(The Echo Cliffs, before we climbed them)

We were a bit late leaving from the Lyon center. A delay of about 20 or so minutes. No big deal. We drove down to Malibu without hitting any traffic at all, which was nice. But, instead of trusting our past experiences at Echo Cliffs and taking the normal route to the crag, we decided to take the road less travelled. Ladies and gentlemen, this decision made all the difference.

We turned on a thin winding road that was supposedly an alternate route, however, none of the guides had ever taken it before so we didn’t know for sure.  We followed this road for 20 or so minutes and it took us to a parking lot that none of us recognized. We decided it would probably be best if we just went back down and took the road we were accustomed to taking. So that is what we did. At first it seemed to be a huge waste of time to take this strange path—especially when upon arriving at the familiar Echo Cliffs parking lot we realized we had turned around about 400 ft from our desired destination. But this detour turned out to be fortuitous indeed.

We were off to a late start. It was a bit before 10 am and we had left from USC at about 7:30. Yikes.

But then something amazing happened…

A few alumni guides, Simon Hatfield and Kyle Sears, along with Quinn “The Man” Rohlf had left about the same time as us but had taken the normal route to the cliffs and thus arrived on time about an hour earlier. They had already climbed two or three routes by the time we arrived in the parking lot.

(Quinn "The Man" Rohlf carrying two backpacks, a normal occurrance)

Unfortunately, because of their timeliness, they were punished as they missed out on the highlight of the day, and more than likely, the highlight of many of our lives to that point.

As we unloaded from our cars and organized our gear Adam caught a passing glance at someone who’s face seemed familiar. It took about 3 seconds before he put a name to the face. And he hurried over to Catherine and Dan and quietly told them who he thought the person might be. Adam, having earned a reputation as a swindler of the highest caliber, was immediately met with extreme doubt. In fact, Adam probably didn’t trust himself either, as he wasn’t completely sure of the man’s identity until the man removed his jacket a few seconds later revealing a bright yellow Black Diamond t-shirt.

The man was Alex Honnold.

(We got lost in his eyes)

Perhaps the most recognizable name in the sport of rock climbing. He is known for his achievements free-soloing, which is the act of rock climbing without ropes, harnesses or any other form of safety gear. Honnold was the first person ever to free solo the 2000 foot Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park.

Check out this 60 Minutes video to see the awesomeness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR1jwwagtaQ

When we met him, he was peeling a banana, sitting down cross-legged in the dirt of the parking lot.

Dan asked if he could keep the banana peel, but Alex declined stating that he likes to eat the peel. He proceeded to fold the banana peel and eat it right in front of us.

Inspired by meeting Alex Honnold the guides decided to leave the ropes. What was originally advertised as an introductory rock-climbing trip turned into a free solo crush festival 5.12 and above.

My name is Alexandra Winqvist, I work in the education and outreach department at the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island. Every summer we run a number of Family Science Programs and recruit USC students to volunteer as counselors. Volunteering as a counselor for the Family Science Program is an opportunity to work with children in an outdoor setting, experience the USC Catalina campus, and socialize with alumni and faculty.

We have been running these Family Science Programs for more than ten years, and although they were originally geared towards alumni and still attract a large number of alumni, we have guests of all ages come from all over. Guests enjoy four or five days of family fun and learning, focused mainly on marine biology but also with a smattering of geology, natural history, and ecology.  We take them hiking, snorkeling, and kayaking, and they participate in faculty lectures and workshops which may be a fun craft or a lab activity.

Although the activities are all aimed at having families participate together there are occasions where the subject matter may be uninteresting for younger children or where the activity is specifically for kids (games, scavenger hunts, etc.).  We enlist USC students as counselors to focus on the kids; help them with activities, maintain and encourage a positive and fun attitude during physical outdoor challenges, hang out and chit chat, etc.  Sometimes we may also ask our counselors to help with set-up or clean-up, for example getting the kayaks ready or putting away the soapstone carving tools.

All transportation to the island, housing, and meals are provided. If you are interested in volunteering I will ask you to submit an application with references and commit to a one day training on Catalina Island.

Please be in touch if this sounds like a fun opportunity to you; if you enjoy working with children, playing outside, and learning about the natural world!

Thank you for your time,

Alexandra Winqvist
USC Wrigley Marine Science Center | winqvist@usc.edu

Along the way to the mountains, we made a stop in Bakersfield to indulge in Cataldo’s famous 36-inch pizza – the largest any of us had ever seen!

After dinner, we continued up to Kernville, California where we stopped for the night at a car camp and created some delicious campfire éclairs. It was chilly that first night, but the stars were out and brilliantly beautiful. We had made it to the Sierra.

