Blue Sky Ecological Reserve

This morning I hiked Mt. Woodson starting from the Blue Sky Ecological Reserve instead of Lake Poway. This added about two miles total to the hike and an extra 200 feet of elevation gain . The Blue Sky Reserve is in a place that my friends and I used to go off-roading back in the late 80s, when the road was open and also led to the Ramona Dam, which we also used to drive to. Now the trail is open only to hikers. Today I didn't take time to read the posted signs explaining all the wildlife that can be seen from the trail. I had a mission to accomplish before it got hot, and hot it got.

This was an endurance training hike. I packed my backpack with camping equipment and lots of water. It weighed over 20 pounds at the beginning. By the end, after I drank all 5 liters of water, it was much lighter. Yes, I once again ran out of water! I took time at the summit to eat a sandwich before heading back down.

The whole trip took 4:15, traveling almost 10 miles. I was expecting it to take five hours, assuming the times are correct on the web page I've linked to above. I started out walking fast, but the extra weight slowed my down as I hit the steep part of the trail up Woodson. With only three weeks before Whitney I feel I need more hikes with a little more weight in my pack. However, it's getting to the point where I just want to hike Whitney, enough training!

Last of San Jacinto Photos

Well, I figured I'd post the rest of my photos - almost. There was plenty of shade on the hike up, but it never got hot, even in the sun.



After looking at this photo closely, I saw several people resting in the shade below. I cropped one guy out - how dare humans get in my scenic photos!

Seen enough pictures of me? Well, this is my blog, Life of Keith, so I guess it has to be about me. By the way, I kind of got that title from the not-so-popular movie Monty Python's Life of Brian. Hopefully I won't be crucified in the end.

More San Jacinto Photos

Even though it was much drier than last year, there was plenty of greenery. This field looked better than the picture shows. The plants somehow look evil in this photo. Our path up this year avoided the "poky narrows", a path we named last year because it was very narrow and there were bushes with thorns on them on both sides of the trail.




My head is above the summit as I stand on the rock. Luckily it wasn't cloudy, otherwise my head would be in the clouds :-) The sky was very dark blue, which doesn't show up in the photo. What also doesn't show is how crowded it was at the peak. There was a wait just to get a photo taken at the sign.

Proof that I was at the summit. It wasn't easy taking a photo of my GPS screen. There was lots of glare and I couldn't focus the camera. I was disappointed that it showed the elevation as 10.8 Kft. I wanted to see all the digits! I took my GPS just of the fun of it. My major complaint with this model is that it takes a long time to acquire satellites once you turn in on. Darin wears a watch that gives the elevation. It is not as accurate, but all he has to do is look at his wrist to get his current elevation.

San Jacinto Trail Photos

We stopped to rest and eat several times on the hike up. At this point we were at a junction in the trail. We were trying to figure out if this is where the trail we took last year connected up. We thought is was but then further along we encountered the turn off to the path we took the year before. It was kind of nice when we saw the sign saying "Peak .3 miles".




Sometime when you are hiking, you forget to stop and enjoy the view. Every time we tried to look at the view while walking, we almost tripped on a rock. Most of the trail meandered along the forest, so we were surrounded by shade-producing trees. As the trail ascended, we were hiking along the side of the mountain where there were great views of the forest and beyond. The temperature was perfect - cool and a slight breeze. At the top is was a little cold, but not enough to put on a jacket, of which I was carrying just in case.

If you have noticed, many of the photo I've posted with us in them look slightly "fake". The sun seemed to always be in the wrong position for proper lighting. I really needed to have the flash turned on, but you can only do that from the manual settings and it takes more time to set the camera up for that. Luckily, one version of Photoshop I have on the Mac has a "highlights/shadows" setting. This basically simulates a flash. However, the color of the lightened areas don't look natural, but at least you can see our faces better. For the non-people photos, I just crank up the saturation, making all the colors look more vibrant. This isn't cheating, I try to adjust the photo to look like I remember it.

San Jacinto Photos

Darin, with something highly reflective on his shirt, and Mike waiting for the next tram. We aimed for the 8:30 AM tram but ended up on the 9AM. That still gave us plenty of time for the hike. I think it took us 3 hours and 15 minutes to reach the summit and almost 3 hours to hike back down. We spent almost an hour at the top to eat, relax, adjust our boots and apply blister pads.



I have always wanted to ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, however, I must admit I was a little nervous about the heights. The base of the tram is at 2500 feet, and the top around 8400 feet, plus the ride takes you up straight up the face of the mountain. I was glad that the height didn't bother me at all. In fact, the 15 minute ride to the top was enjoyable. The tram rotates 360 degrees during the ascent, so you have a full view of the surrounding valley and mountains during the ride without having to even move. The trip down was even more fun. Just after the tram passed each support, it dropped slightly, but just enough to give you that "funny" feeling in your stomach, like a roller-coaster.

As you can see, I'm all prepared for a long hike. Notice the knee braces. I'm not sure how well they worked, but for the first time my knees did NOT hurt during the hike back down. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised how well I did on the ascent. I didn't slow Mike and Darin down, at least not because of my knee pain like last year, where I could barely walk the last mile. I guess the physical therapy is already working. Thank you, Dr. White. What hurt me the most was where my boots rubbed against my feet. I was wearing new socks that fit tighter that my previous ones, which should have helped prevent them from slipping and causing blisters. I didn't wear the inner, silk liner socks this time. I might take the boots back in for one more adjustment, plus I need to apply a leather softener they sold me at A16 and that might help too.

