[Victoria Weiss]

Do you already have shoes that you prefer? I hike in Merrells and I love them.

I'm not sure what Gaia is, but do you have the AllTrails app? I usually find the recommended routes in there for navigation – it's great and I've never found it to be inaccurate.

[Victoria Weiss]

Were you wanting to tackle the original big six, or do some of the alternate ones? For a less technical one, Sitton would probably be great to start with. I'm not a snow hiker myself so with the rain we're getting lately, we're saving the bigger ones until any potential snow is mostly melted!

There's another discussion post on this forum titled something like 2024 Socal Peaks with people looking to meet up for some of the peaks if you're interested in hiking with friends!

[Victoria Weiss]

Hi! I was so excited to see your post because I absolutely love doing Tough Mudders! I would have loved to meet up but looks like I'll miss you by a day as we are running the LA/Glen Helen one on Sunday the 2nd!

If you end up enjoying it, there's one in Lake Elsinore in early December!

[Victoria Weiss]

Totally! It sounds obvious but as far as clothing goes, just avoid anything with cotton and stick with stuff that won't hold water and that will dry quickly since you'll be wet and muddy for much of the course. I usually wear compression-type leggings and I have an old pair of Merrell barefoot trail runners that work great because the water drains out quickly.

There's a great sense of camaraderie on the course so feel free to cheer other people on and give them a hand or a boost! The obstacles are meant to be more fun and challenging than anything else.

I'll actually be at the December event too, volunteering on Sat and participating on Sun, so maybe see you guys there! Also, happy hiking!

[Victoria Weiss]

Definitely an amazing and positive vibe. I ran the Dallas 15k last year! It had poured for like 12 hrs the day before so it was EXTRA extra muddy!