Thank you for all that donated and participated in this year’s event…
I will update you in the next couple months for the 2011 hike date…
Thank you again !
Darius Livian
I would like to congratulate five year old Jordan Shillcock ( With help from mom Wendy ) on the best picture of the hike. All the pictures were beautiful, but I thought this picture was the best.. Jordon will receive a $ 25 gift card..
Thank you for all the entries and congratulations again Jordan !
I want to start by thanking the volunteers and everyone who helped put this hike together. I would like to give a special thanks to all of the people who donated to the various local charities. Lastly and most importantly, thank you to all of the hikers for spending half of your Sunday hiking for our local charities. Last year we had 6 hikers and this year we had 64 hikers.
What a beautiful morning it was on Sunday! Seventeen hikers went all the way to the top, and Travis Sanchez did a fabulous job leading the others on the shorter hike. Even though it wasn’t a race, Bryan Gunwall ran most of the long hike in one hour and nine minutes. He shared with me that he did see a rattlesnake on the last couple miles coming down Rocky Ridge. For the rest of us that completed the long hike, we managed to stick together as a group and finished in approximately three hours. The views from the top were breath taking, check out some of the pictures below.
The hikers that completed the short hike communicated to me that it was challenging but rewarding. I had prepared the group for about an hour and a half-long hike, but Travis was able to share a “secret trail” that was well worth the additional time. Being an avid hiker, I believe that challenging yourself on the trail is what hiking is all about. Travis and I hike quite a bit together and I selected him to lead this hike for a reason. He has great trail knowledge and is very in touch with nature and his spirituality. I want to thank not only Travis, but all the others who assisted the young kids and the older folks to complete the hike safely.
Our goal was to raise money for local charities, and we were successful with that. My personal goal was to create a large group of hikers that would create momentum for larger participation in future “Hike for Charity” events. My hope is that everyone who participated this year will return next year and bring family and friends with them. By the way, it is not too late to get sponsors! The checks will not be turned in for another thirty days so contact me at darius.livian@prospectmtg.com if you have additional donations.
As for the nature picture contest, I have only received three entries so far so please forward your pictures to me.
Thanks again for your participation in the Hike for Charity!
Hike Update:
Last weekend my family and I hiked the Sobranes Canyon Trail, which is the hike the kids will take this coming weekend for the “ Hike for Charity “. I wanted to suggest a few ideas for you and your family, so you are better prepared for the hike. Below are the details on the directions, parking, the trails and age recommendations, weather conditions and recap of the hike day plan.
DIRECTIONS: Garrapata is about 7 miles south of Carmel on Highway 1. Garrapata is just past Carmel Highlands and is right where the Big Sur coastline begins. I will have a “Hike for Charity” roadside sign off to the left of Hwy. 1, to make it easier to see.
PARKING: This is a very dangerous stretch of Highway 1, so parking is a very important subject. Parking is to the right or left on Highway 1, so select parking carefully when you arrive. Most importantly, please be careful exiting your vehicle and remember to keep your children close to the vehicle when you park. Children will need close supervision from the parking area to the registration table due to the fast-moving traffic along the road. We want everyone to remain safe both on arrival and departure to the event!
TRAIL: For those of you that have not hiked the Sobranes Canyon Trail, you are in for a treat! I am an avid hiker and this hike is my favorite local hike. You get a little bit of everything on this hike….beautiful wild flowers, cactus fields, redwoods, ferns, clovers, and several river crossings. We all have an excellent chance of coming in contact with some poison oak on this hike. I am extremely allergic to poison oak and the only way to remove the oils that cause the itchy rash is to apply Techu lotion. I will have several bottles of Techu at the trailhead that you can use if needed. Techu can be applied up to a couple hours after the hike and then rinsed in the shower when you get home. Techu is the best! I have never had poison oak since I found the lotion and I have walked right through poison oak in more than one occasion since finding this lotion.
LONG HIKE: For those of you hiking the long hike (8 miles), it is strenuous but has amazing views. If you have a small camera, bring it along to capture some of the beautiful shots! Don’t forget plenty of water and snacks both for yourself and your kids.
SHORT HIKE: I have a couple points to cover about the kids hike and the trail you will travel. I would guess it is about 2-3 mile hike round trip. The trail is clear, but you will encounter some poison oak just off the trail. I recommend long pants and long sleeve shirts for the kids. There will be four river crossings, 3 have bridges and the other has large rocks which the parents will need to help the kids navigate. There will be plenty of lizards and maybe a snake. Please communicate with your kids to tell an adult and never try to pick up a snake. I have seen gopher and king snakes on this trail before, and I have heard of other hikers spotting a rattlesnake which usually occurs on the upper trail. (the longer hike) However you never know when you are out in nature so please keep your eyes and ears open… All though we have some items to beware of on this hike, expect this hike to well worth it.
