Angeles National Forest in 4K - SoCal and LA Hiking Mt. Islip - AdventureArchives
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I just love the winter mountains, snow camping, and cross country and back country telemark skiing. You should look into doing some back country skiing in the San Gorgonio area. You can spend time learning to ski in the flat and safe Barton Flats area, and you can ski pretty safely solo, with no avalanche worries, up to 9, 000 feet into the northern valley below San Gorgonio. Here, the snow can be very deep, deep enough to build really good snow caves. Camping in a luxuriously carved snow cave, with tables and beds, etc, is a real treat. The best camping there is, IMO.
Back country skiing in the San Gabriels is a risky proposition. You'd better know what you're doing. But, there are some safe day trips you can make in the area. One of my favorites is a quick day trip up Ice House Canyon to the Ice House Canyon saddle. Course, you could camp at the saddle or below it, for an overnight stay. Skiing beyond the saddle is risky without some serious knowledge and experience. Sometimes is safe to ski from there to Kelly camp on the backside of Ontario Pk. Sometimes is treacherous and you're taking your life in your own hands.
Same thing with the trip to Mt. Baldy in the winter. Sometimes its safe; sometimes it's treacherous, depending on the snow conditions. Someone -hiking- to Mt. Baldy this winter slipped off the Devil's Backbone and fell to his death. Well, well, I just read that another fell off the Backbone and died on March 10th, this guy a fairly experienced mountaineer.
Holy shit. Another person died this winter near the Ice House saddle and they closed the Canyon trail down. Apparently this person slipped off -an icy trail-. Goddamn it. What they don't get is that this closes down an area that is actually pretty safe and will drive people like me to possibly more risky locations.
At any rate, you get my point. It's pretty much like this all over the San Gabriels, due to how steep they are, and how conditions can change from day to day, storm to storm, due to rapid temperature changes or massive dumps of snow from big Pacific storms.
There are a few other limited trips you can make in the area, without playing fast and loose with your own life, or mounting an expedition, roping up, and carrying avalanche beacons. Best thing to do would be to find someone with knowledge and experience and have them show you around.
If you're going to explore the winter mountains, as you really should if you're excited about them, it would be well worth the time and expense to learn how to ski, to telemark ski. It's absolutely glorious to hit the So Cal mountains first thing on a sunny morning right after a snow storm passes through.
Don't settle for snowshoeing. It may seem like the easiest way to get into the Winter mountains, but It's slow, cumbersome, especially fatiguing, and very inelegant. It's far easier to ski up steep terrain than to snowshoe up it, and, of course, it has none of the benefits of downhill skiing.
Date: 2022-04-30
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Comments and reviews: 9
David
Great video. I love that hike from Crystal Lake Campground all the way up to Jimmy Springs done it many times. Thanks for putting it on video brings back great memories and that's spring, that's spring at Little Jimmy's is incredible. The first time I ever went up there was with the Boy Scouts in 1971 and the spring was all natural it had the little pipe but they did not have the Basin below it and there was a field of very thick wild onions growing right below the spring you could Harvest help your dinner out
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Great video. I love that hike from Crystal Lake Campground all the way up to Jimmy Springs done it many times. Thanks for putting it on video brings back great memories and that's spring, that's spring at Little Jimmy's is incredible. The first time I ever went up there was with the Boy Scouts in 1971 and the spring was all natural it had the little pipe but they did not have the Basin below it and there was a field of very thick wild onions growing right below the spring you could Harvest help your dinner out
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NatureShy
I've hiked in many biomes in the west coast (coast, dry/snowy mountains, desert, canyons, etc, but my favorite biome to explore is the glaciated mountains and/or volcanic mountains. There's something so breathtaking in walking up to a massive glacier, sandwiched between jagged peaks, and seeing their crevasses and icefalls. (To answer your question.
Volcanic, glaciated mountains are so breathtaking because they appear so imposing and dominate over their surroundings.
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I've hiked in many biomes in the west coast (coast, dry/snowy mountains, desert, canyons, etc, but my favorite biome to explore is the glaciated mountains and/or volcanic mountains. There's something so breathtaking in walking up to a massive glacier, sandwiched between jagged peaks, and seeing their crevasses and icefalls. (To answer your question.
