SixPackofPeaks

Santiago Peak Hike – 12-25-2020

/ Tony Ramos / Leave a comment

Santiago Peak Hike – 12-25-2020

This was my first time going up to Santiago Peak.  I found half the fun was driving up the dirt road in an off road vehicle – Jeep Wrangler. 

Getting to the start of the trail is a challenge in itself as you have to drive up this bumpy dirt road and I would definitely recommend a high clearance vehicle.  I though the trail was not really a trail but a dirt road up to the summit.  Even though for some reason today the road up to the summit was open as I believe there was a person working up in the top on the antennas I still parked at Maple Springs and started my hike there.  I found the hike fairly easy as it is just a walk up a road although you need to be careful if there is traffic as there was today.  I think I was the only person actually hiking it up and I saw a guy on a mountain bike as well but he did not go all the way up.  Overall, the views of the ocean and rolling hills are nice and seeing Catalina Island in the distance is a bonus but the trail was a little disappointing as I mentioned it is just a road.  I recommend this road for trail runners as the incline is not a lot and one can run up and down without too much effort.  Well I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Day as I did as I had the day off and doing some outdoor hiking and saw a new peak.

See you out in the trails…

Tony Ramos

SoCal Hiker – Six Pack of Peaks – Ambassador

Santiago Peak

#SoCalHiker #SixPackOfPeaks #SixPackOfPeaks2020 #SixPackOfPeaksChallenge #Hiking #TonyRamosJr #SantiagoPeak 

Strawberry Peak Hike – 12-21-2020

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Strawberry Peak Hike – 12-21-2020

Incredibly this was my first time hiking Strawberry Peak.  I have hiked so many of the local mountains but this one had eluded me for quite some time.

I found the trail enjoyable with it very easy to follow with some signs pointing you in the right direction.  I also found very few hikers as it was a Monday and am sure is much busier on the weekends.  The hike and trail is not very difficult but does have a lot of elevation gain at towards the end with a lot of false summits.  The view at the summit was great with views of the Pacific Ocean and surrounding mountains.  I recommend this hike to everyone wanting to good challenge that does not take all day.  I happened to finish the whole trail up and down within 4 hours and including the time spent resting and taking pictures.  I started around 12:00 noon and finished just past 4:00 pm.  According to Runkeeper, it was 7.39 miles and an elevation gain of 1928 feet.  I did go off trail to check out some views at times.  Overall I was very pleased with this adventure and will likely do it again with some others.

Happy Trails

Tony Ramos

SoCalHiker Ambassador

Strawberry Peak

#SixPackOfPeaks #SixPackofPeaksChallenge #StrawberryPeak #SixPackOfPeaksChallenge2020 #TonyRamosJr #Hiking #MakeItHappen

Mount Baldy Hike – 06-20-2020

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Mount Baldy Hike – June 20, 2020

Another Pandemic Social Distancing Hike to Mount San Antonio aka Mount Baldy.  I wanted to get some nature outdoor time and decided to head north of my house to the San Gabriel Mountains.  I found that driving up Euclid all the way, I can get to Mount Baldy Road.  Anyway, I started this hike around 10:30 am and finished around 2:40 pm.  This is one of the most popular mountains of the Six Pack of Peaks because it is the highest in the LA Area.  Although I know a lot of people prefer others because Mt. Baldy is very bare with very little trees mostly when you get to the higher elevation and close to the summit.  Although there are other more scenic summits, I enjoy this one because you truly do get a 360 degree view of all the surrounding mountains.  You also get a good steep climb and workout which many enjoy doing some trail running for their training for races.  I tend to be very slow going up but speed up with a jog on the way down.  I enjoyed this hike and here are some of the pictures I took on this day.

See you on the trails…

Tony Ramos

SoCal Hiker – Six Pack of Peaks Ambassador

#MtBaldy #MountSanAntonio #Hiking #SixPackofPeaks #SixPackofPeaksChallenge #SixPackofPeaks2020 #TonyRamos #MountBaldy  

Mount Baldy (Tony)

Mount Baden-Powell – 06-29-2020

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Mount Baden-Powell – June 29, 2020 (Pandemic Edition)

I decided to do a quick Day Hike at Mount Baden-Powell.  The day was perfect in that it was not cold or hot and just perfect weather.

I had previously tried going to do this hike earlier in the year but the road to the trailhead was closed due to snow.  I went alone as to social distance and started around 12:30 pm and finished around 4:00 pm. It was about 3.5 hours round trip hike with about 7.32 miles in distance and an elevation gain of about 2789 feet according to my Runkeeper stats.  This is a pretty popular peak but on this particular day (Monday) there was not too many people.  I think most people work on Mondays but I have had Sundays and Mondays off this year so Mondays work out well for me.  Anyways, it is another one of the 6 pack of peaks completed after the first wave of the Pandemic and the reopening of a lot of trails.  Check out some of the beautiful scenery in the pictures I took this day.

See you on the trails…

Tony Ramos

SoCal Hiker Ambassador

#SixPackofPeaks #SixPackofPeaks2020 #Hiking #TonyRamosJr #SoCalHiker #MountBadenPowell

Mount Baden-Powell (Tony)

Cucamonga Peak – 10-26-2020

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Last minute hike

It started out with a last minute call asking to go on hike to Ontario Peak.  I explained I had done that peak already this year and would prefer to do Cucamonga Peak instead.  The day started with a light rain here in the City of Chino where I live and I actually thought to myself, should I cancel?  I decided not to as I had checked Summit Weather and it showed it was sunny and windy up on top of the Cucamonga.  We started the hike almost at noon time and it is a little late for this hike as it gets dark early but oh well, and decided to go ahead anyways.  I have not been hiking much with this Pandemic and I could feel it especially in the last mile to the top.  I have lost some speed and endurance.  Either way, I was not going to quit and made it to the summit.  The weather was a bit chilly and windy up there but fine with a few extra layers.  There was an amazing sea of clouds as you will see in the pictures on this post.  Total time with time spent on breaks and at the summit was 8:26 minutes but about 7:21 minutes hiking time.  The air is clear of smoke and fresh and crisp.  I really needed to get back out in nature and this hike although a rough start, was just what I needed.

Tony Ramos

Six-Pack of Peaks Ambassador

Standing on famous rock on Cucamonga Peak looking out towards the endless sea of clouds