February 2012
Greetings, Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
Where to begin? January was a great month for this site, in which several records were set: most monthly traffic, most daily traffic and most donations, to name a few. We want to thank our loyal readers for their support and generosity.
In February, the days are starting to get longer and the weather is still nice and cool. Whether you’re looking for a nice romantic nature walk for Valentine’s Day or a longer trip for the three-day President’s Weekend, the natural landscape around Los Angeles is sure to provide you with plenty of great destinations.
Observant hikers may have noticed that there has been less rain so far this winter than last year or the year before. This means that some of the area’s smaller seasonal waterfalls aren’t flowing like they usually do, and that some of the wetlands aren’t so, well, wet. Still, year-round waterfalls such as Paradise Falls in Thousand Oaks and Sturtevant in the foothills of the San Gabriels are great hiking destinations, and the sunny weather we’ve been having makes it easier to get out and enjoy them. And this February, you’ll have one extra day to do your hikes than you did last year!
See you on the trails.
January 2012
Happy new year, Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
Thank you readers for making December our best month yet – in which records for traffic were demolished. Thank you too for those who participated in the first-ever NHLA survey; the data collected provided valuable insight that will help make the site even better this year. If you missed the survey, you can still participate in it; click here.
One change we’ve made is the alignment of the geographical categories for hikes, which it is hoped will help readers more accurately find hikes close to them. Two new categories have been added: the Santa Clarita Valley and Desert Gateway, which includes hikes north of L.A. in the high desert and back country of the Angeles National Forest, and the Puente Hills and San Gabriel Valley, which includes the foothills of the San Gabriels, the Puente Hills and the northern end of Orange County. Additionally, the Santa Monica Mountains have been split into east (Malibu Creek State Park and eastward) and west. The former Long Beach/South Bay/Puente Hills category has been modified to just focus on the South Bay and West Side. The former Angeles National Forest Front and Back Country categories are no longer; some of the hikes have been reorganized into the two new categories and others remain under the category “San Gabriel Mountains.”
The January Book of the Month is Pete Fromm’s “Indian Creek Chronicles”, in which the author recounts a solitary winter he spent as a college student in the wilderness of the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho.
Many people reading this have probably made New Year’s Resolutions, and odds are that a good percentage of them include losing weight and exercising more. It’s obvious how hiking can help one achieve those goals, but hiking can also help other New Year’s Resolutions: traveling, taking more photos, making more time for oneself and communing with nature. For ideas on how hiking can help with your New Year’s Resolutions, click here. For a list of some great hikes to plan for 2012, click here. January is a great time for hiking all over the L.A. area, with clear air and nice, cool temperatures.
Once again, thank you readers for a great year in 2011. We’re looking forward to making the site even better in 2012 and getting even more of you out there into nature!
See you on the trails.
December 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
November was another great month for the site. We had record-breaking traffic for Thanksgiving weekend. Thank you readers!
December’s Book of the Month is “Angels in the Wilderness” by Amy Racina. Both an inspirational story and a cautionary tale, this is Racina’s account of her ordeal and recovery after falling off a cliff in Sequoia National Park.
As with the Thanksgiving holiday, the trails of Los Angeles and vicinity can come in handy during Christmas and Channukah time. Whether you want to get out into nature and burn off some of those fruit cake calories, take out-of-town family guests on a tour to show them that L.A. actually does have a natural side, or just get a little and peace and quiet from the nonstop activity of the season, you’re sure to find what you need on So Cal’s hiking trails.
We’re proud to announce the publishing of the 2012 Nobody Hikes in L.A. Wall Calendar, which features photos from some of the most popular hiking trips on this site, including Will Rogers State Historic Park, Caspers Wilderness Park, Lang Ranch Open Space, Fish Creek Meadows and more. It makes a great gift for the nature lover on your list…and so does the America the Beautiful pass. Our partner vendor, My Scenic Drives, is offering free standard shipping on this pass, which not only covers the four national forests of Southern California, but also almost every federally managed recreational area in the country, including the national parks. Click here for more information.