San Jacinto Hike 2007

For the second year in a row I hiked to the top of Mt. San Jacinto. This year we took an easier route. We rode the tram up from the desert and hiked to the peak. It is still a 5.5 mile hike up, and most of the hike is uphill. The trail was very crowded, much more that last year, at least near the top. Once again I ran out of water! I knew there would be no sources of water to filter due to a very dry year, so I brought over 5 liters of water, figuring I'd be hiking 5 to 6 hours and I drink almost 1 liter per hour. That still was not enough. I ran out of water with about 30 minutes left in the hike. Where does all the water I drink go? The hike was fun for all three of us and we are looking forwards to Whitney ever more so. Now if we can just get the other five in our Whitney group to do this same hike soon.

Initiative Xander and Watchers Box Set

Four new Buffy The Vampire Slayer figures showed up on my doorstep this week. I had ordered a fifth, Demon Giles, but they must have been out - for the second time. The Signed Xander isn't too bad looking overall, however Xander has a strange look on his face. I received figure 202/500. The Watchers Box Set was one I ordered once before but to it was out of stock at Diamond Select Toys.

I was surprised these two limited edition figures didn't sell out, as they have been available for weeks. I guess there isn't as big of demand for BTVS figures. But luckily, there are more figures coming out next month (and beyond), including Kennedy and Kindra. Once again, wall space in this room is at a premium.

On an unrelated note, the homeowners association approved my air conditioner installation!

Homeowners Association Meeting

After nine years of living in my condominium, I finally went to a monthly homeowners association meeting. I was hoping to find out their decision on my application for a new air conditioner. I had no idea what to expect at the meeting. First off, I was one of three non-board members there, and considering there are 115 homeowners (not 130 as I hinted at previously), that is not very many. They opened the meeting up to general comments and questions. I took this opportunity to ask a few questions and make a comment or two. The other non-board member who sat next to me spent basically 10 minutes complaining about how regular homeowners are "shut-out" of the monthly meetings. I guess I found out what she was talking about because after the open items were discussed, they went into the "executive discussion", and thanked us for attending. I took that to mean I had to leave, but maybe they just didn't think anyone wants to listen in for one hour of boring discussions. I was ready to. However, they did acknowledge my A/C application and commented on my Photoshopped picture of the AC unit on the roof. So I have a good feeling they'll approve it and I can have the AC installed next month. Not a day too soon, because it is already getting above 80 degrees inside my home.

Hot Afternoon Mt. Woodson Hike

Since none of my fellow hikers could hide today, I decided to hike Mt. Woodson alone. I started at 4PM thinking it would be cooling down, but the sun was intense the whole way up. I had to stop several times to rest, including under this shady tree where we always stop on the way up.



I only encountered a few other people during the hike, and I had the top all to myself. I was worried I didn't bring enough water. I thought three liters plus an energy drink would be enough, but I almost drank all my water on the way up! If you look at the photo above, you can see smoke from a fire in the distance.




I wore my new knee braces for the first time. I'm not sure if they helped or not. My knees feel not too bad, in fact, I need to ice them down before I forget.



I wanted to get a photograph of the sunlight shining off the lake, but I could shot towards the sun, so this is my best Lake Poway photo of the day. I don't plan on hiking during the week so my legs can rest for next weekends San Jacinto hike, which has still yet to be planned.

Newcomers On Iron Mt.

Another nice after-work hike up Iron Mountain, this time joined by Paula and Joe. Joe, with the orange hair, is going to climb Mt. Whitney with us this year. Paula has summited Mt. Whitney three times now, but she won't be with us this year. I asked her how she handled the altitude, and she said it just depends, sometimes she feels fine, other times not. With the first day of summer already almost here, there is plenty of daylight in the evening. I didn't get home until 8:30. I'll rest my legs tonight and then tomorrow at the gym I'll do some of the exercises my physical therapist showed me.

Close Call on the Freeway

So I'm driving home on the I-15, and then I look in my mirror and see a man tumbling down the road, with his motorcycle sliding behind him. Cars were slamming on their breaks everywhere and I'd be surprised if there wasn't a secondary accident as a result. I had seen the motorcycle coming up behind me. He must have clipped a car and lost control. I see these bikers all the time zipping up and down the freeway in between cars. If they want to endanger their lives then they should do their hot-dogging somewhere else. If I was just two seconds behind, I could have be involved. I looked up the CHP report on the accident on the Internet and it looks like everything has already been cleared up, so I assume the rider suffered no more than scrapes and perhaps a broken bone.

Roof After A/C Install

That was quick, wasn't it? Well, actually, this is just me having fun in Photoshop. I'll use the image to show the homeowners association how my roof will look with the A/C installed. Maybe I'm going to far, but it can't hurt my chances of getting the application approved.

Roof Before A/C Installation

This is where my new air conditioner unit will sit, hopefully in one month, pending approval from the homeowners association. Today I was on the roof (an amazing feat, considering I don't like heights), and took some photos of where the AC will be. Then I started the approval process. I have to get the signatures of four adjacent homeowners. The first lady was sitting in the street watching her children play. She tired to ignore me, and seemed confused at what I was asking her. The second lady turns out is not the owner of the condo, her son is. The third neighbor wasn't home and I'm not sure about the fourth unit I tried. If I saw someone come to the door with a pad and pen I wouldn't answer the door. Most likely they are trying to sell the Union Tribune to make money for some organization that helps disadvantages teens. I have nothing against that, but lets just say I pay my fare share of taxes. Enough ramblings. Stay tuned for photos of my newly installed AC - in one month.

Another Saturday Morning Hike

Another Saturday, another hike up Mt. Woodson. This time the baggage, I mean wives, were left home. We were joined by Darin and Chris. Chris, the youngest in the group, practically ran up the mountain, making the rest of look old and slow. Chris's brother Mike did the same thing hiking Camelback Mt. in Phoenix in March. Must run in the family. Jim is in this photo too, he is behind Mike. For some reason it's hard to get Jim in group photos.