Mormon Rocks

 Mormon Rocks - west of the Cajon Pass

Every location no matter where one lives has unique historical tales to share with those willing to step away for a day of adventure and research. The emphasis is always on research to ensure when visiting a specific area one has the correct information in their back pocket or stored away within the cranium.

As the great writer Paul Theroux has shared over and over with his readers - he doesn't take photographs because his camera is his memories which are stored within the brain. Though we may not agree a hundred percent with Mr. Theroux about the lack of photographs we duly understand his point of view.

So, with this is mind we emphasize to go venture close to home or great distances from home to find those special places which can bring enjoyment and learning with or without a camera - of course most cell phones are remarkable in that category so a camera is always nearby to capture light at certain angles, a smile on a face when that face sees something remarkable, or simply as a record of the days adventure.

Just go out and look around - it's a big world out there even close by.

J and L decided on a Sunday afternoon to head out to a historical site not far from the abode and do some hiking in the hills. The destination was the Mormon Rocks (that is not politically incorrect since it is what the area is named for good reason) located near the junction of Highway 138 and Interstate 15 in Southern California. The area is located in the Cajon Pass which sits at approximately 3700 feet above sea level and was the main passageway from Los Angeles to the Victor Valley and areas beyond including Las Vegas, St. George and other territories to the north.

Mystical at times

Sometimes just awesome

It was the actual trail used by a group of devout Mormon settlers in 1851 led by Amasa M. Lyman and Charles C. Rich on their way to Salt Lake City.

The entire trip through the rough and brush filled canyons on foot and in covered wagons. What a sight that must have been to see as these intrepid hopeful people moved day by day to their promised land. Of course, that was a long time ago and the exact spot where the folks made camp is not one hundred percent certain but is believed to be at a place called Sullivan's Curve where the Mormon Trail and the railway now merge. Once viewed it is easy to imagine many suitable camping sites for tired feet and hungry bellies in the foothills of the eastern San Gabriel Mountain Range.

With determination and guts these pioneers found a new home

With camera in tow, Sorry Mr.Theroux, we marched up and down stunningly shaped rock formations for incredible views of the Cajon Pass and Highway 138. The quiet of the area was mind boggling since the aforementioned highways were nearly a stones throw away and it was difficult to believe that major metropolitan areas were less than a dozen miles to either the north or south from where we were exploring.

Caves in the rocks, trails leading to new unseen views, winds whistling through the desert fauna, and the tangible feel of the historical energy of such an area made the half day outing more than worth the effort.


Sometimes what we are venturing out to see is as close as our own backyards and with this blog that is proven time and again.

Go and drive a few minutes to the natural beauty or historical importance of your surrounding locale and again we believe you will be amazed. We are each and every time and we've only started looking into our own backyard as of yet - many more of these short day trips are planned and to be shared.

Laureen wondering who is driving?

John ready for adventure at Mormon Rocks

Enjoy the outdoors and enjoy the company you keep - that you do not need a photograph for but only a heart and memory for those you care for - perhaps Paul Theroux wasn't too far off after all.

County/State/National Parks are a great place to start

Wrightwood Ride

A nice day for a bike ride - just take some Advil first!

A quaint small village of a little over 5,000 people hugs the sides of the San Gabriel Mountains which is only a fifteen mile drive west of Highway 15 and five miles west of Highway 138 on Highway 2 in Southern California (that's a lot of highways to remember). It is one of the easiest, but sometimes rather busy, drives to local skiing in California - when drought conditions don't linger on and on that is.

But Wrightwood is much more than simply a place to visit when the snows fall making all the fun happen at Mountain High Ski Resort - it's a community rich in history and a place where families can visit any time of the year for pure enjoyment.

A tenet of J and L is to visit local places. A short drive here or there can pull out gems for a family to explore and remember for a lifetime. A picnic beneath pine trees on a hot summer afternoon, a hike through natural mountain trails or just sitting bar side in a small saloon with friends wiling away a few hours with good conversation makes these short jaunts so worthwhile.

A family member once told John that they had taken a trip of a lifetime - but every trip is a trip of a lifetime.

Our intrepid friend, Paul Bakas and John decided to break their routine of bicycle riding along familiar paths and peddle their way up some rather steep mountain roads to visit this friendly little town less than twenty minutes from the abode of J and L. That's twenty minutes in a motorized vehicle - a lot longer by human muscle power working the calves, thighs and heart of both riders. A short five mile nearly two thousand gain in altitude took forty-five minutes but the return same five mile trip took an astonishingly eight minutes - it was all down hill.

Maybe 2 forties!

"Dude! That was quick - I'm not sure I peddled at all on the way back."

"Good thing we didn't take a header over the bars - we were hitting forty."

"I need a forty after that."

Something cold to look at during the hot summer

Anyway, the original inhabitants of the area now known as Wrightwood were the Serrano Indians who lived here before the first settlers made their way past the Mormon Rocks and north up through the Cajon Pass.  In the 19th century cattle ranches started to develop by the hard work and tenacity of a couple brothers - Nathan and Truman Swarthout. A larger ranch was created a short time later by Summer Wright (hmmm, Wright is right on with the name of the town) but in the 1920's others found the beautiful location to enriching and started building residential properties within the tall trees as a way to beat the heat from down the hill (that's what we call going into the Inland Empire, Orange County and beyond (or the I.E. or the O.C. if you are truly a hipster).

A nice place for Paul to get a bite to eat.

Soon some ski bums learned that the north facing San Gabriel Mountains had some wicked slopes and with a little back breaking work lifts were starting to pull (rope lifts at first before the high speed chairs) up during the snow season for hours of skiing fun. Big Pines Park was the original name of the ski area located in Swarthout Valley before it was changed to Mountain High in 1975. A bit of fascinating history was that the 1932 Winter Olympics were to be held at Big Pines Park but after visiting the Olympic Committee decided the area didn't have the experience or facilities for such a large event and instead awarded Lake Placid as the host of the 1932 Winter Olympics.

There's a Catch-Twenty-Two. You don't have the experience and we're not going to allow you to gain any either.

And maybe grab a beer too - just saying

Thousands of skiers visit the area each winter allowing the city at nearly 6,000 feet above sea level a chance to show off its' friendliness and warmth. But as stated earlier - Wrightwood is a place for all seasons as the boys proved with their bike ride on an early Tuesday morning.

Restaurants, parks, small fishing lakes, quaint shops are just a few reasons to go out and explore this mountain town with clean air and cool temperatures. It is a place which breathes 'relax' and 'enjoy' yourself.

And isn't that what sometimes an explorer just wants to do?