It’s been very exciting to see the growth of this site, which now has hundreds of subscribers and has provided information on almost 350 different hiking trips. We appreciate the interest and support, and welcome any suggestions, comments and feedback.
See you on the trails.
November 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
October was our busiest month ever for traffic, which is especially great considering that last year, there was a big drop-off in readership after the summer months. Thank you readers! We appreciate your using this site as a resource for finding hiking trips. As the months continue to get cooler, more and more trails that are tough during the summer become accessible.
We do not plan on resting on our laurels here, however. N.H.L.A. continues its mission to be So-Cal’s premier resource for hiking information. New hiking trips will be posted, but as always, let us know if there’s one that you can’t find on the site.
Our November Book of the Month selection is “Ranger Confidential” by Andrea Lankford. As a former park ranger at Yosemite and Grand Canyon, Lankford presents a behind-the-scenes view of life in the National Park Service.
Thanksgiving will be in a few short weeks, and if you want to burn off a few of those turkey and cranberry sauce calories, why not do it on a hiking trip? Those of you with friends and family coming in from out of town might want to consider taking them on a hike to show them that L.A. does, in fact, have a natural side. Instead of battling crowds and ridiculous prices at theme parks, why not visit a state park, such as Malibu Creek, Chino Hills or Crystal Cove?
Thanks again, readers, for a great month. Maybe we’ll break another record in November!
See you on the trails.
October 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
Despite what many people think, Southern California does have seasons. As the weather gets cooler in autumn, areas such as the San Fernando Valley and the Inland Empire, infamous for summer heat, become more accessible. Places like Placerita Canyon, Point Mugu State Park and the famous Aspen Groves of the San Gorgonio Wilderness show beautiful fall colors. Before the winter storms come, the fall can be a good time to plan one last assault on some of the higher summits in the San Bernardino and San Gabriel Mountains.
At N.H.L.A., we continue to strive to be So-Cal’s best resource for information on hiking. The addition of Everytrail has helped add detailed maps to the newest hikes being posted. We have also re-introduced the Book of the Month feature. October’s book is Jon Krakauer’s classic “Into the Wild .”
We are saddened to report the passing of Jerry Schad, one of Southern California’s most prolific hiking authors. Schad’s “Afoot and Afield” series is a great resource for hikers with comprehensive information on hundreds of trails. He will certainly be missed, but his love of the outdoors lives on in the countless people whom he inspired to get out into nature.
See you on the trails.
September 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
August was a very busy month for NHLA. The site became an affiliate of several online vendors, notably Walmart, Buy.com, Barnes & Noble and more. We are replacing the old product links to Amazon with new ones from these vendors, enabling readers to purchase equipment while helping fund research on more hikes, making the site even more valuable.
We posted our 300th hiking trip – a classic San Gabriel mountains hike, the Devil’s Canyon. Recently re-opened following the Station Fire, the Devil’s Canyon visits the secluded San Gabriel Wilderness.
NHLA has also started a relationship with Everytrail, a site that allows users to download a cell phone application that uses GPS technology to track routes. This allows site users to share detailed information about hiking trips with other hikers. We are very pleased to be a part of Everytrail, which makes NHLA a more valuable resource while also reaching new audiences.
With school starting, many people, be they families with school-age kids, college students or even teachers, may have difficulty finding time to get out on the trails. But if there’s one thing that readers of this blog should know, it’s that no matter where you live, odds are there’s a great hiking trail near you. With the weather cooling down, many hikes that are not practical during the summer become more accessible.
So get out there and do it!
See you on the trails.
August 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
Thank you readers for another great month, during which we passed 100,000 total page views. Awesome! We have also become an affiliate of www.survivalcampingworld.com, an online vendor of camping and hiking supplies, and are continuing to develop relationships with other vendors to help L.A. hikers find their gear, while generating revenue to fund more research and development for th site.
For many people, especially those with school-age children, August is the last full month of the year to really get out there and enjoy the summer. It’s a great time to visit some of the famous higher mountains of the L.A. basin such as Baldy and San Jacinto, but sharp-eyed hikers can find plenty of good low-elevation trails as well. The wooded canyons of the San Gabriel and Santa Ana foothills have many hidden treasures, and the coastal areas of Malibu, the Palos Verdes Peninsula and south Orange County are good places to get some exercise while avoiding the summer heat. This blog’s mission is not only to provide information about some of So Cal’s best known trails, but to help readers discover obscure ones they may have missed.