Volcanic, glaciated mountains are so breathtaking because they appear so imposing and dominate over their surroundings.
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goodmorninggil
Hey Thomas, I like your videos here in SoCal, because some areas I've been to and I like to watch someone else experienced things that I love, and some of them are places I have not been and things to be put on my bucket list. My only negative is that I was simply wish they were longer. It seems like you just dig you doing your thing, And being in your own space I guess. Oh well, I like the ones that you post they were really cool. Keep on keeping on man
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Hey Thomas, I like your videos here in SoCal, because some areas I've been to and I like to watch someone else experienced things that I love, and some of them are places I have not been and things to be put on my bucket list. My only negative is that I was simply wish they were longer. It seems like you just dig you doing your thing, And being in your own space I guess. Oh well, I like the ones that you post they were really cool. Keep on keeping on man
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Rik
I'm a big fan of mountains myself. I feel lucky to have traveled a lot over the years to see different countries. (Snowy) mountains are definitely my thing. That's probably why I love going to Switzerland a lot. Added bonus is that I have a few good friends living there: )
The Netherlands is pretty flat, my area is a little more hilly but still nothing spectacular like a nice mountain -
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I'm a big fan of mountains myself. I feel lucky to have traveled a lot over the years to see different countries. (Snowy) mountains are definitely my thing. That's probably why I love going to Switzerland a lot. Added bonus is that I have a few good friends living there: )
The Netherlands is pretty flat, my area is a little more hilly but still nothing spectacular like a nice mountain -
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bobsuruncle
Born and raised in the shadow of the cascade range. mountains, waterfalls, fir trees, clouds, rain, and more clouds. and a pretty sunny summer.
I am interested in exploring desert biomes.
My wife and I hiked Hog Lake one time, in dry Northern California.
Neither hogs nor a lake were present. Too hot, I suppose.
But it was beautiful!
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Born and raised in the shadow of the cascade range. mountains, waterfalls, fir trees, clouds, rain, and more clouds. and a pretty sunny summer.
I am interested in exploring desert biomes.
My wife and I hiked Hog Lake one time, in dry Northern California.
Neither hogs nor a lake were present. Too hot, I suppose.
But it was beautiful!
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Noob
Come spend a couple weeks in New Hampshires White mountains. Some amazing climbs/hikes available and if you want snow you got it from Nov-April. Also Vermont, New York and Maine have great snowy mountains. New England in General is beautiful and amazing but Im biased because I live here: )
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Come spend a couple weeks in New Hampshires White mountains. Some amazing climbs/hikes available and if you want snow you got it from Nov-April. Also Vermont, New York and Maine have great snowy mountains. New England in General is beautiful and amazing but Im biased because I live here: )
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Coleman
looking for snow? go back to Islip now. was up there 2 days ago. 4/1/17. bring some micro spikes and a decent walking stick or trekking poles for the portions of the trail that get dodgy. northeast side of trail still has a lot of ice so leave the kids at home for this time of year.
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looking for snow? go back to Islip now. was up there 2 days ago. 4/1/17. bring some micro spikes and a decent walking stick or trekking poles for the portions of the trail that get dodgy. northeast side of trail still has a lot of ice so leave the kids at home for this time of year.
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TailEnd88
Where you are right now looks just like Colorado (like home-. When I first moved here from the east coast it was a shock going from swampland to mountainous alpine desert. But I feel like I was always meant to be here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
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Where you are right now looks just like Colorado (like home-. When I first moved here from the east coast it was a shock going from swampland to mountainous alpine desert. But I feel like I was always meant to be here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
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Jennifer
I love the eastern woodland. aka the foot hills of the Appellation mountains with trees ranging from Conifers on the tops of ridges, to willow in the gorges. If you ever get the chance to hike in Hocking Hills in central Ohio, you totally have too!
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I love the eastern woodland. aka the foot hills of the Appellation mountains with trees ranging from Conifers on the tops of ridges, to willow in the gorges. If you ever get the chance to hike in Hocking Hills in central Ohio, you totally have too!
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