The Outdoors Thread

[gotbeer]

13 hours ago, Jason said:

https://abc7.com/missing-hikers-search-san-gabriel-mountains-los-angeles-county/12716530/
uh-oh. I bet this story winds up in another thread here 

San Gabriel rivers are pumping right now.  Like dangerous to cross if you don't know what you are doing.  Let's put it this way, this summer you could cross the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and get to the Bridge to Nowhere without getting wet.  Now, the river is about waist deep and flowing hard.  This is one of the guys I know up at the river.  All those gulch spillovers/waterfalls are usually never flowing.

That'll be the second person killed on Baldy this winter.  My guess would be he went down the wrong side of the mountain. 

[cals]

I’m pretty sure that dude cut off Sherlyn Fenn’s arms and legs.

[Jason]

7 hours ago, cals said:

I’m pretty sure that dude cut off Sherlyn Fenn’s arms and legs.

That was a weird movie 

[cals]

54 minutes ago, Jason said:

That was a weird movie that made me weird horny

Fixed

[gotbeer]

Jeez.  Another one gone missing.  That would make 3 this year.  

Searchers seek 2nd hiker in area where Julian Sands missing

[Redondo]

 

Jin Chung, 75, was rescued by searchers after being lost on the same snow-covered mountain in California where actor Julian Sands is missing

https://www.foxnews.com/us/second-hiker-found-area-california-where-julian-sands-missing

[gotbeer]

Big photo dump here.  You are welcome Chuck.  Anyways, went up to the River this weekend.  This is my first time up since the big storms.  Man, the power of the river is just amazing.  I put comments with each picture, since each has a reason.

Heaton Gulch.  This is usually dry.  Had a good flow of water down it.

Ranbow Falls.  Only flows after heavy rains.  It's still flowing at a very good clip.

This is the area we call the boardwalk.  Usually it's dry cobble till about halfway out where the river currently is flowing.  

First crossing.  The first place in the river you really have to cross.  The river came to about knee high.  

Second crossing.  You can see the remnants of the bridge that had the road that went all the way up to the bridge to nowhere in the 30's I believe.  Then a big storm washed everything away.  The water was about thigh high in this area.  The boulder in the middle of the stream has all these holes in them where they used to anchor steel cables.

This was kind of an amazing sight.  The sand and rocks you see there used to go up to halfway up that wall.  The trail is up to the right of the yucca.  You can see the steps go down just below that yucca.  It was dirt up until those exposed rocks/where the grass is.  This is a good 300 feet from the river.  So what we determined is that the river overflowed it's banks.  It went down a channel.  There was so much driftwood, that it made itself a driftwood dam.  (see later picts for what one of those dams looks like).  So the river took a left turn right into this wall you see above and washed everything away.

Longhorn rock.  Rumors were spreading that the storm actually moved this beast.  But it doesn't look like it did.  It's about a 30 foot high rock.  

This is called Ship Rock.  It used to be high above on the cliffs, and looked like the bow of a ship till it came crashing down.  You can see a driftwood dam on the side of the rock.  Before this storm, in 2019, there was a driftwood dam on the other side of the rock and the side where it is now was clear.  

This is where the most damage to the trail was found.  I didn't go much further than this.  This is the top and bottom view of the trail.  There used to be stairs there, and the trail followed the ridge.

This used to be a 5 foot wide trail going through this section.  

Here is a high view of that trail.

This is what's left of our pool.  If you look at the bottom picture, on the top left corner, you will see a piece of wood on the rock.  That's about 6+ feet high up, and is a piece of driftwood.  That's how high the river got with the last series of storms because that was not there before.

This was taken in April of this year of our pool.  Notice how all but 2 of the boulders on the right hand side of the picture is still there.  Hard to see the left side boulder.  But there were only 1, maybe 2 there before.  Now there are three.  

[Tank]

great explanations, GB. i was curious why there was concrete up there, so your commentary was really helpful.

the river looks great. hope it sticks around for a while.

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, Tank said:

great explanations, GB. i was curious why there was concrete up there, so your commentary was really helpful.

the river looks great. hope it sticks around for a while.

The East Fork never goes dry.  Although it got close last year.  There was a point where I could walk all the way to the bridge, with 6 river crossings, without getting wet.

[PattyD22]

On 1/29/2023 at 11:29 AM, gotbeer said:

Big photo dump here.  You are welcome Chuck.  Anyways, went up to the River this weekend.  This is my first time up since the big storms.  Man, the power of the river is just amazing.  I put comments with each picture, since each has a reason.

