Memorial Day Family Hike!

I guess this is just going to be a bonus one since I have already completed Wilson. I still have Gorgonio, Cucamonga/Ontario, and Bernardino to go. Anyways, this was an interesting experience…

My last three six-pack hikes (Wilson, Baldy, Jacinto) have been with my guy Dan, a ridiculously fast, steady, strong hiker. This time however, my brother and I took my mom up to the peak. Gotta say hiking with her is definitely a different experience.

A bit of back story… My mom got passes to hike Half Dome in July which definitely worried me… I haven't done that hike myself but taking a look at it, it's pretty long and it gains a decent amount of elevation. She'll be going while the cables are up, but still. She definitely has never hiked anything close to that… ever.

My brother and I figured we'd better get her through a few hikes as a sort of training plan to get her ready (so if anyone reading this has any suggestions for what to do next with her before July, I'm all ears). We were thinking of starting her on Wilson but on second thought, figured a shorter hike to start might be more wise… at least to see where she was at. On Mother's Day, we took her to Gaviota Peak, this GORGEOUS hike in Santa Barbara. It's a little 6 mile loop that starts basically at sea level so I guess you don't get any true elevation, but it's decently steep so it does make for a fun morning hike, great for beginners, not to mention the peak has such a beautiful view of the ocean and the entire Santa Barbara coast. So my mom did okay… It was rough going at the beginning but she got through it, mostly thanks to my brother. I was definitely glad we started small.

Now it was time to get her truly going. On to Mount Baden-Powell! A little selfishly, I wanted to do this hike mostly because I had already done Wilson and since this was Wilson's alternate on the six-pack, figured it was a similar level of hike. A little more strategically, it would also get her some experience with some elevation without being the super long slog that is Wilson. From most accounts/reviews, Baden-Powell is a good “beginner hike” which I definitely agree with.

The hike itself is pretty cool: 100% long windy switchbacks, pretty great view, and turns out during this time of year, littered with PCT-ers. I struck up some conversation with a pair of friendly PCT-ers who were super stoked to tell me about their experience and it was really interesting. However, it was also very crowded (Memorial Day and all). I think there must have been 30-40 other people at the peak with us. But my mom did it! Very proud of her! Fueled by cliff bloks and a pb&j.