Adventure 16 Blog » Trips

By Molly Ewen, A16 Apparel Buyer
Aug 28- Sept 1, 2008

Day 1: We took advantage of the beautiful weather in Vancouver and went kayaking around English Bay and Stanley Park for the day. Rented single person sea kayaks (spray skirt, PFD, etc all included) from Eco Marine Ocean Kayak Center down in Granville Island- great package deals and prices.
Day 2-3: Weather maintained, so we headed up the Sea to Sky Highway for some world class climbing in Squamish. Headed to Murrin Lake for a day of sport climbing. Murrin Lake is know for numerous sport routes for every level, all of which are easily accessible, picnic areas abound, and of course, the scenery is simply majestic. Shannon Falls were our next destination. Shannon Falls is the 3rd largest waterfall in Canada. The parking lot and trailhead are right off the highway and easily accessible, which is good and bad. The place can get crowded FAST with picnickers, sightseers, hikers, etc. Go early to enjoy the most wonderful views and peace and quiet. It is a moderate to challenging hike up, but the view from the top is worth it. At the end of the day, we headed into Squamish to chow down on some grub and local brews at the Howe Sound Inn and Brew Co. Climbers pretty much eat anything, but I have to say this really hit the spot! They serve a delectable menu of homemade goodness from classic burgers and pizza to gourmet salads and spicy curries and everything in between, all at fair prices. I highly recommend the Hefeweizen Apple Crumble!

GEAR REVIEW

TECHNICAL CLOTHING
For climbing, I always wear my Prana Organic Cotton Cargo Pants, Icebreaker BodyFit 200 Long Sleeve Scoop and/or Bodyfit 260 Tech Top, and Arc’Teryx Gamma SV Softshell. All are perfect for climbing and hiking in inclement weather. Very comfortable, durable, and keep me warm and toasty regardless of the changes in weather.  For Kayaking, I wore the Prana Elisa Capris, Icebreaker Tech Tee lite, Olukai Haiku flip-flops, and Kaeonon Klemm polarized sunglasses.

FOOTWEAR      
I am all about comfort, especially for all day/multi-day trips. Montrail Continental Divide are my new favorite trail shoes as they provide great traction and support for a pronator like myself. For climbing, I live by my La Sportiva women’s Mythos. The most comfy and versatile climbing shoe, and happens to fit me like a glove.

ACCESSORIES
Climbing gear: mix of Black Diamond & Metolious draws; all Metolious hardwear (cams, buts, biners); Bluewater Accelerator 10.5 dynamic rope.

BOOKS / MAPS
Guide books: Squamish Select and Squamish Climbing Guide from Quickdraw publications.

THINGS TO BEWARE OF OR TO AVOID NEXT TIME: There is a lot of construction on the Sea to Sky highway in preparation for the next Winter Olympics. Be prepared for traffic- we encountered some slowing, some stopping, falling rocks, lots of sightseers stopping randomly to snap a photo, etc.

TIPS:  It’s always best to notify your Bank and Credit Card companies of your travels, particularly when traveling internationally. This is not only a safe guard to help protect your identity, but it can also help you save a few bucks in the end. International ATM’s usually need a 4-digit pin, so you may need to change your ATM pin. Also, if you are like me and never use Traveler’s Checks and rely on Credit Cards and ATMs, familiarize yourself with your Bank/Credit Card’s traveling fees. Most banks charge a flat fee for every ATM transaction, and may limit the amount you can withdraw in one transaction. Also, credit cards may hit you twice by (1)charging an exchange fee for every credit card purchase, as well as (2) charging you up to 3-5% of each purchase total. These charges can add up quickly! Because I contacted my bank and credit card before I left, I was able to negotiate all the fees down quite a bit, and even remove some.

By Shian Sung, A16 WS Customer Service & Sales
                             
I participated in the 8,000 Meter Challenge, sponsored by Jansport. This entailed hiking the three highest mountains in Southern California, in one day – starting at 5.a.m. at Mt. Baldy, proceeding onto San Gorgonio, and finishing by 5.a.m. on the top of San Jacinto. This involves 38 miles of hiking and more than11,000 feet of elevation gain. Together, with approximately another 150 people qualified to be in mental institutions, we proceeded to do so.

