I was interviewed by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune the other day. This was the resulting article. Enjoy!
(You can read the online version here if you prefer).
Archive for category motivation
My 2010 Resolutions
Jan 6
2009 was quite a benchmark year for me. I completed my May resolution of hiking 100 times before the end of the year. In doing so, I hiked 417 trail miles and lost 25 pounds. When I tell people about the accomplishment, many follow up with, “So what’s next? What are you going to do in 2010?” I honestly answered that I didn’t know. I mean, how do you follow up on something so great? Go to Disneyland? More importantly, should I follow up with something else? Why risk the chance of failure on a new project?
These questions have been bouncing around in my head for weeks and I believe I found the answers I was looking for. I’m ready to take the leap into not one but three goals this year.
Goal #1 – Become a member of a Search & Rescue team.
It wasn’t too long into my 100 hikes project that I looked for ways to use my skills and love of nature to volunteer in my community. There are a surprising amount of ways to volunteer in Southern California, but I found a strong pull towards the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team. I went through their application process, had an interview with management, and waited for a response. As fate would have it, on December 30th, as I returned home from my 100th hike, an acceptance letter was in my mailbox!
So on January 9th, I begin trekking down a 2+ year path towards the goal of joining the search & rescue team.
Goal #2 – Hike 500 miles in 2010.
Last year I hiked more miles in seven months than I had done in all my previous years added up. 417 miles of trails. This year, I want to do more. Given that the San Dimas Mountaineering Academy will own most of my Saturdays until this fall, I think that I can find the drive & perseverance necessary to hike an average of 10 miles a week, every week, for the entire year. Yes, this is much more hiking than with the 100 hikes project – but I believe this is an attainable goal.
Here’s my own version of the legal fine print:
- A “hike” must be mostly off of paved surfaces. There will be no “hikes” to the grocery store. The only exception is if a “trail” is a paved footpath or road closed to through traffic (example: Mount Wilson Toll Road).
- A weekend hike must be at least 3 miles long in order for the mileage to apply to this goal. We weekday hike must be at least 2 miles long.
- The hike must be documented online in the form of photos and/or video. Distances will be measured by my GPS (if possible) or by estimations based on maps.
But documenting 500 miles on 100hikes.com doesn’t sound right, so I’m proud to announce the creation of thehikeguy.com. The site’s purpose will be to promote the hiking lifestyle through example (both my own and others), to provide tips on how to hike, from the very basic level all the way up, and to help others learn the importance of respectfully exploring our natural areas.
Goal #3 – To hike with 150 people
Specifically, 150 people who haven’t been on a hike for a while… or ever. I want to show others what I’ve come to respect so much. To share the trail with those who might not have ever been on one. Hopefully, our outing will be the first of many. Of course, I’ll always enjoy hiking with those who already share my respect for the trail.
More details of these three goals will be posted soon. I look forward to sharing the process with you over the next 12 months!
A Special Message
Jan 2
The Death of a Guide
Nov 2
Whom do you rely on most for advice on where to hike? A friend? A website? If you’re an avid hiker like me, you probably have a shelf full of various hiking books to help you out. Living in California, there are countless choices for books to look through for advice, but one author stands out more than any other on my shelf: Ron Adkison.
Ron Adkison is the author of over a dozen books on hiking in the west, all under the FalconGuides name. He thoroughly researched each hike by trekking the trail – sometimes more than once – and has accumulated more than 12,000 trail miles in his 50 years of life. I’ve appreciated the detail he adds into each hike description, such as water availability, which topo maps to use, and if any fees or permits are necessary. His descriptions are straight-forward and easy to understand, even without the well-drawn maps included with all hikes.
It was this appreciation for his detail that lead me to try to contact him recently. I had just hiked with two friends into the Arrastre Canyon in the San Bernardino Mountains in search of the “Champion Joshua Tree,” the largest Joshua Tree in the world. As far as I know, Ron Adkison is the only author to write about hiking in this area of the mountains, located just northwest of Big Bear Lake, California. I wanted to contact him to inform him of the unfortunate news that the impressive yucca had fallen but to thank him for introducing me to the unique landscape found on the hike. But when searching for a way to contact him online, I learned of even more disheartening news than the fallen tree: The exceptional hiking author had recently died.
