Three T's Hike

Mark and his group headed up to the San Bernadino Mountains to tackle the Three T's (or whatever ones we get to). We got to the Icehouse Canyon trailhead and of course it was full so we parked about a half mile down the road.  At the trail entrance, I separated from the group and headed up to Icehouse Saddle.  The creek was flowing nicely and it was shady for most of the way.  At the saddle, I took a quick break to refill my water and then headed to the first T, Timber Mountain.  It was quite steep and the short trail to the summit was a pain.  I had some food and water and stretched out a bit ad the summit.  Then it was back down to the main trail and then down a few hundred feet to a bare saddle with nice views to the east and west.  From there is was straight up to the summit of the second T, Telegraph.  The 360 views from there were fabulous, probably better than Baldy even though Telegraph is quite a bit lower.  I contemplated completed the trifecta and going for Thunder but looking down it, it didn't seem worth the effort since I had to hike back down to Icehouse to meet my friends.  So after resting a bit, it was back downhill for a while.  Then uphill again for some last torture.  Near the turnoff for Timber summit, I meet up with my group.  We then headed down to the saddle together.  From there, I got the urge to run down the canyon.  This turned out pretty fun and I made it down in an hour.

Timber summit

They should put this sign near the trailhead.

Telegraph summit

Hot Weekend

• Attended Bengt's NYLT closing at Mataguay - it was hot but in the shade
• Visited Jyoti's cousin and family up at the beach house they rented in Malibu
• Spent the afternoon at the Getty Villa
• Dinner at Art's Table - expensive but good, I recommend the brussel sprouts

Wrightwood Hiking

We had to cancel our troop outing up near Wrightwood due to logistics but I decided to drive up and check it out.  I headed up early in the morning and got to Wrightwood in just over 2 hours.  I stopped for coffee and headed to see the campsites.  Apple Tree and Peavine are pretty nice campgrounds and are good candidates for future outings.  I then headed up Angeles Crest Highway for some hiking.  I stopped at the Grassy Hollow Visitor Center and chatted with the cool volunteers for a while.  They warned against hiking Mt. Baden-Powell due to icy trails but gave me some great tips on some other hikes.  I drove to the trailhead (which was where the road was closed for winter) and started on the Vincent Gulch Trail down into the canyon.  I stopped at the cabin on the way down.  I hiked about 3 miles down to where the river was flowing pretty well.  At this point, the trail was hard to follow so I turned back for the long slog back up.  After some coffee at the car, I headed on the popular Big Horn Mine Trail.  This lead to the remains of a old mine.  There were lots of people and their subsequent trash but it was pretty cool anyway.  I had dinner back in Wrightwood.  Due to the lack of snow, things were pretty slow but it was fun.

First the Koalas, Next the Pandas

That fat old koala was probably the easiest meal P22 every had.  Hopefully it will move on to pandas next.

LA Week

I had a business training course in LA this past week, so the family tagged along to do some tourist things:
* Natural History Museum
* Science Museum
* Wax Museum
* Universal Studios - with the mandatory visit to Its Sugar
* Melrose Avenue - highlight was the Kidrobot store
* Mann Chinese Theater
* Hollywood Stars
* Manhattan Beach Brewing Company - much more upscale than we remember, and they don't brew their own beer any more
* Santa Monica - spent the day on the pier at Pacific Park, the Carousel (and its wonderful soda fountain) and the Heal the Bay Aquarium

LA road trip

I have a soft spot for Los Angeles. Most people in San Diego seem to feel the opposite. But I went to school there (UCLA), met my wife there and our first child was born there (Cedars-Sinai). We still have friends there, but don't get a chance to visit nearly enough.
Today we finally decided to make a trip of it. Jyoti really wanted to see the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. Tickets were expensive but it seemed like a cool exhibit. Even though I bought the tickets well in advance from the fine folks at Ticketmaster, they never showed so I had to contact their "customer service" people and arrange will call pickup.
Getting up there was no problem since there was little traffice (for LA). Tickets weren't a problem either and my Dad and Jyoti picked up the audio tour hosted by Omar Sharif (didn't know he was still alive). When we finally got in the building, the problems started. One of our kids is not good with darkness and other doesn't like mummies (but I thinks she's faking it). The exhibit started with a movie about mummies in total darkness. Thankfully it was short or I would have had to leave. Most of the other rooms where well lit. The items on display were very nice and most didn't look very old. You could have made them in your garage and no one would have noticed the difference. Then the biggest disappointment. The exhibit was billed as King Tut this, King Tut that. But the only item from King Tut's tomb was a small dagger. No gold coffin, no gold mask, just a knife. And I had to hurry past that since it was in a dark room and the boy was getting antsy. Anyway, the exhibit was nice but no where worth the money. They did have a very nice kids activity center right next door though.
Part of the same complex is the La Brea Tar Pits. This was one of my favorite museums as a kid but I haven't been in years. This was much smoother for the tykes although the boy needed coaxing past the wooly mammoth. The museum was as good as ever. We even made it out back where they have pits with fossils still being removed.
Next on the agenda was our old stomping grounds in Santa Monica. We lived just two blocks from the beach on Main Street when were kid-less. Back then, the bums and car thieves didn't bother us as much. We drove by our old apartment and went to the pier. We we not impressed with the amusement park they have there now. It is amazingly expensive and very sterile. We did take a few rides on the old carousel (once featured in a "Charlie's Angels" episode). They also have build a small aquarium underneather the base of the pier. Originally run by UCLA, it is now operated by Heal the Bay. It was great for such a small facility. The tanks were well stocked and the touch tanks were much better (and had laxer rules) than the ones at Scripps.
Lastly, we ate dinner at Fritto Misto, just off of Fourth Street. It was one of our favorite places to eat. We were surprised by the number of families with children there, having never seen any before. We then realized we used to eat at 8:00, not 5:00! It was also our first look at the "Early Bird" menu. How things change with kids! The food as good as I remember it and the wine list still as cheap as you will find.
Overall a great day. I hope to make the trip to LA much more frequently in the future.