Heading up during the workday to miss the traffic in the LA area, we left Wednesday early afternoon and arrived in plenty of time to get a camping spot at Manker Flats Campground at the foot of Mt. Baldy, and set up tents and bags. We then proceeded to enjoy an excellent spaghetti dinner hosted at a local lodge by Jansport, along with a slideshow by Skip Yowell, founder of Jansport, about his company and some of his adventures. We left as early as possible to maximize sleep for the long day ahead.

The next morning, we were ready to hit the trails! First up was Mt. Baldy, starting at 5am at the Manker Flat trailhead and heading up via the Sierra Hut route. A 11-mile round-trip bear of a mountain, the hike is unforgiving going up, with a constant uphill grade, and just as unforgiving (and maybe more so) going downhill, killing calves and quads in the process. We made decent time heading up, shaving almost half an hour off our practice runs on the total round trip. To make good time, it’s necessary to at least maintain a steady jog downhill, which we attempted to do. Once the mountain was done, we got into the van and got going to the next mountain.

San Gorgonio is the crux of the 8,000 meter challenge. Normally a fairly strenuous 15-19 mile round trip (actual mileage varies depending on who you’re talking to and how bitter they are), it reaches demonic proportions after doing something like Mt. Baldy. While not as consistently steep as Baldy, the varying grades become a steady uphill by the time you reach High Creek campground, halfway up the mountain. High Creek was still running at the time of the challenge, so people were able to refill water (we had cached some in case it dried out two weeks previous on a training run) there and catch their breath. Once sufficiently girded for the summit, it was an intense push to get up to the top of San Gorgonio, and fatigue combined with the increased altitude slowed our pace down considerably. Once at the top, we took a quick snack and picture and began racing downhill 9 miles – which is probably the most painful part of the hike.

One unique twist is that the challenge is somewhat of a race to make the last ride up on the Palm Springs Tramway up to the trailhead for San Jacinto, which is at 8pm. Unfortunately, due to pacing and injury issues, my small group finished San Gorgonio at 7pm, thus putting us in a very tight squeeze for time. We therefore decided to grab dinner at a restaurant, then take the back route from Idylwild to San Jacinto, via the Devil’s Slide Trail and the PCT. While this would only add 2 miles, it would also increase the total elevation gained by more than 2000 feet. The other negative would be that we would need to hike our full packs for a much longer distance instead of the hydration packs we had been hiking with the rest of the day.

Due to the increased driving time and stopping for dinner, we finally were on the trailhead to the top of San Jacinto at 11PM. Six hours to make the summit, and 7.5 miles to gain 5,000 feet in elevation. Normally an easy task except for the fact that we were 29 miles into our legs already, already more than a standard marathon length. With headlamps armed and little more than willpower and a happy delirium, we slogged up the mountain slowly and surely. At 4am, we reached the San Jacinto summit and enjoyed a 5 minute respite in the summit hut, then headed slowly down, half-asleep, to Round Valley Campground at San Jacinto, where we laid out sleeping mats, sleeping bags and instantly passed out for 2 hours. We then woke up at 8am to hike another 3 miles down to the Palm Springs tramway where we would descend down to Palm Springs for a breakfast courtesy of Jansport, to congratulate the finishers of the 8,000 meter challenge. I was proud to count myself among one of them.

GEAR REVIEW

TECHNICAL CLOTHING
I wore my standard hiking gear – EMS Techwick T-shirt and Boxer Briefs and the EMS Explorer convertible pants with the legs removed. It was important for me to wear what I knew would be comfortable throughout the entire day and not chafe or wear strange. For socks I had two pairs of Icebreaker mini-crew socks that I switched through between mountains. My favorite piece of gear is of course my Adventure 16 Headsweats hat – it keeps my long hair in control, keeps the sun out of my eyes and eliminates pretty much all sweat running into my eyes, which is a real pain with eyeglasses. I carried two incredible pieces of gear along with my base clothing. 1) Mountain Hardwear Phantom Anorak – a windshell that weights 2 oz. and rolls up into your palm, it is perfect for ridgeline and summits so you don’t lose too much energy on the top of the mountains after a long sweaty climb getting cold. 2) Patagonia Down Sweater Jacket – My must have for any backpacking trip, it was perfect for when it got chilly around 2am on San Jacinto – I wore it near the top and the entire way down and used it as a pillow in camp.

