Uploaded July 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I have been backpacking these mountains a long time and people always ask to join me. I extend offers a few times a year but this one is special, due to, once you begin the hike, there's no turning back, as it is a shuttle hike and no phone signal (thank God!) Once you drop the 4 miles down into the canyon, you have roughly 16 more to exit the other side, then a 20-minute drive out of the canyon just to get signal. Or turn back and go out the way you came in, but you have about 11 miles to walk to whitewood for help.
It is a "NO CHOI" THRU HIKE.
So, I hand choose who to extend the offer to and who I think can make it, drama free, drug free. This time, however, one of the guys got bit by a black ass widow and he and his buddy had to shorten the trip by a half day. He went to the E.R. and got pain meds, other meds and an I.V. before they sent him home.
There are rattlesnakes, scorpions, I have been stung by a scorpion and it made my leg turn black. I got a few shots 2 days later and was okay. I have received a bite by a baby rattler, but it seemed to be a dry bite, no venom. I had no pain, no effect. My girlfriend at the time and the Baldy locals called me "dead man walking" for a week because I refused to go to a dr. I figured, why? if it's my time, it's my time. But no pain!
There is still so much history in our local mountains for those who seek it. If you get past the selfie stage and your interest transfers from likes, to learning, you can't go wrong with books by John W. Robinson. He is the wizard of the range, or he was, he passed away some time ago. I met him in Altadena, at a local author of the mountain-based book signing. When I reached the front of the line, one of the guys helping him, said to John, "this is the guy who is making your books into videos" He stopped the signing and shook my hand, then reached over and grabbed his crown jewel, The San Gabriels. and signed it to me. I put a Leatherman multitool in his hand and he said that was the 1st time anybody ever gave him something at any signing. He shook my hand again and went back to the crowed. He passed away about a year later. He put me on the trails. I was just a fisherman/camper but once I found his book, the treasure hunts began and believe me, I have found so much treasure, it is unbelievable! I have seen my passion rub off on way more than a few along the way and continue showing and telling these adventures as long as people ways to see and hear them.
I have been backpacking these mountains a long time and people always ask to join me. I extend offers a few times a year but this one is special, due to, once you begin the hike, there's no turning back, as it is a shuttle hike and no phone signal (thank God!) Once you drop the 4 miles down into the canyon, you have roughly 16 more to exit the other side, then a 20-minute drive out of the canyon just to get signal. Or turn back and go out the way you came in, but you have about 11 miles to walk to whitewood for help.
It is a "NO CHOI" THRU HIKE.
So, I hand choose who to extend the offer to and who I think can make it, drama free, drug free. This time, however, one of the guys got bit by a black ass widow and he and his buddy had to shorten the trip by a half day. He went to the E.R. and got pain meds, other meds and an I.V. before they sent him home.
There are rattlesnakes, scorpions, I have been stung by a scorpion and it made my leg turn black. I got a few shots 2 days later and was okay. I have received a bite by a baby rattler, but it seemed to be a dry bite, no venom. I had no pain, no effect. My girlfriend at the time and the Baldy locals called me "dead man walking" for a week because I refused to go to a dr. I figured, why? if it's my time, it's my time. But no pain!
There is still so much history in our local mountains for those who seek it. If you get past the selfie stage and your interest transfers from likes, to learning, you can't go wrong with books by John W. Robinson. He is the wizard of the range, or he was, he passed away some time ago. I met him in Altadena, at a local author of the mountain-based book signing. When I reached the front of the line, one of the guys helping him, said to John, "this is the guy who is making your books into videos" He stopped the signing and shook my hand, then reached over and grabbed his crown jewel, The San Gabriels. and signed it to me. I put a Leatherman multitool in his hand and he said that was the 1st time anybody ever gave him something at any signing. He shook my hand again and went back to the crowed. He passed away about a year later. He put me on the trails. I was just a fisherman/camper but once I found his book, the treasure hunts began and believe me, I have found so much treasure, it is unbelievable! I have seen my passion rub off on way more than a few along the way and continue showing and telling these adventures as long as people ways to see and hear them.
