Hike #4 - Big Horn Mine Hike

It was a short drive (30 minutes from Rancho Cucamonga) to get there and I had to get a wilderness pass so I can park within Angeles National Forest but it was worth it.  Kids and I spend Father's Day hiking to Big Horn Mine, a 4-mile roundtrip with a total elevation gain of 1000 feet.  Not much total climbing except, the trailhead started at 6565 feet at Vincent Gap.  But the views are definitely worth it.

Several parts of the trail were washed away from rockslides but there was enough to get us through.  Some of the drops were pretty dramatic, which I estimated to be around 500 feet in the worst part, just a quarter mile from the first mineshaft.  Although it was around 95F in Rancho, it felt no more than 70 up here, given the elevation and the mountain breeze.

 Our reward at the end of the trail was this abandoned mining structure which took us 30 minutes to fully explore.  The majority of the steel structured building was gone but there was enough to allow us to climb up to the second mineshaft.  The views were even more stunning once we got there, where the mountain drops about a couple thousand feet below.

Below is Sam climbing up from the structure to get to the platform entrance to the mines.  In contrast to last week's hike to Eaton Canyon where we ran into hundreds of people, the trail to Big Horn Mine had less that a dozen people on it during the 2 hours we were on it.  I'm really hoping to use this high elevation hike as a primer for the kids taking on Mt. Baden-Powell.  We'll see.

Planning Hike #4

Can't believe this is the kids' 4th week of summer vacation.  Tomorrow will be our 4th hike in as many weeks and I decided we drive a little bit past Wrightwood to do a 4-mile roundtrip hike to see an old mine.  Elevation is well above 6000 ft but the hike itself, according to my topographic map is relatively flat -- yes that's right, an analog map, although I will charge my GPS watch tonight.  We'll make a day of it and explore Wrightwood a little bit.

The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett

The name of the artist alone caught my attention.  The second time in as many weeks I went to Dr. Strange Records in Rancho Cucamonga and at the first bin I found has these old vinyl for 50c each and 2 for 75c.  How can I resist?  I browsed through all the junk, Streisand, Croce, America, etc. until I found these 3 albums by "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett".  Anyone who has 50 guitars is my hero (for the record, I have less than 20) but this is vintage instrumental music that is the basis for a lot of covers by classic surf bands.  The days of instrumental music is over and these vinyls belong to a very specialized genre amongst record collectors.  After listening to these 3 albums, I'm now on the hunt for more 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett (I've seen a list of at least 18 releases doing a quick online search).  Although it's doubtful I can get them for 50c each again).

From the website www.spaceagepop.com...
Tommy Garrett was "Snuff" Garrett, A&R director for Liberty from 1958-1966, producer of numerous early 60s hits by white rock-n-roll artists such as Bobby Vee, Johnny Burnette, and Gary Lewis. Garrett also gave Phil Spector his first job in the business, as A&R man in New York for Liberty. He produced a series of LPs for Liberty under the name of "The 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett," one of the least adventurous and most easy-listening guitar groups, usually arranged by Ernie Wilkins and with Tommy Tedesco as lead guitar. Garrett also produced a number of exotica recordings by "The Midnight String Quartet" and Jonathan Knight on the Viva! label.

Hike #3 - Eaton Canyon, Pasadena

We used to head out to Eaton Canyon after every major winter storm just to see the water flowing down the riverbed into the reservoir.  When we lived at the house on Harding Avenue, the park entrance was a half mile away and taking into account the 1.5 mile hike, we effectively enjoyed a great 30-foot waterfall about 2 miles away!  That was a benefit I didn't really realize until we moved to Rancho Cucamonga.  As soon as the kids could walk on their own, we would explore the canyon and spend several hours just hanging out.

In the photo above, taken in Nov 2004 shows just how clear the skies over the San Gabriel Mountains could be in the fall.

Last weekend, we decided to hike up to Eaton Canyon, our first hike since moving to Rancho Cucamonga in 2009.  We got a late start and I knew it was going to be crowded but it was worse than I expected.  When we got there, entire families were making the trek on that hot June Sunday afternoon.  Babies, grandmas, kids, dogs, strollers, coolers, bags of potato chips, burgers, etc.  We saw it on the way up, at the destination, and on the way back.  At the waterfall, there must have been over 150 people alone, which surprisingly enough kept the area relatively free of debris and other signs of human presence.

My best memory of Eaton was our hike in Jan 2008 when Maura and I decided to enjoy the winter's day outdoors.  We ran into less than 5 people the entire time and we each picked up these walking sticks along the way.  We must have crossed the water over 20 times as the water level typically rises during the rainy months.  The photo above was taken using my camera on a timer sitting on top of a boulder.

They Reign From Pasadena

Going to the Van Halen concert at Staples Center last Saturday with the kids was quite an experience.  This is the third rock concert I've taken the kids to and they seem to be getting the hang of what it's like to feel the energy inside an arena.  Unlike the U2 concert or the LA Rising music festival last year, this one almost felt like a throwback to the way concerts used to be in the 80s and 90s at the Forum or Long Beach Arena.  I cannot think of a bigger band from Pasadena (or Los Angeles) in the last 30 years than Van Halen and while I wish I had seem them at their peak, this was still a great concert.  As long as brothers Eddie and Alex are playing, Van Halen will be great.  David Lee Roth back singing is more about showmanship and nostalgia than talent and vocal range.  But it really doesn't matter because he was still doing those jump kicks (at age 57) and obviously in good physical shape.  Eddie's son, Wolfgang had replaced Michael Anthony on bass but I don't really have a point of comparison playing live.  The band played 24 songs -- every hit from the David Lee Roth albums were played and at the end of the 2 hour set, I could not even think of a song I wanted to hear -- because I heard them all.   And that is how the concert ended.  No encore necessary.  Just rock and roll that way it was meant to be played and heard. Loud.

Doctor Strange Records

Finally, some cool music store in Rancho Cucamonga!  Interesting how a split second changes the whole chain of events that follows.  Wednesday night, I decided to do a short 1-hr ride around the city and was undecided on what route to take -- so I just headed down the Pacific Electric Bike Trail, westbound into the stiff afternoon headwind.  I usually head back via Lemon taking Beryl Street north but for some reason, I decided to head up Amethyst Ave instead.   I could have easily missed it if I hadn't glanced left for a second as I was pedaling about a block or two from the bike path.  It was past 7pm and all I saw was the store sign that said "RECORDS".  Hmmm.  A record store in a somewhat residential area of Rancho Cucamonga?  I pedaled home but just kept a mental note to drive by Amethyst on Friday, when I need to kill a half hour as the kids were taking music lessons at Alta Loma Music off Carnelian.  Doctor Strange Records is one cool place that sell vinyl, mostly punk but also a great selection of prints, t-shirts, stickers, magazines, etc.  Finally, I don't have to go to LA or Pasadena for vinyl.  I bought this signed poster by silkscreen artist John Miner for $10!  I only browsed for about 10 minutes since they close right at 7pm but I'll be back for more.

Two Weeks Into Summer

Took today, Friday off.  Walked around Old Town Pasadena and found this ultra cool luchador bottle opener at Paper Source.  With summer here, there is the temptation to cram every single day and week with activities to make full use of the kids' 11 week summer break.  But I know I need to enjoy each day and that could be as simple as browsing through a couple stores for interesting stuff.  San Francisco done, Kauai, San Clemente and a to-be-determined July destination to go.  I really wish I could take all summer off and just do stuff with the kids but someone's got to work around here.  And on most week nights, that reward for a full day's work is a beer that I will be opening with my luchador.