AGE RECOMMENDATIONS:
For parents of children 5 yrs. and under, you should expect to hike as far as that child can handle and then turn around and head back. Our three-year-old made it about ¾ of the “short hike” last weekend, before we were forced to turn around. You may want to consider driving two cars so you will be free to leave and meet up with the long hiker/s later since there will be a several hour time difference between the two hikes it will not be safe for the children around Hwy 1. “Long hikers” can email me at darius.livian@prospectmtg.com if they want to set up carpools. If you are bringing more than one child, please partner up with other parents to supervise the older kids if you are forced to turn back. The path we are taking is the same trail up and back, so you can turn around and head back at anytime and it is not hard to find your way.
For the long hike, I recommend no hikers under 15 years of age. This hike is very strenuous, with a 1500 ft.-elevation gain in the 8-mile loop. Kids under 15 years of age need to be experienced hikers. They are welcome to join us, but only with a parent. If your child hikes the longer hike, you may have to take a slower journey than the rest of the group but we will all be on the same trail.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: The hike will take place rain or shine. If we have heavy rain that morning, I recommend we re-schedule the kid’s hike for another day. If you are unable to make the event and have sponsor checks to deliver to me, please call or email me after the event to arrange a way to deliver the checks. I can come and pick them up if you need me to.
RECAP OF THE HIKE EVENTS: SUNDAY JUNE 6TH, 2010
8:30am: REGISTRATION
9:00am: HIKE BEGINS
All hikers will receive a “ Hike for Charity “ T-shirt. If I don’t have a shirt for you on the event day, the registration desk will take your contact information and I will get you a shirt after the event. The kids will receive a medal after the completion of the event. There will also be a contest for the “best wildflower or nature picture”. Please email your picture to me after the event and I will select the winner on the website blog. The winner will receive a prize.
In closing, thank you for joining us for this event to raise money for our local charities. Again, I will have a donations box at the event, so you can put your checks in it at the registration table…
I look forward to seeing you at the trailhead,
Darius Livian
Dear Friends, Fellow Hikers and Generous Supporters:
We have a wonderful new format this year.
Our 2010 Hike for Charity has trail variety so younger children as well as experienced hikers can participate.
We will have a 3K hike for kids, parents and friends that are interested in a shorter hike.. Then we will have 10K hike for the avid hiker and adventurist… We are adding prizes for the kids and “ Hike for Charity “ tee shirts for all hikers.. Our goal this year is to get families, friends, hikers, and those who support our efforts to join us on this great hike and raise money for our local charities…
Here are the details. Save the date and mark your calendars!
DATE: Sunday, June 6th, 2010
TIME: 9:00 am
LOCATION: Garrapata State Park, Big Sur, California
( aka: Soberanes trail or Rocky Ridge trail)
http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Big%20Sur/Garrapata.html
HIKE FORMAT:
3K < Approximately 3 miles round trip >– KIDS WALK
( Kids accompanied by parent(s) will hike up the Redwood trail to the river and back ) We will have some kids contest and awards.
TIME: 9 AM
10K – < Approximately 8 miles round trip >
We will head up to Doud Peak and back… (see link)
TIME: 9 am
Our goal for the 4th Annual “ Hike for Charity,” as it has been every year, is to raise money for Monterey County charities.
If you are interested in hiking, please RSVP to me so we and register you as a participant. If you don’t want to hike but would like to support one or more of the following charities, please send me a check made to one of the following organizations:
1) Kinship Center of Salinas (Adoption Agency)
2) CASA of Monterey County (Court Appointed Special Advocate)
3) YMCA of Monterey County
4) Hospice Foundation of Monterey County
Last year, we successfully raised over $3,000 for these organizations. To date, we have raised over 10K since the “ Hike for Charity began 3 years ago and hope to raise more this year. Your participation in and support of this annual event is deeply appreciated, especially during this uncertain financial times. Send your donation to my office with your check make out to the organization of your choice from the four above.
Remember, Garrapata is calling you to the challenge as well!
