Giant Forest With My Daughter

Posted on June 25, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

My daughter and I had a great time on our first road trip with her doing most of the driving. We went to Sequoia, camped at Upper Stony Creek Campground, and hiked the Congress Trail and a few short extensions in Giant Forest the next day. I was in Giant Forest snowshoeing in January and knew it would be a fantastic first trip. The major factor for the hiking component of our trip was to go to a place with phenomenal scenery that did not require a lot of effort to traverse because it was my daughter’s first hike in a while. Our hike of only about 3 miles and 450′ of gain over a mostly paved trail was interestingly diverse for such a short stretch of trail and intensely awe-inspiring. Within the first half mile we came upon the General Sherman Tree–the largest tree in the world (by volume).

General Sherman Tree (notice the people at its base)–click to shrink image to your screen size.

It is hard to convey the size of Giant Sequoia trees (which is why I sized the above photo the way I did). Unlike a skyscraper where one can usually see the top of the building from close by (often from a few feet in front of the entry), the branches and leaves of these trees prevent one from seeing the tree top from anywhere near its trunk. As a result photos looking up from the base of Giant Sequoias usually capture half or less of the tree’s height. Trying to internalize their size is an exercise in viewing them from multiple distances and angles in order to both get far enough away to take in their overall form and close enough to tangibly experience a direct relationship of the size of at least one small part of the tree to oneself.

Kyle sitting on the Chief Sequoyah Tree. Photo by Sarah

Sarah inside the base of the Lincoln Tree.

One of the signs along the trail states that “the largest sequoias in this area are between 1,800 and 3,000 years old.” Wrapping our minds around the reality that these giant objects in the landscape are actually alive and thousands of years old is something I think we are still working on. Sarah pointed out that these trees remind her of the Ents from Lord of the Rings. That they are living and so old feels more like something from science fiction or fantasy than something we could actually touch. Standing next to one of the larger sequoias and imagining that it was alive before I found myself thinking about history and the fact that the older sequoias lived through it (granted they didn’t “witness” anything outside the grove they live in) and how different that is than the presence of inorganic objects on our planet that are just as old or older.

Young sequoias with giants looming large in the background.

With sequoias ranging in age from less than a year old to thousands of years old, the texture of the forest is fascinating to behold. There is a tangible history to it.

Texture of Giant Forest. (Note the people standing next to a fallen giant with a comparatively young sequoia growing out of it).

One of the signs along the trail point out that the sequoias “thick fibrous bark provides superior insulation against fire. With little flammable sap, it doesn’t burn easily”. These trees do get hit by lightening which is far more likely to scar them than burn them to a crisp. The likelihood of the older trees being hit by lightening at least once in their life is high enough that there are numerous trees that are still alive but also have significant features associated with surviving such intense strikes. These features were often something to marvel at as we made our way through the forest.

View up Chief Sequoyah standing inside a hollowed out portion of its trunk.

There really is a lot to look at. For a while, Sarah became fascinated with the surprisingly small sequoia pine cones and enjoyed looking for and admiring the most perfectly shaped ones and sharing them with me. Hard as it was to do, we resisted breaking the rules and taking any home with us.

Pine cone of a Giant Sequoia

We didn’t see many creatures during our trek but we were fortunate to come across a marmot hanging out on some boulders.

Marmot

Of course I took more photos along the Congress Trail and am looking forward to returning to Sequoia in July.

A Busy Summer Ahead

Posted on June 10, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

Valley Bob’s Driving School and I have started teaching my teenage daughter how to drive–one among many causes of the reduced frequency of my posts lately. In California, teenagers (under 18) need to drive for six months with a learner’s permit and adult driver before they can take the test to get a driver’s license. Not wanting to spend our time driving exclusively in LA traffic (we will do plenty of that too), I devised a plan where we would also go on long drives together to interesting places and car camp for the night, hike the next day, and then drive home. Sure, that isn’t the most direct way to get her up to speed to pass her driving test, but we’ve got six months to do the appropriate work driving in LA to get ready for that. I openly admit that I’m channeling her enthusiasm for driving into an opportunity for a prodigious amount of father-daughter bonding time and hopefully lots of wonderful memories a year before she goes off to college.

Little Lakes Valley (photo by my son the week before his second year in college).