Happy hiking, everyone. See you on the trails!
July 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
June has been a good month for hikers and for www.nobodyhikesinla.com. The recent opening of the lower section of Highway 2 in the Angeles National Forest has made many of L.A.’s best-known trails more accessible. San Gabriel Peak is the first hiking trip in this area to be posted on the site. Under its new ownership, the famous Candy Store on highway 74 in the Cleveland National Forest had a re-opening celebration. Stop in to pick up provisions for a hike on the San Juan Loop or Bear Canyon trails and say hi to Shannon.
It’s been a great month for the blog. We have introduced our series of “bragging rights” T-shirts to the Nobody Hikes in L.A. online store, allowing hikers to remember hikes they’ve done by wearing them. The first three are Holy Jim Falls, Black Star Canyon Falls, and, what’s that other one? Oh, Mt. Baldy. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.
Traffic this June was almost seven times what it was last June. The total number of page views is getting close to 100,000. Thank you everyone for reading.
Unfortunately there is one bad piece of news to report: recent legislation has caused Amazon to terminate contracts with its 10,000 affiliates. Many of you reading this know that www.nobodyhikesinla.com is an Amazon affiliate, and while the product links sprinkled throughout the blog are still valid, purchasing through the site will no longer generate revenue to fund research for future hikes. Obviously, we hope that this is a temporary situation and that some sort of resolution between Amazon and the state government will be reached, but in the mean time we will continue to seek out affiliation relationships with other online vendors. We continue to work with www.myscenicdrives.com to allow hikers to purchase the National Forest Service adventure pass that is required for parking in the Cleveland, Angeles, San Bernardino and Los Padres National Forests.
Amazon or no Amazon, this site is committed to providing quality information and to inspiring people to get out and explore the natural side of Los Angeles and the surrounding areas. Thanks for reading and happy hiking! See you on the trails.
June 2011
Greetings Trail Heads & people who hike in L.A.!
It’s hard to believe that NHLA has been up for close to a year. In that time, information about 270 hikes has been posted – including legendary L.A. trips such as Mt. Baldy and San Jacinto Peak, local favorites like Sturtevant Falls, Holy Jim Falls and Sandstone Peak, and some little-known gems such as Lake Fulmor, Big Rock Lateral, Lang Ranch Open Space and many more. The site has grown from having a little over 2,000 total page views in June of 2010 to almost 13,000 in May of 2011. We have over 150 subscribers, and have become affiliates with Amazon, Groupon and My Scenic Drives (an online vendor for the National Forest Service Adventure Passes that are required for parking on many of these hikes).
Sounds like a pretty productive first year, and we expect an even better one to come!
To celebrate the first year of NHLA, and to continue our mission to be the best hiking blog in Southern California, a few new features are being rolled out: for starters, there is what you are reading right now: a monthly newsletter, in which we will update hikers about new trail developments, make suggestions for good hiking trips for the season, and provide news about the blog itself.
June is a great time for So Cal hiking. Many higher summits, such as Cucamonga, Telegraph and Baden-Powell, are largely snow-free by this point. Lower elevation areas, such as the Santa Monica and Santa Ana Mountains, can still be very enjoyable places to hike, especially if you get off to an early start to beat the heat.
Long-time viewers will notice that the popular green and orange “Spring Loaded” theme is gone, replaced with a blue, tan and orange background called “Beach.” “Spring Loaded” was popular and was great for us, and it may return, but for now we’ve decided to try a different direction.
We’ve also added a “Book of the Month” available for purchase from Amazon. June’s selection is the classic memoir “A Walk in the Woods ” by Bill Bryson, describing his trip on the Appalachian Trail. (Yes, this is an L.A. blog, but you’ve got to give the Appalachian some love!)
Anyhow, thanks to everyone who’s read this blog for making the first year a success. We’ve only gotten started!
See you on the trails.
