"To lovers of the wild, these mountains are not a hundred miles away. Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends..." - John Muir

We survived the reunion...or rather the WBC reunion survived us. We left Orange County at 11:30am, and made it to a watering hole in Ramona for some liquid nourishment. We hit the road again, discussing wombats and burping a little tequila, winding 40 more miles in to the hill towards Mount Laguna and the Sierra Club's Foster Lodge. Once we arrived, we broke open a cold Newcastle, toasted a beautiful drive, and made camp. From the beer to the wine, to more beer and more wine, to a pot-luck display worthy of any discriminating family's holiday get-together, then back to wine, beer AND port, we celebrated a successful WBC finale, getting our certificates and watching DVDs (great job E!) of all of our dry miles and wet miles. A few took a night hike to the point via the darn windy PCT, saw a falling star, then turned in for some much needed rest. Around 3am, with the wind howling all around us, a tree fell, and yes, a few of us did hear it!

Chef Al and Chef Jeff prepared some tasty omelettes, even though we all know they didn't wake up at 6am! From there we cleaned and packed and bid farewell to the group. We swung by Julian, grabbed some pie (of course!) and did a memorable drive-by of our favorite Escondido memories (cough cough). We managed to make it out of Escondido without calling 911 and slid into home (and couches) by 1pm. On the way to the aforementioned couch...the second Whitney permit was spied tucked in to the mailbox.

Looks like we will be spending Independence Day in Independence CA. How fitting! See you there!

Laguna Mountains....no, not Orange County Laguna!

Stream of Consciousness.....
So it's time for WBC reunion weekend and...I am so not ready! But since Tracy has been packing for a week and I failed to supply E with the pictures to the slide-show...what a week Chicks!

So welcome to reunion weekend. It's where we re-invent car-camping with Sierra Club plush lodging and hike around some....a little dryer than rain camp yet more freedom than desert car camp. Can't wait to see who actually shows up...LLOYD?!?!?!?!

But...the key is this...the Chicks will NOT be missing practice. No no. We are hitting the water, then hitting the road.

So....you all know we have 2 weeks til Baldy from Baldy Village....remember the 7 P's:

Prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance....So let's get ready for our WBC finale!

Whitney and Counting....4344 HOURS!

First Whitney Permit countdown: 181 days or 5 months and 28 days or 4344 hours!

April flowers are bringing April showers today but the news is all good-Spring is here!

Our schedule is about to overflow with trails that lead to new heights, vibrant colors, rich verdant earth scents and miles upon miles of discovery that lead into the clouds.

April 10-11th - WBC Reunion in the Laguna Mountains
April 17-18th - COL Training for North County Sierra Club
May 2nd - Baldy via Baldy Village - 12 miles round trip and 6000' elevation gain
May 29-30th - 9 Peaks - San Bernardino to San Gorgonio and all the miles in between, 27 of them!
June 6 - San Jacinto via Marion Trail, 12 miles and 4800' elevation gain

May starts the outrigger season and come June and July we will be paddling the unforgiving, yet mesmerizing, ocean swells one day and challenging ourselves to climb new heights the next, crossing our fingers that we can toss in a few Sierra backpacking trips, maybe even the White Mountain trip Labor Day weekend with the WBC.

So, yeah, call us crazy, or adventurous, or wildly in love with the wonders of the backcountry. Whatever it is, this will be the summer to remember!

"To lovers of the wild, these mountains are not a hundred miles away. Their spiritual power and the goodness of the sky make them near, as a circle of friends. ... You cannot feel yourself out of doors; plain, sky, and mountains ray beauty which you feel. You bathe in these spirit-beams, turning round and round, as if warming at a camp-fire. Presently you lose consciousness of your own separate existence: you blend with the landscape, and become part and parcel of nature." --John Muir

8 Chicks Prepare to Embrace Snow Camp in a Big White Way

"'Twas the night before Snow Camp, when all through the house,
The groans of chicks packing, could frighten a mouse.
The poles and the boots and the booze packed with care,
In hopes that they all would survive the affair..."

Ah, Snow Camp. The penultimate outing of our 10-week Wilderness Basics Course -- if you count the reunion outing, and we do. The next-to-last test to overcome before we are inducted into the order of Certified Wilderness Experts Extraordinnaire(tm). Or, something to that effect.

Thirty-five layers of clothes, eleventy-three canisters of propane, we should be all set to tackle San Jacinto Mountain. See you on the flipside.

Whoop Whoop!

8 Chicks - Snow Camp Planning Meeting

... And they're off! 8 Chicks have hit the trail running -- or at least at a brisk hiking pace.

San Jacinto Snow Camp, here we come!

Developed our prototype for the 8 Chicks' "Don't Sweat It" vapor bags. 8 Chicks' very own Bernadette models the vapor bag, in color "Clear as Mud." On sale now from 8 Chicks!

If you'll notice from our profile picture at the top of the page, 8 Chicks is missing one li'l birdy. Chicklet Kristin was absent from this photo which was taken on the first night of our Sierra Club Wilderness Basics course. Check back soon for updated photos of the Chicks!