-
Day Venture – The Cliff Hanging Highway
Sunday, July 3rd, 2016 When I was a little kid living in Los Angeles, my parents would often take my younger brother and I on small ventures to the local beach and mountains. One fleeting memory I have of these ventures was in the winter of 1985. The San Gabriel Mountain Range had received a considerable amount of snowfall and so we went up to visit for the day. We took the mountain road of California State Route 39. The last 4 miles of this highway has been shut down since 1978 when a landslide swept away the highest portion of road, which cut off access to Highway 2. About…
-
Southwest 2015 – The Desert View Watchtower
Thursday, December 3rd, 2015 Today was a good day to head back out to the south rim of the Grand Canyon for some pick up shots and a bit more time for exploration. The Grand Canyon Railway was a most excellent experience, but unfortunately it did not leave us with much time to hike around and get the shots we wanted, so Julia and I took the starship out to the south rim and took in some much desired photo opportunities as we trekked along the regions east of Mather Point. Before we set off for a day at the south rim, Julia and I tried a place just down…
-
Coyote Canyon Venture 2016
Saturday, April 23rd, 2016 After almost a year since we last met up at Hollister, CA, My buddy Rich invited me and a few others to go camping somewhere in the Anza Borrego Desert. This would be a very new experience for me as I had always wanted to visit that neighboring southern desert. We met up at Pala Casino and it would just be Rich, myself and his coworker Matt. Unfortunately, the original date schedule had to be moved two weeks ago due to severe flash flood warnings in the area. The others couldn’t make it, so it looks like it would just be the three amigos for this…
-
Leap Day Adventure
Monday, February 29th, 2016 Of all the Leap Days that have come and gone in my life, I felt that it was about time to start doing something special on that rare day that only appears on the calendar every four years. There were many ideas going through my head about where I could possibly go including some places I had already been to, but that would not work. Today had to be about something “New” and “Unexplored” so I decided that I could head back to Joshua Tree National Park and visit the Hall of Horrors and the Barker Dam loop hike as a follow up after that. I had recently been to Joshua…
-
Hike to the Devil's Chair
MOJAVE DESERT, CA Saturday, May 9th, 2015 After a trip out to the mountains the day before on my travel blog post: Winter in Spring 2015, I decided to take my parents out for a hike to the Devil’s Chair located in at the Devil’s Punchbowl Natural Area. I had done this trail once before when I was 60 lbs heavier and completely out of shape and I remember feeling like I was going to pass out, so I wanted to make sure and create a reasonable pace with many breaks along the way for my parents. The elevation of the region is 4,750 ft at the ranger’s station, however…
