Camping (Little Jimmy Backpacking Trip)
Little Jimmy Backpacking trip is our first, and most accessible backpacking trip of the season-- and anyone can do this one with us. For many of our Trailmen (and dads) this is their first experience with backpack camping, and is a great introduction. This camping trip is absolutely free-- but we need to know who is planning on attending. We will be hiking together to avoid anyone getting lost-- so please let us know what days you're planning on coming.
Like previous years we will have two different 'WAVES' of arrivals, to accomodate those of different schedules. First wave will go Thursday - Saturday...which historically is MUCH lesscrowdedand gives the boys more of a wilderness experience with less people around. (With many of our Trailmen attending school virtually or at home this season, this might be the perfect opportunity to get on the trail when few other are) TheSecond wave will head up Friday - Sunday.
We will caravan from NewHeart to the Islip Saddle parking lot at the trailhead. The hike is 2.1 miles in, and our campground is furnished with Bear boxes, tables and fire-pits. (there is also a pit toilet-- but TP is often not provided, so please bring some. Please refer to our Backpacking Checklist to ensure you have all you need.
Primary Group (First Wave) Meetup and Caravan.
We are planning on meeting up this Thursday at 11:00am, with the idea of hitting up In-N-Out on our way to the mountain (One less meal to carry in). We will be parking our cars at the "Islip Saddle" parking lot on Highway 2. Please remember if you are driving yourself you will need a valid Adventure pass (which can be purchased locally from Big5 or REI-- this is basically a parking pass for the LA mountain wilderness areas). For those wishing to car-pool, you can leave your cars in the church parking lot (over by the basketball area/dumpster will be ideal with 24 hour video surveillance)
WANT TO COME WITH THE SEOND WAVE, OR HAVE A LATE ARRIVAL? We have a second party coming up on Friday--please RSVP for that time and we can coordinate a hike party so you're not hiking alone. It is a very easy trail to follow and campground to find. Please let me know if this is you so we can look out for you.
To print a paper map of this hike visit AllTrails -https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/islip-saddle-to-little-jimmy-campground-and-mt-islip (note-- this map includes an additional summit of Mt. Islip which is our Friday / Saturday day hike)
Tracking for Mom's and Family:
If you've got loved ones that would like to keep track of where we are at on the hike, they can visit:https://share.garmin.com/traillife to watch our progress on the Trail and see where we are at. We will post at least three times a day with one of our preset messages to notify our mom's that we are "OK".
Trip Agenda
We are hiking in on Thursday, and will make camp and just hang around the campground area for the evening. We are planning on taking at least 1 Hike on Friday, and One on Saturday morning (and we have three+ to choose from)-- and we can make our decision as a troop when we arrive. Two of our options are:
1) Mt. Islip Hike- a short hike up from Little Jimmy -- and is detailed in the all-trails listing above. This will be a fairly low effort hike.
2) Mt. Baden/ Powell -this epic12 mile round trip hike with extreme elevation takes us to an amazing peak named after the founder of the modern Scouts. It's an epic hike, but might be too much elevation gain for some. We did some of this last year, and I'd love to make a go of it this season! (more details herehttps://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/us/california/mt-baden-powell-from-islip-saddle)
More than likely we will do the first two hikes-- and I'd recommend you bring a small day-pack with you if possible to carry food and water for those small adventures.
Packing List
Just a reminder to check out the Packing list on our website for backpacking trips. http://tlsv.org/documents/backpack-camping-packlist/ Note, Little Jimmy does have pit toilets (but likely no TP), and Bear lockers for food (so you can save weight and money on a bear can). Big deal is getting a water filter if you don't have one and bringing food enough for the entire trip.
(NOTE LAST YEAR we had a total BURN restriction on this trip-- and were required to bring in food and supplies that do not require fire. We will know more as we get to the actual date, but currently there are not such restrictions in place)
RSVP for this trip now
