The Sierra Pelonas (PCT) | Pacific Crest Trail hiking near LA, California

Description

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Today, I go to the southern side of the Sierra Pelonas near Boquet Canyon, about 45 minutes north of Los Angeles. While hiking, I talk about Yucca, the YouTube channel, and something I discovered while on top of the mountain.

Hiking in the Sierra Pelonas - Los Angeles National Forest (PCT)

Tags: Sierra Pelona Mountains (Mountain Range),Hiking (Sport),Angeles National Forest (Protected Site),Park,Santa Clarita (City/Town/Village),Yucca (Organism Classification),Mountain Top (Statistical Region),Pacific Crest Trail (Protected Site),Canyon,Survival Skills (TV Genre),Nature (TV Genre),Desert (Geographical Feature Category),Backpacking (Sport),Southern California (Governmental Jurisdiction),National Park (IUCN Category),Los Angeles (City/Town/Village)

Video Transcription

no I was thinking to myself if I do run into a mountain lion I got this nice strong blue eye strong tripod here with a heavy-duty camera on it now it's a weapon right today I'm hiking the Pacific Crest Trail all the way to Mexico just kidding this was only a small section of the Pacific Crest Trail located near bouquet canyon in santa clarita before i started hiking there was a wall of Madsen way and I really just wanted to do a quick day hike up to the ridge of a mountain in its entirety the Pacific Crest Trail extends 2663 miles from the Mexican border all the way up to canada today was only about a six mile hike though up and down when I first hit the trail there was a charred tree at the trailhead it was almost like a monument for a forest fire that must have happened not too long ago inside the burnt tree or some seeds then a corn woodpecker drilled out and stowed away in general the vegetation was low but dense since was uphill you can't really go off the trail too often in the distance was bouquet reservoir which collects much of the water for Santa Clarita northeastern side of Los Angeles so I'm surrounded up here on top of this mountain with lots of yuca or what I at least I call yuca now this is Yuka right here and you can tell it's Yuka because it has really pointy base at the bottom and then it shoots up here into this giant flower and the root is actually if you mix it with water you can get some soap out of it and that's actually what a lot of Native Americans used to use for soap to wash their hair and wash their face and everything like that now this is a very short yuca there's some yuko over here that is probably twice the size of me and I've seen some even taller than that these could just grow massively on almost almost anywhere here in the desert here's another thing about the yuca plant its basis leaves are incredibly sharp I just was bending down to take a look at one didn't even see it there and I cut myself now that doesn't look like anything that looks just like a barely a scratch I can tell you that hurts like no else you

it kind of sucks because like I moved out here to California over the summer and not even 20 days after I moved out here Andrew Robbie and Brian all started the YouTube channel now they've been filming for months beforehand they've been doing it without me because I was so back in college but you know it's kind of upsetting I don't have anybody to share this with i watch their videos every day I think I'm probably their biggest fan and I'm really really appreciative that they let me kind of participate do my own little thing here let me show you something here all right right up there is where this path takes me I think so I got a little bit ways to go that doesn't look like much from there from here looks like it when I saw that my path is going to reach the top of the mountain I was so excited everyday driving home from work I see this mountain ridge way off in the distance I was hoping that today might be the day I find my way to the top of it there was definitely a lot of upward hiking it had to be done that was an annoying shot all right so i would turned off my I turned off my camera for a little bit because I know the battery the saying that it wasn't doing too well because I wanted to make sure I got to the high point so I could have something to show you guys well call is climbing up ran into two two backpackers and oh my god it was great to see other people now it's not the longest hike I've gone on but you know I was getting a little nervous because this is the first time I've ever been to this place that you know it'd be one of those cases where just keep heike good hiking and I'm never really sure if you get to the point where you're supposed to be not sure if you made a misstep or something like that well so I got there is beautiful overlooked but I look to my left and I notice if I just climb maybe 20 30 more minutes up this way I would have the Overlook nothing taller around me so I save my battery a little bit i'll show you what i got it there I had made it to the top or at least what I wanted to admit as the top the view was literally breathtaking standing on the Sierra Pelonis looking out and seeing the San Gabriels Santa Susanna's and the Santa Monica Mountains with Mojave Desert behind me couldn't have been more beautiful but despite this I couldn't help but feel disappointed it took some time to figure out but I was disappointed in myself I did this beautiful hike with a superb view not because I love surrounding myself in nature but because I loved the idea that I would somehow have something to show from it I think I did it so that every time I could look at the spot from a distance I could say I was up there I did that I neglected everything around me on my way up there the trees the rolling hills the birds the breeze against my face I ignored it because I was so driven to reach that endpoint Robert McFarlane once said those who travel to mountain tops are half in love with themselves and half in love with oblivion at first I hated this quote probably because deep down I knew it was true I did this hike because I was arrogant enough to think that I could look at this mountain from the distance and say I conquered this thinking you can conquer a mountain is one of the most ignorant things you can set the mountains have been around before you were born before civilizations before humans could even walk upright and they will continue to endure maybe instead of thinking we can subdue the mountains you can take John Muir's advice we are now in the mountains they are enough kindling enthusiasm making every nerve river filling every pore and cell probably should wait for one person to get out before another one came in well you can see my breath I came up here i'll come