Showing posts with label Climbing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climbing. Show all posts

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Genesis: A Blog Is Born

Ever since childhood I have had a strong desire to climb things. I remember when our family planted a maple tree in the front yard of our small house in Peoria, Illinois. The tree was very small but my Dad assured me it would be ready to climb in 15 years. I promised I would come and climb that tree in 15 years when I would turn 23. By age 23 I was living in Southern California, a proud member of the United States Marine Corps. I never went back and climbed that tree.

Looking at a satellite image of my childhood home, it appears that old maple is still there. It does seem, however, that the small forest behind that house is now gone. The victim of our ever expanding population. I would imagine the construction workers must have found hundreds of tools we kids had taken from our father's tool boxes and left out there to rust.



I now live in the Temecula Valley, about 50 miles North of San Diego. This area is full of hills and there are some mountains nearby as well. If I'm standing in the right spot, I can see Mount San Jacinto, San Gorgonio Mountain and Mount San Antonio (Commonly called Mount Baldy). These three are known as the "Three Saints" a slang term used by hikers to refer to the three tallest peaks in Southern California.

I want to climb these mountains. I see them every day and they call to me. In the winter the snow enhances their dominance over the valley and they call to me. No matter the size of the local hill I decide to trek up, these three peaks are higher and they call to me.

I've never climbed a mountain. I've never climbed anything that took more than an hour. I know that reaching the summits of the Three Saints is no joke and no easy task. This initial web log entry marks the beginning of my quest. I'll need to train, research, train some more, learn, get proper equipment and train some more. I'm 33 years old and the mountains call to me.

In this blog I'll be documenting my quest. I'll post product reviews, information about our local mountains and I'll document my training. Others are welcome to comment. Leave your experiences. Leave a link to your website. I'm happy to hear from others.

Images from top to bottom are; Temecula valley, San Gorgonio, San Antonio and San Jacito below.

I'll see you on the trails......................


San Jacinto