We were up at first light and made some delicious hot breakfast burritos (all the fixins on delicious “burrito bread”).

Then we packed up camp, divided up the food and group backpacking gear for the next three days, and hit the trail.

During the first day, we hiked along the Rincon trail, a well-defined path. We went over mountains and through valleys, encountering patches of snow along the way. Needless to say, snowball fights and butt-sledding ensued.

After hiking about 6 miles, we arrived at our picturesque campsite along the bank of Packsaddle creek. We set down our packs, and then decided to go and explore a nearby cave marked on the trail-map. It turned out to be a beautiful limestone cavern with huge stalagmites and stalactites scattered throughout.

We explored, then returned to our camp for a delicious dinner of pesto pasta with chicken, followed by summit cheesecakes for dessert. As we were settling down to bed, we saw small black eyes glaring out of the forest, reflecting the light of our headlamps. It was most likely a raccoon or a small fox, so we decided to hoist up our food in bear bags just to be on the safe side.

The next morning, after a rousing round of “Street Fighter” to wake us up, we hit the trail bright and early – we had a lot of ground to cover the second day! We saw distinctive carnivore prints all over our trail: likely bobcat and fox. We continued as yesterday, up and down then up again, mountain to valley to mountain. We made great time, hiking about 7 miles by lunchtime.

The “slow lorises” led the way in uncharacteristic fashion.

Shortly after lunch (consisting of an obscene amount of cheese, salami, and sugary fruit snacks) we reached the location where our route was supposed to split of the Rincon only to realize that the trail had been abandoned for quite some time and was largely nonexistent.

However, we made the most of the situation and struck out to do some cross-country trekking. Our participants held strong as we descended into a ravine, up a mountainside, and then along the steep contour of a river canyon, bushwhacking all the way.

From the top of the ridge we could see the whole Kern river valley.

At 4pm, we realized that it was beginning getting dark, and although we hadn’t made it as far as we had planned, we decided to make a quick descent into the river canyon. We were fortunate enough to find a beautiful campsite right along the banks of the Kern River. We made camp, then cooked a dinner of curry flavored chicken and rice, followed by vanilla pudding for dessert. After some truly awful campfire renditions of “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” we turned in for the night.

We woke up to a beautiful morning, but we shortly thereafter discovered that the only way to exit the river canyon was to cross the frigid whitewater of the Kern. Our fearless participants made groups of two and carefully crossed the swift water to the far bank.

The water was staggeringly cold; the first step into the Kern caused bolts of pain and numbness to shoot up our legs and left us gasping for breath. But we made it.

From the far side of the river, we wound our way along the Kern River canyon, taking in the impressive scenery of the river gorge containing stunning waterfalls and snow-capped mountains.

Soon, however, we found that our nice, neat trail suddenly disappeared into thin air – WHERE DID IT GOOO? Once again, we took off cross-country through the terrain, up and down snowy hills and valleys. At one point on our journey, we found a long line of mountain lion tracks and followed them straight to his kill – a relatively fresh deer carcass.

We funneled down from the high mountains into a large meadow and pine forest, along a river.

From there, it was a few short miles down through the rolling hills to the cars. Hallelujah. Once at the cars, we laughed, we cried (not really), but most importantly we celebrated with sandwiches filled with peanut butter and chocolate frosting ….yummmm…

And so in our 3 days of backpacking, we covered a little more than 20 miles – at least 10 of which was off-trail. We perspired profusely going up mountains and down valleys. We shivered in the Sierra nighttime air. We bled from ticks and scraped kneecaps. We dealt with the pain of blisters, pulled muscles, and twisted ankles. We were hopelessly lost at times, but ultimately we found our way home. On Monday evening, those twelve participants and three guides returned to TroGro and resumed their lives at USC. But something had changed. We had pushed ourselves to the limit and conquered the Sierra, and by doing so, had conquered a piece of ourselves. And that will remain with us for all time.

–Cody Nelson

We pulled onto the short gravel road that marks the entrance to New Jack at about 9:45. The van was parked, packs were grabbed, and we set off for the Boy Scout Wall, a rock formation with some good warm-up routes. About 200 meters later, we were there. One of the remarkable things about New Jack is the sheer density of the  climbing – the entire main area which holds most of the several hundred routes in New Jack is reachable by easy, five-to-ten minutes approaches. This makes it a fantastic area to climb with a group – Our guides were usually already leading climbs at the next area to set up topropes while the group was still getting packed up at the last spot.

