100 Peaks

The Coast to Crest Trail goes through the Santa Ysabel Open Space Preserve

As you likely know, legendary hiker and professor Jerry Schad passed away recently. Many people have expressed how he had touched their lives.

Once I was an adult, I started my hiking history in Orange County, using his book as my sole reference to the surrounding trails. My girlfriend at the time, (she’s my wife, now), spent many of our first dates with Afoot and Afield in Orange County as our guide. When we moved to San Diego we bought the current edition of Afoot and Afield in San Diego. I bought a new version when that came out and then gave away my older version to a hiker new to the area.

Jerry Schad spent tireless hours exploring the area and took the time to share his knowledge with us. It’s hard to calculate the inspiration he’s given us to get outside. I feel he needs to be honored.

An online friend of mine stumbled upon a couple of curious stickers while hiking on recent hikes. One was on Garnet Mountain, which I hiked about 11 months ago, and another was on Ken Point, a peak along the Desert Divide. Since I didn’t see the sticker on Garnet Mountain when I was there, I can only surmise that it was placed there fairly recently (less than a year).

Does anyone have any insight on these stickers? Please feel free to comment below.

Sticker on the Ken Point summit register

Sticker on the Garnet Mountain summit register

Sticker on Martinez Mountain

Update 10/11/2010: Added another one from the same friend who keeps finding these.

Lately, I have found myself trying to find space on the calendar to get outside and go hiking. The weather here in San Diego has been absolutely perfect for hiking, biking, running or getting outside in general.

This time of year has historically been slow for me, work-wise. The good news is that my clients have been keeping me really busy, which is making up for a slow year. In addition, holiday social engagements have been taking up my weekends. The bad news is that I have fewer, if any, chances to make it outside.

As a result, the number of peaks that I complete may be slowing down.

I want to be clear about this: I am not complaining about having plenty of work and spending time with friends and family. It’s just that, like most of you, I have a strong urge to go outside, get some fresh air, and get away from it all.

The question is:

How do you balance your work and other commitments with your desire you go outside and run, bike, hike, etc? For those of you lucky few who were able to marry your passion for the outdoors with work, how did you successfully accomplish this?

I absolutely love comments and feedback.

I just installed a spam filter for my comments, so if you have any problems let me know from my contact page or from any of the Social Media links above.

Recently, a fellow outdoor adventure blogger, Modern Hiker, wrote a gracious little post about 100 Peaks. One thing he mentioned was that my trail reports were a little light on information, which I took it to mean that I don’t describe in detail the routes to the summits.

I would like to make it clear that this is intentional. Although I’d love to give detailed information about every one of the trails to the 100 Peaks in San Diego County, I honestly would like to have something to sell once my quest for the peaks is over.  Although I wanted to complete the 100 Peaks prior to conceiving the idea of writing a trail guide about it, the idea of getting something in return by selling a guide book has made the quest feasible.

Since day one of my blog, I have been concerned that somehow I would be leaving people wanting more, but not in the right way. So the next couple posts will be asking for feedback from you. Anything is appreciated if you have the time.

Question of the day:

Are you OK with my trip reports that do not detail the actual route to the summit, with the understanding that I am writing a trail guide to be sold at a later date?

If not, why not? What do you recommend?

I absolutely love comments and feedback.

I’ve been watching The National Parks: Americas Best Idea and have been delighted to see the passion and spirituality behind the individuals who championed the parks to those who could make a difference.

However, many articles and publications tend to focus on the athletic side of being out in the wilderness. We see how fast and high we can climb and hike. We try out different space-age fabrics and lab-designed drinks and energy bars. We communicate to each other about which shoes are lighter and faster.

When I was a youth, my external frame backpack was bought from Gemco (look it up) for around $20 and didn’t have all the bells and whistles. I hiked in blue jeans and t-shirts. I slept on an Ensolite pad (still do) and slept inside used tents.

I still made it to the top of Mount Whitney, among other places, and developed my lifelong love of the wilderness.

My personal feeling is that no matter how materially- or performance-oriented we are when planning to explore the wilderness, or however much we are overwhelmed by the complexity of our multitasking modern lives, we all become philosophers once our feet hit the trail or our hands start climbing the rocks.

The question is:

Who are you when you decide to step out into the wilderness? An athlete? A philosopher? A photographer? A blogger?

All of the above? Let me know what you think and what you become once you are out there.