Hello from a new member

[trooper65]

Just wanted to say hello, I am a new member here. I am fairly new to hiking as well but am up to over 14 mile hikes already. Looking for hiking groups or friends to roll with. Hike mostly by myself and it makes the wife nervous.

[towbradley]

The folks on this site are awesome. Super knowledgeable on the local hiking and very helpful obtaining update reports on local trails as well as outside vacation spots for hiking.Oh yes, welcome

[Anni8]

Welcome new member. There are places you can hike solo with the comfort of knowing others are in the area. One is Round Valley up on Mt. San Jacinto on weekends. Other place (In cooler months) is the Bump and Grind in Palm Desert.

I mostly hike solo, otherwise, I wouldn't get as much hiking in as desired.

[trooper65]

Thanks for the welcomes much appreciated, I to enjoy the solitude of hiking alone but hate for the family to worry. This Sunday I am up the deer springs trail all the way to strawberry junction.

[Anni8]

I get criticized a lot by both family and strangers. Just the other day, someone hiking up the tram told me I should never hike alone up there because of mountain lions. Sure hope he's wrong. I jokingly told him I didn't have enough meat on my bones

[zippetydude]

Hi trooper65, and just like the others, let me say Welcome! There are tons of good trails across the San J Wilderness so you've got plenty of fresh new exploring ahead of you. Btw, when you mention going alone, you might get a Spot so you can signal your family along the way that you're fine. It has a feature so you can send an "I'm okay and on schedule" message whenever you like - it might help to set their hearts at ease if you're gone on a long one or hiking at night, etc. I've used mine for that purpose before. With regards to mountain lions (hi Anni8) I've been roaming around the San J and San G wilderness areas for over 20 years, I've pulled over 1000 permits (yikes, I'm getting old!) and I've never even come close to having a negative encounter with an animal. I've seen a few bears (San G), 6 mountain lions, tons of deer, a bazillion squirrels, and one skunk. The only animal that came towards me was the skunk, but he was either unconcerned or curious, he caused no problems. All the mountain lions turned and ran the moment they saw me. So, no worries out there. Have a great time and I hope to see you out there on the trail!

z

[OldnSlow]

Sorry I'm late to the welcome party. But welcome. Great people here and great advice. I often hike up there alone, I tend to enjoy the solitude and often others don't want to make the drive up from San Diego. The good part is that there are usually others fairly close by. I also leave my family a pretty detailed itinerary and an agreed upon time they should call authorities. Or my wife hangs out in Idyllwild while I hike.

Remember to take the 10 essentials with you and when you do get signal, send a quick text to at least one family member.

I love the area and trails up there. I'm due for a summit trip from Humber now that the weekend quotas have ended and I can get an early start.

[HH8]

After 34 years hiking, this year I broke and had to be air-lifted.
My fabulous hiking buddy got me set up in a tent
and hiked all night and half of the next day to get signal to call 911 for the chopper.
The adventure could have had a different ending if I had gone alone.

[zippetydude]

...or, with a Spot, you would have had about 15 minutes to wait! I'm glad you're okay - 34 years is a pretty good run of it without a major incident, so be proud. If you don't mind sharing, will you tell the story of how the situation unfolded? If it's private, then I understand and withdraw the question.

z

[Ellen]

Howdy HH8

Yikes, I am so sorry I hope you're healing well.

From the heart,
Ellen