Brand Park to Mt Thom Sunset Hike - Wed 9/22

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Back to Brand Park for a sunset hike up one of the ridges to Mt. Thom.

Meet in the library parking lot at 5:30 PM and bring your hiking kit.

Carousel the the Stars - Wed. Sept. 15

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A return to Griffith Park and a leisurely sunset stroll up Fern Canyon, pass Mt. Glendale (yes - can you believe it?!) and across Hogback Ridge to Mt. Hollywood. Perfect hiking weather too!

We'll meet in the Merry-Go-Round parking lot just before 5:30 PM and head up the Fern Canyon trail. If you're running late you can easily catch up and call ahead to we can plan for a rendezvous.

Bring water, snacks, and a flash light - cider will be provided.

Carousel to the Stars is just a clever name for this pleasant and scenic light-to-moderate hike from the eastern side of Griffith Park to the center point peak Mt. Hollywood which sits behind the Griffith Observatory.

Sunset Hike - Vital Link September 8

Back in action for a late summer sunset hike, the Brand Ramblers return to the Vital Link trail and hope for cool evening breeze.

We'll depart from the Wildwood Canyon parking lot at 5:30 PM and ascend to the Verdugos' ridge line and lookout. be sure and bring plenty to drink as this trail can be a real work out. Cider and snacks will be shared at the summit (and possibly at the halfway point if some of the party elect to forgo the summit).


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As usual, contact Ken if you're running late.

Brand Library to Mt. Thom Sunset Scramble

Thursday's sunset hike is an easy-to-moderate hike depending on your conditioning and whether you plan to stop at the Lookout point (benches) or continue all the way to Mt. Thom (the "scramble" part). This time we'll use a proper foot path rather than a fire road. The trail gets steep at several points (it follows a ridge leading up to Mt Thom) but there are great views along the way and plenty of chances to stop and rest.


View Brand Library to Mt. Thom in a larger map

Meet at 5:00 PM at the Miss America Green Cross statue adjacent to the parking lot next to the Brand Library & Art Center inside Brand Park (1601 West Mountain Street, Glendale CA).

The entire hike up and back should take about 2 hours. There's a little bit of 'scrambling' at a few of the steeper parts of the trail but overall this is not a difficult trail if you are reasonably in shape.

From August 2007 Brand Park Sunset Hike

Spring forward! Back on the trail... to Mt. Thom

Daylight Saving Time struck like a bolt of lightning - it's time to get back on the trail.

To keep things simply we'll be heading up to Mt. Thom this Thursday at 5:00 PM - a little earlier than usual (it may be PDT again but it'll still get dark fairly early).

Assemble at the parking area a block below the Las Flores gate and bring the usual gear (cider will be provided but you bring the water, sunscreen, etc). Since it'll start getting dark on the descent flashlights are recommended but may not be needed.

Previous Las Flores-to-Mt. Thom hike description with directions is here.

Lots of ambitious plans (again) for 2010 including Half Dome and the remaining peaks of the 'Big Three' - San Gorgonio and San Jacinto - and let's not forget Mt. Whitney.

But enough with the planning - let's hit the trail and share a toast atop Thom. See you there!


Last Bramblers' outing - resting on the Devil's Backbone.(PHOTO: Joel Scott)

Happy Holidays 'Bramblers' Everywhere!

With the end of Daylight Savings a few months back the Brand Ramblers went into hiatus except for the 2nd Annual Return to Mt. Baldy on Saturday November 21. We'd been getting fairly slack in documenting our activities but thankfully Paul and Joel were able to snatch some low-end video (hacked iPhone) and high-end still photography on this trek and the Bergfilme above is the unexpected result.

We're already planning trips to Half Dome and Mt. Whitney in the Spring - stay tuned for more information as details become available.

Happy Holidays everyone! See you on the trail in 2010!

Vital Link - revisiting an old friend

After 2 months of Brand Library-to-Mt Thom conditioning scrambles we're headed back to the venerable Vital Link trail on Monday July 6 for a summer reunion. Summer is NOT the ideal time for this trek but it's all conditioning and introducing new 'Bramblers' to its unique joys (and something tells me Paul will love this one!)

For first timers finding the going too steep it is perfectly okay to turnaround midway and pack it in early. The trail gains 700 feet in the first 20 minutes (traveling at an average 3 mph) so frequent short breaks are the order of the day. The trick is to keep them short, 10-20 seconds, to keep the momentum. A mid-hike break of a few minutes also makes sense depending on the weather and condition of the party.

For those not able to make the summit (a lookout bench astride the rim at 2900 feet) there is a good turning point at 1.2 miles (2200 feet) or about 35-40 minutes into the hike. The total trek is ~3.6 miles and an elevation gain of ~1700+ feet.

Bring lots of water and/or Gatorade and trekking poles ready do work well in this setting.