KITCHEN
Jetboil PCS : We only used this for the morning of the event to heat up some water for coffee and oatmeal. When all you need to do is boil a few cups of water, nothing does the job like the Jetboil.

SLEEPING BAG
 Marmot Helium 15 : This is my go-to sleeping bag for any ultra-light adventure. It’s 1lb. 15 oz., compresses to 15% of my pack space, is toasty enough to keep me warm in almost any situation and serves as a great blanket in warmer climates. With a water-resistant shell, at the end of the trip I was able to just unpack and “cowboy” it in the sleeping bag sans tent at Round Valley campground.

SLEEPING PAD
Thermarest Z-Lite: This pad is still the king of ultralight backpacking – as a complete closed cell solution, it has no danger of leaks or tears causing the pad to become useless in the middle of a backpacking trip. The best thing about this pad is that it’s totally worry-free to pull from the outside of your pack to lay on the ground for a lunch seat or a mid-day nap mattress without having to unpack all your gear and inflating a pad. What you gain in weight savings and utility, you unfortunately lose in comfort. Since we weren’t too worried about that factor (after 40 miles, I’m pretty sure I could sleep on a bed made of sharp rocks), it made perfect sense to bring the Z-Lite.

FOOTWEAR
Montrail Hardrocks : I had actually tried a variety of shoes on our practice runs, including the Salomon XT Wings and the Inov-8 Roclite 290’s, both very fast and light trail-runner / runner hybrids. It’s always good to know your own feet and joints, and I realized that I couldn’t go that light without sacrificing a lot of balance and support that I needed quite badly. Therefore when it came time to pick a pair of shoes, the Hardrocks were it – a great blend of durability, support, and weight. It was perfect for my feet for an event of this distance, since it kept my feet comfortable (not too sore and I didn’t feel every rock on my sole, unlike lighter shoes), as well as giving me the support so I could jog down mountains without feeling it in my knees afterwards. Indispensable as well were my Inov-8 Debris gaiter – with all that dust and scree, it becomes a huge pain to keep picking stuff out of your shoe. My scree gaiters were light and breathable so my feet didn’t overheat, but kept everything out.

BACKPACK
Osprey Aether 45 : My favorite backpacking pack, I’ve put over 3,000 miles on it and it’s still going strong. Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued but the line lives on in larger sizes. My favorite feature on this pack is the roll-top.

HYDRATION PACK
Nathan Elite 2.0 Hydration Pack : Probably the best pure hydration pack I’ve ever used, it holds a 2 liter bladder, two 10 oz. flasks, an 8 oz. Gu flask, 4 Clif Bars, 3 separate Gu Packets, my wind shell, emergency first aid kit and my Buff. Ultralight and extremely breathable, it also rides very well on the back due to a unique tensioning system.

ACCESSORIES
Aquamira : Brought it for the best lightweight non-iodine water purification in case of an emergency. Gu Energy Gel and Nuun Drink Tablets : This is the fuel that kept me going – lightweight but chock full of energy boost. Nuun Tablets – sugar free and carbonated so it doesn’t sit in your stomach, full of electrolytes and easy to drop a tablet into a flask instead of worrying about mixing powder and getting it all over the place.

OTHER GEAR
Leki Super Makalu ES : Almost the best piece of gear I would have used on this outing, as it saved me so much wear and tear on my knees, leaned on them to pull me uphill when my legs were losing strength, used them as balance for jogging downhill, saved me from a couple bad ankle rolls. Lightweight and extremely durable. I try to never go hiking without using poles, but on a trip of this distance, it’s an absolute must.

