SoCal Travels

On August 25, 1916, the National Park Service was officially created. For 105 years, the National Park Service has been entrusted with the care of our national parks. With the help of volunteers, partners, and you, we safeguard these special places and share their stories with millions of visitors every year. ⁣
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Today, the National Park Service comprises 423 park sites covering more than 84 million acres in 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, Saipan, and the Virgin Islands. These parks preserve our nation’s pristine scenery, natural wonders, cultural and historical monuments, places of deep meaning, and moments of great change.⁣⁣
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Graphic: Includes text reading "National Public Lands Day. National Park Service". Illustration is a silhouette of a park ranger filled with a collage of park-related images of cultural sites, wildlife, fossils, and more.⁣
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@socaltravels says our backpack is Hiking certified ✅ Hit the trails with ORRA this week! ⁠

Repost: @weareorra

I absolutely love the thoughtful design of the backpack for both, on and off trail travel! The fact it’s made from upcycled plastic bottles is the cherry on top!
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I like the mountains because they make me feel small. They help me sort out what’s important in life.

Outsider of the Year @jeremyjones, 📸: @andrew_miller //⁠
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Professional snowboarders don’t often testify in front of congress. But Jeremy Jones, a big-mountain athlete and the founder of Jones Snowboards, has done so twice now. Through his nonprofit Protect Our Winters, which he founded in 2007, he’s pushed for environmental policies to help mitigate the effects of climate change. In the lead-up to this year’s presidential election, the 45-year-old spoke to thousands of college students and mobilized community leaders to urge non-voters and moderate voters to elect officials who are strong on climate. While the call to “keep politics out of the outdoors” can be a common one these days, Jones argues that taking care of the environment should not be divisive.⁠
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Read more about this year’s Outsiders of the Year at the link in @outsidemagazine’s bio and be sure to follow Jones and @protectourwinters to learn how you can be Team Earth.

Don't forget to take a moment, turn around, and see where you've come from.
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📷: @ale_2the_hov @howlingwolveshikingclub

“My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth's loveliness.” 🌎
- Michelangelo
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📷: @bleedingumz.3y3

Angeles Crest: The Creation of L.A.’s Highway Into the Heavens

Today, a motorist can traverse 66 miles of some of the most difficult terrain in the U.S. in under two hours, through country that once provoked complaints from no less a mountaineer than John Muir. “In the mountains of San Gabriel,” Muir wrote, “Mother Nature is most ruggedly, thornily savage.” And yet the Angeles Crest Highway soars through those same mountains almost effortlessly.

kcet.org Built between 1929 and 1956, the Angeles Crest Highway forever changed the once-remote mountain backcountry it traverses.

The Mojave Desert's donkeys are turning up dead with bullet wounds. Officials are offering $18,000 to find who's responsible

Under the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act, burros are protected as "living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West." As such, they can't be killed, harassed, captured or branded in 10 Western states controlled by the Department of the Interior or the US Forest Service.

cnn.com The dependable donkey was a popular pack animal during the Gold Rush.

The L.A. Taco Guide to the 20 Best Al Pastor and Adobada Tacos in Los Angeles, Mapped ~ L.A. TACO

What is your favorite taco spot?

lataco.com Our comprehensive guide features the best al pastor and adobada tacos in all corners of Los Angeles, vetted by us. Taco crawl, anyone?

Lost Spirits Distillery

The NEW 2019 Lost Spirits tour gets it's first formal review!!!

There is nothing that compares to seeing all the smiling faces come through, except maybe reading it in print!!! It puts the thousands of hours it took to make this happen into perspective.

Thanks you so much Forbes and Steve Baltin.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2019/07/27/rebuilt-after-a-fire-los-angeles-lost-spirits-distillery-new-tour-remains-one-of-a-kind/

Modern Hiker

"I recall feeling miffed when, as a young Forest Service employee in the 1970s, NEPA required me to document why we did things such as cut down trees. Over time, I came to learn that many concerned citizens knew a lot more than I did. They also owned the public land where I worked on their behalf."

"Buried deep within 16 pages of legalese are some nasty surprises: a nearly unlimited license to commercially log nearly seven square miles — about 3,000 football fields — or build five miles of logging roads at a time without involving the public or disclosing environmental consequences."

'It makes me angry': is this the end for America's Joshua trees?

“Even with major efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, 80% of the trees’ habitat will be whittled away by the end of the century.”

theguardian.com Even with major efforts to reduce greenhouse gases, 80% of the trees’ habitat will be whittled away by the end of the century

Mountain Lion Crosses 405 Freeway - Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (U.S. National Park Service)

The National Park Service has documented a rare case of a mountain lion crossing the 405 Freeway in the Sepulveda Pass area. The male mountain lion known as P-61 made his way east of the massive freeway sometime between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. on the morning of July 19th.

nps.gov

Wildlife Groups Seek Endangered Status For California Mountain Lions

Mountains lions in Los Angeles and Southern California may get special protections as endangered species (or subspecies) in California, under a new petition filed to CDFW.

huffpost.com These "iconic wild cats" could soon be gone, warn advocates.