Heaton Gulch.  This is usually dry.  Had a good flow of water down it.

Ranbow Falls.  Only flows after heavy rains.  It's still flowing at a very good clip.

This is the area we call the boardwalk.  Usually it's dry cobble till about halfway out where the river currently is flowing.  

First crossing.  The first place in the river you really have to cross.  The river came to about knee high.  

Second crossing.  You can see the remnants of the bridge that had the road that went all the way up to the bridge to nowhere in the 30's I believe.  Then a big storm washed everything away.  The water was about thigh high in this area.  The boulder in the middle of the stream has all these holes in them where they used to anchor steel cables.

This was kind of an amazing sight.  The sand and rocks you see there used to go up to halfway up that wall.  The trail is up to the right of the yucca.  You can see the steps go down just below that yucca.  It was dirt up until those exposed rocks/where the grass is.  This is a good 300 feet from the river.  So what we determined is that the river overflowed it's banks.  It went down a channel.  There was so much driftwood, that it made itself a driftwood dam.  (see later picts for what one of those dams looks like).  So the river took a left turn right into this wall you see above and washed everything away.

Longhorn rock.  Rumors were spreading that the storm actually moved this beast.  But it doesn't look like it did.  It's about a 30 foot high rock.  

This is called Ship Rock.  It used to be high above on the cliffs, and looked like the bow of a ship till it came crashing down.  You can see a driftwood dam on the side of the rock.  Before this storm, in 2019, there was a driftwood dam on the other side of the rock and the side where it is now was clear.  

This is where the most damage to the trail was found.  I didn't go much further than this.  This is the top and bottom view of the trail.  There used to be stairs there, and the trail followed the ridge.

This used to be a 5 foot wide trail going through this section.  

Here is a high view of that trail.

This is what's left of our pool.  If you look at the bottom picture, on the top left corner, you will see a piece of wood on the rock.  That's about 6+ feet high up, and is a piece of driftwood.  That's how high the river got with the last series of storms because that was not there before.

This was taken in April of this year of our pool.  Notice how all but 2 of the boulders on the right hand side of the picture is still there.  Hard to see the left side boulder.  But there were only 1, maybe 2 there before.  Now there are three.  

That is great stuff @gotbeer.  I love it up there.  I used to mountain bike around that are up when the crossings weren’t flowing so fast.  Late summer was a great time because it wasn’t so stifling hot.  Great stuff, man

Edited February 7, 2023 by PattyD22

[PattyD22]

On 1/29/2023 at 4:26 PM, Tank said:.

the river looks great. hope it sticks around for a while.

It should @Tankwith the spring thaw.

By the way, our lake is up over 5 feet so far this year.  Boulder Bay is looking good, Gray’s landing is looking good, and even Baldwin Lake has water in it for the first time in years.  
 

Come on Mother Nature.  Keep it up.
 

 

Edited February 7, 2023 by PattyD22

[gotbeer]

Griffith Observatory this morning with the moon in the background.

[Brandon]

Gb, are you able to do stuff like this or know people that do? I watch these all the time at night to chill or before bed. Videos where dudes just go out into the woods or parts of Siberia and build these custom camps. From small setups to net ones like this dude. I dig this stuff.

 

[gotbeer]

1 hour ago, Brandon said:

Gb, are you able to do stuff like this or know people that do? I watch these all the time at night to chill or before bed. Videos where dudes just go out into the woods or parts of Siberia and build these custom camps. From small setups to net ones like this dude. I dig this stuff.

 

I do watch these guys make stuff like that.  And no, never have done it, or know of people up on the river that do it.  Although one guy did make a hut way up the East Fork, past the Bridge to Nowhere that is pretty rad.  Crazy fuck hiked in bags of concrete, about 7 miles to build the walls up.  But overall, not enough timber to do something as grand as what these guys are doing.  If I lived up north, in real gold country, I would probably try to make something like that as a shelter though.  

But one of my goals is to start a fire caveman style, if cavemen had knives that is.  No lighter, matches or magnesium sticks.  Although I may break down and use a magnesium stick.  

[Tank]

11 hours ago, gotbeer said:

But one of my goals is to start a fire caveman style, if cavemen had knives that is.  No lighter, matches or magnesium sticks.  Although I may break down and use a magnesium stick.  

