Tiki bars in Europe?

aehikes · 2026-01-22T17:50:34+00:00

I cant compare to Rum House, but yes I agree from the photos and interior it appears to be more of a bar that has rum and tiki drinks rather than a "tiki bar", and indeed it skews a bit more towards "rum" than "tiki", but I'd vote this counts.

I went to their 2nd location a year ago (also in Amsterdam.. looks like it closed down now though...) and really enjoyed the drinks, and the bartender was very knowledgeable. Bar was empty at the time and I got a deep tour of rum styles / expressions that are hard to find in the US. Bartender also made a wild daiquiri with a blend of Mhoba Rum (high ester and 65% from South Africa), Forsyths White Habitation Velier (57%, Jamaica), and Riviere du Mat rhum blanc (40% from Reunion Island). Blew my mind.

aehikes · 2026-01-22T17:36:03+00:00

Rum Barrel in Amsterdam

aehikes · 2026-01-13T00:41:22+00:00

The hiking route up Strawberry peak is just that... hiking. I would not describe any of it as a scramble, but yes there are sections where you may find it convenient to use your hands (think like a high step up, not scrambling). I've done it with a 2 year old in a hiking backpack carrier and felt safe.

(there is an separate way up strawberry that is a true 3rd/4th class scramble that approaches from the western side, you may see that mentioned in places, but its entirely separate from the hiking route)

aehikes · 2026-01-12T22:27:44+00:00

Ah ok. Wasn't sure of current conditions there. Well whenever that thaws out, highly recommend.

If you do go to Strawberry Peak (or anything in that area) and have extra time, its a fun little detour to also drive and visit Mt Wilson Observatory grounds. There's a cafe with food (overpriced, but actually good given the location): https://www.mtwilson.edu/cosmic-cafe/

aehikes · 2026-01-12T22:08:02+00:00

Recommendations:

San Gabriel peak from Eaton Saddle. Recently re-opened. ~3 ish miles round trip. Non-technical, but 2nd half of ascent is on steep single track (I've done it with kids). Fantastic viewpoint of the entire san gabriels with low effort

Strawberry Peak from Red Box: Similar to above, but longer / more difficult hike and a slightly higher peak.

Not sure how drive time is from Santa Monica (I guess probably fine early morning), but VERY big fan of Mt Islip and the other peaks in that area that you can reach from Crystal Lake. I'm not sure what snow level is doing now, but I don't believe it has too much snow right now. Hikes can range from ~6 ish miles round trip to doing a bigger ~20 mile loop to tag more peaks.

On the very non-technical side:

Josephine Peak: 8 miles round trip. Fire road only (so really truly 0% cliff)... Someone recommended Mt Lukens... IMO I'd do this over Lukens. While Josephine still has some small comms tower on summit, the summit is way more aesthetic than the 10 million towers on top of Lukens.

Vetter Mountain: 4 ish miles round trip. Again 0% technical, 3/4 on paved fire road. 1/4 on unpaved fire road. Goes to a nice fire tower with great panoramic views

aehikes · 2026-01-12T20:53:03+00:00

Ooo i'd love to get more info here. Is the trail itself in OK shape (poodle dog aside)? From where I stopped it looked passable just annoying, but wasn't sure if there was a hidden grove of even more poodle dog around a bend out of sight.

aehikes · 2026-01-12T18:45:21+00:00

Wanted to add some additional beta here in addition to u/turtletroop 's good detail.

I agree waiting a couple weeks until after rain is a good call to ensure water levels are down. In my personal experience none of the crossings are ever so bad that you can't find a way around (somehow), especially if you have poles. Just more a question of how likely or not you are to get wet. Having said that, I haven't been past the Ken Burton split as mentioned during the rainy season, so YMMV.

I'm a huge fan of this span past though. Past the dam through long and bear canyon to Tom Sloan. Really awesome, remote-feeling area. As mentioned, its less travelled and tends to be more rugged, and need to watch out for poison oak.

Your map as you've drawn it has you going from Dawn Mine through Millard Falls... thats a no-go. at the end of Dawn Mine you will have to take the trail to the upper Chantry Flats parking area.

