As you’ve seen above, #preservethegood could mean anything – it could mean helping someone in a time of need; it could be picking up trash on a trail, or a wilderness area; it could be educating people on leave no trace principles; it could be making a difference in any way you want; and it could be just about anything you want as long as you are focused in keeping the magic and the unique positive things in this world and this life. In terms of tangible things, I encourage you, my readers and followers to use the hashtag when you post a photo of something amazing; or when you’re talking about something exceptional you – or someone else has done to improve the world. I look forward to seeing how all of you end up preserving the good in 2015, and you can rest assured that as always, I will keep preserving the good where I find it as well, because as Plato says, “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.”
As I mentioned previously, Waimea Canyon is a site that is most definitely one of the “must-view” locations on Kauai, and in the world; and as I also mentioned, the best way to experience it is to hike it. While there are many great hikes through the canyon, the best hike in my book is the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls. It is the best hike to me because at four miles roundtrip, it is accessible, it has stunning views of the canyon from inside the canyon, and it ends at the top Waipoo Falls. It also allows the hiker the chance to swim in a waterfall, which is a once in a lifetime experience.
Yosemite is known for being one of, if not the most beautiful National Park in all of the United States. In fact, beyond that, Yosemite is a place that is known world-wide as being a place of amazing natural beauty. Having worked there, visited there, and having spent more time there than a majority of people, there is nothing I can or will say to dispel that fact. But, like most large open expanses that are wild in the world, Yosemite has a dark side
Joshua Tree National Park is known for one thing, and one thing only: rock climbing. This is a good thing: there are many great routes in the park for climbing. As I have climbed there many times, and have recommended it to many people, there is no way I could complain about that association. However, there’s a lot more than just climbing going on at Joshua Tree. There’s excellent stargazing; excellent spring blooms; and excellent hikes, both day, and multi-day. One of the shortest and the most popular hikes in the park is the hike from Cottonwood Springs to Mastodon Peak. There are two ways to do this hike: first, as a loop trail from the Campground (“the Mastodon Peak Loop”) or as part of the longer hike to Lost Palms Oasis. The loop trail is 2.6 miles long roundtrip; and if you add the Mastodon Peak section of trail to the Lost Palms Oasis hike, you are left with a hike that is 8.2 miles roundtrip.
The prime example is the olive grove that sits directly off the Smugglers Road trail about .1 miles away from Smugglers Cove. Olive Trees, while beautiful, are by no means native to the island; and were planted over a hundred years ago in order to harvest the fruit for commercial purposes. Today, the groves of trees are still standing outside Smugglers Cove in their orderly, neat rows, waiting for a non-existent harvest. While I’m not usually one to celebrate invasive species in National Parks, in this case I’ll make an exception. There’s something about these old trees waiting on the shore of a now-empty island that stimulates one’s imagination while hiking. On a hot, summer day it’s easy to imagine that you have left California, and are hiking one of the Mediterranean islands near Spain; or are in an empty part of the Iberian Peninsula. However, if the scenery doesn’t remind you of Europe, there’s plenty of other ideas that could sprout in your imagination as you pass through the grove. And, even if you don’t imagine anything as the wind whispers to you as it passes through the branches of the grove, the grove is a great spot to sit on either your decent or ascent from Smugglers Cove, as it provides some much needed shade on the hike from Scorpion Ranch to Smugglers Cove.
ast week, I mentioned what I think is the best hike in Southern California – the Scorpion Landing to Smugglers Cove trail on Santa Cruz Island. Even though I listed about twenty gazillion good reasons in the limited space I had about why that hike was the best hike in Southern California, I have some follow up points about why this hike is the best in Southern California. The first of these bonus tips is this: if you have the time, and the energy, there are some interesting ruins along the trail that are quite accessible, and more than a little mysterious. The largest set of these ruins is the ruined oil well that is just off the Smugglers Road, two miles up the trail from Scorpion Landing.
As I always say with all these astral phenomena, unless you've been living on the moon, you know that something is going on in the sky. This weekend, its the Orionid Meteor Shower, which according to all reports, is particularly strong and visible this year. It may have already caused a giant fireball that was visible in Northern California - or not. Perhaps that giant fireball was the work of batsquatch, lemurians, or just plain old 2012 apocalypse-time-hijinx. In any case, the best time to view the shower - wherever you are in North America, will be anytime after 11:00 p.m. PST, October 20, 2012 (Saturday) to dawn on October 21, 2012 (Sunday). You can rest assured that I'll be out watching, and you should be too - should be a lot of fun. And, if you're interested in science, help NASA out, and check out this app here. More info: here, here, and here.
Southern California has a lot of places to hike. From the desert; to the beach; to the mountains; to the high country chaparral; to the seasonal rivers and waterfalls and beyond, there are a lot of places to hike. You don’t need to take my word for it – there’s a plethora of books and blogs out there about hiking, backpacking, and all of the areas that are available to explore. And there should be – there’s so much variety out there, it’s good to get advice not just from one source, but a number of sources. I always tell my friends, and you, my readers not just to take my word for things; but to do your own research and to always do your own exploration, because in my experience, when people do those things, they always make the adventure their own.
Directions: The trail to White Mountain is located at the end of the aptly named White Mountain Road. I talked about directions to the Schulman Grove last week here, and these directions would get you to the trailhead of White Mountain, as all you have to do is follow White Mountain Road to the end. As I said last week, White Mountain Road from the Schulman Grove on is unpaved, and is sometimes in poor condition due to either snow or ice. While it is not a far distance from the Schulman Grove to the trailhead, chances are that the road conditions will prevent you from arriving there quickly. I would allow forty-five minutes to an hour of driving from the Schulman Grove to the Barcroft Station. Even though this section of the road is short, don’t feel like you’re in a rush – this is an interesting drive, and one with many beautiful things to look at as you head down the road.
