Today was a great day. My friend Duane Weiss and I met at the church at 8:30, and headed up the 605 freeway toward the San Gabriel mountains. We drove to Sierra Madre and up the mountain to take one of the trails at Chantry Flat. We were so close to civilization, but might as well have been on a deserted island. It was wonderful!
This is part of the beautiful mountain range
known as the San Gabriel Mountains.
I felt like I was back in the Smokies!
I'm standing by the stream that makes
its way down from high in the mountains.
We crossed the stream about 10 different
times as we followed the switchback trail.
(I only stepped into the water once when I
slid off a slippery rock.)
A beautiful view by the parking lot where
we began the tour. It was SUCH a gorgeous
day to go on a mountain hike!
Even though it's technically winter,
there were some beautiful flowers and
blooming trees announcing that
spring was on the way.
Looking down at the stream from
one of the high points of the trail.
We were TOTALLY cut off from communication
today. Absolutely no cell reception. There was
no electricity up the mountain, even though
there were little "settlements" of cabins that
people live in. (They haul up supplies
on mules!) There were these periodic emergency
phone shacks that you could make 911-type calls
to the outside world. I would definitely NOT
have wanted to have a heart attack today!
Here's Duane checking out the instructions about
how to activate/use the emergency phone.
Even though we were in a lot of shade
on the trail, it could have been REALLY
shady if the trees had their summer foilage.
Another great view.
This was looking straight down. One
misstep would have the hiker dropping
like a rock for about 150 feet.
Here's Duane on the trail.
As we came toward the end of our 6.5 mile hike,
we were able to look down at the parking
lot where Duane's truck (the little white
speck in the distance) was parked.
IT WAS A GREAT DAY! LOOKING FORWARD
TO DOING IT AGAIN!
5 comments:
that looks like fun. I found out recently that we have some hiking trails by us...just 10 minutes away! We should go on that sometime!
That would be fun, Jen. You might even have cell service there! :)
Hey, hey, hey! That looks like some Pacific Northwest style fun right there! What a beautiful hike. And if you get really serious about it, there are options for emergency type cell phones and GPS locaters that send signals and stuff. That makes me want to get out and hike!
Next: Mountain Biking!
That sounds and looks fun...Brandon and I went hiking out at Foothill Ranch I think and Aliso...down by where Jennifer lives (also an I think) and it is lots of fun and beautiful....not as many trees in some parts but a little closer.
Love your pictures.
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