#106 | Trails & Tribulations Vol. 5 - Three Apples and a Prayer: Surviving a 60 Mile Vision Quest in the San Gabriel Mountains - Justin Williams (Rockhound Hiker)

About this episode

Justin Williams shares his harrowing experience of a 60-mile thru-hike in the San Gabriel Mountains while severely underprepared.

In this volume of the Trails & Tribulations series on the Just Trek podcast, I welcome back SoCal trekker, Justin Williams aka @RockhoundHiker, to recount a 2016 “vision quest” style thru-hike across Southern California’s mighty San Gabriel Mountains. Starting at Ling Yen Mountain Temple near the Etiwanda Preserve, Justin set out severely underprepared—carrying only water and three apples—on a roughly multi-day, ~60-mile push toward St. Andrew’s Abbey in Valyermo, California. Along the way he commits to dangerous off-trail terrain, including climbing multiple 40–50 foot dry waterfalls with loose rock, an all-night bushwhack through thorny buckthorn and a wrong turn that sends him up a rugged ridge to Etiwanda Peak before reconnecting to the route toward Cucamonga Peak and Baldy. As heat, dehydration, and electrolyte depletion set in, he vomits repeatedly, naps in a cave to escape the sun, accepts help from hikers. He shares memorable encounters—especially meeting Mr. Kim on Mt. Baldy, a hiker on a personal pilgrimage for Korean reunification who later died on the mountain—and describes being emotionally shaken by a memorial to PCT hikers who died in snow, prompting reflection…

People in this episode

Host: Justin "Justroc" Rimon

Guest: Justin Williams

Topics covered

• survival
• hiking
• personal stories
• outdoor challenges
• emotional experiences
• risk management

Keywords

• thru-hike
• San Gabriel Mountains
• survival
• Justin Williams
• hiking challenges
• emotional stories
• outdoor adventure

Mentioned in this episode

Places: San Gabriel Mountains, Ling Yen Mountain Temple, Etiwanda Preserve, St. Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo, California, Etiwanda Peak, Cucamonga Peak, Mt. Baldy

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