I looked for places within a six or seven hour drive from my house since we would only be staying one night at time. The other key factor was having an amazing landscape to walk through that wasn’t too strenuous an endeavor. The places I’ve chosen are:

Sequoia (Upper Stoney Creek Campground), most likely Giant Forest and Moro Rock.

Little Lakes Valley (one of many first come, first serve campgrounds). I went here with my son in 2009 and the hike is fantastic over seven miles with very little gain. Other opportunities for a shorter hike on the first day exists close by.

Cottonwood Lakes (if we can get one of the first come first serve campgrounds, otherwise we will just keep heading north until we get a spot).

Big Pine Creek Campground (Also in the Sierras. Hopefully we will make it to Fifth Lake with a view of Palisade Glacier).

Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest (hopefully going during the week will make it easy to get a first come first serve spot at Grandview Campground).

View from Mt. Whitney

I will also be training to hike to Mt. Whitney with my wife and some friends. We have two overnight backpacking training trips left as well as several modestly strenuous day hikes.

Mt. Baldy Loop: We will hike up to Mt. Baldy via the Baldy Bowl Trail and down to Baldy Notch via the Devil’s Backbone Trail. From there we will stop into the restaurant and decide whether to take the ski lift down or walk to Manker Flats via the access road.

Backpacking trip to Mt. San Jacinto: Day one, Deer Springs Trail / Pacific Crest Trail to Little Round Valley. Day two, Little Round Valley to Mt. San Jacinto, Wellman Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Devil’s Slide Trail to Humber Park.

Cucamonga Peak from Icehouse Saddle

Shuttle hike from Vincent Gap to Mt. Baden-Powell, Mt. Burnham, Throop Peak, Mt. Hawkins, Mt. Islip and ending at Islip Saddle.

Backpacking Trip to the Sierra’s (TBD, as I also need to coordinate meeting up with a friend in Sequoia for part of his week long stay in lieu of a traditional bachelor party).

Three T’s Shuttle Hike (starting from Icehouse Canyon and continuing from Thunder Mountain to Baldy Notch and taking the ski lift down).

Old Mt. Baldy Shuttle Hike (Visitor’s center to Mt. Baldy, down Devil’s Backbone to Baldy Notch, meal at the restaurant, ski lift down).

Mt. Whitney Backpacking Trip (One day at Whitney Portal, one day at Trail Camp, and possibly one day at Lone Pine Lake depending on how we feel after we summit).

So, recently I’ve been pretty busy planning and getting ready to do all that. I’m not sure yet how this level of activity (especially all the overnights) will impact my blogging. I will be doing some kind of post at least weekly and return to my normal pattern sometime in August.

Current Water Conditions In The San Gorgonio Wilderness

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

This post is a follow up to my last post regarding the false information I received from the Mill Creek Ranger Station.

In the comment section of my previous post, John from the blog The Late Bloomer Hiker shared two very helpful links to assist those hiking in the San Gorgonio Wilderness. The first is a water info collector that is a hiker supported information source. Had I known about this site, there is now way I would have carried an extra 14 pounds of water up the trail last Saturday. There is an entry from one week prior stating that the “flow was good.” A later report posted after we began our hike stated “~10 gal/minute, with snowbanks around it.” I tested adding a report and found it to be very easy to do. Obviously, this site will only be effective if hikers report their findings. So, I’m committed to posting a report after every hike I do in the area (which probably won’t many per year as I mostly hike in Angeles Forest). This source is dependent on those of us who hike to take the time to update it ourselves. If you hike in the area, I hope you will join me in updating this resource and letting others know about it

Screenshot of a portion of the Water Info Collector (click to enlarge)

The other resource John shared is the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association which I think also provides valuable information.

I’ve decided to add a hiking links page (link in menu bar at top of this page) that provides links to those sites and hopefully others I learn about that are helpful for hiking in California.

False Information From The Mill Creek Ranger Station

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

With the budget cuts that have so negatively impacted the Forest Service, I understand that a ranger station may not know the answer to a question. We all are dealing with those impacts and a simple “I don’t know” is understandable (though unfortunate and disappointing). However, I don’t understand giving out false information—especially in regards to something like the presence of water at an essential water source. Some minimum standard of assessing the truth value of information should be in place prior to a ranger station passing that information along to the public.

