How to Thru Hike the Backbone Trail | Santa Monica Mountains | Winter 2021

#backbonetrail #socalhiker #hikela

March 4th to 8th, 2021
To say I thru-hiked the Backbone trail on a whim wouldn’t be accurate. However, it sort of feels that way. Towards the end of January, YouTube fan, Jared Grey, commented on a video I had posted almost 2 years ago of me hiking a tiny northern section of this trail. He indicated that he’d love to thru hike the Backbone and asked if I had a chance to complete this yet. I had not yet made the attempt. A back-and-forth conversation led to an email or two to discuss the possibilities. After a phone conversation we finally decided to hike the trail together in 2021 before the weather got too warm. And if you’re from SoCal, you know this didn’t give us much time. About six weeks later we hit the trail on March 4th.
My father-in-law, Mike Tovey, is really the one responsible for perking my interest in this trail and completing a thru hike. Roughly 4 or 5 years earlier, he took Jake and I on a little day hike to Sandstone Peak/Mt. Allen; the highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains. It was at this time, that I learned of the Backbone Trail. The trail began construction in the early 1980’s and was finally christened on June 4th, 2016. Mike also played a major role in helping plan and execute this awesome backpack.

Mike spent several years volunteering for the Mountain Bike Unit (MBU) with his friend, John, who also assisted with the hike. Their time volunteering with MBU gave them many hours of experience with many sections of this trail. Mike has also hiked the trail in sections and his knowledge of the surrounding area was invaluable.
Ultimately, Mike and John (and even my wife, Erin) worked together to drop-off and move our support vehicle to the various stops along the route. Full disclosure, we stored water and food rations on the truck in addition to heavier gear like tents, sleeping bags, pads, etc. If you think we cheated, that’s fine by me, it’s a challenging trail simply because of water sources and limited “legal” camping spots. Almost 68 miles and nearly 13,000 feet of elevation gain in 4 days is good enough for me to say I completed a difficult challenge. Although, I do hope someday the trail is more accommodating for those who’d like to experience the adventure end to end.
The links below will provide more in-depth information on the trail.
The official Backbone Trail website.

https://www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/backbonetrail.htm
Here is some additional information located at the infallible Wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backbone_Trail

Jared’s perspective of the hike can be followed here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMqxZHWRzANarkQSzAWY5hA/featured

Music featured in this video:
Rise From the Ashes
Sam Shore
https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/qiIMEnJzQy/

You may also follow me on Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/eric_coleman_outdoors/

Видео How to Thru Hike the Backbone Trail | Santa Monica Mountains | Winter 2021 канала Coleman Outdoors