hiking mt. baldy - baldy bowl trail

had been toying with the bright idea of hiking up mt. baldy (officially mt. san antonio or affectionately known as 'old baldy'), so my friends pam, vim and i jointly committed to make the trek. the two most popular ways to the peak are the baldy bowl trail (an @$$-kicking 4.2 mile, one-way ticket climbing 3,900 feet) or the devil's backbone trail (a more leisurely incline covering the same elevation over 6.8 miles - shorter if you wuss out using the ski lift).

since life's not worth it if not for taking on challenges, we opted for the baldy bowl trail. none of us have ever hiked that elevation (10,000+ ft) prior, so we hauled a boatload of water, layered clothing in case of inclement weather, and subway and cookies to keep our mouths happy. the drive from downtown LA to the manker flats campground totalled about an hour, so we started our ascent at 9:15am to partly sunny skies. below right is the register at the base of the trailhead at 6,100 ft...



it's a short 0.6 mile walk to san antonio falls, so we basked in one last piece of fun before the real fun began. you can see several peeps prancing about in the water at the base of the falls...

and we're off! here's the start of the baldy bowl trail, which splits off from the main road. and the way we're headed is left. yup, the faint trail headed upwards thru the trees. it's very easy to miss even with a topographic map. it's also the first sign that the mountain means business...

below is a shot of towelhead - i mean vim - taking a quick water break. adjacent is the first visible sign of the sierra club's ski hut, at 8,200 ft. high and 2.6 miles from base camp, and a good barometer of progress.




a short distance up, we came upon an impossibly bright red snowplant on the side of a mountain, along with a uniquely mustard-colored tree nearby.



more pics of us pushing onwards. according to a trail book i picked up, this was allegedly the easiest part of the climb. uh, if our faces are any indication, i'll let you be the judge of that. below left is what we have left (that's it?) and below right is a pyrrhic victory up yet another hilltop (yawn).





and here's the last climb towards the top - a torturous, unapologetically steep 3/4 mile that felt like an incline of 70 degrees. all i could do was put my head down, use pam as my guide to the peak, and just hang on.



but have no fear, at 12:45pm on sunday, july 11, we made it atop mt. baldy! nothing short of a raucous celebration ensued, but i'm not sure if it was reaching the peak, or for the fact that we could tear into our sandwiches, chilled blueberries and cookies. i will say this: a 6-inch roast beef on wheat has never tasted better. ever.





since we made decent time, we opted to make our descent via the devil's backbone trail, a 6.8 mile trail down the east side of the mountain to complete the loop. a quick look at the start of the trailhead and to the right, the way down. bottom left is our trail - yes, the pencil-thin squiggly line to the right of the apex. bottom right is me making my way down, or as some would say, concentrating on not plunging to my death:




the way down was a breeze compared to the sweatfest going the other direction, so we were able to enjoy each other's company and take advantage of the incredible scenery. we didn't actually take the ski lift down, but one of the lifts was dormant, so we hopped aboard for a sweet photo op...




about 3.6 miles away from our destination, we descended upon the mt. baldy bar, a perfectly situated watering hole packed with various hikers, mountain bikers and the like enjoying themselves in the great outdoors. to get to your car, you can either take the service road down or pony up $18 for a ride down the ski lift. much to the chagrin of vim, we hoofed it the rest of the way back. and when i say "we," i mean he and i. for reasons unknown, pam took off like usain bolt and sprinted down the rocky downhill ahead of us...

all in all, the 7-hour journey was challenging, enduring and physically taxing, but at the same time it was equally inspirational, majestic and life-reaffirming. for those who ever thought about scaling mt. baldy, get out there and do it!