TIPS:
For this trip, a few things are essential – lots of practice with actual trail miles, since the muscle groups you’ll need are different than road miles or the treadmill, especially the quad and calf muscles for a lot of downhill miles. If you’re in the Southern California area, actually hiking the three trails you’ll be doing is an excellent idea since you’ll know what to expect on each mountain and pace yourself properly. And the most important thing is a sense of willpower, positive spirits, and also the sense to not push yourself beyond your limits. The willpower you’ll need to push yourself across – even at good health your body is just too fatigued and you’ll need more to get yourself up to the top. Positive attitude is required because of the magnitude of the event, and also because it’s in the spirit of the 8000 meter challenge, which is primarily an industry event meant to highlight the passions of the people in it.

HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP
For me, the highlight of the trip was the hike up to San Jacinto. Hiking up the Devil’s Slide Trail to get to the peak, starting at 11pm, it was one of those crazy things that you really don’t realize that you’re doing until you look back at it the next day. Three of just dragged ourselves (and each other) up to the top, fatigued to the point of delirium. Frankly, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do!

THINGS TO BEWARE OF OR TO AVOID NEXT TIME
Obviously, making better time would have enabled us to make the tram, but sometimes, the best adventures come from those unplanned events. I loved the way we finished. That being said, if I do this again, I’d really like to make the last tram up!

More on the 8,000 Meter Challenge by Kevin Lee, A16 WS Manager
(For more on the 8000 Meter Challenge, see Shian Sung’s blog entry above.)

GEAR REVIEW
 Injinji Nubambo socks. Inov8 trail gaitors.  Patagonia long sleeve silk weight capilene top.  Headsweats Protech running hat.   All of these items worked great during the event.

If I had to pick one piece of gear that worked better than expected during the recent 8,000 Meter Challenge, I would have to say my Injinji Coolmax Performance Series socks won top honors. 
Injinji socks are not your ordinary socks because they have a very unique patented five-toed design.  This design combines both the comfort and dexterity of being bare foot along with the protection of individual seamless anatomical toes sleeves for your toes.  Injinji socks fit like a glove and don’t bunch up so they provide blister free protection not only for your toes, but for your entire foot too.  The material blend of 75% Coolmax, combined with a little nylon and spandex, did a fantastic job of wicking moisture away from my foot the entire day. 

During the 8,000 Meter Challenge I wore my Injinji socks the entire 40 miles and 14,000+ feet of climbing up and 14,000+ feet of climbing down without a single blister.  While competing in many ultra marathons and triathlons since the early 1980’s, I used to slather my feet with petroleum jelly and use standard polypro liner socks to achieve the same Injinji blister free results.   Now I don’t have to throw away my Vaseline and dirt encrusted socks after each long event!  Injinji socks truly rock and I won’t ever do another long trail event without them! 

TIPS:   Test all of your gear prior to the event and keep it as light as possible without sacrificing durability and reliability.

HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP: Reaching the top of San Jacinto after 23 hours and 15 minutes.
 
THINGS TO BEWARE OF OR TO AVOID NEXT TIME:  Don’t go out too hard on the first mountain and do your conditioning homework to make sure you are in shape to take on this type of challenge.  I would highly recommend pre-hiking each of the three trails to establish a good idea of how long it is going to take.

Cold Water Campground–Mammoth Lakes Basin (Eastern Sierra)
By Jeanie Dessel, A16 Operations Manager

We spent two weeks car camping at the Cold Water Camp Ground. From this campground we hiked from the Duck Pass trail head to Arrow Lake, Skelton Lake, Woods Lake and Barney Lake, fishing the stream inlets and outlets with great success.  

GEAR REVIEW
CLOTHING: Icebreaker BODYFIT320 and 260 tops were perfect for the trip. It performed outstanding and I was glad we had multiple pieces. I used the Marmot Precip jacket for one rainy day and wished my whole family had one. Great piece for the price.

KITCHEN:  Coleman 2-Burner Stove. Perfect for car camping. Used the adapter hose to hook up the stove and Coleman lantern to one propane bottle.

SLEEPING BAG:  Used the The North Face Cat’s Meow, which was not big enough for one person and a dog. The A16 down bag was more like a comforter–perfect for car camping.

