My First Hike of 2014

Posted on January 20, 2014 by Kyle Kuns

I finally stopped coughing up lung cookies and got my first hike of the year under my belt this past Saturday. I hiked solo to Muir Peak from the Cobb Estate. Although I was a little huffy puffy and slow having gotten out of shape due to injury, it was wonderful to be back in the forest.

At 11.6 miles and 2,947′ of gain, it was a good start to training for my planned High Sierra Trail hike this summer. My IT bands passed the test with no pain on the hike, no Aleve, and no soreness the next day (though I discovered my calves are almost as out of shape as my cardio).

Sunset from the Middle Sam Merrill Trail.

Getting a late start turned out to be fortuitous. I enjoyed a great sunset as I made it down the Sam Merrill Trail and was treated to city lights on my way down from Echo Mountain. I feel ready to begin training in earnest and will now start hiking twice a week.

My Ten Best Hiking Experiences of 2013

Posted on December 31, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

Honorable Mention: Icehouse Canyon to Icehouse Saddle and back via the Chapman Trail.

View just below Icehouse Saddle.

I haven’t made it back into the forest regularly since injuring myself. Of the 77 hikes I’ve done this year, only 8 have taken place after my IT band injury became too extreme to ignore any longer after finishing my Mt. Whitney hike on August 1st. Those 8 only add up to about the same mileage I did over 4 days at the Grand Canyon. My injury combined with some personal stuff kept me away from the forest and my blog.

Last Sunday I decided to go on a solo hike in one of my favorite areas of Angeles Forest–Icehouse Canyon. Part of what makes the place so great is the plethora of choices on has to continue on past Icehouse Saddle if one of three directions leading to Cucamonga Peak, Ontario Peak, or Mt. Baldy. So, I didn’t need to commit to much of anything when I started from the trailhead.

Adding to my enjoyment of just being in the forest was the fact I hadn’t hiked Icehouse Canyon before during this time of year. Some of the views opened up a bit as the deciduous trees have lost all their leaves, it was much colder, the light was different because the sun is at a lower angle this time of year, and the fallen leaves added some vibrant color to the forest floor. I spent a lot of time thinking about 2013 and what I’m hoping for in 2014. My knees handled the trip excellently, though the left one was a little sore the following day. In addition to the awesome terrain; being back in the forest, reflecting, and my knees holding up were what put this hike on this list. It’s still probably going to be a few months before I can consider hiking on back to back days. I’m hoping to be able to hike the High Sierra Trail (73.5 miles from Sequoia to Mt. Whitney and finishing at Whitney Portal) in summer 2014.

10. Car Camping Trip Staying at Upper Oso Campground

Red Rock to Gibralter Dam

This was a three day-two night trip in Los Padres National Forest. If was the first overnight “training” trip for many of us planning on hiking Mt. Whitney. Over the three days, we (me, Debbie, Lorenzo, Etienne, Camila, Chloe, Olivia, and Roxanne) tested out gear and went on several short hikes. The best one was from Red Rock to Gibralter Dam where we got a great introduction to the Santa Ynez River Valley.

9. Monument Peak, Laguna Meadow Loop.

Big Laguna Trail between Noble Canyon Trail and Water-of-the-Woods.

My friend Scott guided me on this hike. For me, It was a great introduction to the Laguna Mountains. We had lunch on Monument Peak where I fixated on a breathtaking view of the Anza Borrego Desert. We hiked along the Pacific Crest Trail for a while and by the time I was trekking through Laguna Meadow I was blown away by the range of experiences especially on a hike without that much elevation gain. At 15.1 miles with only 1750′ gain, this was our last training hike together before our Grand Canyon Trip.

8. Sequoia: Congress Trail with side trip to the Lincoln Tree

Near junction between Congress Trail and Alta Trail.

I found myself in Sequoia a lot this year. I find hiking through a forest filled Giant Sequoia’s to be one of the most spectacular experiences I’ve had hiking. The fact that these huge trees are living organisms can be tough to wrap one’s mind around. The Congress Trail is a very easy hike. In terms of high reward for little effort, it’s pretty hard to beat–which is why I wanted to take my daughter there. We had an great time father-daughter bonding, car camping at upper stony creek campground and trekking through this part of Giant Forest.

