SoCal Six Pack of Peaks

So Cal Six Pack of Peaks Completed:

#1 Mt. Baldy- May 2013
#2 Cucamonga Peak- May 27, 2014

Still to do:
#3 Mt. Wilson
#4 San Jacinto
#5 San Bernardino Peak
#6 San Gorgonio

Cucamonga Peak

Yesterday we hiked up Cucamonga Peak, which is one of the mountains next to Baldy.  

Miles: 12ish

Elevation: 8859 ft

More info: http://www.simpsoncity.com/hiking/cucamonga.html

Sign 1- 3.6 miles to Icehouse Saddle

Sign 2- 2.6 miles to Icehouse Saddle

Sign 3- 2.4 miles to Peak

Sign 4- Points you to the correct peak

 

Lessons:  This trip, we ran out of water, and I am pretty sure I need new hiking shoes. 

I brought a little over 1.5L of water-  I tend to drink a lot of water during hikes.  I didn't take into consideration how the climb, the elevation, and the heat would all play a part in dehydration.  I gave my electrolyte pack to some guy who looked like he was about to pass out from heat stroke, which is the second time I came across someone like that on a hike.  Additionally, I was trying to pack light and didn't bring along my filter.  In talking to some other hikers, even seriously experienced ones, it seems that they ran across the same problem.  

The craziest thing, is that at one point, water is literally springing out of the ground, and yet it is not safe to drink without purification.  I was so thirsty, there was this little voice in my head to just drink the water, but having been through something a bit similar, and know that I survived, I didn't think the risk was necessary at all- especially being 2 miles out.  Dehydration though, sucks.  Completely sucks, and it makes you emotional, which plays on you mentally.  This, in addition to the fact that my feet and ankles were in serious pain, and.... I was not a happy camper.  

In this case, you have to keep in mind a few things, and for me, a lot of it came from past experiences:

  

    1- I've been through heat stroke before, and survived, AND I knew I was not there yet.  This happened a little over a year ago, when I wisely decided to hike the Claremont Loop in 95+ degree heat.  I got heat stroke, and on the first part of the descent down, I met up with a guy, who was much larger than me, and didn't bring up any water... so I gave him the rest of mine to make sure he didn't pass out and have some real problems.  I ended up walking down 2 miles without water, and little to no shade.  And I survived.  

   2- I've lost my toenails and pulled a tendon, and had to walk down 2-3 miles, and the pain wasn't there yet.  

So... take it slow, and get through. 

On the way down though, I got the idea to take off my top shirt, wet it, and put it around my neck and wet the shirt I was still wearing.  Surprisingly, it helped a lot.  I learned later that this brings down your core temp down, helping you with overheating.  

Today, my legs are worn and tired, but not sore, but my feet and ankles are swollen.  Good news though, I think I'll be able to keep my toenails.   

 Wildlife

 The dangerous wildlife we encountered here, was a pretty large rattle snake.  We have come across rattle snakes before in the wild, but they were usually in bushes, or warning us from afar.  This time though, I got the closest I've ever been to one.  I was focused on getting down, and, even though I am normally subconsciously very aware, I try to pay closely attention to my surroundings.  This time though, with the dehydration the main focus, I didn't see the snake until it was a foot away, and it gave me a short warning rattle.  It blended into the environment so well, I thought it was a fallen branch at first, but it was looking right at me, standing up, I guess in what you would call striking position, and so close, I could have just bent down and patted it on the head.  I jumped out of the way immediately, and when I saw I had some distance, backed up pretty damn fast.  Kim, jumped up the mountain, and we found a safe path for her.  It's tongue was out, and it wasn't rattling, so I don't feel like we were on the verge of an attack, but petting it wasn't in the cards either.    

Mt. Wilson, attempt 1

Mt. Wilson, attempt one... Attempt because one of us had a dinner date to get to, so we got as far as we could by a certain time, and then turned around.  

The major lessons here:

1. Stop being so damn afraid of falling and trust yourself. 

2. Humid leads to faster dehydration.

3. Mt.Wilson has the most disgusting latrines... so just find a tree and some brush next time.

Where's Kim? \/ \/ \/ \/ \/

Urban Ruins

Citizen of the world

" I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. "

Big Pines Zipline

We went Ziplining!!!!!!!

My mom is scared of heights, and made it through the first three!  She got off after that,but I am still proud. :)

So, ziplining was awesome, but I need to work on stopping... I almost took out the guides.  Poor guy.  

So much fun. 

I chickened out on the free fall repel, going backwards..... I have a fear of falling backwards... so I stayed going forward.  I think a redo is in order.  

Fear:  my mom faced a HUGE fear of hers today, took a step out, and finished a few of the ziplines.  After though, it got to her and she opted out.  Now though, she is as determined as ever to get this down, and I believe that she will.  She tells me though, that she feels embarrassed and ashamed, and those are totally valid, and recognizable feelings.  In reality though, she has no logical grounding to feel that.  She has a real phobia of heights, and she gave it a try.  That takes A LOT of energy, physical and emotional.  