SLEEPING PAD:  Both of my boys used the Coleman queen size air mattresses that were durable enough for them and their dog. No leaks!

TENT:  Coleman 4-person camping tent.  Great for two boys and their dog.

FOOTWEAR:  Vasque Blurs were outstanding for day hikes.  Offered great support and traction.

DAYPACK:  Gregory day and a half packs were large enough for all day supplies while in the backcountry.

ACCESSORIES:   Maglites, bug juice, Nalgene bottles for the entire family. Wish we had a water filter.

BOOKS / MAPS:  Used a USGS topo book specifically for the Mammoth Lakes area. Great information and was able to locate a lake that we never had hiked to before.

TIPS: Should have had a water filter. We had to carry 2 to 3 quarts of water in each daypack for our all day hikes. Streams were plentiful so a filter would have been a better choice.

HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP:  Fishing native trout (Browns, Brookies, and Rainbows) from the higher elevation lakes and streams.  Visiting my fathers resting place.  FAMILY TIME….

THINGS TO BEWARE OF OR TO AVOID: Bears like Nestle Ice Tea and Budweiser in the can. Should of brought Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Starbuck’s Mocha drinks in bottles!

By: Jay Golien, Adventure 16 Art Director, Corporate Office

July 24th & 25th, 2008
I arrived at San Onofre on a Thursday and experienced light traffic on I-5 and a light crowd out in the line-up. (On weekends you can expect to wait 30 minutes to an hour just to get into the surf park.) A clean south swell was serving up 4′ - 6′ glassy reef break waves that San Onofre is famous for. Longboarders have been surfing there since the 1930’s. If you pay attention, you might see a famous or professional surfer out in the lineup. On this trip, legendary surfer/shaper Skip Frye was surfing. (Skip captured national titles and represented the United States team internationally in 1966.)
In addition to surfing, San O. offers three miles of beautiful sand beaches for hiking, beach-combing and tide pooling. There are fire rings, picnic tables and restrooms available making it family friendly.

After surfing I made the short drive to San Mateo campground and checked in. After I got set up at my campsite, I went back to San O. for my second paddle out. Sunny skies and no wind made it a perfect combo for fun surf. Just as I was getting out of the water two pair of Dolphins leaped and rode a few waves, giving the beach crowd a free show.

Back at camp I enjoyed a peaceful night by the fire. I checked out of the campground by 8am Friday and went for another surf before heading back to San Diego. As a surfer I realize how wonderful it is to live in Southern California. World-class waves are only an hour away!

San Mateo Campground is located at the southern edge of San Clemente. Take Interstate 5, turn off at the Cristianitos exit, go inland 1 mile and San Mateo Camping Area is on the right side of the road.

This campground is near full all summer, so you should reserve a spot online. San Mateo campground has four loops with sparsely landscaped sites. The main feature is the proximity to the beach; there is a 1-1/2 mile walking/biking trail to the beach from the campground.

This is the campground that would be shut down if the 241 toll road project gets approved. (The Transportation Corridor Agency is seeking to build a sixteen-mile long toll road highway that would connect the current terminus of the 241 Toll Road to Interstate 5. You can read more about this ridiculous proposal here: http://www.surfrider.org/savetrestles/blog/)

Gear Review:
Patagonia Wavefarer II Board shorts: Bullet proof board shorts that are durable, water repellent and fast drying. I like the self-draining side-zip pocket with key loop, keeps my car key safe while I surf. I wore these babies all weekend. (not the same pair)

Jetboil Personal Cooking System: A small self contained stove perfect for one person. Great for fast coffee in the morning.

Marmot Never Winter Long Sleeping Bag: The Never Winter is an ideal summer bag for camping and beach trips, but it also has enough down insulation to keep you warm when there is a nip in the air.

EXPED Comfort Foam Mat 7 DLX: Great mat for car camping. (and it uses recycled foam cylinders) There are two valves so inflation is super fast. You just open the valves and the matt self-inflates to about three-fourths capacity in about 30 seconds. A half dozen breaths of air and inflation to full comfort is complete. The pad deflates as quickly as it inflates: just pull both (rotating/locking) valves and roll away.

