Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Southern California. Exploring Mountains, Seashore, and Desert онлайн

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Falls

Exploring some trails—especially those of the San Gabriel Mountains—may involve traveling over structurally weak rock on steep slopes. The erosive effects of flowing water, of wedging by roots and by ice, and of brush fires tend to pulverize such rock even further. Slips on such terrain usually lead to sliding down a hillside some distance. If you explore crosscountry, always be on the lookout for dangerous run-outs, such as cliffs, below you. The sidewalls of many canyons in the San Gabriels may look like fun places to practice rock-climbing moves, but this misconception has caused many deaths over the years.

Snow and Ice

Statistically, mishaps associated with snow and ice have caused the greatest number of fatalities in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains. This is not because our local mountains are inherently more dangerous than the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, or other ranges. Rather, it is because the novelty of snow and easy access by way of snow-plowed highways attract inexperienced lowlanders, who never picture their backyard mountains as true wilderness areas. Icy chutes and slopes capable of avalanching can easily trap such visitors unaware. Visitors can explore the gentler areas of the high country on snowshoes or skis, but the steeper slopes require technical skills and equipment such as an ice ax and crampons, just as other snow-covered mountain ranges do.