Got started before dawn and had the place to myself! Didn’t see another soul until I headed back down. Windy but otherwise perfect.

I was hiking the Switzer Fall trail in Angeles national forest and saw this symbol “A” painted on various tree stumps and rocks along the trail. What is it?

Cold and windy day today up in Ramona hiking Mount Gowers. Wasn’t the prettiest of views from the top but was definitely a great workout for those Xmas LBS I put on.

Hadn’t heard of this peak until very recently, but it is an SD county park that ties into the Cleveland national forest.

Hiked and camped with my eight year old son this week. Monday arrived at the park in the evening and set up camp in the Blair Valley camp ground. We used a cooler as a table to make dinner and camping chairs as we had the car. Beautiful night sky. Tuesday, the next morning, we woke up and hiked the pictograph trail. Beautiful hike. I carried my son's backpack as a day pack carrying food, water and other essentials but leaving the bulk of our gear back in the car. My son loved the pictographs on the rock and the rocky areas on the side of the trail. The overlook at the end of the trail is beautiful.

We then went to the visitors center and toured the museum and learned about the wildlife and geology of the park. Got my son a bandana with the park map.

We then headed to Font's point. Car got stuck in the sand right after turning off the main road. I wasn't intending to drive to the top, I was just looking for a place to park. Thankfully we quickly got rescued by some folks in a jeep and then parked the car right off the main road. The hike up to Font's point quickly got very dark. Trudging through the sand was slow going. My son was scared because of how dark it really was—it was pitch black except for what was illuminated by our headlamps. We stopped and made dinner on the way up on some rocks on the side of the road. We camped out to the side of the "no camping" sign by Font's point. It was a bit windy up there, making it a bit tricky to pitch the tent. But once set up, it was nice and cozy in the tent. My son reported that he didn't wake up once from the wind. Our shoes, which we kept in the vestibule of the tent, were filled with sand coming in under the walls of the vestibule due to all the wind.

The next morning, Wednesday—Christmas, we headed to Font's point. We had the place practically to ourselves right after sunrise. It was beautiful. We made breakfast on top of a monument explaining the view of the mountain. Great cell reception at the top, but very spotty on the rest of the route. We then hiked back to our car. It was definitely a better hike during the day.

After that we went to check out the large serpent and some of the other iron sculptures around borrego springs.

We then hiked the slot canyon. It was definitely my son's favorite hike. He loved how closed-in it felt and scrambling over rocks. We didn't complete the loop but instead headed back again through the slot canyon. I definitely recommend the slot for kids. It's an easy and very enjoyable hike. The high walls of the canyon provide quite a bit of shade which means it's quite a bit cooler than the parking area above the canyon.

Overall we had a great time. Beautiful park with a ton to explore. Definitely better with a 4x4 high clearance car as a lot of the roads are sandy and not flat and definitely pushed my sedan to the limit (and beyond). Remember to pack a lot of water as it's dry. The visitor's center does have a water bottle filler. Day use fees (of $10) to park at the slot and visitor's center. Camping at Blair Valley and at Font's point was free. Blair Valley camp ground had pit toilets and camp sites had metal fire pits (that we didn't use).The night sky was breathtaking. Glad I brought a mini-tripod and was able to take a few pictures of the sky with my phone.

Southern California's winter has been nonexistent so far, so I'm wondering what it's been like in the Eastern/High Sierra so far. I know they got a few storms, but I'm not sure how much snow they actually got.

Mountain Forecast is looking very clear for the next week, so I'm thinking about trying my luck up there, unless the snowpack is too thick already.

Maybe Onion Valley could be an option if those two already got dumped on? Open to suggestions in the vicinity, but still high up if viable.

*not really looking for people who haven't been up there to tell me the generic winter hiking is dangerous etc etc story. I have the gear and most of the experience. Where my experience lacks, I know when to turn around.

I’m planning to hike Mt. Disappointment or possibly a lower-elevation trail. It rained today in the South Bay—does anyone know if there’s ice in the mountains right now? I want to avoid snowy/icy conditions since I’ll have my dogs with me.

Hello,

My wife and I plan to do the Trans Catalina trail in January and I’m looking for camp site number recommendations at Two Harbors, Little Harbor, Black Jack and Hermit Gulch. Can anyone who has done this trip in the winter before share their recommendations?

