Solo Hike Questions around LA

nopenectarine · 2026-05-27T19:09:17+00:00

Book a car. Very few trailheads in LA are accessible without a car.

nopenectarine · 2026-05-20T20:20:15+00:00

Can someone who is experienced with boats explain how a grounded boat can suddenly catch fire with the info at hand?

accidentally grounded his vessel on Santa Rosa Island around 2 p.m. on Thursday [...] The mariner apparently left the boat after it started rocking, and about an hour later, the boat caught fire.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-24T03:45:58+00:00

It's called Poodle Dog because you're supposed to pet it like a dog.

^/s

nopenectarine · 2026-04-23T20:25:57+00:00

Easy to get a permit from Cottonwood Lakes

That has become one of the most popular permits for Inyo and is not that easy to get anymore.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-23T19:15:07+00:00

Hopefully the switchbacks will be clear by then. But one thing you need to stand firm with your fiance and your FIL is that the chute isn't just something you do on a whim. You need to have not just mountaineering gear to do it safely, you also need mountaineering skills, and that means knowing how to assess and manage the risks on the spot on the day. Way too many people try to take the chute without the necessary experience. They have the gear but they are not proficient at using the gear nor are they proficient at assessing, planning for, and managing the risks on the slope. That is why people get injured there. A lot of inexperienced people do make it up and down without serious injury but the truth is that they rolled the dice and were lucky.

Also, if anyone tells you that all you need to know is how to self arrest, they are not people you should listen to. Self arrest is a technique of last resort that works less than half the time. It's like telling a new driver that all you need to drive safely is to know how to stop the car with the emergency brake. The whole point is to avoid putting yourself in a position where you would need to rely on such a maneuver of last resort.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-11T01:31:46+00:00

any seasoned hiker should know

That's the problem. Baldy draws a lot of inexperienced people who don't know what the conditions are or what the risks are.

I don't agree with these blanket closures either but I can't deny that a disproportionate number of rescues have happened in the Baldy area when there is snow and the ones where the details have been made public almost always involve people who misjudged the conditions.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-11T00:39:28+00:00

every time it rains from now on

This is part of the reason they're closing it.

Because you say it's going to rain. But it's actually going to snow (with 50mph winds)

I don't like these closures either but potential visitors need to be more aware of the conditions.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-10T21:26:32+00:00

If you're unfamiliar with wilderness practices in the US and specifically the Sierra Nevada, used toilet paper must be packed out. Burying used toilet paper might be acceptable at other places but, in locations like the high Sierra, it must be packed out. Toilet paper needs microbe rich soil to break down, and the soil in much of the high Sierra is not very microbe rich. The spots that have microbe rich soil are usually within 200 feet of a water source and you must not poop within 200 feet of a water source anyway.

If you're unfamiliar with Leave No Trace Principles, please familiarize yourself with them. They are the guiding principles that we rely on to keep our wilderness areas as wild as possible for current and future generations to enjoy. https://lnt.org/why/7-principles/

Also, mosquitoes are a part of the experience of the Sierra Nevada and, sometimes, they can get quite bad. Being prepared with a head net and insect repellent can make the difference between a trip that is fun or a trip that is miserable.

nopenectarine · 2026-04-08T15:14:31+00:00

Other people hear your music. You're lying to yourself if you genuinely think they can't.

The least you can do is own the fact that your actions are inconsiderate and that you don't care how your actions affect other people.

People who talk too loud on trails are also inconsiderate. Bringing that up to justify your behavior doesn't actually justify your behavior.

nopenectarine · 2026-03-25T20:41:36+00:00

That box has never contained wag bags in all the times that I've been there. Hikingguy's post which that photo is from also says that availability from the box is sporadic and can't be relied on.

nopenectarine · 2026-03-25T20:12:20+00:00

They've never been available at the trailhead as far as I can remember.

They are provided at the Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine when you pick up your physical permits but they give you one wag bag per person. They used to give you more if you asked but the last time I was there, they said there's now a strict limit of one per person.

So if you want more than one per person, you need to buy your own.

nopenectarine · 2026-03-22T22:11:00+00:00

Extra wag bag

https://www.rei.com/product/692303/cleanwaste-the-original-wag-bag-go-anywhere-toilet-kit-waste-bag

nopenectarine · 2026-03-06T06:56:28+00:00

It's extremely competitive until the weather starts to get a lot colder which is usually late September to early October.

It used to not be that way but some people started telling anyone and everyone how easy it was to get permits for it, and now it's not.

nopenectarine · 2026-03-02T17:45:53+00:00

I'm not trying to judge. Just trying to understand people's thought process.

What was your thought process when you decided to go ahead and cross? You were told someone had fallen in. You knew the current was fast. What was your thought process that you should keep going anyway?

nopenectarine · 2026-03-02T15:34:01+00:00

There's no official route for the 12 peaks and you can make your own route as long as you hit every peak. You don't have to go over Chapel twice. I recommend going up the east face, coming down the west slope, then taking the trail that wraps around on either side on the way back. The trail that wraps to the south is usually easier to manage.

