Diamond Bar/Chino Hills Fire

Posted November 21, 2008 By Kevin and has no comments yet.  Leave a comment.

These pictures of last weekend’s Triangle Complex Fire were taken from the hill next to my house. Dozens of cars and hundreds of people came to this spot all weekend to have a look at the fire. I live right by the 57 freeway, on the west side. The fire was on the other side of the freeway.

At one point on Sunday morning, it got a little scary since when I saw fire for the first time on top of the hills on the other side of the freeway. Up to that point, I could only see smoke. My house is next to a hill full of trees and vegetation, and fire could ignite very quickly. The firefighters, along with 4 or 5 planes, worked like crazy all Sunday to control the fire and luckily no houses were harmed on the other side of the freeway.

Saturday Around Noon

Fire

Fire

Planes Working Non-stop on Sunday Morning

Planes Working Non-stop on Sunday Morning

Fire

Fire

Fire

Fire

Sunday Morning

Sunday Morning

Categories: Other Stuff, Photography

Chantry Flat To Sturtevant Falls Hike

By Kevin and has no comments yet.  Leave a comment.

A couple of weekends ago I did this short hike with my dad who was visiting from Argentina. This is a short easy 3-mile round trip walk in the Angeles National Forest, close to Mount Wilson. Aside from a bit of elevation change at the beginning (and end since it is round trip) of the trail, it is mostly flat the rest of the way. This is Hike #41 from the book Trails of the Angeles: 100 Hikes in the San Gabriels by John W. Robinson.

On the way to the falls, there were a good number of small cabins. I found it amazing that just minutes from busy LA you can own a cabin and live in such a contrasting environment, away from traffic and fast pace of life.

The whole trail is very beautiful, peaceful, and pleasant since the abundance of tall trees provide plenty of shade for most of its 3 mile distance.

More info about this trail on Dan’s Hiking Pages: Sturtevant Falls

Trailhead

Trailhead

Map of the Trail

Map of the Trail

Winter Creek Bridge

Winter Creek Bridge

Creek

Creek

Creek

Creek

First View of the Waterfall

First View of the Waterfall

Waterfall

Waterfall

Waterfall

Waterfall

Categories: Angeles National Forest, Hiking
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Planning for the John Muir Trail

Posted May 12, 2008 By Kevin and has no comments yet.  Leave a comment.

7/7/09 UPDATE: Check out my updated packing list HERE.
11/21/09 UPDATE: Go HERE to read my JMT journal.

I’m been reading a lot of about this trail and it looks like an epic 21-day journey. It starts at Happy Isles in Yosemite and ends Whitney Portal right underneath Mount Whitney.

My plan is to do this in the Summer of 2009, so I got about 1 year to plan and prepare for it (a very exciting part of any journey). My previous backpack (including tent, sleeping bag/mat, stove, etc) was stolen after the Machu Picchu trek in Peru so I’ll need to reaquire all those items.

I went to the REI Annual Sale last week and got me the Big Agnes Seedhouse SL 1-person tent.

It’s a little bit expensive but it is the biggest and lightest tent they had in the store. On top of that I like that all the upper section is made of mesh material which gives you an amazing 360 degree view of the surroundings. I think it might even be able to fit 2 people into, although not very comfortably.

The idea was to slowly buy all the remaining items leading up to next years trip. But once I set up the tent in my living room, I figured that I don’t need to wait until the John Muir Trail to go camping. I can go to many weekend camping trips between now and then. I went ahead and bought online the Alps Mountaineering Clearwater MX +20 sleeping bag online and can’t wait for it to arrive.

I still need a stove and sleeping mat before I can go camping.

Categories: Americas, Hiking, John Muir Trail, Travel, United States

Found A Great Quote

Posted March 6, 2008 By Kevin and has no comments yet.  Leave a comment.

I’m an atheist and therefore not Buddhist, but the quote below by Buddha is amazing:

“It is proper for you, Kalamas [the people of the village of Kesaputta], to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor; nor upon what is in a scripture; nor upon surmise; nor upon an axiom; nor upon specious reasoning; nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over; nor upon another’s seeming ability; nor upon the consideration, ‘The monk is our teacher.’ Kalamas, when you yourselves know: ‘These things are bad; these things are blameable; these things are censured by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them.

“…Do not accept anything by mere tradition… Do not accept anything just because it accords with your scriptures… Do not accept anything merely because it agrees with your pre-conceived notions… But when you know for yourselves—these things are moral, these things are blameless, these things are praised by the wise, these things, when performed and undertaken, conduce to well-being and happiness—then do you live acting accordingly.”

I think everyone should follow this advice. And if after questioning everything you end up believing in a certain religion or god, then I’ll respect your beliefs even if I don’t agree with them.

Categories: Life