This is one of our two favorite hikes of all time. You cross beautiful mountain meadows, with
views of hills and the ocean. It is sort
of a moderate hike in terms of difficulty—9.5 miles with 2100 feet of
cumulative elevation gain and 9.5 miles.
A little of that gain and about a mile is due to the fact that we went
part way to Alan’s Peak.
If you are considering this trail, I would recommend doing
it before the mountain biking trails are completed to it. The trail as it is currently configured is
absolutely wonderful, but there is no guarantee that the new trail to it will
be—for one thing it will be a lot longer, unnecessarily so, because
swtichbacks are being created for mountain bikers. Also, you can’t enjoy the serenity of the
hike while you are always on guard for bikers screaming by you.
We had lot of difficulty on the lower part of the trail
because there were a HUGE number of these new switchbacks, and we couldn’t always tell
any longer which was the real trail. No
signs. What we did was try to follow
what looked like the oldest trail—and that worked.
We had planned on going all the way to Alan’s Peak, but my
foot started hurting. The last five
miles was just gritting it out through the pain. The pain was in my left foot, not the right
one that had been surgically repaired, so that was good.
I think what happened is that I had stubbed my toe a few
days earlier--in the campground of all places.
500+ hiking miles in some of the most difficult mountain terrain in the
past six months, and then I trip over a curb at the campground and go flying
onto the pavement. Jeez.
(the good news is that it healed quickly, as the next day I
did the Valencia Peak hike with no difficulty whatsoever).
Next year we will come back and go all of the way to Alan’s
Peak. Unfortunately, I think we will
have to dodge mountain bikers for most of the hike, and that is sort of sad to
us. This part of the park had a solitude and
peacefulness that was almost unmatched anywhere we have been, and now that will
be mostly lost.
You complain about mountain bikers, but you drive a F350 gas guzzling behemoth. How many gallons of gas did you burn to enjoy your precious outdoors? I rode the Hazard Peak trail before and after much trail repair was done by mountain bikers. The trail was severely eroded beforehand and is in much better shape due to our hard work.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point, but unfortunately the data do not support it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is a gas guzzler. IF one uses it to drive to work, to the grocery store, etc.
But we don't. We have done careful calculations of our carbon footprint, and with the pickup/camper, overall, on a yearly basis, the footprint is lighter than it is for the average American.
Why? For one thing, we burn very little fossil fuel (even considering the gasoline for the pickup) because we are not living in the north during the winter.
For another, we don't drive it every day. There will be times we might drive it only 100 miles in a month.
The amount of gasoline we burn is right about at the average for Americans.
Another: When we are traveling we use no electrical power (have a solar panel), so don't use a generator or need to plug in anywhere.
Another: We use VERY little water. We can both shower twice a week with 5 gallons--heated with solar power.
Another: We waste NO food. Every single thing that is purchased is consumed because we are so careful.
In summary, because we have the "gas guzzler," we use about half the carbon based fuel of an average American. We are, in fact, probably better for the environment than you are!
But to get back to your other point: I am afraid I must disagree. The trails were fine as hiking trails. They were some of the finest in the nation, and now they are not.
What we observed was cyclists using the trails as training for races. They were flying down those trails, and were not only dangerous, but the idea that those trails are now "shared use" is ridiculous. You can't "share" something with a group of people wrapped up in helmets and protective gear when you are not.