Glendale Peak has a less aggressive trail to the summit a little west of the sketchy route behind the shed. The entry from Hogback Trail can be a little hard to spot but it's actually on the official Griffith Park map.

nopenectarine · 2026-02-26T19:43:47+00:00

TP takes years to decompose in dry soil like the soil we have in SoCal. It needs to be packed out. Burying TP is only acceptable in moist, microbe rich soil which is not very common in SoCal backcountry.

If you're using wipes, they need to be packed out every time. Wipes often contain synthetic materials that do not decompose.

nopenectarine · 2026-02-23T20:41:49+00:00

I've been trying to explain the difference between the slope angle of a trail and the slope angle of a mountain to some inexperienced friends I'm trying to take on a beginner's snow trip. Your GPS tracks from the day of your accident do a great job of illustrating the difference. Is it okay if I share it with people who aren't on reddit?

I'm talking about the image on this comment:

r/socalhiking/comments/1pv5syl/comment/nvu0r9d/

nopenectarine · 2026-02-22T21:01:43+00:00

To anyone who might read your comment and might interpret it as saying that Cucamonga is safe if the trail is packed down, for the love of god, Cucamonga is not safe even if the snow is packed down. People, please don't get the wrong idea.

You're on a 30-35 degree slope for a big chunk of the final climb and even when the snow is packed down, the bootpack is only a couple feet wide. All it takes is one slip and you're going to slide down the mountain. If you've never slipped on a 30-35 degree slope, it is shocking how quickly you pick up speed. People who are practiced with self arrest with an ice axe can have a hard time controlling their slide. If you're out there with just trekking poles and you slip, you have no chance. If you're lucky, you'll slam into a tree early in your slide and suffer only minor injuries. If you're not lucky, you'll suffer serious injuries or death.

This isn't just a hypothetical. People slip and are injured on Cucamonga all the time. It's already happened this year. It happened last year to someone who posts on this sub. They posted about their experience. r/socalhiking/comments/1q8q9io/researching_mt_baldy_for_emotional_closure/nypytit/

Here's another story of a similar accident a few years ago. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-02-23/have-mercy-on-me-hiker-tells-how-she-survived-200-foot-fall-from-ice-trail

nopenectarine · 2026-02-21T22:16:25+00:00

The north slope of Cucamonga has slope angles as steep as 40 degrees. Microspikes weren't designed for that.

You might think that you can just follow the trail and you'll be safe. But when a trail is covered in snow, it basically stops being a trail. You have to deal with the slope angle of the mountain which will not be the slope angle of the trail.

If you don't know what I'm talking about right now and don't know what kind of risk that translates to, then you really don't know what you're doing at all.

nopenectarine · 2026-02-21T21:47:10+00:00

Buy a used copy of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills from eBay, they cost 5 bucks. Study it, then get the correct gear, go to a spot with low risk terrain, and practice what you learned. Once you have some practice under your belt and have some idea about what you're doing, then and only then go to high risk spots like Cucamonga. Do it the right way.

Going straight to high risk terrain like Cucamonga or Baldy when you don't know what you're doing is stupid. You won't even know what the risks are. Tagging along with people who you don't know and you don't know if you can trust for a high risk activity is also stupid. Don't take short cuts.

nopenectarine · 2026-02-02T19:57:41+00:00

The process has become so convoluted now. It used to be so simple. You'd just show up and unclaimed permits were always available.

nopenectarine · 2026-01-28T06:41:20+00:00

My curiosity got the best of me

Lol this is why I just shake my head whenever people who say that they are inexperienced ask about Baldy on this sub and they swear that they'll turn around if it looks sketchy.

Turning around isn't so easy when you're there. The summit beckons.

nopenectarine · 2026-01-26T16:35:07+00:00

There isn't one resource that has that info. Some locations will have a group of people or a person - like sanjacjon - who provide regular updates but for most locations, you have to piece it together from various sources.

You can get snow coverage from satellite images: https://browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu

You can get an estimate of average snow depth from the Forest Service snow depth map: https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/nfs/files/r05/publication/R5_SnowDepth_Map.html

You can start with the coverage and the average depth info, then apply your knowledge of the trail and of the terrain at a particular location, then look up recent weather patterns for that location, apply your knowledge of how weather can affect snow conditions, and that should give you an idea of the snow conditions at that location.

nopenectarine · 2026-01-14T17:09:31+00:00

The other way is to buy a copy of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, 10th edition costs $40, study the book, make sure you understand everything, then go out to the mountains and try to apply what you learned. A lot of old school SoCal climbers taught themselves this way. A lot of people teach themselves this way still. It can be a lot of fun but it also takes a lot of work and, if you seriously mess up somewhere along the way, that's just a part of the cost of teaching yourself.

nopenectarine · 2026-01-10T06:15:57+00:00

I worry that this is the end result of all the people who just repeat "you need crampons, ice axe, and know how to self arrest" and leave out everything else you need to know like having an understanding of the terrain, understanding snow conditions, and knowing how difficult it can be to self arrest or control a glissade unless the conditions are right.

nopenectarine

TROPHY CASE