False Information Given

Since I was backpacking with three others on Saturday, I called the Mill Creek Ranger Station Friday afternoon and asked how much water was available at Limber Pine Springs. I was told that water is present but that I needed to bring all the water I required. I went round and round with the person on the phone trying to ascertain what he meant. He just kept repeating the same thing which I found nonsensical. If there is water, why would I want to carry at least 6 extra liters? I let everyone know that we might have a water issue and to bring enough water for the whole trip but that we would also stop by the Mill Creek Ranger Station to get better information in person. The information over the phone didn’t make sense as I’d hiked up the Vivian Creek Trail a few weeks earlier (when I also picked up the permit for this trip) and there was plenty of water then.

On Saturday we stopped by the Mill Creek Ranger Station and got more definitive answers (which turned out to be categorically false). Initially we got a similar response indicating some water existed but that we needed to carry up all the water we would require. None of us wanted to carry up all that extra water, so we talked about how we were backpacking and how much extra water that would be. I told them I’d hiked there before and knew where the spring was and mentioned that even if it wasn’t visible from the trail I’d know where to find its source etc. The more we asked the more definitive they became (including body language like shaking their heads no) telling us it was dry at Limber Pine Springs. They were adamant that we bring up all the water we would need for a two day backpacking trip.

Actual Conditions

It was over 90 degrees at the trailhead and loading up our packs with close to 14 pounds of extra water each was brutal. About a quarter mile up the trail I was already concerned that I was drinking too much water due to the strain of carrying so much extra weight. By the time we reached the Wilderness Boundary sign I was thinking about what part of the trail would be our latest turn back point if we needed to abandon our trip. About a quarter mile later we met a hiker who was coming down from Limber Pine Bench. Although he didn’t make it up to the springs he mentioned that he has hiked this trail for fifteen years and has never seen Limber Pine Springs dry. Sure, we might need to hike up above the trail to reach the springs but he was certain enough water would be flowing to filter. He suggested we pour out our excess water. However, given the certainty presented at the ranger station, we weren’t confident enough to trust the word of one person who didn’t actually see water. Fortunately, within another quarter mile a group of hikers passed us who were coming down from the peak and confirmed that there was plenty of water, that it crossed the trail, and that there was still snow on the trail by the spring. We decided to pour out some water as soon as we got a couple hundred yards up the trail to a flatter area where we could also stop and eat lunch. Along the way we met another group of hikers coming down from the peak that confirmed that there was water and snow at the spring. This further confirmation gave us the confidence to pour out about 6 liters of water each. Even after pouring out our water we asked the same question to each group of hikers passing us on their way down from San Bernardino Peak and got the same response.

Perhaps most surprising was that there was so much water at Limber Pine Springs that we could hear it flowing down the mountain over the sound of our trekking poles at least a couple hundred feet before seeing it cross the corner of trail.

Snow next to Limber Pine Springs (June 2, 2013)

Water flow of Limber Pine Springs (June 2, 2013)

Close up of where I was able to fill a dry sack with about three liters of water in a few seconds– which I filtered at the bench nearby (photo taken June 2, 2013)

Following Up And A Suggestion

This morning (Monday) I called the Mill Creek Ranger Station to let them know what the actual conditions were. Before I could explain why I was calling I was given a more accurate report (though still over cautious enough for me to want to explain exactly what I saw). While explaining what happened to us I learned that someone they knew stopped into the ranger station late Saturday and gave them better information. I was told that prior to that they were just “sharing what they were told.” I find the idea that someone could see the conditions I saw and report back that water was so low that water couldn’t be guaranteed to be there impossible to believe. Further, given the reaction of the hiker who has hiked in the area for the last fifteen years, I find it apathetic (at best) that the ranger station would simply accept such a ridiculous report and share it with the public without confirming its truth value. In our back and forth I learned that there currently aren’t enough rangers to give timely updates on water conditions and that they rely on reports from hikers.

