon Cream Pie – eat it . . .  Lemon Cream Pie The graduation ceremony for River Springs Charter School was this afternoon. Eric was able to walk across the stage and receive his pretend diploma along with the rest of the graduating class of 2011. All I have to say is that they grow up quickly.  Eric walking across the stage |
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