To share a bit, I told her that on many hikes, I am so nervous, I cannot wait to get off the mountain.  I have a fear of slipping and falling off edges.  I get vertigo easily, and when you are looking at the world from the top of a mountain, vertigo comes too naturally.  In hiking Mt Baldy, there was even a point where I was so scared, I was ready to turn around.  Same in Mt Baden Powell, when we came across a ledge covered in ice. I freaking cried and really became paralyzed.  It's a terrible, and seemingly hopeless feeling, because you are racking your brain trying to find a way out of a situation that you have put yourself in, and that requires you to only move forward.  It's like when you climb up something, forgetting that coming down is scarier... and you have to get down.  

So, good job Mom.  Love you!

Managing Culture Shock

Culture shock can affect even the most veteran of expatriates, and potentially can derail what otherwise would be a successful assignment. Gokun Silver writes that there are three main steps to mastering culture shock, and outlines each step.

The Five Stages of Culture Shock

Stage I—also known as the “honeymoon stage.” During this stage, everything in the new place seems fascinating, interesting, and exciting. 

Stage II—during this stage, we begin to encounter daily struggles of living in the new environment and realize the great differences between the life we have known and the life we live now. This is the stage where most negative feelings surface because it is a time when we begin to set up our household, start grocery shopping for the first time, have a plumbing problem, and the like. Daily struggles, difficulty communicating and, in general, differences between our home life and our new life is often what produces deep dissatisfaction, hostility, anger, sadness, and feelings of incompetence. 

Stage III—during this stage, we begin to feel better because things are looking up. We are learning ways to live our new life, we start gaining some understanding of this new place, we know how to ask for what we need, and problems no longer seem grandiose.

Stage IV—during this stage, the new place starts feeling a little like home, we succeed in making local friends, we no longer fret a lot about bad things, and we enjoy the good things.

Stage V—also known as the “re-entry stage,” the stage when we have to return back to our home country. Many things we encounter on our return might be new to us because we have been absent for a number of years. Our friends have moved on and we still miss the “old” friends and connections we have made in the country we left. This stage is typical for “perpetual”expatriates in particular.

 Full Article: http://www.worldwideerc.org/Resources/MOBILITYarticles/Pages/1010-Silver.aspx

Silver, M. (2010). Three steps to managing culture shock. Mobility Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.worldwideerc.org/Resources/MOBILITYarticles/Pages/1010-Silver.aspx

Mt. San Gorgonio lessons learned

As always, there was something to learn on this trip, and we came home with a lot.

First and foremost, we learned that hikers help and support one another.  One other camper/hiker even offered to pump water for us, so that we didn't have to have the taste of the tablets we had brought instead... it was a cheaper option and we are broke college students alright.  

The next morning was Easter, and we woke up to early hikers making the summit.  We talked to one hiker who was taking a break, and we discussed how you have to pace yourself, and not be ashamed to face your limits.  Before she left, she ended up giving us two Easter Eggs... awesome.  :) Thank you lady!

We did end up facing our limitations and decided to head down instead of making the summit.  That was the best for both of us, Kim with her back, and me with my rehabbed ankle. 

Camping- Kim's first time!!! Poor thing, it got so cold at night.  I did not take into consideration that the temperature drops in higher altitude.. so the night temp at the bottom of the trail was expected to be in the 30's F, at around 5000-6000 ft.  We were at 9000 ft, so give or take 10/15 degrees at the least.  Cold.  We ended up opening our emergency space blankets, and those little things work miracles!  Our tent also got wet quickly, so condensation and precipitation were other factors we didn't take into consideration. 

My mummy bag was great, and kept dry, and the head part kept my head warm.  Kim, on the other hand, had a normal square sleeping bag, that didn't contain heat too well.  Again, poor girl.  The mats and tent definitely helped though.  This is a must.  

Also, I need to invest in layers for sleeping.  Kim brought a sauna suit, which was light, and actually worked well at containing heat.  I was reading that a silk insert can also help at this point.  

 

Out packs... too heavy.  30-35 pounds.  On the way down, I took some of the extra weight in my bag.  Part of the training I was able to do, was to hike with 30 pounds on my back.  The first time I did 10 miles with 30 pounds, I remember being so tired, uncomfortable, and in lots of pain with the bruising.  My hiking buddy was feeling this for the first time, while in higher elevation, tired, and hungry.  

There are many ways to reduce the weight in our bags, and the biggest way was to invest in a water filter and not bring up as much water as we did.  We also need to bring more higher calorie foods, that are also lighter  Our bags themselves, are a bit on the heavy side, and that can be taken care of sometime in the future, when we can afford to spend around 300 on a bag.  My friend needs to invest in a proper, and lighter sleeping bag though. The expense makes it difficult.