We climbed well into the mid-afternoon on Saturday, with most of our participants getting to do all of the six routes that we set up at the Boy Scout and Sunnyside walls. We ended up camping in the site next to where two guys we met earlier, Anthony and Mike, were camping that night, and they proved to be perfect examples of the archetypal climber dudes – friendly, easygoing, and super psyched to be out climbing. They hung out around our bonfire with us, swapping stories and goofing around with some nighttime bouldering on the overhanging boulder next to our firepit. We also had another visitor to our campsite that night – the participant who had slept past his alarm had, through some miracle, found a friend to drive him the two hours from LA to the middle of the desert and drop him off so that he could camp with us that night and climb the next day! Happy to have another group member, we modified the sleeping arrangements accordingly and settled in for the night, staring at a sky full of constellations and even a few shooting stars.

A long exposure of camp

Sunday morning was cold and clear. Breakfast, packing, and planning all went by in a blur, and we set out for more rock climbing. This time around, we put up some harder, more interesting routes – quite a few 5.10a’s, and a solid mix of high-quality .8′s and .9′s. The participants did an awesome job with the harder stuff we were throwing at them, and everyone had a blast. As our last route of the day, I put up “Crooked Dick Spire“, a funky 5.9 up a thin and striking finger of rock. At the top of the spire, you could sit on a small knob of rock and look out over the entire valley and the sun hanging low over the rim. It was the perfect capstone to an awesome weekend of rock climbing.

The view of "Crooked Dick Spire" from below

Is climbing safe?

This is a pretty important question, and the short answer is that yes, climbing with SC Outfitters is a very safe activity. The long answer is that in climbing, just as with any activity, there is a certain amount of risk involved. On SC Outfitters trips, however, we strive to make that risk as small as possible – all of our equipment is safety rated and well maintained, and our guides set up all the climbs in such a way that the amount of risk to our participants is extremely negligible. We have never had anyone get injured while climbing with SC Outfitters. Because of our rigorous safety standards and knowledgeable guides, I would not hesitate to say that climbing with SC Outfitters is a very safe activity.

Do I need any special gear?

On SC Outfitters trips, we provide all of the rock climbing equipment you’ll need – shoes, harness, belay device, rope, etc. The cost of renting this gear is included in the total trip cost – so you don’t need to worry about bringing anything except whatever is on the trip packing list.

What should I wear for climbing?

While you’re climbing, you’ll want loose or stretchy clothing that doesn’t restrict your movements. I usually climb in a t-shirt and a pair of pants or shorts that let me see where I’m placing my feet. Jeans are generally not good for climbing or hiking in. Remember to bring warm layers to wear over your climbing clothes, if the trip description calls for it.

Do I need to know how to climb beforehand?

This varies on a trip-by-trip basis – most of our climbing day trips are suitable for beginners, but some of our overnight climbing trips I would not recommend as your introduction to rock climbing. If you’re not sure whether a given trip is a good fit for your skill level, try talking to the guide leading the trip. They will be the best equipped to answer your questions about difficulty and skill level.

What happens if I fall?

The type of climbing that participants on our trips do is called top-roping. What this means is that your rope runs through an anchor at the top of the climb, then down to the belayer who takes in slack in the rope as you move up. When you fall, you fall directly onto the rope which catches all your weight. This means that you will only fall as far as the rope stretches to absorb the force of your fall – two to three feet at the most. After that you can grab back onto the rock and try again.

Hopefully that answered some of your questions, and now you’re psyched to come climb with us!

Cheers,

-Quinn Rohlf

Photo credit: Renan Ozturk, pro climber and artist

The journey there involved a wild ride up the scenic twists of Yerba Buena Road, deep into the Santa Monica mountains. This led to an equally adventurous hike/scramble/climb up and down the ridges of the Mishe Mokwa trail right to the shadow of the tall volcanic and sandstone “Echo Cliffs”. With perfect sunshine and just a hint of a breeze, the climbing was amazing. The spring admits might be new to USC, but they took to rock climbing like they had been doing it for years. Some of the routes which were crushed by our adventurers included “Ms. Pac-Man”, a short but interesting line up a edgy slab, “Xanadu”, a traversing climb on pocketed tuff, “Morning Glory”, a long route on varied terrain, and “Bushwhacked”, a steep 90′ long route.

Rock climbing wasn’t the only thing that happened on this outing. We had no less than four people discover that they were next-door neighbors, new friends were made, and scenery was enjoyed.