4th of july - santa barbara

amazingly, this chap has never been to santa barbara, so it was a treat to finally visit by way of a day trip on sunday the 4th. the drive only took an hour up the 101, so it's definitely close enough to make a repeat trip in the future.

i basically got a neat mini-tour, which consisted of a stop at santa barbara city college, whose picturesque campus is literally situated on a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean. next stop was a visit to state street, the main thoroughfare in the city and the site of an inventive independence day parade. everything from local elementary school dance teams to military helicopters to retro 1930s automobiles to walking sharks (?!?) were on display here, and the boisterous crowds were fiercely vocal in their support for independence day. after chowing down on indian at spice avenue, we made the jaunt to the santa barbara mission, the 10th of 21 franciscan missions founded in california back in the 18th century.




afterwards, we grabbed a spot on the front lawn to watch the annual fireworks show at the pier (which was no more than a mile away), which contained quite the visual array - including that of a smiley face - so i was duly impressed. we dined at bouchon for dinner, a fancy nod to the region's wine country, so elephant garlic escargot and the grilled double-cut kurobuta pork chop was calling my name.

and here's a look at the b&b we lucked out on finding at the last minute. breakfast was served in this beautiful courtyard garden tucked away in the back:




white jasmine inn
1327 bath street
santa barbara, CA 93101
http://www.whitejasmineinnsantabarbara.com/

sandstone peak - redux

made the trek up sandstone peak on sunday to gorgeous weather and even better company. arrived at 3pm and made the leisurely 6-mile jaunt in about 4 hours, taking the time to appreciate split rock, inspiration point (yay for gummi life savers) and finally the peak at 3,111 feet.



what was also funny is we kept running into the same couple who were struggling like the dickens, so every time we bumped into them their shirts were a bit more soaked, faces a bit more red, etc. they were great sports about it and we both had fun pushing each other to the top. we all took photos, happily signed the register documenting our experience and hurtled downwards in anticipation for some much-needed grub...

front flip - white lotus

went to open gym tonight at white lotus kung fu studio in northridge, where they have a dedicated section strictly for parkour. there's a big trampoline, makeshift scaffolding, bouncy floors and all kinds of mats and cushions to play around on. also ran into king david, one of the headliners of MTV's ultimate parkour challenge and a founding member of the lost boys family.

and, i successfully executed a front flip, albeit from a raised mat. i don't have the stones to try it from a level surface just yet, but in due time...

the ball street journal - new college basketball venture!

so my friend kyle and i are starting a new online venture set in the world of basketball, where we track the ascent of rising hoop stars on their way to college and the NBA. it's something we've had a strong passion for all our lives, so now is the time it manifested itself in a productive way. based out of southern california, we have access to a lot of games, teams and talent which showcase the best of the best, so we're excited to be bringing our expertise to the rabid fan bases all across the country. it will undoubtedly be a work in progress at the outset, but hopefully we'll gain our footing quickly and be able to provide a unique and comprehensive take on the world of college basketball. without further ado...

http://theballstreetjournalonline.blogspot.com/

japanese tea ceremony

this saturday i had the chance to take part in an authentic tea ceremony - courtesy of my friend heidi - who invited me to be her official guest. now i thought that meant i could hide out in the back and observe the goings-on from afar, but lo and behold, they called me up to participate in actually receiving the tea.



it's actually quite fascinating to see this cherished japanese ceremony up close. to ensure that the guest's cup of tea is the best they will ever receive, there are customs for everything - everything from how one enters the tea room, which step you take when entering/leaving, how to sit, how to hold, raise and rotate the cup (chawan), etc. and that's just for the guest! let's just say i was mesmerized watching her prepare my cup with such discipline and precision. because i typically avoid caffeine, i requested 'weak' tea instead of strong, which caused an uproar in class as i instantly became the laughingstock. the sensei even cried out "wimp!" in disdain...

film review - 'splice'

verdict: 9/10 (but not in the way you think)

some of you may be wondering why in the world i would pay money to see this, but let's just say i was pleasantly roped into seeing this genetic freak show... and was thrilled that i did. words literally can't describe what's up on screen, but comedy or not, this was the funniest movie i've seen in years, '40-year old virgin' included.

