littlegrunts.com

Ventana Wilderness: Junipero Serra Peak

by Paulina Dao July 2, 2014

written by Paulina Dao

Hike: Junipero Serra Peak via Santa Lucia Trail
Where: Ventana Wilderness
Trailhead: Santa Lucia Trail
Level: Strenuous
Duration: 4 hours
Length: 4 miles
Gear: Outdoor Research Ignitor Tee, REI Sahara Convertible Pants, Boreas Topaz 25 Daypack, Black Diamond Ultra Distance Trekking Poles, and Ahnu Sugarpine Waterproof Boot
Cost of Parking: Free

Drove down this past weekend to Los Padres National Forest with every intention to bag Junipero Serra Peak. (For the record, the drive down at night is gorgeous with millions of stars as far as the eye can see, so that was worth it in itself.) Did I bag it? Not even close. I underestimated the scorching sun, unforgiving heat, lack of shade, and desolate dryness of this side of the Santa Lucia Range.

July 2, 2014 0 comments

Gear

Chums Vortex Utility Keychain

by Paulina Dao July 1, 2014

written by Paulina Dao

Chums Vortex Utility Keychain

When the Chums Vortex Utility Keychain showed up in my mailbox, I really struggled with how to use it. I’m not really a bulky keychain person. Over the years, I’ve gone from carrying bags stuffed to the brim to only going places with my wallet. Sometimes I even ditch the wallet.

The Chums Vortex Utility Keychain is a stylish carabiner, form over function. Please keep in mind that this is not designed for climbing and will not hold any load worth your weight. The lip of the gate functions as a bottle holder.

The Vortex Utility Keychain has two key rings. I actually do not prefer to keep my keys on this. Instead, I use it to hold and keep track of all my dangling camping items that have no designated place in my pack: sporks, pack-towel, whistle, and more. In this sense, I find that the keychain would be more functional with little thin carabiners so I can easily clip and unclip items as I use them. I find it to be a pain to thread them through the key rings each time I need to use an item that doesn’t have it’s own ‘biner. However, this is most likely not the way Chums intended this to be used.

If you’re a fan of neat looking, semi-functional keychains, this is for you. If you prefer to be more minimalistic, this is probably not for you.

Buy through Chums for $5.99.

This was sent to me for review.

July 1, 2014 0 comments

Gear

Outdoor Research Onrush Cap

by Paulina Dao June 30, 2014

written by Paulina Dao

When it comes to wearing things on my head, I’m the world’s biggest not fan. This also includes my hair, which I have been contemplating a big chop off, but that’s an entirely different story.

Head garments never quite fit my head. They’re either too big, or headachingly small. I’m not a fan of having something block my field of vision and slipping over my eyes. I don’t really wear head things to catch sweat. I can’t keep my wild and ridiculous hair off my neck. In general, they’re pretty uncomfortable to me.

When Outdoor Research sent me their Onrush Cap, my first thought was “Oh no, another hat that I’ll hate and it’ll collect dust in my things I’ll never wear drawer”. They proved me wrong. I’m not a hat lover still, but this cap is a-okay.

At 1.7 oz, this thing is light! It’s like wearing a protective feather on your head. The material is a perforated, polyester mesh, designed to to be super breathable and moisture-wicking. I don’t tend to sweat much on top of my head (I think) so I can’t comment on that. I will say that it wasn’t bulky and didn’t weight me down or cause me to sweat more.

The hat’s piping and logo are reflective, so if you’re running at dawn, dusk or night with this on, people might be able to see you better. I can appreciate the white fabric this is constructed out of; nothing is worse than wearing a hat that absorbs heat. However, for people who sweat bullets, the white fabric might be more of soon to yellow/brown nemesis than an ally. Luckily, it comes in two other colors!

It has a standard hat hole for you to loop your ponytail through. The cap has a buckle closure making it easy to clip onto your pack when you don’t need it. Landon Faulkner of Make Adventure raves about it here.

On a side note, Outdoor Research has an Echo Hoody with a ponytail hole, why can’t there be things with better ponytail holes? Granted, it might look a little ridiculous having a high pony coming out of my hat, but it could work. Nothing makes me hate hats more than not being able to pile my hair as far away from my skin as possible. Just a thought.

Final thoughts: the Outdoor Research Onrush cap is a very lightweight cap. It is a tolerable cap and I will probably wear it again when I absolutely hate the sun. If you’re a hat person, you’ll probably like this hat.

The Outdoor Research Onrush Cap has been discontinued, but Outdoor Research has a ton of hats available.

June 30, 2014 2 comments

Adventures Hiking

Purisima Creek Redwoods OSP: #HellHikeAndRaft Tweetup

by Paulina Dao June 26, 2014

written by Paulina Dao

Hike: Whittemore Gulch, North Ridge, Craig Britton and Purisima Creek
Where: Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve
Trailhead: Higgins-Purisima Road
Level: Moderate
Duration: 4 hours
Length: 9.9 miles
Gear: Outdoor Research Ignitor Tee, Outdoor Research Women’s Turbine Short, Farm to Feet Boulder sock, REI Flash 18 Pack , Black Diamond Ultra Distance Trekking Poles – Pair , and Ahnu Sugarpine Waterproof Boot
Cost of Parking: Free

I am super happy and excited to announce that I’m joining this year’s Hell Hike and Raft crew! I’ll be heading off to Idaho and Hell’s Canyon early September for three days of backpacking and three days of rafting with some stellar folks.

It just so happens that two of my teammates, Russ Beebe the Winehiker and Annie Yearout the OutdoorsyMama, are located in the Bay Area! We decided to have a little tweetup to get to know each other and do some mild training for the trip.

Our adventure began at the Higgins-Purisima Road, and we took off on the Whittemore Gulch trail to start climbing up the hills of the Santa Cruz Mountains listening to Annie exclaiming about the size and height of the redwoods.

After Whittemore Gulch ended, we turned right onto North Ridge Trail down to where it meets Harkins Ridge. From there, we hopped onto the Bay Area Ridge Trail which turned into Craig Britton Trail until we reached a picnic area. We split from the Craig Britton Trail and took the Purisima Creek Trail next to a tiny babbling Purisima Creek back to the trailhead.

It was lots of fun meeting up with some of the Hell Hike and Raft crew! Say hi to Russ on Twitter, and stop by Annie’s blog!

June 26, 2014 3 comments

Gear

Outdoor Research Ignitor Tee

by Paulina Dao June 25, 2014

written by Paulina Dao

The Ignitor Tee is an incredibly versatile shirt, designed out of a 100% heathered polyster. Though it’s designed for running, I absolutely hate running so I take it hiking, backpacking and climbing.

June 25, 2014 21 comments