GoPro Digital waterproof camera: I love this new toy! It is small, yet shoots good quality video or still photos.

Leatherman Wave II Multi Tool: This is a great camp tool. I used it to change fins on my board, cut the bundle of firewood loose, and open my favorite beverage.

Tip:
Wear some sort of foot protection, such as 5 Fingers footwear, for walking on the rocks. Avoid campsites near the shower/bathroom building.

Highlight of trip:
6’ Waves, Dolpins

By Patti Kulesz, Adventure 16 Sales Associate, WLA Store

This hike-in trail camp, located on a 6-mile round trip section of the PCT, is my favorite overnight getaway when I only have one night to spend in the wilderness.

After driving to the trailhead, we backpacked down to camp, made dinner (fresh veggies and couscous), set up camp, and played checkers (3 games). The next morning after breakfast we hiked to the waterfall and spent the morning playing in the pool at the bottom of the fall. Then we hiked back to camp, picked up our packs and hiked out. We stopped at a deli in La Canada for lunch.

RECOMMENDED GEAR
The North Face Paramount Capris: I really love the fit and the comfort of these Capris. Even bending the knees to climb is easy with these on. They dry fast when wet and keep you cool when it’s hot. No searching around in the backpack for your camera with the big pockets on the legs, there is plenty of room to store and grab it quickly when needed. The TNF Capris are also very stylish, not granny style with the low cut hip band. They can be worn for everyday use as well.

Mountain Hardwear Ultra Lamina 32 Sleeping Bag: I love this bag. It got cooler out and we didn’t have any more layers to put on, so we stepped inside the tent and got in our bags. My friend was jealous when we were playing checkers and I unzipped the bottom half of the two arm zippers on my bag and stuck my arms out to play, still wrapped up warmly in my bag. This bag is also very light and small when compressed. I hardly noticed it in my 34 L pack–still had lots of space to spare.

TIPS
Take lightweight gear, as it’s uphill hike on the way out–two miles on the fire road and three on the PCT. Wear lots of sunscreen, hat, and long sleeves for sun protection on the fire road. For a longer trip, hike more miles on the PCT or head up to Buckhorn campground.

BEWARE OF: Possibility of Boy Scout troops there on weekends, but there is a secluded spot off to the right of the campground entrance.

HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP: Looking at all the stars at night, no rain fly, the beautiful trees, the peace and quiet, and waterfall. Found a cache stored down there…fun, fun!

By Eric Backous, Adventure 16 Outerwear Buyer

My girlfriend, Natalie, and I drove about 5 miles outside of Julian, CA to Pinezanita Campground. We were there for relaxation and a little hiking around the campground. The campground was very nice, and although it was really hot, we were surrounded by Green pine trees. It was a stark contrast to the landscape in Pacific Beach and San Diego. It reminded us of Washington. We ventured to Julian on our last day and tried some of the famous apple pie we’ve heard so much about. The camping was great, the weather was beautiful, and it was a great escape that was only about an hour away.

RECOMMENDED GEAR
Sleeping Bag: The North Face Beeline 900 down sleeping bag is a great bag for warm weather. It is a 35-degree bag, which is great in hot and dry climates. It also compresses small enough to fit in my sleeping pad’s stuff sack.

Sleeping Pad: Big Agnes Insulated Aircore pad is great because it is lightweight and slightly insulated. The insulation is nice because it keeps the air temp in the pad warmer at night when the air cools down. You can also adjust the amount of air inside for additional comfort.

Tent: Brand new Sierra Designs Anu 3 rental tent from A16 San Diego had enough room to sleep two comfortably with some gear. It got a little warm because the fly had very little venting, so we just took it off.

TIPS
Make sure to have plenty of ice. The beer got warm on the second day and the cheese started to melt. Bring lots of sunscreen and a hat, preferably with UPF protection. Drink lots of water, and have fun!

HIGHLIGHT OF TRIP
I really enjoyed the drive out after work on Friday the 13th. The landscape became very eerie as we drove through where the fires had burned in years past. It was a contrast of burned trees and new vegetation that was almost like looking at a living, breathing Dali painting.