7. Mt. San Jacinto

Mt. San Jacinto Peak Scramble

This was an overnight backpacking trip where we (me, my wife, and Lorenzo) spent the night at Little Round Valley Campground which we all thought we excellent. We hiked up the Marion Mountain Trail, ate dinner at the peak under moonlight, and hiked back down to our campsite training for our planned 3:30 am start for our upcoming Whitney Trip. My wife pulling off peak scrambling down from the summit at night (a first for her) was almost as impressive as the terrain.

6. A night alone on the summit of Mt. San Gorgonio.

Sunset from in front of the bump on Mt. San Gorgonio where I ate dinner.

Among the advantages of hiking on a weekday is it is possible to find yourself alone in some amazing places in nature. The summit of Mt. San Gorgonio is one of them and I was treated to a truly spectacular evening. The following day I hiked down the remarkable Sky High Trail (still covered in patches of snow) meeting my friend Scott at Dry Lake which offered me the amazing opportunity to traverse the mountain range.

5. Little Lakes Valley

Little Lakes Valley

This trip was another great car camping experience with my daughter. We stayed at Rock Creek Campground–which was excellent. In my view, Little Lakes Valley is a phenomenal introduction to the Eastern Sierras. The trail from Mosquito Flat to Morgan Pass is remarkable in how much of the terrain is lake, stream, and/or meadow. Starting out at over 10,000′ in elevation and making it up to over 11,000′ on a fairly gradual 3.5 mile one way trip to Morgan Pass yields an incredible opportunity to experience the high country of the Sierras with comparatively little effort.

4. Alta Peak

Alta Trail, JCT Alta Meadow to Alta Peak

We (my wife, Etienne, and I) did this as a training hike for Mt. Whitney. For those living in the LA area who hike San Gorgonio, San Jacinto, and Mt. Baldy as Whitney training, I would add this to the list or replace any one of the above with this one–especially if your Whitney plan is multi-day. We started at the Sherman Tree Trail, hiked up the Alta Trail where the view at Panther Gap is stunning. We spent the night at Mehrten Meadow (though in the future I’d try to make it to Alta Meadow) and the following day hiked to the peak and then back down taking the trail to Lodgepole. The view from Alta peak was incredible and includes a view of Mt. Whitney for appropriate inspiration.

3.Snowshoeing in Giant Forest.

Moro Rock Crescent Meadow (road) January 2013

This was my first return to Sequoia since the mid 1970’s. Scott and I car camped at Potwisha Campground (where it got freezing cold at night). In January, with a temperature reading of 6 degrees at the trailhead, Scott and I were treated to phenomenal experience snowshoeing through Giant Forest. I was completely blown away and saw the place as Nature’s Version of New York City.

2. Mt. Whitney via Whitney Portal

Mt Whitney 2013.

This was a truly remarkable trip. It ranks second only because I went last year as well. Otherwise it’s really a coin toss with number one. This was the culmination of a lot of intense training with my wife for over a year as she went from novice hiker to backpacker. We we joined by our good friends Etienne and Camila. I never got around to blogging about it. The experience was radically different than what I had the year before. This more than any other hike instilled in me the impact of what we bring to a hike as a key component toward what we experience. I added lots of photos and dated them so it’s easy to see what was from 2012 versus 2013. Of potential interest to others is the scouting I did for campsites near Consultation Lake, where I might stay at the end of my hoped for High Sierra Trail trip in summer 2014.

1. The Grand Canyon rim to rim and back again.

The Grandeur of the South Kaibab Trail as seen just below the Tonto Platform.

