Ballinger Canyon is a high desert Off Highway Vehicle area similar in terrain to Hungry Valley, but about half the acreage. Ballinger has 11 jeep trails interlaced with about two dozen ATV and motorcycle trails. There are two main roads through the canyon, both easy to moderate with a few more challenging connectors. Entrance to…
BMW i series owners (i3, i8, X5 40e) are gathering at the Long Beach Formula E race this Saturday April 2, 2016 to organize the longest parade of BMW cars in history. The previous record was set in 2008 by 178 BMW Isettas (the car pictured above), arguably much cooler than an i3 which…
Tom Stienstra picks ten of his favorite San Francisco bay-area outdoor locations for travelers who want to experience California’s uncharacteristically lush spring this year. In this case “bay-area” is a metonymy for “Northern California”. Stienstra’s list includes: Yosemite Valley waterfalls Shasta Lake Tahoe, Heavenly’s Skyline Trail Santa Cruz Mountains, Silver Falls/Golden Cascade North Sierra foothills, Feather…
The Topatopa bluffs run from West to East, serving as a gigantic reflector for the Ojai valley. They are a numinous presence in much of the surrounding county. I can see them from my house in East Ventura. This weekend, however, is the first time I’ve hiked anywhere close to them. To hike the Sisar…
I stumbled across a provocative label on Mark Bernstein’s site, coupling the phrase “Where you are is WHAT you are” with the caption “Weber’s Qualitatvie Analysis Tools.” As best I can tell, Weber refers to sociologist Max Weber and “Where you are is WHAT you are” is a quote from Constantin Stanislavski related to his…
This particular track starts at Canwood Street just off the 101 Freeway at Liberty Canyon Road. It’s an easy hike over a spur trail out of Liberty Canyon through a shady oak grove and on to Cheseboro Canyon where the trail gets quite wide and flat. If you’re planning on biking then be advised that this first leg gets…
When society collapses you’ll be glad you have these skills. Primitive Technology shows how to make a lethally effective bow and arrows using just a few stone tools. It doesn’t end there. The (as far as I can tell) nameless maker behind Primitive Technology serves up a baker’s dozen tutorials on how to do sophisticated…
Jim Hamm is lucky that his wife, Nell, kept her head while a mountain lion had a deathlock on his. The 70 year old hiker was attacked by the lion while hiking in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Nell tried stabbing the cat in the eye with a ballpoint pen but the pen broke. Then…
In some parts of the world roads are almost an afterthought. People want to get from point A to point B and there’s a piece of land that a coyote walked through once. Why not make it a road? It was once said of the infamous Mosquito Pass in Colorado (the highest motorway in the…
Note: This post was written before the Thomas fire which killed one of the trees. A replacement tree was planted. Both trees appear to be struggling now. The trees are being cared for by the Rancho Venture Trust. Hikers are being asked to stay off the land until it recovers from the fires. Perched on…
Working with a new Word Press theme called TruePixel by MyThemeShop. But until I get things squared away things are bound to get a little ugly.
Sometimes it’s nice to have a little road music on the way to the trailhead. For my money you can’t find much better than Jason Isbell. Reviewers like to talk about how dark his songs can be, but what floors me is how much gratitude they express. Listening to a few of these songs –…
What exactly trigger’s Ebenezer Scrooge’s big transformation in A Christmas Carol? I always thought Scrooge’s change of heart came about when the spirit of Christmas-yet-to-come pointed a boney finger to Ebenezer’s grave. I may have been influenced in that respect by the Mr. Magoo version. Re-reading A Christmas Carol this year I noticed that the spirits themselves have little to do with Uncle Ebenezer’s big…
So it seems that people tend to believe that foul language is a signal that a person may be intellectually challenged. But that’s not what research shows. In fact, if a person can deftly wield the f-bomb (yes, I’m looking at you, Adrian McKinty) it probably means that they have generally superior verbal skills overall. You see it’s…
I was talking with a friend yesterday who said that he was impressed by the Christmas lights he saw flying into Burbank Bob Hope Airport. But on some of the houses the displays weren’t just bright, they were blinding. Turns out that laser Christmas lights, all the rage this season, may be creating a public nuisance.…