i'm not sure what adrien brody and sarah polley's agents were thinking when they first read this script, but i'm taking bets that 'OMG i have to get my client on this!' wasn't the first thing out of their mouth. i really think there's something to this oscar curse, as brody goes from 'the pianist' to this, cuba gooding, jr. from 'jerry maguire' to 'snow dogs,' halle berry from 'monster's ball' to 'die another day,' etc.

regardless, the set up is this: scientists and partners clive (brody) & elsa (polley) create a new organism for the good of science, but when they tempt fate by fusing it w/elsa's DNA, the resulting daughter/thing-a-ma-jig unleashes a series of unimaginable consequences.


and when i say unimaginable consequences, i mean it coming back from the dead to have sex w/clive, have sex w/elsa, kill clive and then impregnate elsa. if you're not sold by now, what can i say, you're no fun...

pangos all-american camp 2010

this past weekend had kyle and i dropping in on the 8th annual pangos all-american camp, which is a national showcase for high school basketball stars and those sleepers looking to break out against elite competition. to give you an example of the talent they bring in, the last 4 MOPs (most outstanding players) at pangos have been harrison barnes (#1 ranked player in the class of 2010 and UNC signee), john wall (soon-to-be #1 draft pick by the wizards), brandon jennings (dropped 55 as a rookie for the bucks this past year) and james harden (prior lottery pick by the OKC thunder).



we'll have a more detailed write-up in a soon-to-be-unveiled basketball site that we're planning to launch (the ball street journal, details to follow), but the pangos camp had more of an all-star game type feel than the more structured AAU teams at the previous weekend's nike EYBL. still, some of the elite players in the country were competing for MOP honors (6'10" quincy miller, 7'0" isaiah austin, 6'3" quddus bello) as well as a plethora of rising and local stars...

nike EYBL - session #3

day 1 of the nike EYBL kicked off saturday (may 28) with games starting at 9:30am at the hangar athletic xchange in hawthorne, CA. i've never been to, nor heard of the HAX before, but it's basically a converted airplane hangar and a fantastic venue for basketball.



i'll have a link to a more extensive writeup of all 3 days, including box scores and player capsules of the top 100 in a few days time. in addition to the high schoolers, i got the chance to see and talk to future #1 overall draft pick john wall, UNC's ed davis, UCLA's own tyus edney, memphis' elliot williams, KU's xavier henry, and incoming cal recruit gary franklin, jr. amongst others...

Nike Elite Youth Basketball League

this weekend kyle and i are going to be attending nike's EYBL session #3, which is a league consisting of the top AAU basketball teams in the country in a final push to qualify for nike's annual peach jam next month in n. augusta, SC. to put it into context, the top 5 high school ballers (as ranked by maxpreps) in the class of 2011 will be playing this weekend, including F michael gilchrist (ranked #1), PF james mcadoo (#2, son of the NBA's bob mcadoo), PG austin rivers (#3, son of the celtics' coach doc rivers), G bradley beal (#4) and PF rakeem christmas (#5, teammate of gilchrist).

http://inside.nikebasketball.com/news/eliteyouth/eybl-session-3/

eats - paulette (macarons)

headed to a friend's birthday later, and instead of bringing over the usual cupcakes or whatnot, i was inspired to find something else. remembering a tasty treat i wolfed down in siem reap, today's revelation was the macaron - the festive parisian almond cookie characterized by its smooth, dome top and ganache filling.

my search lasted all of 12 seconds - the overwhelming favorite in los angeles appeared to be paulette in beverly hills, so i jumped in my ride and made a beeline over. it's a cute and appropriately white shop, to better enhance the kaleidoscope of colors and flavors. today they had 14 selections to choose from - 12 everyday classics and 2 of seasonal variety (raspberry & passionfruit). all are made fresh by hand, so you really can't go wrong in choosing.

