A taste of what we have been up to and what is coming up…
My video editor is not moving as quickly as I would like so I am going to do some posts of what I am up and what is coming up without the videos attached to them. Maybe I should learn how to edit my own videos. My daughter is much better at it than I am and makes them much more creative in the edit than I do. She also has her own channel which actually has subscribers and makes a bit of money for her. I only have a small amount of pull to get her to edit my videos and she does it on her own slow schedule. See my dilemma with the editing.
So what have I have been up to…
Last weekend I drove the Bradshaw trail. This is a trail similar to the Mojave Road that goes from the Arizona border to the Salton Sea. It wasn’t as interesting or scenic as the Mojave Road. Except for the last couple miles the main trail was no big deal at all. Since it is getting a bit late in the spring and thus a bit late for Desert trips there was no one on the trail and it was hot. When I started on the trail at Blythe the outside temperature was 99F. I camped in a cool little canyon right next to Chuckwalla Springs. The spring itself was dry but the little canyon was neat and the camping was good. The starts were amazing as it was a nice dark and clear night. The road from the railway trestle bridge out to the Salton Sea is terrible. If I did it again I would turn around and come out Red Canyon instead. Anyway, now I know. A good weekend.
A couple weekends before that I was out in the San Jacinto area and did the trail up Bee Canyon and then up San Jacinto Ridge road. Then camped in a lovely valley with oak trees in it along Indian Creek Truck Trail. In the morning it was all fogged in which made for a very atmospheric drive to complete that trail and then head down the Poppet Creek Truck Trail. I slept very well that night and woke up to some foxes nearby.
Big Cheese Chillin’ at his camping spot near San Jacinto.
The weekend prior to that I did a tour of LA with some friends including a friend visiting from China. We did a long day and it was great to get out and see some of the sights and sounds of LA. What was especially nice is that places weren’t too busy and were open. So completely unexpected, we were able to go up to Griffith Observatory and the parking wasn’t crazy. Anyway, we did a lot of the must-see things around LA and even made a quick drive up to Malibu on the PCH.
I also have plans coming up for more short and longer trips…
This coming weekend I will be up in the San Gorgonio Wilderness doing training to be a volunteer for the San Gorgonio Wilderness Association. I did a bit with them a couple years ago and enjoyed it. They do trail work in the wilderness and once I get the training I can do patrols as well. The plan is to be able to do overnight patrols in the wilderness. The cool thing about this is that as a volunteer I get camp spot reservations which are hard to come by. The expectation is that I do 2 days a month so expect that I will do a couple overnight patrols over the summer.
Over memorial day weekend I am planning to go up to the Big Sur area. There is a specific dispersed camping spot that I am want to go to. I tried going up there over President’s day weekend but it was closed due to some recent storms and I got stuck without a camping spot and headed home early. This time I am ready. I can’t seem to get a clear answer on whether the area is open or closed but I think it may be closed. This time I have campsites booked nearby so if it is closed I have a fall back option and if it is open I will just lose my camping fee at the places I have reserved.
Our reservations for Havasu Falls are coming up in June. They still aren’t open due to COVID so I am not sure if this is going to happen. They are currently cancelling all reservations to the end of May. This trip will be 3 days camping at Havasu Falls and a day on each side to get there and back. I am sort of looking forward to this and sort of not. While it is a beautiful place I am sure it feels like a bit of an Instagram circus as well. I think that the Jellobear will be joining me on that one.
We have booked a sort of family summer trip to Philadelphia. I realized that Mrs. Big Cheese hadn’t ever been to Philadelphia and done the tourist thing. So the plan is to go there for two weeks and I will work for one of those weeks since the head office of the company I work for is there. I also have an audit that I am working to plan in the area as well. My wife and the Jellobear can do the touristy stuff while I am doing that and then I can take a couple days off and do some things with them as well. All the while we will stay in a friends quest house in the countryside in Lancaster County area. I am looking forward to that as it will be a nice compromise vacation somewhat with the family.
Squeezed in just before that trip I need to make a quick trip up to Yosemite to drop of the Sylvinator at her summer camp. She is going for a month of backpacking in Yosemite and Lassen area and doing a junior guide course. I am totally jealous of that trip. Whether she loves it or hates it she will have a good experience.
Later sometime in the summer or early fall I am determined to make this the year that I hike up to the top of Mt. Whitney. I am aiming for either the full moon in August or September. Full moon as it will involve some night hiking. It is going to be interesting to see how the permit process works out. In previous years it was relatively easy to get a stand-by sort of permit but with COVID I am not sure how it will work or if last minute permits will be an option.
Also starting to think about what to do at Thanksgiving. I am have been toying with the idea of going down to Baja and driving the Baja 1000 course since the race is the week before Thanksgiving. That may be a bit too adventurous even for me but definitely thinking about it. I’ll have to see what I can talk the Sylvinator into. She is getting a bit wise to my crazy trips and asking lots of questions in advance so it much harder to convince her to do something with me. If anyone is interested in joining us or has some other ideas, please comment.
So, watch this space for more news on all these trips and adventures.