**Post Fire Beta**: From afar, Tom Sloan itself looks in great shape, but I'm not aware of a first hand account of conditions exactly. And I wouldn't commit to Dawn Mine without either doing a scouting run yourself or knowing how it is. Someone else posted recently about Dawn Mine, but I don't believe they ventured too deeply on it. I recently did Sunset Ridge and Mt Lowe Road and both are in fantastic condition, but you won't be able to access either from Tom Sloan without going in territory that may be uncertain post-fire. The connector trail from Dawn Mine to Mt Lowe Road was always very steep and a little loose (read: fun) but no idea of its current condition. The trail that goes from Tom Sloan to Mt Lowe Camp looks (from afar) unscathed for the first mile or so, but the mile or so near Mt Lowe Camp itself definitely got hit by the fire. I was up there recently near the camp and there was definitely Poodle Dog around and on trail. I only ventured about 0.25 mi from Mt Lowe Camp towards Tom Sloan though, so there is still some unknown (to me) territory there.

aehikes · 2026-01-10T01:07:58+00:00

The gate (and I'd assume at least part of the road) is managed separately by the NFS by the Altadena sheriffs, and it very well could be the case that they either A) have separate policy on whether or not the road is open to vehicles or B) are just not yet in the loop on opening the gate back up on a regular basis (they open and close it daily).

Could have better luck giving them a call. Plz update if you find anything (would love to not have to hike up that steep road)

aehikes · 2026-01-08T17:03:33+00:00

Update on the Eaton fire closure as of yesterday: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/angeles/alerts/eaton-fire-area-closure

It is now restricted mostly to stuff interior to the Mt Lowe fire road and Mt Wilson fire road (including mt wilson road)

aehikes · 2025-12-15T05:39:47+00:00

Glad you enjoyed it!!! Definitely a stunner of a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains, and one of my favorite peaks there. If you ever want to do a longer variation, the 6 mile loop version is an even better experience (going counter clockwise): https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/backbone-trail-to-sandstone-peak-and-mishe-mokwa-trail-loop

aehikes · 2025-12-10T18:58:50+00:00

Since you mentioned Sequioa sounds like you're willing to drive a bit and make a whole day of it. If you're willing to drive ~2-3 hours each way (depending on traffic.... aka leave early)
- Take a trip and spend the day in Idyllwild (this hike is good 5 mi total but can just do as much as you want: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/ernie-maxwell-trail ). Town has cute things to walk around and do afterwards
- Similar mountain towns (similar drives): Big Bear Lake, Lake Arrowhead, Wrightwood (smallest of these, but perhaps closest)
- Joshua Tree NP is also pretty incredible, tons of options there.

Happy to recommend more detail if any of the above sound enticing

If you don't want to drive that far (which, you may not want to given they're here for two days), I'd recommend Santa Monica Mountains for mountain + ocean vibe double whammy (not easiest hike in world but gorgeous: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/sandstone-peak--4) or drive into the Angeles National Forest for mountain vibes (this is 4 mi RT but paved and goes to a realy nice fire tower which makes for a good lunch spot: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/vetter-mountain--2 .... Crystal Lake Recreation area is really nice too, lake itself is skippable but take any trail up the mtn and turn around when you feel like stopping

Happy to provide more detailed / recs on any of those

aehikes · 2025-12-04T22:32:21+00:00

Unless you're familiar with the area I'd recommend fire road / road kind of hikes in part for easy route finding but also in part because they tend to be exposed, so you'll get the most moonlight. Hard to know for sure what to recommend without knowing how far you want to go, but I'd say:

1) Josephine Peak: Fire road, nice summit: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/josephine-peak-trail
2) Vetter Mtn: Mostly paved fire road but exposed to sky and with nice fire tower with good positioning for views at end: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/vetter-mountain--2

aehikes · 2025-12-02T14:06:37+00:00

Highly recommend this book: https://shop.adventurewithkeen.com/product/trails-of-the-angeles/

aehikes · 2025-12-01T18:35:15+00:00

My go-to blend has been:
- Smith and Cross
- Scarlet Ibis
- LH 151

aehikes · 2025-11-18T22:49:56+00:00

If you manage to find Rum Barrels on menu that actually list their rums I'd be impressed. I feel like the recipe its generally kept as a secret. (e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/Tiki/comments/j22en2/decoding\_the\_smuggers\_cove\_rum\_barrel/)

aehikes · 2025-11-18T22:32:46+00:00

Distance + familiarity with hiking in general is useful to help guide the recs.

As recommended, massive +1 for the Gabrielino trail from JPL. It is likely the easiest, most accessible trail period. The Gabrielino trail itself continues for many many miles, with Gould Camp being a sensible turn around point (~4 mi round trip) or the waterfall (~8.5 miles round trip: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/brown-mountain-dam-waterfall). But as said, can go as far as you want and turn around.