The last chapter of his life took place in mid-September of this year, on a warm autumn Sunday in Grand Junction, Colorado. I cannot find the cause for his death online, but for a man who hiked 1,000 miles the previous year, I’m willing to bet he was on a trail, doing something he loved. His obituary was printed in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
Ron Adkison seems to let his books speak for himself. He didn’t have many public appearances or interviews, from what I can gather. All I really know about the man is from the short section in his books, which all say about the same thing. In one of his most recently published works, Hiking Grand Canyon National Park (2nd Edition – 2006), the short blurb in the back of the book states that he “began his outdoor explorations in Southern California at age six.” Others have said more about Ron than Ron has, it appears. A web search for him showed that his guidebooks were highly respected by other authors and he’s mentioned in dozens of publications other than his own, including Backpacker Magazine and Lonely Planet.
The FalconGuides website shows that Ron Adkison was working on two books scheduled to be released in May of next year: Best Easy Day Hikes Grand Canyon National Park, 3rd Edition (ISBN: 0-7627-5527-X) and Best Easy Day Hikes Book and Map Pack: Grand Canyon National Park (ISBN: 0-7627-5971-2). It is not known if the books were complete enough to be released, but nevertheless, Adkison’s well-written books will be out there, continuing to offer interesting hikes to readers like me.
Ron Adkison. Remember the name the next time you’re out hiking. He might very well be the man who pointed you to this trail.
The 100Hikes Mail Bag
Oct 13
At this point of my project, I’ve hiked 65 times. And for all 65 times, I’ve recorded videos. I don’t post them all for two reasons. First, they take a while to edit and put together. Secondly, and more importantly, they are BORING. If they’re boring for me, then they’re more than likely boring for you. For those of you who have watched my posted videos, you might recognize this:
It’s [enter date here] and I’m on [enter hike number]. I’m here at [enter location] on [enter trail] and hope to hike [enter number of miles]. It’s really beautiful here. I’ll check in on the way!
Over and over. Just about every one of the sixty five videos have something to that effect. The same thing, just a different place. Boring, boring, boring.
So I want to spice up the videos a bit. I’m asking for just a few minutes of your time to help me. They way I figure it, you owe me for all of the hours of your life watching YouTube or Vimeo videos that I saved you from loosing. 
To make the videos a little more lively, I’d like to answer your questions while I’m on the trail and post my video answers here on the site. Is there something about my hiking that you’re just dying to know? Or maybe just slightly curious about? Maybe you have a general backpacking/hiking question that I can answer while actually doing the backpacking and hiking. Submit a question here by posting a comment and I’ll do my best to answer all of them and save the best for answering while on the trail.
I hope to hear from you! E-mail me at kahunna at gmail dot com or leave a comment below.
Type me up a note below!
The Mojave
Sep 30
I’m a huge fan of the desert. The other-worldly formations of sand and rock. The earthy hues. The struggle for the living to survive in the harsh environment. The archaeological remnants of those who settled in the area or just simply traveled through. The solitude that is so easily found. I love it all. So much so, that I made it a resolution to visit it every weekend in April (I ended up going three of the four weekends). All in all I visited the Mojave Desert seven times before it got too hot (and before I started this 100 hikes resolution). My favorite spots are Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve.
Lava tubes found in the Mojave Desert
I’ve been chomping on the bit to get back out there and explore new areas. I’m already planning a few trips into the desert, but I’m waiting for the temperatures to drop below those found on the surface of the sun.
I was introduced to the Mojave Desert in 2000, when a few friends and I headed out to Death Valley National Park in May. Despite our ignorance of the incredible heat during that time of year, I was hooked on the desert environment. I’ve since been back to Death Valley nine times, each time I find something new and completely unique to the desert.
So what is there to see other than a lot of dust and sand you ask? Well the fine people of the Death Valley Natural History Association have commissioned a video to show you. The non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the educational, interpretive, and scientific activities of Death Valley National Park hired two extraordinary documentarians to capture the essence of the park in all seasons. If Living Death Valley is anything like its trailer, I’m most likely going to gain weight on all the eye candy.
The DVD costs $19.95 plus shipping & handling. All sales of the DVD benefit the Park. It can be ordered from bristleconemedia.com.