Despite a few bumps along the way and an equally curvy drive back, the whole crew made it out in one piece, having been given a fitting introduction to USC life – SC Outfitters style!

a dark night saw stars. elias saw nothing, he forgot his glasses. a brighter early morning saw a nearly full moon. elias was able to see this part because we went back for his glasses. two cars, a small caravan moving along the coastline, four cones of light and one bonding commonality, everybody poops.

signs of day in monterey. purple then pink then the orange sun peeks finally over the hill tops illuminating the grazing cattle, the grasses to their knees and the white foam crash at the shoreline. lulling awake and then back to sleep again lazy elephant seals. in the west a moon slips quietly from view beneath rolling waves. forward facing eyes watching in the rearview.

sounds of footsteps dissipate in the vastness of this place. bigger than an echo. the trees greet us at the onset only to abandon us as we climb higher into the hills and farther from the humidity of the coast. the day only just beginning, and hours beginning to feel very long indeed.

down a long nasty switchback our feet ache and our eyelids feel heavy. we take turns in the river, submerging and washing away the invisible oils of poison oak, hopefully just in time. after the awakening chill the last of our energy is used to restore body heat and to lay out ground pads for an afternoon nap. sleep enveloped us all, and it was welcome.

broken camp and upward again. long, but beautiful. each downhill means the shade of redwoods. lunch on the road, pitas, hummus, tofurky, cheese, chicken, salami, and sundried tomatoes…the secret ingredient. not anymore. the other secret ingredient? not telling. just kidding. love. the last secret ingredient? secrets.

we walk into our campsite and drop our packs. this will be our home for the night. we’ll cook our dinner and enjoy this sandy beach. we’ll wade in the creek and walk to the hot springs. we will. it will be nice. it will feel warm. it seems naturally unnatural for a creek so cold to have such warm water close by. its warmth is intoxicating. the closeness of everyone–euphoric. these feelings grow and grow as the night removes us from the surrounding world and places us under a shining blanket of stars. the only semblance of day bathes our eardrums, the flowing river persists along with the spirit of adventure. it does not sleep, it manifests itself in an orgy of raw pleasure, covered by the cloak of darkness. hands, heavy breathe, animal noises, and the false feeling of anonymity. normality abandoned for something far more unique.

each step draws us closer to home, so downward we fly. towards warmth, cleanliness and comfort and all that the civilized world has to offer. the entire distance travelled the previous two days are covered in one day’s push. each bend we expect to reach our destination but are disappointed, until finally that bend comes. we walk past a peaceful grassy field. the grass is tall and fenced in, but the coastal breeze spins and tustles each blade. they move freely. car doors unlock, an engine starts, and a road lies ahead. a very long road.

in the distance a dog barked.

written by Cormac McCarthy

-Christine Sur

I have to admit; I have a very unique perspective on this. As the Community Support Director, my responsibility is to keep everything running smoothly because at the end of the day, none of us want to deal with all this “business stuff”. We as guides and you as members all want the same thing: spend more time chilling together, preferably outdoors in the wilderness. From our @scoutfitters.org email addresses to our Facebook page, all of our online tools help serve the mission: to let us better nurture the outdoor community we’re trying to create.

So, along those lines, I’m kind of hoping you noticed the new digs www.scoutfitters.org is showing off today. Together with the help of two other guides, Molly Barnes and Quinn Rohlf, we’ve been working incredibly hard over the past month on our brand spanking new WordPress website.

Over the past couple of semesters, we’ve been asking you what you liked about SC Outfitters and what annoyed the crap out of you. One of the things that we kept hearing was how much you liked our website.

On the other hand, SC Outfitters has been expanding exponentially over the last year. With a membership program and an expanded roster of trips, our website was simply unable to keep up with what we needed it to do. We could’ve made it work, but it would’ve been more complicated for both you as a participant, and for us as guides to maintain.

So with much celebration, we decided to move to better pastures, and this new site is the result. Some of the new features we hope you’ll like are:

• A cleaner design to make it easier for you to get all the information you need.
• A new Trips Page for you to bookmark and get an easy, visual way of seeing all the trips.
• Added support and help pages so you can find answers to the questions you have.
• More photos of the guides and the members that put a face to our community.
• A revamped The Blog with RSS Feed to keep you in the loop with the latest news.
• A new host to reduce our operating costs so more money can go to benefit our members.

And that’s not all! With midterm season going on right now, we couldn’t finish everything we wanted to do, but that doesn’t mean we’re done expanding the website. Let’s just say our members will have something to be very stoked about come next semester.

For now, we hope you like the look of our new online home. For the longest time, when people said how much they like our website, I’ve always responded, “I’m glad you love it. I actually hate my work.” Now, I’m happy to say how much I love what Molly Barnes, Quinn Rohlf, and I have created. We hope you’ll agree.

Thanks for reading, and remember to live for adventure!

Andy Chu
Founding Guide | Community Support Director | SC Outfitters