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Hikers vs Wind in Falling Rock Canyon

PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2014 12:41 pm
by Ellen
Howdy All :)

Sister Sally, Miracle Marilyn and I headed up Falling Canyon to Ontario and Big Horn peaks yesterday. We thought we'd be protected from the wind :lol: :roll: :lol: :roll:

Once we climbed out of the canyon, every saddle on the ridge turned into a blasting wind tunnel. We stayed on the right side of the ridge as much as possible to avoid Mariah's teeth. Periodically the three of us would drop to the ground when the gusts sounded like an on-coming freight train.

When we reached the trail, we could see smoke from the Etiwanda fire :cry: We got knocked around on the switchbacks up to Ontario peak and found a quiet place out of the wind to eat. It was obvious we'd be battling the wind heading over to Big Horn, so we wanted to be rested.

As we started back down. Sally took several pictures of the smoke. We continued to wrestle the wind all the way over to Big Horn. Although I wore pants and long sleeves (yes, really), my legs were bloodied from being knocked into brush and rocks by the wind. On the way down to Icehouse Saddle from Big Horn, the wind was in our teeth and actually helped us stay on the feet.

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The walk down Icehouse was restful by comparison and we could actually carry on a conversation :lol:

Sally and I drove through smoke on the 210 on our way back :cry: We learned about the location of the fire and evacuations when we had dinner at PF Changs. Very concerning, as it isn't even summer yet.

Miles of smiles,
Ellen

Hikers versus wind in Falling Rock Canyon

PostPosted: Thu May 01, 2014 2:26 pm
by Cy Kaicener
I was hoping the fire would not give you any problems. I could smell it in Fontana and see the smoke

http://blog.pe.com/breaking-news/2014/0 ... evacuated/

PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2014 10:04 am
by Sally
That was one windy hike! Ellen was apologizing about the wind all along the way. She really needs to quit taking the blame for everything!

Since the use trail on the x-country part of the trip was on the windy side of the ridge, we made our way on the right side, which was less windy but more overgrown. Then, once we hit the trail on the Ontario Ridge it was pretty overgrown with brush. After overdressing for Skyline last weekend (remember the big snowstorm?) I wore shorts instead of long pants because I thought it was going to be hot. I got a little scratched up. Then I remembered why even Ellen wears long pants on FRC!