The Hiking Gene
Sep 29
If hiking was hereditary, I most certainly got the gene from my grandmother. She has done hundreds of miles of hiking, all of them after her 70th birthday. She’s now 94 years old and that chapter of her life has passed, but she is a wonderful story teller and has a great memory. She shared with me some of her favorite hikes, including Three Fingered Jack Mountain (hike #31). The painting , done of a friend of hers, portrays my grandma Kirk and two friends (all three over 70 at the time) hiking in Canyon Creek Meadows. I’ve seen this painting many times over the years so it was nice to be able to see the trail first hand during my stay in Oregon
My grandma and I.
This painting was featured in an article about my grandmother printed in The Oregonian, the state's largest newspaper.
It has been confirmed that the Chilao Visitor Center was not affected by the Station Fire. The following photo was taken by a public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service on September 18th. The unique building was designed by Harold Nelson, a visitor to this site who graciously shared this photo with us. Based on early reports during the height of the fire, it wasn’t clear if the firefighters were able to save the building, which has been a icon of the National Forestry Service since it was built in 1980. It is a relief to find that the building was untouched by the fire. The Station Fire was started by an arsonist on August 26th. It is currently 94% contained and has burned 160,557 acres, making it the 10th largest wildfire [PDF] in California’s recorded history.
This is a progress report for September 21st, 2009:
It has been a tough ride since the last progress report (August 27th). The tragic Station Fire packed a one-two punch with the fires destroying some of my favorite trails and the smoke keeping me from doing other hikes in the area. The graph below compares the number of hikes I should have completed so far (the blue line) with the number of hikes I have completed (the red line). You can see how my progress suddenly halted due to the fire. By September 11th, I was six hikes behind schedule, the biggest gap of this project to date.
However, a planned expedition to the Southwest saved me. Along with visiting three states (Nevada, Utah, and Arizona), rolling over 2,000 miles on my car’s odometer, and exploring many of this country’s finest public lands, I also hiked.
I hiked a lot.
During the nine-day trip, I hiked over 50 miles in Bryce Canyon National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Escalante Petrified Forest State Park, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Arches National Park, Zion National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. Whew!
Of the eleven hikes I went on, nine were “official” 100hike.com hikes but an additional two fell shy of the requirements (mainly due to being just shy of 2 miles in length). The week of travel not only renewed my spirit, but also brought me back on schedule to finish 100 hikes before the end of the year, something I had been worried about during the fires.
Here’s something fun for those of you who like numbers:
- Number of hikes completed: 57
- Number of days into project: 140
- Number of miles hiked: 262.3 miles
- Longest hike: 15.9 miles (Hike #48 – San Gorgonio Mountain)
- Hardest hike: Hike #21 (Telescope Peak, Death Valley)
- Furthest hike from home: Hike #38 (Terrebonne, Oregon – 851 miles from home)
If you hike with me, you become a prestigious respected member of the newly-formed “100 Hikes Club.”
- Number of members: 44 (and three dogs)
- Top 5 ranking members:
- Dad (9 hikes: #30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 & 38)
- Mom (7 hikes: #30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 37 & 38)
- Melanie (5 hikes: #5, 13, 26, 29 & 40)
- Chris (4 hikes: #6, 21, 42 & 44)
- Samantha (4 hikes: #18, 21, 39 & 42)
It has been a tough month for me having to cope with the losses in the Angeles National Forest, but your support during this time has kept me going. Thank you.
100 Parks
Sep 10
As many of us grieve the loss of a large portion of Angeles National Forest due to the Station Fire, it’s easy to forget how many other beautiful lands California has to offer. Unfortunately, some of them have come under fire in a different way: budgetary cuts. Many California State Parks are teetering on the edge of survival and it seems that their closure is just a legislative pen stroke away.
To help promote the California State Parks system, musician Christopher Grant Ward traveled to 100 parks – from Crescent City to the Salton Sea – to “document the solace and beauty of California’s open spaces.” His month-long expedition (August-September) supports Folk4Parks.org, “an online cause Ward started to raise popular awareness to recent budget cuts to California State Parks through music, film and images.” I wonder if he will post his odyssey on a blog? Maybe call it, 100parks.com? Either way, I wish him luck on his endeavor and look forward to seeing his results. Here’s the first video he’s produced for the project:
For more information how you can help save our parks, please visit Folk4Parks.org and savestateparks.org.