Field Reports
route launches, stewardship campouts, events, and other musings.
Tehachapi Trails
Another, more direct entrance into the Paiutes than Jawbone Canyon, is Tehachapi. This small community has partnered with a local cement company to build a robust and ripping trail system right on the edge of town.
Jawbone: Gateway to the Southern Sierra
For the most part, Orogenesis has been designed within a contiguous swath of public lands that loosely follow the mountain ranges that give Orogenesis its name. But several large swaths of private land present problems—the Mojave Desert, the Paiute Range, and the Tehachapi Mountains make up one of these.
Unearthing Arrastre
Heading north from Condor Peak the Orogenesis route followed a collection of jeep roads and truck trails before reaching the LA aqueduct and Mojave Desert. It was decent, and quite scenic, but notably lacking in singletrack. Then we heard about Acton.
Pie & Tacos: Lowelifes Tackle the Gabrieleño Trail
We joined the Lowelifes RCC for a very special Stewardship Campout deep in the San Gabriel Mountains this past spring—one so deep we carried everything in for the weekend on bicycles.
Devil’s Punching Bag
After a short climb, the descent started off with the expected snow drifts at Vincent Gap, a lot of avalanche debris, but overall the Manzanita Trail was in excellent shape. Then we started climbing the High Desert National Recreation Trail and things got… interesting.
Revisiting Condor Peak
Way back in 2021 I visited the Lowelifes RCC to help with their massive restoration effort on the Condor Peak Trail. This trail had been all but forgotten in the wake of the deadly 2009 Station Fire, and had succumbed to its new thorny guardians—whitethorn and century plants.
Exploring the Ehmuu Tier
While the Anillo de Los Angeles Chapter is defined by the mountain ranges that ring the LA metro area, its southernmost tier neighboring Mexico and the Baja Divide should not be overlooked.