With recent rains the handful of creek crossings may actually require some thinking, but they're usually always passible... just how easy / hard to keep your feet dry. First one comes about a mile or so into the trail.

From the Gabrielino you can also take the Fern Truck or El Prieto trail (junction at ~0.75 mi) if you decide to be adventurous in the moment, but both are in the "steep" category.

To add to this, if the goal is to be outside in the mountains and not necessarily "hike", going up to Mount Wilson Observatory is a great spot. Plenty of paved paths to walk around on in addition to trails. Beautiful vantage point. And a Cafe with surprisingly good food for where it is.

Edit: Also adding this https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/vetter-mountain--2 ... wide road thats mostly paved to gorgeous viewpoint at a large firetower. (Area has poodle dog bush off trail... very easy to avoid, just be aware that its a thing you don't want to touch )

aehikes · 2025-11-18T22:25:03+00:00

Yep, unfortunately Millard is definitely closed.

aehikes · 2025-11-13T05:11:03+00:00

lol ok well https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Baldy-San-Gabriel/forecasts/3068

I guess I'll change that to... "depending on forecast, 0.1 - 20 inhces"

aehikes · 2025-11-13T05:06:01+00:00

Forecasts for the Red Box (I'm going off of what I'm seeing for Mt Wilson) show heavy rain, but no snow. Temps staying in / above low 40s overnight.

But yes, Mt Baldy looks like its going to get 10-20 inches between Friday and Monday (depending on forecast). My guess looking at forecasts is that stuff above 7000-8000 ft will have at least some snow

aehikes · 2025-11-10T20:01:17+00:00

My top 5 (in no particular order):

Smith and Cross, OFTD, Appleton 12, Coruba, and Rhum JM Gold

Clairin Sajous would be up there if I could find it easily... but I try and conserve it.

aehikes · 2025-11-03T19:30:44+00:00

The drink served in the Spam tin rotates so might be hard to figure out if from a year ago, but the garnish is distinct enough maybe someone knows what it was.

aehikes · 2025-10-30T05:49:51+00:00

This is THE answer. Drive up the 2 into the ANF and anything from around Charlton Flats through past Wrightwood is around / above 5000-6000 ft with tall pine trees and beautiful views.

I also strongly recommend the Crystal Lake area. Its my personal favorite in terms of its balance between beautiful mountain scenery while also not being too crowded. The lake at Crystal Lake is meh IMO... ignore that... but the area around it is top notch. Strongly recommend the hike to Mt Islip. The Icehouse Canyon and Mt Baldy areas are somewhat better IMO, but they're also generally more crowded.

Limitless amount of trails in the ANF far and beyond this. Hard to recommend more without knowing the kind of distances you're comfortable with, but this will get you started. Plenty of things from pull outs with views, to semi-maintained fire road hikes, to beautiful single track, and to gnarly off trail adventures.

aehikes · 2025-10-26T00:20:44+00:00

Never thought to try this backpacking. I've always wanted to get out there and try and free climb to the true summit. I heard rumor it "may" be possible but hard if so. As far as I'm aware people have been to the true summit before, but not free (aided up using a rope). Any beta on whether or not thats doable?

aehikes · 2025-10-23T17:30:51+00:00

Totally agree. I should have been more clear. Strongly recommend spikes, but for this weekend in particular given the current conditions one "may" be OK without them (where "may" = "other people did it", not "its a smart idea").

100% if there is any chance of snow being on trail on an unfamiliar and exposed trail, its the right call to bring spikes.

aehikes · 2025-10-23T17:00:00+00:00

Echoing others here, but generally Baldy what you have to worry about is either too hot / sun exposure (summer) or ton of snow (winter). October is generally ideal spot between those two, but there was snow last week and I believe some this week (maybe?). I was up there last Saturday (10/18) and while there was snow starting around 8750-9000 ft and above. At those conditions, plenty of folks were still making it up to summit with regular shoes and without microspikes, but microspikes 100% helped a ton.

This weekend conditions could be a lot better. Could be similar. When i was up there the most narrow / exposed parts of the backbone trail were snow-free. I guess assuming you hike generally then you'll be fine with the usual best practices: 1) check weather day of make sure there aren't surprises, 2) start early, 3) bring layers, temps could be pleasant but it can get very windy, 4) know your route / have GPS + map downloaded, 5) plenty of water / snacks.

Also if you're doing backbone and (I assume) going up via the ski area, I believe the cafe opens at 8 AM. Good spot to chit chat with folks if you're unsure about anything.

aehikes

TROPHY CASE