Remember hiking Mormon Rocks?

Four years ago today we hiked the Mormon Rocks in the San Bernardino National Forest. We'd often passed the rocks on our way to Disneyland and Pomona, so stopping there for a hike seemed like an idea that was long overdue!

We hiked the southeast corner group of the rocks, taking a trail that rose about 300 feet above the surrounding desert into the hogbacks. The San Andreas Fault runs only a few hundreds away from Mormon Rocks in Lone Pine Canyon.

When we were all done with the hike, you pushed the gear back to the truck as I took it off! You always liked to pitch in and help. Plus I think you were excited about going to McDonalds for a hamburger - which we did when all done with the hike!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our adventure!

Recall our hike to Mormon Rocks?

One year ago today, we hiked Mormon Rocks in the San Bernardino National Forest. It was on the way to the I-15, that huge freeway that takes you from Las Vegas and down the mountains into Los Angeles (and part of the route we always took to San Diego). You might remember there was a McDonalds, near the freeway intersection with the road, that we often stopped at.

The Mormon Rocks looks a lot like Vasquez Rocks because they were made the same way. About two million years ago, everything west of those rock formations was an ocean with rivers bringing water and sediment (sand and rock) down from the mountains. As the sediment fell to the river and ocean floor, it hardened into rock. Since then, the collision of two tectonic plates has raised the land out of the water and tilted them into the weird angles we see today.

During the hike, you took along your toy rifle that we picked up at Disneyland a few weeks before and played cowboy. You were Sheriff Jack as usual, and we were out looking for Black Bart!

Here's a whole bunch of photos from our hike!

Yes, you're in yet another article!

Yep, your picture is in yet another article: This time Seattle Backpackers Magazine ran my article “How to Select a Good Trail for a Child” in its Tuesday edition.

The article examines factors to consider – such as length, elevation gains and dangers – when identifying a trail to day hike with kids (All lessons I learned from hiking with you!). It contains a picture of you playing with your cowboy rifle at the Mormon Rocks near Victorville, Calif., I think from late 2011 (There's a photo album of it on Facbeook) plus another pic of the trail we walked.

Seattle Backpackers Magazine is a popular and well-respected online magazine focusing on backpacking, hiking, climbing and camping. Your picture has been in it a couple of times before when my articles ran in it!