I have a drawer full of socks just for hiking and backpacking. Winter blends, summer blends, tall, short, wool, synthetic, thick, thin, you name it and they are probably in there if you dig. Despite all the options I find myself going to the same few time after time and am always a little nervous when trying new pair.
We have 3 days! Where should we go? What should we do? As Memorial Day weekend was approaching I was heading into planning mode. We needed to take advantage of the long weekend... should we head to Joshua Tree? Maybe the Sierra? Road trip down to San Diego, how about up to Santa Barbara? Should we go backpacking or car camp? Hike, climb or both? Dogs coming or dogs staying?
A last minute head's up to join a friend for a hike last Tuesday turned into a lovely afternoon. While at Outdoor Retailer, a couple of weeks ago, a friend, and Director of Sierra Club Outdoors, Stacy Bare said he was might be doing a hike to the Hollywood Sign. Despite being born in Hollywood and living in Southern California for a couple of decades, I have never done this hike. So I figured what better excuse than a friend coming in from out of town to head into the Hollywood Hills.
Realizing that I had not actually asked what day the hike was going to happen, a quick email exchange cleared up that the meet-up point was at the top of Beechwood Canyon/Sunset Ranch @ 1pm. Paul, Betty and I met up with some Stacy, some Sierra Club volunteers, veterans, and actress, Brooklyn Decker. We were a small but merry band with Betty embarking on her first hike! This is a family-friendly & pet-on-leash-friendly hike with the best views of the sign being from a mid-way point below it. Once you get to the top there is a chain link fence preventing you from getting to the actual sign and you have a view of the back of the sign. Round trip the hike is 3-4 miles and all fire roads.
You may not believe me, but until I Googled her after the hike, I had no idea who Brooklyn was. During the hike we learned about her volunteer work with the military and veterans, and that she is going to be helping bring awareness to getting youth outdoors as an Ambassador for Sierra Club Outdoors! It was great to form an opinion of someone based on actually getting to know them a little and not have a pre-conceived idea of what they might be like based on their celebrity. Always inspiring to meet someone using their influence for good and supporting a great organization like Sierra Club Outdoors!
The Sierra Club Outdoors is something we believe strongly in. We are instructors for the Wilderness Travel Course (WTC) which is part of Sierra Club Outdoors, as well as volunteers for the Advanced Mountaineering Program (AMP). We are also on the path to become rated Sierra Club trip leaders to bring others into the wilderness. How can we expect people to want to save our natural places if they have never experienced them? Last night at our first WTC class a friend described WTC as "a gateway drug" to the outdoors, we all laughed but it is true. We are teaching outdoor skills that give people the confidence to go out and enjoy nature…. and maybe even bring friends and inspire others…. and so on and so on. Wouldn't it be great if everyone could become addicted to nature.
So here is my shameless plug to check out Sierra Club Outdoors. They have tons of programs and events focused on getting people outdoors!
CONNECTING PEOPLE TO NATURE, BENEFITING BOTHSierra Club Outdoors reaches across economic lines, cultures, and communities, to engage all Americans -- including military and youth -- to explore and enjoy the natural world.
For more info on Brooklyn's involvement with Sierra Club Outdoors, click here!
[gallery type="rectangular" ids="1059,1051,1050,1060,1048,1049,1058,1057,1056,1055,1054,1053,1047,1052"] Over the 4th of July weekend Saveria and I traveled up to Bishop with a car load of our regular adventure mates to another of our good friends' house. The weekend was filled with most of our favorite things: we did a little climbing at a cool spot our host had found, we headed to higher elevation for some hiking, we managed to find time for some serious relaxing and we all had a great time joined by some new friends and Norman, our bulldog, who did a little bouldering himself.
In the evenings we ate really well, drank some and laughed a lot, we even saw some fireworks on the horizon on the 4th.
Friday we braved the heat and heading to find some a climbing spot. We found a beautiful spot, but triple digit heat made it hard to stay out too long.
On Saturday we decided to go for a quick hike around Rock Creek Lake. After getting some pie at the Pie in the Sky Cafe we hit out on the trail with Norman in tow and we set out around the lake. It was nice and cool at that altitude which was a nice break from the 100 degree weather down in Bishop. We didn't have a plan or a map so our simple little hike turned into a fun mini-adventure. We ended UP above the lake and have to work our way down. Norman worked on his bouldering skills and did a great job.
The next day we set up the slackline for everyone to try and it was a hit. The best part was the group energy of everyone encouraging others to give it a go.
The weekend was great fun and we got to spend time with some of our favorite people and meet some cool new ones. We can't believe that Labor Day is basically here... where has the summer gone???