Thanks in advanced!

My wife and I will be doing the TCT in January. We’re flying in from out of state, and we need to do something with our travel clothes and toiletries while we’re hiking. What are our options for storing a small duffel bag while we’re hiking for 4 days?

It's a ~3 hour drive up to Amboy, and the Crater hike will only take 1.5 hours . .. So we're looking to add points of interest to our itinerary to make the drive up there more worthwhile. We could take the 10fwy/62, or the 15fwy/40 (doesn't add on too much drive time).

We've been to Joshua Tree enough times . . . Never been to the Salton Sea.

We plan to camp at Hole-in-the-wall, and might do the Ring Loop Trail, Mitchell Caverns, or Kelso Dunes. (Done all of this already -- so don't mind dropping any of these for something interesting and new)

Is there anything that you would recommend that is worth seeing, hiking, (or peaks) along either of the driving routes, or close to Amboy/Mojave?

The additional screenshots are some potential ideas I saw on the map:

Salton Sea Sheephole Valley Wilderness Rodman Mountains Wilderness Lavic Lake Volcanic field Cleghorn Lakes Wilderness Area Clark Mountain New York Mountains Granite Peak Edgar Peak Clipper Mountain Wilderness Trilobite Wilderness Marble Mountains

Did Clevenger Canyon (south and southwest viewpoints) after work the other day and someone put Santa hats on the chairs. Plus some shots of the excellent views from and near the chairs. Disappointing that all the recent "cold" fronts have barely given us any precip, but the clouds make for some nice sunsets.

This morning, my dog and I explored some of the last remaining trails in the area that we haven’t checked before, including Gatos Spur, Old County Rd, and Los Rasalies Ravine Trail.

We were hoping for the snow due to the precipitation overnight, but there was just a teeny-tiny layer of frost in some places.

Nevertheless, the area is as stunning as always! I still think that this is one of the best places to explore in the proximity of one hour from the City of San Diego.

Ended up hiking a bit over 10 miles, and it was well worth it!

Not many people, too, as we started pretty early in the morning (about 7 am), and it was Christmas Day.

Speaking of which,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays y’all!

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Anyone doing the hike in next couple of days? Looking for an early morning start- wouldn’t mind a partner? Base to station- station to peak, back to station and tram down.

Thanks

Now that the ex has taken my dog/hiking buddy, I’m planning to start winter hiking, and I was hoping to get advice from y’all.

I consider myself experienced (5,000 lifetime miles, mostly in the San Gabriels, bagged 14ers, etc). I’ve got a standard 10 essentials kit. Planning to start easy, <10 miles on class 1 trails in daytime temps above 20 degrees or so. Think Yosemite Valley, low stakes for slips and falls. Questions:

PLANNING: If I average about 3mph, how much should I plan on snow/ice slowing me down? I know it varies, but a ballpark for trip planning.

FOOD: How many calories do y’all pack for a winter day hike?

SPARE CLOTHES: My standard kit has spare socks and a light jacket. What should I plan to pack for a winter hike? Which layer is most helpful?

GEAR CHECK: Microspikes, Merrell Thermo Chill mid boots, wool beanie, wool Buff, ski gloves, REI 650 puffy. Basically what I wear at a ski lodge. Is this adequate for the conditions I’m planning, easy day hike, not mountaineering? Also, can I just throw on rain pants and a rain jacket (Marmot Precip) over the puffy? My 22L pack is feeling a bit small, not to mention my budget post-divorce.

Thanks y’all!

I haven’t been to the Franklin Canyon nature trail that loops around the lake in a while. I tried to go my usual way, driving from Sherman Oaks up Coldwater to Franklin Road, but there was a closed fence at the end. Is this permanent?

ETA: found the website saying it’s closed indefinitely due to “hazardous conditions.” Anyone know what is going on? Fire damage?

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I heard that the fine for parking without a National Forest pass in the Angeles National Forest has increased. Is this true? I cannot confirm this information online anywhere. I heard it went up $5 fine to $100+$30 processing fee (Heard from HikingGuy's Youtube channel). Can anyone confirm this? It seems like such a sharp increase!

I know most of Waterman is private property, but, in theory, could you camp as long as you are within the San Gabriel Wilderness boundary?

This impressive cliff overlooks a deep ravine on the Simi Valley side of Rocky Peak Park.