[gotbeer]

53 minutes ago, Tank said:

 

Hopefully without the cutting the hand part.  That would probably be my look too if I did start a fire with just sticks.  

[PattyD22]

12 hours ago, gotbeer said:

But one of my goals is to start a fire caveman style, if cavemen had knives that is.  No lighter, matches or magnesium sticks.  Although I may break down and use a magnesium stick.  

Let’s be careful out there @gotbeer.

Thats sarcasm, by the way.  No one here appreciates nature more than you.

[Tank]

6 hours ago, gotbeer said:

 

Hopefully without the cutting the hand part.  That would probably be my look too if I did start a fire with just sticks.  

hopefully you also don't have to do your own dental work, either.

[gotbeer]

Chalk up another body on the So Cal Trails.  This is the same mountain ranges as Baldy, although much lower in Elevation.  To Civilization it goes Etiwanda peak, then Cucamonga peak, Timber Peak, Telegraph Peak, the Baldy.  If it's near the falls, then it's much lower of an elevation as that trail starts in the flatlands.  So I don't think the snow or elements should have been a factor.  

Body found on San Bernardino County hiking trail

[PattyD22]

40 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

Chalk up another body on the So Cal Trails.  This is the same mountain ranges as Baldy, although much lower in Elevation.  To Civilization it goes Etiwanda peak, then Cucamonga peak, Timber Peak, Telegraph Peak, the Baldy.  If it's near the falls, then it's much lower of an elevation as that trail starts in the flatlands.  So I don't think the snow or elements should have been a factor.  

Body found on San Bernardino County hiking trail

The body recoveries up there are a 365 day job.  Doesn’t matter if it’s winter or summer, they probably lose between 4-8 people up there annually.  And those are the bodies that can actually be recovered.  

[Amazing Larry]

@gotbeer My friend and I are thinking about taking our boys camping around the Cottonwood Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras this summer. Any recommendations or websites you suggest for that area?

[gotbeer]

22 hours ago, Lhalo said:

@gotbeer My friend and I are thinking about taking our boys camping around the Cottonwood Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras this summer. Any recommendations or websites you suggest for that area?

Not familiar with that area at all.  If you are looking to hike, AllTrails is a good app to see what's around that area.  

[TBM-850]

22 hours ago, Lhalo said:

@gotbeer My friend and I are thinking about taking our boys camping around the Cottonwood Lakes area in the Eastern Sierras this summer. Any recommendations or websites you suggest for that area?

I climbed Mt. Langley (14,032') which is close to the Cottonwood Lakes.

Of the 14ers that I've climbed (Whitney, White, Shasta) it was the toughest. Very hot and dry above the treeline. There is one section between maybe 12000 and 13500 that is like climbing a damn sandpile. 

If you ever want to climb an 'easy' 14er, White Mtn (14,246') is the easiest. All Class 1. You can also visit the bristlecone pine forest nearby which are the oldest trees on Earth. They aren't impressive like Sequoias but they were already alive when the Pyramids were built (probably).

[cals]

Has anyone figured out why millennials don’t buy RVs but insist on retrofitting Sprinter vans into little motorhomes?  

I see it on YouTube all the time.  They brag about how they only spent like $50K total on a rig with a tiny bed (always has fake grape vines and string lights around the bed) and a shitter they have to remove and dump in a toilet (with maybe a 3 pee, 2 poo capacity). 

At some point some RV maker is going to realize they can mass produce these things. Just remove all branding and outside decoration as millennials will jizz their pants. 

[gotbeer]

9 hours ago, cals said:

Has anyone figured out why millennials don’t buy RVs but insist on retrofitting Sprinter vans into little motorhomes?  

I see it on YouTube all the time.  They brag about how they only spent like $50K total on a rig with a tiny bed (always has fake grape vines and string lights around the bed) and a shitter they have to remove and dump in a toilet (with maybe a 3 pee, 2 poo capacity). 

At some point some RV maker is going to realize they can mass produce these things. Just remove all branding and outside decoration as millennials will jizz their pants. 

Just went to Quartzsite, and it was filled with RV's and Sprinter vans.  What I figure is RV is if you have a wife, and need a shower and toilet.  Sprinter is if you are single and are living the real nomad life.  The one big benefit of the Sprinter vs RV is, with the right setup, you can take the Sprinter places that a RV cannot get to.  

And $50k total is on the expensive side.  I know people that buy those used sprinter vans, and really the solar system and tires is the only expensive parts they put into it.