This was a four day backpacking trip I did with my friend Scott. It was a phenomenally diverse experience. I was a surprised by it’s intimacy as I was impressed by all the big things it’s been described as being. For me, the best stretch was the North Kaibab Trail, but in many ways that’s also a coin toss. It is clear why it is regarded as one of the “wonders of the world”. I wrote about 13 things that I think make it so, but there are significantly more than that …

Preparing To Return To The Forest

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

I’m looking forward to returning to the forest on Thursday or Friday. It’s been a long recovery from Iliotibial Band Syndrome. My only foray into the forest since August 1st was a short 3 mile walk to Switzer Falls on September 26th. It was more difficult than I expected and I knew more rest was needed as the band tightened up where it connects with my knee and I was sore there the next day. In addition to trying to heal, numerous other matters cropped up that also played a role in keeping me away from hiking and blogging.

Butterfly near Switzer Falls

I finally got around to updating my hiking journal today to reflect the addition of my short September walk with my friend Bryan. I chose the photo of the butterfly above to represent it. I recall really enjoying watching this butterfly from below from a vantage point in the shade with a view of the light from the sun shinning through its wings. Admittedly, I didn’t notice the tongue sticking out until I got home and looked at my photographs. I think my knee is going to hold up this time (considering it did well touring Hills and Stairs University–aka Humboldt State University–with my wife and daughter last week) and I expect to be blogging regularly again soon.

Enduring An Extended Injury Time Out

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

For a couple months leading up to summiting Mt. Whitney with my wife and a couple of our good friends, my knees started hurting. It was a different kind of pain than I’ve experienced in the past. My knees felt normal when hiking or playing tennis but hurt to the touch when I wasn’t active. Early on, the pain would go away after a day or two of inactivity. However, by the time I left for Mt. Whitney the pain wasn’t going away, but I still only felt pain when I touched my knees. So, I decided not to cancel my trip, which I had trained for since January, and had a fantastic time without feeling pain while hiking until passing Mirror Lake on the way down. At the time I didn’t think much of it. I was actually less sore than I was on last year’s trip.

View east from Mt. Whitney on August 1, 2011. The haze in the Owens Valley is from smoke from fires further north.

After cooling down from the hike, the pain I experienced to the touch was more intense than I had felt before and I was even feeling pain when not touching my knees. By the time I woke up the next morning the pain was pretty intense no matter what I did and I knew I would need to find out what was going on and commit to whatever downtime was required to heal properly. It turns out I have Iliotibial Band Syndrome which is a common injury related to overuse. This surprised me a little because I hiked significantly less mileage and gain leading up to this year’s trip than I did for last years. After thinking about it a long time, I realized the key difference was I did significantly more hiking with a fully loaded backpack pack on consecutive days this year than last year which resulted in less rest days between weekly trips. Fortunately, surgery isn’t required, but the amount of downtime needed to heal is significantly more than I hoped it would be.

View from Little Lakes Valley. This was the last trip Sarah and I were able to do for our father-daughter bonding while teaching her to drive. My injury and a couple things earlier made us change our plans.

View from Little Lakes Valley. This was the last trip Sarah and I were able to do for our father-daughter bonding/teaching her to drive undertaking. My injury and a couple other things earlier (including our car breaking down) made us change our plans. One thing we learned was not to wear black leggings in area with Mosquitoes. Sarah was bit mercilessly through her black leggings but hardly at all on her exposed skin. I later searched on the internet and verified that black attracts mosquitoes. (click to enlarge).

When I realized I was probably a couple months away from hiking again, my enthusiasm for blogging disappeared. In fact, so did any desire to read about what others were doing because it only made me miss the trails more. I’m feeling a lot better now and expect to be on the trails again by the end of this month at the latest. By then I will be blogging regularly again. Until then, if I post anything, it will be about hikes I’ve done earlier in the year or updates to galleries etc.

View on the way to Alta Peak our last overnight training hike prior to going to Mt. Whitney.

View on the way to Alta Peak from our last overnight training hike prior to going to Mt. Whitney.