As I was giving the woman on the phone my blog address so she could see the photos and internalize how much water is still flowing at Limber Pine Springs, it occurred to me that a system of asking for photos of water sources from hikers could go a long way in providing accurate information to the public. Everyone is required to get a wilderness permit to hike in the San Gorgonio Wilderness (not doing so could land you a “fine of not more than $5,000 or imprisonment for not more than 6 (six) months, or both”). A large number of people pick up their permits at the Mill Creek Ranger Station. It wouldn’t be that difficult to ask for people to volunteer to take photos and share them so that their reports are verifiable. I’m sure enough people would understand the importance of such a system and happily take the photos that a reliable weekly report would be the result. I suggested this idea to the woman on the phone and also suggested that the ranger station just post a sign at the counter to facilitate getting volunteers.

Granted that idea is “off the cuff,” but something needs to change. If I learn about any change in policy from the Mill Creek Ranger Station, I’ll write a follow up story. I realize one alternative is to not trust any information coming from them but that would make the ranger station a joke. Hopefully they will decide they need to do better than that!

Weekend at Kelly Camp

Posted on May 25, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

I spent last weekend at Kelly Camp. Fortunately I hiked there the week before and already knew there is no water at Kelly Camp. So I already planned my hikes around getting water at Columbine Spring prior to going. This trip was mostly about testing gear and getting more familiar with backpacking for some of the people I’m going to Mt. Whitney with at the end of July.

Icehouse Canyon Trail near Columbine Spring.

The weather Friday was cloudy and I was a little apprehensive that it might rain as the clouds were threateningly dark. Etienne and I hiked through the mist up to Icehouse Saddle where we finally got a glimpse of blue sky shortly after hearing some thunder. The clouds were making it up the canyon and I wasn’t sure if we were above them as much as we were ahead of their path.

Clouds breaking up as seen from the Ontario Peak Trail between Icehouse Saddle and Kelly Camp. (click to enlarge)

At the saddle we contemplated turning back as neither of us was enthusiastic about the prospect of spending the night in the rain. As we were considering our options it appeared that the clouds were breaking up. So we decided to stay the night. Although it was sunny at first at Kelly Camp, mist periodically made it up the mountain with the wind. Fortunately, a little mist was the extent of the moisture we experienced. It got windy and cold early and we sought shelter in our tents much earlier than if it was warmer.

View toward the clouds from the Cucamonga Peak Trail.

On Saturday we hiked down to Icehouse Saddle and headed up the Cucamonga Peak Trail. When we got to the saddle between Buckhorn Peak and Cucamonga Peak we got our first view of the cloud cover below which extended below us as far as we could see. It was a great view that we saw numerous times going up the switchbacks of the trail. However, the clouds looked like they might make their way up the mountain at some point which I would have been more excited about as a possibility if I wasn’t planning to spend another night at Kelly Camp.

View toward Mt. San Gorgonio and Mt. San Jacinto from Cucamonga Peak with clouds breaking up.

We stayed at Cucamonga Peak for a while cooking lunch, enjoying the view, and watching the clouds break up yielding the sunny day the weather report predicted. We made it back down to Columbine Spring ahead of schedule so I hiked with Etienne down to the lower junction with the Chapman Trail where I met my wife and our friend Lorenzo.

View toward Mt. Baldy from the Cucamonga Peak Trail. (click to enlarge)

While Etienne hiked down to the trailhead, the three of us the hiked up to Columbine Spring to get water for the night and next day. We then made it up to a sunny Kelly Camp and enjoyed a much warmer night.

Ontario Peak Trail between Kelly Camp and the saddle with Buckhorn Peak.

On Sunday we were on the trail around 7:00 enjoying the fantastic morning light on the way to Ontario Peak where we stayed a while to snack and enjoy the view.

Kyle enjoying the view from Ontario Peak and Debbie trying to text out daughter. (Photo by Lorenzo)

Kyle enjoying the view from Ontario Peak and Debbie trying to text our daughter. (Photo by Lorenzo)

After that we hiked to Bighorn Peak which provided excellent training going up the final steep slope to the peak and contending with windy conditions that we didn’t experience anywhere else that day.

From Buckhorn Peak we went back to Kelly Camp, cooked lunch, and packed up for our trek back down Icehouse Canyon.

Photos of Cucamonga Peak Trail (multiple trips)

Photos from Cucamonga Peak (multiple trips)

Photos of Ontario Peak Trail (multiple trips)

Photos from Ontario Peak (multiple trips)

Photos of Bighorn Peak Trail (multiple trips)

Photos from Bighorn Peak (multiple trips)