Tuesday, February 06, 2007 :::  
backpacking with Bella!

I went backpacking for the first time last summer and found it to be a great experience. I'm not sure if i blogged about it or not. hmm, lemme check. I guess I didn't blog about it. Guess that just goes to show you how negligent of my blog I am. In any case I went with Paul and Puneet. Here's a picture from the top of Mount Baden Powell:


You can see the rest of the set here.

As I was saying, I had an awesome time.

During the summer of '05 Bella and I went car camping with my friends down south of Gilroy. Bella never went camping while growing up - her mother would hear nothing of the sort. She enjoyed it, but thought it was too easy. What's the fun of brining your whole house with you was her main bone of contention. That is how I roll, however, when I go car camping. Bella expressed interest in going backpacking. At that point, I'll be honest, I was a little uneasy about backpacking. I don't really remember why. Maybe it was all the equipment I'd have to buy. Maybe it was being scared of pooping in nature. Maybe I thought it was too complicated (the food, figuring out where to go, the strange equipment...) I can't remember. In any case, I'll give Bella credit for being ready to go backpacking before me.

So last month I got the idea that Bella and I should go backpacking and I took the initiative to make it happen. I'm currently in LA on a project for work, which makes it much easier to spend the weekends here and pretty convenient to plan activities. Thinking back, it all began when I saw a backpack (day pack/backpacking backpack) for sale on steepandcheap.com (clearance/overstock stuff from backcountry.com). I'm addicted to the site, so I check it fairly religiously. I bought the pack almost instantly for Bella to use for backpacking. The biggest hurdle in having Bella go backpacking previously was the lack of equipment for her (backpack / sleeping bag). One hurdle down! Besides buying new things, what's the best way to get a hold of equipment? Borrow it! So I did. My buddy Linh lent me his sleeping bag for Bella. Woot!

So now the question remained: where to go backapcking in LA during the first weekend of February? I bought this book:

Backpacking California, edited by Paul Backhurst.

It's a really great book that has a ton of trips all over CA that range in skill and length. I found a place for us to go that wasn't too far away and wasn't too high in elevation (higher elevation = colder and colder = less fun).

The trail started above Arcadia, CA from a parking lot called Chantry Flat (located within Angeles National Forest). After getting back, I found this website with a ton of great information: Big Santa Anita Canyon on adamspackstation.com. Incidentally enough, my Mom grew up in Arcadia. Apparently, Chantry Flat is where all the young kids use to go to make out. Mom denied ever going up there...

I was really surprised at how beautiful and green the canyon was. It was lush and green beyond anything in recent memory. And it was only 30 miles away from Bella's apt in K-town! Who knew you could find something so mother naturely awesome less than a 30 min drive away from Downtown LA.

So here's an overview of our trip:

We took the Gabrieleno Trail to Sturtevant Falls:


Along the way we saw some great reflections in the river:


We continued along the trail towards Spruce Grove Campground (our destination for the night). The canyon was like a rainforest:


We saw some strange faces:


Here's our campsite:


Another reason I chose this trail was that I didn't think there would be any bears. While we were eating dinner a man came down the trail who worked at the Methodist camp up the trail and told us to beware of bears eating our food. So much for my original logic. I didn't have a bear canister, so I placed our food in two plastic grocery bags and hung them in nearby branches. It wouldn't deter a bear, but it would keep smaller animals out (squirrles/deer/etc...). Anyway, nothing happened. Our food was as we left it.

It was really cold at night! Our sleeping bags were rated to 15 degrees F, but I'm pretty sure it was only in the 30's. My tent is only for 3 seasons, but LA only really has about 2 and a half seasons. I did OK, but Bella was really cold most of the night. Poor girl. She slept on a rock, too, so her back was upset in the morning. {:o(

The next morning we hiked to the peak of Mt. Zion. It's nothing spectacular, but you can get a small glimpse of the valley:


All in all, it was a pretty good hike. Very beautiful. The only downside was Bella's pack. For some reason, it became extremely uncomfortable pretty quickly. It really bored down on her shoulders. I kept adjusting it to try to make it better to no avail. She was a real trooper, though. She held in there and didn't let the pain deter her from making it out of the forest. Go Bella!

Aside from a few misgivings, I think Bella had a good time. There are just a few thinks to remember for next time:

1. Go when it's warmer
2. Get Bella a sleeping pad
3. Figure out what's up with Bella's pack
   

On an odd note, I don't recall seeing any wildlife aside from a single squirrel. No deer. No bears (thankfully). Only mules being used to pack stuff in and domesticated dogs (with equally domesticated owners).

::: posted by Soup at 8:14 PM:::

Comments:

great post. way to use pictures. and stuff.

# posted by dat : 3:54 PM

 

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