Christmas, 2013

My brothers Curt and Chris.

Curt, Mom, Ryan, Dad, Chris, Roxanne, Carl. Alex, Owen, Ethan, Kyle, Nick.

We went to the Palmdale mall area the day after Christmas. On the way, we stopped at Red Rock Canyon.

Red Rock Canyon.

Kids at Red Rock Canyon.

Roxanne.

Red Rock Canyon.

Curt.

Chris.

Nick and Chris.

Chris, Ryan, and I hiked up to the top of Five Fingers. This photo is looking up at Five Fingers from the bottom of Indian Wells Canyon. You can see the "trail" on the right. The wide angle makes it look less steep than it actually is. According to the topo, it climbs 1400' in a horizontal distance of 3300' up to a saddle. That's an average angle of 23 degrees (a question we pondered on the slog up). After the saddle, we looped around on the back side and climbed to the high point. The tallest finger is actually the pinkie (leftmost) ...

Looking at Owens Peak from the bottom of Indian Wells Canyon.

A rest break part of the way up.

At the summit. This photo was awkward to do -- very little space at the summit, me scrambling around on the rocks while the photo timer was ticking -- but worth it.

Thumbing through the summit register.

Thumbing thru the register on the top of Five Fingers. My how time flies...

Another summit register entry. This one is harder to read. All three brothers this time.

Looking at Owens Peak from the top of Five Fingers.

Looking out at the Indian Wells Valley.

Looking down at the bottom of Indian Wells Canyon where we parked. Also known as Powers Well according to the topo map.

It was a great trip, particularly visiting with my parents.