SoCal Hiking

“Hi folks. I'm new to this site, this is my first post. I live in Los Angeles and was wondering if anyone knows of good message boards or places where I could look to find a new hiking partner. The fellow I used to hike with crapped out, and walking alone gets a little old after awhile. Thanks!”

“Try:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socalhikers”

“Also, www.sgwa.org then check out the bulletin board.

My favorite hiking in the LA area is the San Gorgonio Wilderness, but the drought situation up there is terrible this year. You have to know which trails have reliable water supplies since some of the major springs have dried up.

There are some OK hikes in the San Gabriels. Depends on what you are looking for in length, altitude, and scenery. Any preferences?

Do you live in the City of LosAngeles? or a suburb?”

“get those ext.frame packs and some big bladders for this season...drought HUM-BUG!”

“Yes, it will be dryer than hell out there on the Southern California trails this summer. On the positive side, we're not too far from the Sierras.”

“Just got back from backpacking/snowshoing the Sierras and the snow was awesome! Even getting stuck in a posthole, and the guys digging me out with shovels! Heeheee!”

“some of these threads start resembling "POST HOLES"”

“I usually hike the Sierras one week each summer. I always think of them as "far away". What is the shortest drive you can make for a fairly decent Sierra weekend?”

“Meysan Lake (Lone Pine)is a good overnighter. Independence has some good ones too, and is 15 miles north of Lone Pine. Some people like Kennedy Meadows, which is closer, but a lot of driving once you get off the main highway. Even though its probably the same distance for me, the Western Sierras seem "far away". Probably because I don't know the area, and I end up getting lost every time.

I've gotten used to the drive to the eastern side so it doesn't seem so far away anymore.

Wierd, but I have never backpacked the San Gabriels (only dayhiked), and have only backpacked the San Gorgonio area 3 times (2 of them last year).”

“Thanks to Phil and wingding for the links to yahoo and sgwa. I think the yahoo might work. San Gorgonio is a bit far out for my usual hiking, since I live in West Los Angeles and usually go to the Santa Monica Mtns. or the San Gabriels.”

“3 hours to Lone Pine and 4 hours to Bishop for me. I live in Redlands (near San Bernardino). I've been pouring over my maps and topo software trying to plan weekend sierra trips for the summer. I've also been trying to plan a 5 or 6 day trip for the end of August, but I'm having trouble deciding where I want to go.”

“I'm south of LA, and its also 3 hrs to Lone Pine, 4 hrs to Bishop, 4.5 hrs to Mammoth.”