since my primary purpose was gift-giving, i picked up a box of 24 - which came in at a hefty $36 - along with 3 individuals (milk chocolate hazelnut, salted caramel, and violet cassis) for myself. once you bite into these delectable treats, all remnants of the price fade away and instead one focuses on the incredible texture of these macarons. the outer cookie is both crispy and chewy, and the filling is amazingly firm yet gooey and bursting with flavor. the delicate balance is quite simply, striking.



i'm kicking myself now for only picking up 3, but maybe everybody will be too full after dinner and i'll be able to sample the other 9, haha. one can always dream, no?

paulette
9466 charleville blvd.
beverly hills, CA 90212
www.paulettemacarons.com

warrior dash - the results are in

amazingly, i placed #551 out of 5361 warriors-for-the-day on saturday (landing 40th in my age group) and #935 out of nearly 8000 for the weekend in total.

not too shabby - being the first race i've ever entered and that i've never ran or even trained for distance - but i still feel like i left a minute or two up on the board. nevertheless, i'm glad that i finished, for one, and that cold beer was awaiting my arrival at the finish line. i mean, first things first...

warrior dash 2010 - socal

just got back from a fantastic day courtesy of warrior dash - a hellish 3.08 mile race combined with 12 'obstacles from hell.' my training partner vim and i decided to sign up a few months back on a whim, since neither of us had heard of it or knew much about it. all i knew was that it was a race, it had obstacles (perfect w/my parkour background!), and it had beer. sold.




we arrived in lake elsinore (about 80 miles SE of los angeles) a shade early of our 1:30pm start time to scope out the festivities and to get in a 3/4 mile jog to get warmed up. since we didn't want to get trapped, we got in line around 1:05pm so that we could stay near the front of the pack. the race started with about a one-mile sprint before coming upon the first obstacle - a increasingly high stack of hay bales that you had to scale and then jump down from.

believe it or not, 11 more obstacles were to follow, with such names as 'junker jump' (climbing over strewn wreckage), 'tunnels of terror' (scampering thru black tunnels), 'cargo climb' (making your way up/down cargo nets), 'breathless bog' (trudging thru waist-deep water and over huge logs), 'warrior roast' (jumping over fire) and 'muddy mayhem' (scrambling under barbed wire thru a ginormous mud pit).




3.08 miles isn't too bad on its own, nor are the 12 obstacles when broken down one-by-one. but combined, it makes for an arduous journey, so i was proud to finish and to place in the upper tier of our wave. when you consider the fact that i've never ran distance in my life, it makes it extra sweet to accomplish something in a short amount of prep time. next stop, half marathon? results haven't been tabulated yet, but i'll post a follow up as soon as i find out...




afterwards, each competitor gets rewarded with a t-shirt, a viking helmet, a sweet medallion commemorating the occasion, and free beer - sponsored by pyramid brewery! my friend hillary actually volunteered to help out today, so she was one of the select few beer wenches on the premises. both vim and i were also able to recycle our crusty shoes to green sneakers, so all in all it was a glorious day. now if you'll excuse me, i'm going to soak myself in hot water in hopes of cleaning up all the mud...

this... is american idol

forgot to mention that my cousin finally landed a full-time job last week (yay line!), so a few of us went out to celebrate with dinner at park's BBQ in k-town followed by karaoke at rosen. it should be mentioned that rosen now has wireless mics, so one can be totally inhibited in owning his or her performance, with no risk of upending a stray sake bomb on the table.

since my fellow boy band member joseph wasn't in the house, i had to save the NKOTB and *nsync performances for another day. but here are some of the select tunes that i was able to belt out for the evening:

the backstreet boys - show me the meaning of being lonely
the killers - mr. brightside
pearl jam - jeremy
the beatles - all you need is love
USA for africa - we are the world (the only performance to garner a perfect score, btw)
justin timberlake - cry me a river
starship - we built the city
bon jovi - livin' on a prayer