Laguna Coast Wilderness Park: Pacific Ridge Trailhead

Links:
OC Parks
Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

 

 

Appalacian Trail

Appalachian Trail

Ever since my Ohio days I was always fascinated by the Appalachian Trail.   I remember in the 90’s I had ordered a full length official Appalachian Trail map and even had it professionally framed and still today have it hanging in a hallway that I pass through multiple times daily.   The thought of taking off a few months off work, for most hikes I’ve heard it’s about 165 days or 5.5 months.  

Official AT trail maps: https://rhodesmill.org/thefox/maps.html

Doing a thru hike has always been something that interest me but I haven’t been fortunate enough to be able to afford that kind of time off of work.

Living in Ohio the AT was a little more accessible than the PCT.   Any stories that were published in magazines and eventually online always piqued my interest.    The AT crosses 14 states and is approx.. 2,200 miles long.  

I know there have been several occasions my travels took me to sections of the AT.    

For example:

I’ve been to Mount Washington in New Hampshire three times and of course the AT runs across the peak.  The first of these visits was in 2000 and then back again for marathons in 2015 and 2019.

Mount Washington - New Hampshire (July 25, 2000)

Mount Washington - New Hampshire (October 2, 2005)

Mount Washington - New Hampshire (October 2, 2015)

 

Mount Washington - New Hampshire (August 3, 2019)

 

 In 2000 I hiked Mt. Rogers, the high point of Virginia and also part of the AT.

 

Trail to Mt. Rogers - Virginia (November 11, 2000)

In 2014 I visited Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts while visiting the area for another marathon and this peak the AT also intersect. 

 

Mt. Greylock - Massachusetts (October 10, 2014)

Mt. Greylock - Massachusetts (October 10, 2014)

Mt. Greylock - Massachusetts (October 10, 2014)

My most epic section of the AT was climbing Mt. Katahdin in 2019. 

 

Mt. Katahdin - Maine (August 8, 2019)

Mt. Katahdin - Maine (August 8, 2019)

As much of my love for the AT, after moving to the West Coast and starting a family in 2005 the thought of the AT started to become a distance memory.   I was also pretty focused on my 50 state marathon quest so there wasn’t really any time for many other distractions.  

 

Hiking Favorites

Coming Soon

Echo Mountian

Links:
The Hiking Guy
Strava

 

Photo courtesy of the Hiking Guy

Photo courtesy of the Hiking Guy

Photo courtesy of the Hiking Guy

Photo courtesy of the Hiking Guy

Photo courtesy of the Hiking Guy

Joshua Tree National Park (2020)

With the hopes of having a clear view of Neowise's Comet Parisa and I packed up the car and headed out to the desert. A late start and a line of cars still entering the park after dark we didn't have time to get to the vantage point I had intended, but found an dirt road offshoot and drove back a couple miles with hopes of avoiding light pollution from all the cars.

We knew the Comet was supposed to be in the northwestern sky to the lower-right of the Big Dipper now and best viewing is probably between 9:30 and 10 pm. The spot we found had a clear view of the Big Dipper however the lower horizon was obstructed by a mountain so we even tho the Comet was fading out I don't think we had a direct line of site from our vantage point.

We made the best of our time in the desert. We were greeted by a coyote that sprung across the road directly in front of us, insects singing, and perfect clear skies. We were able to capture a couple of good shots with the Joshua Tree landscape in the foreground.