ABC7

FRIGHTENING: Sheryl Powell's family says the 60-year-old camper was looking for a place to use the restroom when a knife-wielding man chased her down a hill. After fleeing her attacker, she found a water source, ate cactus to survive and traveled at night to avoid dehydration, her family said.

Lawsuit Settled Between National Park Service, DNC Parks and Resorts, and Yosemite Hospitality, LLC Over Trademarks and Service Marks - Office of Communications (U.S. National Park Service)

The National Park Service looks forward to the restoration of some of the previous names of the properties at Yosemite, including the Ahwahnee hotel, and the resumed use of other trademarks in connection with concessioner activities at Yosemite. Any changes to the current names of properties at Yosemite National Park following this settlement will be based upon a schedule to be determined by Aramark and the National Park Service.

nps.gov WASHINGTON - DNC Parks and Resorts at Yosemite, Inc. (Delaware North), the United States of America, and Yosemite Hospitality, LLC (Aramark) have settled the lawsuit filed by Delaware North related to Delaware North’s former concession contract at Yosemite with the National Park Service. The settl...

Another amazing design from my homies over at TRVRS Apparel!

One step at a time. ⛅️ 🌵 ☁️ @ Mt. San Jacinto State Park & Wilderness

Hiker missing for a week in California mountains found alive

They found Mr. Jo alive after 6 days being lost in the San Gabriels!

apnews.com LA CRESCENTA, Calif. (AP) — A hiker who was missing in the mountains north of Los Angeles for a week was found Saturday and has apparently survived in the wilderness by drinking water from a...

ABC7

GOLDEN DISCOVERY: For the first time in decades, a nest and pair of golden eagle chicks have been found in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Mapped: The optimal road trip to see all the US national parks

Who's down for a road trip?!

matadornetwork.com Summer plans?

Andrew Skurka

I'm struggling to understand this trend, http://bit.ly/2wyDrsY. Due to the permit lottery, popularity, or ignorance?

Nepal Mountaineer, 49, Conquers Mount Everest For Record 23rd Time

AMAZING!

ndtv.com Nepal's mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa has become the first person to reach the Mouth Everest's summit for the most number of times with his 23rd time conquest on Tuesday of the highest peak on Earth.

How California Is Fixing Angeles Crest Highway After Its Worst Landslide in Decades

thedrive.com The iconic road is still closed three months after its biggest landslide in decades. What's taking so long? Everything.

SPOT Shared Page

Follow our progress as we summit Mount Shasta! 🏔

share.findmespot.com

How Chinese Restaurants Shaped Tiki Culture In LA

Tiki-inspired restaurants and watering holes, like the Trader Vic's chain, began popping up all over the Southland in the 1930s and '40s.

laist.com Here, in a paper-thin egg roll wrapper, is the tension at the heart of culture, cuisine and commerce in the U.S.

Outdoor Clothing and Gear Survey

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Mount Lowe Preservation Society

“ON THE WAY TO RUBIO CANYON, PASADENA IN THE DISTANCE” POSTCARD
An early postcard entitled “On the Way to Rubio Canyon, Pasadena in the Distance” with hand-colored graphics depicting an open streetcar (no. 3) and a full complement of passengers bound for the Mount Lowe Railway. The hand-written note reads “Had a fine trip up but it is as cold as charity.”
http://www.mountlowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/mountlowe-collection-postcards-onthewaytorubiocanyon.jpg

Mount Lowe Preservation Society

Echo Mountain as viewed from the Castle Canyon Trail in 1899, captured by Detroit Publishing photographer William Henry Jackson. This hand tinted image was taken just before the famed Echo Mountain House hotel burned to the ground in January 1900. From the left, the Chalet, the smaller of the two hotels, is seen by the grand Echo Mountain House. Just behind Echo Mountain House, out of sight, is the winding station at the top of the incline. Next is the barely perceptible roof of the zoo, or menagerie as they once called it, where local animals were kept for the public to view. Included in the zoo were civit cats, foxes, eagles, raccoon, coyote, snakes and even bear at times in a special pit enclosure. Next is the dance hall, the maintenance and repair shop, and finally the Mount Lowe Observatory on the right. This unmounted souvenir print is 9″ by 7″ and became a postcard image for sale to tourists.
http://www.mountlowe.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/MP-Detroit-Publishing-Echo-Mt-1899.jpg

Homeless Man Attacked By Bear In Chantry Flats Runs For Help In Sierra Madre Neighborhood

losangeles.cbslocal.com A quiet Sierra Madre neighborhood is still reeling Wednesday after a man was attacked by a bear in a nearby campground.

Good Samaritan Tackles Suspect Allegedly Lighting Brush Fires Along Sepulveda Boulevard

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” - Mr. Rogers

ktla.com A suspected arsonist accused of setting a series of fires in the Sepulveda Pass near the Getty Center was taken into custody on Monday after a Good Samaritan said he saw the man lighting the fires and stepped in. That Good Samaritan sprang into action and tackled the man. The suspect was arrested af...

Charlie the record-breaking Long Beach sea otter dies at 22

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abc7.com Charlie, a Long Beach sea otter who lived 22 years and broke a record for longevity, has died, the Aquarium of the Pacific announced.