Cactus to Clouds Hike

Over memorial day, a buddy and me tackled one of the hardest day hikes in the world: Cactus to Clouds (aka Skyline trail).
Use the awesome Hiking Guy guide, we go to the museum a bit after midnight.  The trail started steep and stayed steep.  We got a lot of light from the Palm Springs so didn't really need headlamps until a few miles in.
We were making good time but started to slow up as we approached rescue box #2.  And after Flat Rock, we were dragging.  When we got to Long Valley, we decided to skip the summit since we had been there before and also it was covered in snow and ice still.
It was a great hike but might be a one-time experience.

Parked by the museum

Trailhead

Still 8 miles to go?

This should be posted much closer to the trailhead

Sunrise

The top

Flat rock

Burnt Rancheria Camp

For the last campout of the season, the troop headed up to Mount Laguna, Burnt Rancheria campground.
It got cold, windy and rainy but we had a great time hiking and working on skills.

Camporee

Troop campsite

Friendly duck

Pioneering gateway

Portland Getaway

• Mount Tabor Park
• Cannon Beach
• Drive from Cannon Beach through Astoria and back to the airport
• Oregon Historical Society Museum
• Walk along the river
• Powell's City of Books
• Diversion
• Olympic Provisions
• Tasty n' Daughter
• Stumptown Coffee
• Short Round
• The Cavern

 

San Jacinto Snow S24O

With the snowing melting fast, I wanted to try and get one more snow camp this season so I headed up to San Jacinto for a S240.  I left mid day for the nice drive up to Idylwild.  The town was pretty empty since the two main routes from LA are closed due to storm damage.  When I arrived at Humber Park and there only a few cars there.  I got my gear together and started up Devil's Slide.  There wasn't any snow at the start and I made good time.  A volunteer ranger checked my permit about 2/3 up and we chatted for a bit.  There started to be snow on the northern slopes but I didn't need to use my newly acquired microspikes.  I got to the saddle and found snow about 1' - 3' deep.  I put on my snowshoes and looked for a good camping spot.  I found a nice level location next to a large felled tree.  I brought my GoLite Shangri-La 2 tarp to try it out in the snow.  It was easy to setup using my homemade snow anchors. I melted snow for water, made an early dinner and settled in.  I read and listened to podcasts for a while until the sun set and I feel asleep.

The night started pretty warm but cooled quickly.  My Tyvek ground sheet froze and had to use my fleece liner.  I woke up at 5 and got an early start.  It took some time to dig out my snow anchors since the snow froze up pretty good.  I packed up and started back to the saddle in the dark.  It was a quick hike down to parking lot.

I think my equipment is pretty good for next winter's snow camps.  I need a larger dry bag for my sleeping bag and liner in order to get more room inside my pack but everything worked great.

Humber Park

Saddle Junction

Tarp in the snow

My kitchen

Santa Cruz Island Kayaking

Ventura Harbor

Scorpion Harbor

Island fox

Park museum

Beach

Beach

Camp

Hike overlook

Looking down on harbor

Landing at Anacapa

Arch Rock

Winter Books

• Cowboy Cooking by Ken Rollins
• Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy
• Without Remorse by Tom Clancy
• Debt of Honor by Tom Clancy
• The Spy and theTraitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
• From Makin toBougainville: Marine Raiders in the Pacific War by Jon T. Hoffman
• The Deadly Deep: The Definitive History of Submarine Warfare by Lian Ballantyne
• Death Valley in '49 by William Lewis Manly
• Customs of the World: Using Cultural Intelligence to Adapt, Wherever you Are by David Livermore

HALT Winter Camp 2019

We had our best winter training camp ever this year!  Tons of snow and temperatures down to single digits made it a great time to be in the snow.
We were all able to dig snow caves although I made mine too short and kept hitting the roof as I slept in it.

Kitchen on a bear box under a few feet of snow

Rock Creek in winter

Low roof in my snow cave

Look up the canyon

Rich and me

Mason Valley Backpack

Second half of the Camelback award was at Mason Valley/Chariot Canyon section of the CRHT and some of the PCT out to Rodriguez Spur fire tank.
We had crazy cold, windy weather at the Pedro Fages Monument trailhead but it was nice once we got down into the canyon.

Harry the Hunk

Who knew Harry Houdini was so ripped!

Lost In Space Winter Camp

GLAAC puts on a great winter camp up at Eaton Scout Reservation in Lake Arrowhead.  We got rain, hail and snow along with archery, rifles and other outdoor activities!

Canyon Sin Nombre Backpack

Troop entry level backpack through some great desert terrain and slot canyons.