Devil's Chair
Yosemite 2007
Smith Mountain
San Gabriel Peak
Mt. Lassen
San Gorgonio
Calabasas Peak
Mt. Wilson
Temescal Canyon
San Jacinto
Strawberry Peak
Mt. Baldy
Millard Falls
Strawberry Meadow
Kings Canyon
Ojai, CA
Mt. Baden-Powell
Almost, that is. Then John Bej and Yuan's birthday.
Something like 100 miles one-way to Mt. Baden-Powell via Vincent Gap, then 60 miles one-way to Bej's birthday. Yes, I did an *ssload of driving in one day despite never really leaving the Greater Los Angeles Area!
Bill, Sam, and I tried to hike Mt. Baden-Powell via Vincent Gap. Turns out mid-May is too soon to do this hike, we were stymied by snow at about 9000', which is a good 400' short of the summit. Bill and I had poles and hiking boots, but Sam was in running shoes... eeek.
Still, it was one of the most well-graded hikes we'd ever done-- nice and smooth the whole way, and the scenery was beautiful. Both the Dawson Gap and Vincent Gap approaches to Baden-Powell are from the north side, but the access to Dawson Gap is closer, and Vincent Gap is probably prettier anyway-- it's more north-oriented and hence gets views into the Mojave Desert.
8 miles round trip and 2800' of elevation gain; we made it up and back in 4 hours exactly, and probably could have done it in 3 hours if my hiking boots were actually broken in and Sam had appropriate footwear. Top and back is supposed to be 5 hours, so 4~5 hours is probably about right. The scenery and the snow were definitely worth it, although with the high temperatures throughout May odds are good most of the snow is gone by now; a late-June approach might be worth a shot, although we'll probably do Mt. Baldy instead now that the fire is out.
Debated going to Bej and Yuan's birthday afterwards, but I went anyway. Arrived just in time for cake, and to play a game of BANG! with expansion. Turns out Bej was addicted to it-- and had been playing with his wife, Yuan, and Yuan's girlfriend since the night before! o_0
Fun party if you could stand the obsession with BANG! It is a fun game, but I don't know if it's that good. *grins*
Tara, Sophia, Heather, and a bunch of Bej and Yuan's other friends were there, but I've forgotten their names. Some of them were very good playing BANG, though. Clearly Bej is not the only one affected by the disease...
The 60 mile drive back was one of the more unpleasant drives I'd done. Tired, hungry, low on gas, massive accident on 405N that I suffered through the traffic. Then about 3 miles past the accident, 405N had three lanes closed due to construction. o_0 980AM recommended a very useful detour, which got scary for a few minutes because there were NO gas stations on it. Ended up finding a cheap Arco a few miles down the road. *whew* Only it wouldn't take my ATM card or one of my $20s... doh! Somehow I had enough cash to fill up. *grins*
Then as I turn down the street to my apartment, there's a huge mass of bicycle riders at the 7-11 on the corner and LAPD watching them. I park, then walk outside to see what's going on-- as I walk down the street the whole crowd takes off, blocking my entire street for several minutes as they head south. Talking to LAPD Sergeant at the scene, it was a group called Midnight Ridazz who organized the ride. Interesting... I'd heard about them before, but this group was much more rowdy than most of the rides I'd seen.
It was a long, fun, and very, very interesting day.
