EISPIRATEN

Hmm, indeed it could be a Spotted. Also a big deal!

That looks like a Barred Owl, possibly fluffy and young, which is a BIG DEAL ! :shock: I'll have some better birders take a look at your pic to verify, but that is potentially important evidence of range/breeding expansion. Might even be a first record for the county. Oh, and cool hike of course. :P

I think I photographed an Ent today.


Ent Striding through Cucamonga Wilderness by Icybacon, on Flickr

...which was generally opposite the hand holding the 7th light beer of the evening.

^ Very well said.

Although not surprisingly, new shit has come to light.

Rescued teen hiker charged with possession of meth

The Orange County District Attorney's Office said methamphetamine was found on or around March 31 in Cendoya's parked car in the Cleveland National Forest.

Spotted Towhee, very common but generally hidden in brush.

That is damn inspiring and incredible. Cool idea with the central resupply stash and great pictures looking down on the clouds.

I finally went through some pictures from another Bear Creek trip last summer, and got some help identifying a few rarities. I'd really like to know if anyone else has ever seen an American Rubyspot, as apparently they have a huge range but are unusual in the west, and I'd agree having never seen on...

I'm happy to see that picture made it, and the combo... it's like rum & coke, PB&J, someone call a bunch of creepy prospectors from the east fork because this is gold.

Bighorn Peak sunset, free for the use as desired if it's not voted off the mountain.

If you haven't looked outside today, there's a rather large and rapidly growing plume of smoke. Estimated at 700 acres right now, and it seems to be spreading east/west very quickly.

KTLA story

I went up Old Army last September, and it was in really good shape aside from a few spots where the original trail had experienced some easily-scrambled rockfall. Given the weak winter I'd assume it's still thoroughly unsketchy, easy to follow, and basically equal to New Army. Took this about 80% of...

Hey yall, in a bit of the best kind of poor judgement I crammed a quick overnight trip between an opening and closing shift last week. Felt like death at work the next day but type 2 fun was had. I'd originally planned on bivying on the Ontario Peak summit, but since I left the Icehouse trailhead at...

Thanks, glad y'all enjoyed the pictures! Hopefully I'll get a chance to take a bug day trip and find some interesting tiny stuff. The only problem is size of target insects directly relates to hiking distance. The wasp was smaller than Tarantula Hawks I've seen, and after some research it seems to d...

Took a brief trip up Bear Creek a couple weeks ago and found a lot of critters! I generally don't hike anywhere unusual and keep the big lens on my camera 99% of the time, so in lieu of a TR or anything, enjoy some fauna. The walk along the reservoir road had a lot of bees working on the flowers, an...

That Osprey lives in Fullerton at a stocked pond, there are also a few along the coast and a pair has had a nest at SJWR in Irvine a lot.

Kimchi Ridge eh? Fitting name.

Let's get this moving again eh? https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/7074766151_d9f0af3b31_z.jpg South of Islip by Icybacon , on Flickr [ Big desktop version ] Some recent SG critters: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6821667984_14c1c2d...

I went up Islip yesterday, and there were a few patches of really sketchy icy snow on the north slopes but otherwise 50% slushy coverage. Any flat ground up there seemed fine and most of the trail down to the spring was clear, so I bet the campground is lovely.

A happening of harvestmen by Bear Creek: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm6.static.flickr.com/5039/5907137541_a6d3c0e2a9_z.jpg Harvestman Party! by Icybacon , on Flickr Surprise bird moment by one of the Bear Creek campsites: https://eispiraten.com/images-archived/farm7.static.flickr.com/6...

That looks like an awesome trip, those mountains sure look different from the park road through Pinto Basin. How much water did you wind up going through for that? I'm planning on a trip up Eagle Mountain and another overnight to Porcupine Wash this spring, have you ever been in those parts of easte...

Hey yall.

I did a few trips up to the bowl last year to practice beginning skills, and I'm very excited to meet people more adventurous than my only buddy with gear (great guy, but his comfortable winter limit seems to be walking up Icehouse). See everyone at Manker...

-Ian

If you head to the lower, eastern part of Joshua Tree, you can just walk cross-country in almost any direction and have an enjoyable time. There are a few light trails near the backcountry boards that can easily become 10-15 mile loops if you don't want to aimlessly ramble around. It doesn't have th...