Mt. San Jacinto Under The Light Of A Supermoon

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Kyle Kuns

As I write this, it’s not clear to me whether or not my hikes of the last six weeks have been as challenging as the logistics involved in planning them. Numerous surprises (e.g. my car breaking down) and reasonable changed circumstances by others (not just fellow hikers) has made some of our trips a logistical exercise in simultaneously hitting multiple moving targets. It’s been worth the effort though. In the case of our summiting Mt. San Jacinto, the numerous changes of plan turned out to yield a wonderful experience I wouldn’t have planned for in advance.

Marion Mountain Trail

Of the five of us who originally planned to go, two needed to cancel and one needed to leave by 10 am on Sunday. This meant the long shuttle hike I had a permit for was no longer feasible. Unable to change my permit from camping at Little Round Valley to Round Valley (which turned out to be a good thing), we settled on hiking up the Marion Mountain Trail. A key factor in our choice was my having read a recent account of the trail from The Late Bloomer Hiker which reported the presence of filterable water.

Boulder along the Marion Mountain Trail

Heading up the Marion Mountain Trail, our goal was to make it to Little Round Valley, set up camp, and then summit Mt. San Jacinto. The fact that the trail alternated between steep and more comfortable grades surprisingly didn’t make it faster to traverse. There were many subtle changes in surroundings to keep us visually engaged—my favorites being interesting rock outcroppings, boulders, and a meadow.

Pacific Crest Trail between Mount Marion Trail and Fuller Ridge.

By the time we made it to the Pacific Crest Trail we were behind schedule to summit and return back to camp in daylight. Fortunately, the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mount Marion Trail to Fuller Ridge is comparatively easy to traverse and refreshingly different in features that we felt a little recharged hiking through it. Since we had talked to several people on the way up and knew of the presence of water above Fuller Ridge, the muddied condition of Deer Springs wasn’t cause for concern.

Bed Springs crossing the trail on 6-22-2013.

About halfway between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley is Bed Springs where we stopped and replenished our water supply. We drank a lot on the way up and needed extra for cooking dinner, so our stay at Bed Springs was pretty long. By the time we were done it was clear we couldn’t summit and return to our campsite in daylight. During the hike up to where we set up camp I recalled reading about how that night was going to have the largest full moon of the year–referred to as a supermoon 2013. So, I started mulling over the possibility of completing our hike under the light of the supermoon.

Trail between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley. (click to enlarge)

After setting up camp and having an interesting conversation with the ranger who stopped by to make sure we had a permit, we headed for the summit. Having been there before, I felt it was important to make it to the summit before dark because of the peak scramble involved to reach it. On my other trip I found it significantly easier to find my way down from the peak than it was to make my way up to it. Although we felt a little rushed, we were still able to enjoy the changing light as dusk approached.

View of supermoon in the distance from the peak scramble up to Mt. San Jacinto.

We reached the peak shortly after the sun was visible but still early enough to see its glowing light emanating from behind Mt. Baldy and Mt. San Gorgonio.

Dusk view toward Mt. San Gorgonio from Mt. San Jacinto.

We had enough time to capture some photos before it got too dark for our point and shoot cameras to handle the subtle moonlight. Shortly thereafter we cooked dinner and enjoyed a wonderful experience on the peak under the light of the supermoon. While enjoying my dinner, I thought about how much more I enjoyed being on the peak for dinner and taking in the night view than I would have liked being down at the campground. It took a myriad of logistical changes to get me there to enjoy those moments. This got me thinking about how much I still need to learn to be able to plan to have more experiences like this. I find hiking to be an amazingly expansive endeavor constantly yielding opportunities to take a next step in deepening my connection to the natural world.

View toward Palm Springs as nightfall approached from Mt. San Jacinto.

The peak scramble down was a little tricky and the trail back to Little Round Valley was rocky and potentially elusive enough in some places that we decided to use our headlamps instead of relying on the light of the supermoon. The next day, we made it down before our 10 am deadline and found this to be an excellent backpacking trip as well as good training for our upcoming trek to Mt. Whitney.

Photos of the Marion Mountain Trail

Photos of the Pacific Crest Trail

Photos of the Trail between Fuller Ridge and Little Round Valley

Photos of the Trail between Little Round Valley and Mt. San Jacinto

Photos from Mt. San Jacinto