Cerro Alto Trail Work

Sandy

Cerro alto  trail worker .

 

1/30/13

Wednesday I met Sandy in the park lot of Cerro Alto camp ground . I found her to be a very interesting lady as she had just completed a morning of doing trail maintenance via horse transportation .

All here tools were strapped on both sides of the horse -- note the loppers and more visible on the left side of here horse. she told me she has been volunteering her time to forest service for years and now will b e a regular at Cerro Alto and to tell Ron she is here to help him and that she admires his trail work ! And for those who don't know Ron He a 60 plus old mountain biker and who carries his tools up the trails on his bike.

 

Ron

 



 

 



Cerro Alto Summit

 

below looking  west toward Cambria

looking south west toward cloud covered Morro Bay

taking a photo of San Luis Obispo

 

Cerro Alto , my daily hike , I frequently meet hikers new to this mountain that tell me they were not able to hike to the summit because it was more difficult than they understood it to be . Often these hikers have read that the mountain is a moderate hike .  To these folks I advise the hike is moderate in some sections and strenuous in most sections . It has been my experience that most visiting hikers take from 1 1/2 hours to 2 3/4 hours to summit . These hikers are of all ages . Their route to the top is via the canyon trail located at the far end of the parking lot and this the longest and easy trail . This distance is 3 miles.

 

My advice to the hiker new to this mountain or new to hiking  is --- start out slowly and rest frequently , take plenty of water and a jacket to warm yourself at the top . The last mile is difficult so slow down and rest as often as necessary and you will make it to the top . Accept the fact that many folks need more than 1 and 1/2 hours to summit . be patient and the 360 degree view at the top is a great reward ! For photos of the views from the top , search my archived posts.They include Morro Bay , SLO , coast line , Junipero Serra and Bear mountains covered with snow ,and Mount Whitney .

Happy trails .

 

fore info e-mail me at

 joeramirez@charter.net

 

 

Rinconada Trail Area

1-22-13

 

i=I have hiked the Pozo area for years and this is the largest hiking group I have ever seen here . They were a Sierra Club group from San Luis Obispo Ca.When they started there hike from the Rinconada trail head they were 20 strong . I met them in three groups . Most of them went to Big Falls and back ( a 14 mile trek ) good job !!My dog Sierra enjoyed meeting them as much as Jim and I did .

 



 

 

 

 

 

Big Falls

 

 

 

 pools along the Big Falls trail

 

 

 

Hiking and Health

For those of you who ask me how mountain  hiking has effected me  at my age ,

I offer the below news link .



The below link is an Atascadero news article about yours truly , I hope it benefits some of you older athletes . This article is one of two articles published in this paper in 2012 , they were complete with large wilderness photos .

http://www.atascaderonews.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=73&story_id=5451

 

 

 

To further inform you senior athletes , I am adding some info the article did not mention , I am 73 years of age , will be 74 this year . I have been injured several times in my life that required hospitalization and therapy . I have had back surgery .

Currently I hike 6 to ten miles daily and occasionally 15 to 18 miles . I hike rain or shine , day or night and I backpack several times yearly . I feel great . I often joke when asked how I feel , If uncle Sam knew how good I feel at my age He would impose a feel good tax on me !

 

 

 



Pozo Bear tracks 1-13

 

Pozo Area

High Mountain Road

December 12, 2013

High Mountain Road ,located east of Santa Margarita ca. on Highway 58

The bears have been asleep for several weeks as the weather has been below freezing at nights for several weeks . These bears appear to be relocating for some unknown reason as they traveled for over 2 miles in a single file and there were several sizes of prints ( possibly a family from some disturbed den ? ) . The temperature this date was 32 degrees at 4 PM . I also noted that these tracks did not leave the single file journey that would indicate no attempt to feed . There was no bear scat along the way .

Does anyone have any thoughts on this posting ?

The link below will be help understand black bears.

 

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/wildlife/hunting/bear/biology.html

 





 

 size 13 shoe

 

M dog sierra is a 60 lb Shepard .

 

 

 I were a size 13 shoe



 

 

 

 

ice on the ground

 

Sierra helps me documnent adn photograph .

 

 

 size 13 shoe

Cerro Alto Evening Hike

Just a few photos to share Cerro Alto evening hikes !
( located in the Los Padres forest on hwy 41 west of Atascadero Ca. )

 

All the photos below were made between Christmas Eve and New Years day.

One must expect to be caught in the dark when hiking down from the locations depicted here on Cerro Alto , but the rewards are great in terms of evening photography adventures !

So carry lighting and warm clothing .

Note in the winter I always carry rain gear , warm clothing , two flash lights and emergency gear as one is usually alone when hiking after dark .

 

 

Yep ,  thats me above and this shot is decending from the summit .

 

My son Luis made the above four shots on Christmas Eve .After the hike we had beer in the parking lot at the trail head in the dark

. I enjoyed Christmas carols that he played on his gutar .  All made for a very special hike !

 



 

 

 

When viewing this last image , click on the image to enlarge and look for a person in the background . He is a friend  ! That is Mark a regular on this mountain and he usually hikes late

in the evening on a very lonely trail !