I was out of town most of last week and had a great time hiking in both Cleveland National Forest and Los Padres National Forest. While I was here, I was able to attend a volunteer meeting to learn more about trail building/maintenance opportunities in Angeles National Forest. Spending several nights away from home got me thinking about the old story about determining which of two frogs knows more about a well. The first frog lived in one well his entire life physically crawling over every portion of it numerous times. The second frog had never seen that particular well before but spent his entire life visiting ponds, lakes, streams, forests, cities, and other wells before arriving at the well where the first frog lives. I’ve had several people tell me that story and I always respond that the second frog knows more about the first frog’s well.

With that in mind, I believe I will know this forest better if I make numerous visits to other places. Most of the time I will not post stories about those experiences, but I’ve decided I will usually post photos in the other places section of this blog and at least add one photo to my journal of hikes section with stats etc.

View From Monument Peak (click to enlarge)

Last Tuesday I was treated to an introductory hike of the Laguna Mountains guided by my friend Scott (who I met on Mt. Baldy last year). Scott wrote about our hike on his blog.

Red Rock to Gibralter Dam (click to enlarge)

Last Friday through Sunday I went camping with family and friends. All of us went on a short hike to Red Rock on Saturday. On that hike I talked to someone who told me about a good extension to continue hiking from Red Rock along the Santa Ynez River Valley to Gibralter Dam—which most of us did on Sunday.

Upper Oso Canyon to Nineteen Oaks Campground

After the first hike to Red Rock on Saturday, some of us also hiked Upper Oso Canyon to Nineteen Oaks Campground.