If you want to tackle and defeat Garrapata, please RSVP to my office at the number listed below. ( Or email me )
Darius Livian – Prospect Mortgage
659 Abrego St. # 1B
Monterey, Ca 93940
PH: 831-645-1050
1) Join us on the hike
2) Get friends, family and co-workers to sponsor you on the hike –kids too are welcome to get sponsors ( We will have flyers to give hikers to help explain and assist in getting donations )
Donor Letter: This explains how you can get sponsors for the hike, this letter is intended to give to friends and family to get their support.. Please collect all checks and after the hike coordinate with me to deliver
( This is not mandatory for hikers, but is the purpose of the event, so do your best to get sponsors please.. )
Hike Preparation Letter: This breaks down what wear and bring on the hike..
Hiker Entry Form: This needs to be filled out, signed and faxed back to me… ( Fax : 877-298-2193 )
· Every hiker will get a “ Hike for Charity “ tee shirt
· Kids will get a ribbon for completion
· Kids can bring a camera and attempt to photograph the “Best Wild Flower”. Email me their entry for the” Best Wild Flower”, and I will select the winner and issue a prize to the kid with the best shot!
I look forward to you joining me in person. Thank you for your support. This event means so much to me. It is always a way I feel I can honor my late mother, Linda Tumblin, for all the support she gave me during her brief time with me and my brothers.
God Bless your generosity especially during a time of financial uncertainty. Your support is deeply appreciated.
Now let’s Hike for Charity!!!!
On SundayMay 31st, at about 8:40 am, Six hikers ( Marc Mungaray, Grant Heinrich, Travis Sanchez, Bryan Gunwall, Mahir Agha- Decker < and his dog Trooper > , Darius Livian ) set off for the ” Fire Tower ” at the highest point at Garland Park in Carmel Valley…. It was a perfect morning for hiking, overcast everywhere and foggy on the top of the mountain, nice and cool weather, perfect.. The hike to the ” Corral ” at the top of Snively Ridge was fairly challenging, but pretty easy… All of the six hikers, are very experienced on the trail, so the hike was a fairly normal trek. Once past the ” Corral “ heading east, we turned the corner up to find tons of fog, on the already difficult trail to locate to the fire tower. The fog was so dense at the top, the normally easy to visilize ” Fire Tower ” , was completely lost in the fog, making our final mile trek up very challenging. The trails on the top of Garland, are not marked and go into all kinds of directions. It is not easy to find the right trail to get the ” Fire Tower ” as it is, since nothing is marked. Adding the fog to the mix and not being able to see the ” Fire Tower ” as a landmark, made it very challenging. We were kind of lost on a several occasions in the fog at the top, but Grant luckily brought his GPS, which helped us tremendously in getting a visual map of our location…
On a day when you have no fog, the final mile to the ” Fire Tower ” from the ” Corral ” is extremely challenging, super dense brush, trails not marked, lots of up’s and down’s and you have to watch the trail closely, so you can side step and dodge the poison oak, on every other step… Adding the fog, made is very interesting… Almost like we were hiking on the moon…
Finally we hit the fog filled top of the mountain, at the ” Fire Tower “… On most days, you can see for miles in every direction, truly a spectacular view of Big Sur, Carmel Valley, Moss Landing, Santa Cruz and all surrounding areas. It feels like you are on top of world… But on this day, all we could see was the ” Fire Tower ” and fog… All in all, a wonderful mission… Not great views on this day, but a great challenge completed. At that point, I broke out the banner and camera, snapped a team photo. Then we chatted briefly and began our decent down…
According to my GPS watch, I traveled 8.02 miles, in 3 hours and 42 minutes… All the other guys made it much faster than me… I was the slowest hiker… Bryan and Mahir pretty much ran the entire journey…
This year’s ” Hike for Charity “, was one of my favorites.. The fog made the journey a bit more challenging than expected. At the end of the hike, I felt very satisfied. The added challenge really made the hike feel like I really accomplished something special. I donated 4 hours of my Sunday morning, away from my young family, to hike straight to the top of the mountain and back. And did it all, to raise money for local charities… Awesome !!!
I can’t wait until next year’s hike.. Hopefully we will have more hikers and be able to raise more money…
I wanted to sincerely thank Marc, Travis, Mahir, Grant, and Bryan for joining me for this special day….
Thank you also to all those of you who sent checks, I really appreciate your support..
It is not to late to send a check for a donation, by the way… ( Info below ) Thank you again !!!
2009 ” Hike for Charity “ was a huge Success…..
To Donate:
Please me your check to me, and write your check to one of the charities below:
Darius Livian - 659 Abrego St. # 1B, Monterey, Ca. 93940
* YMCA * CASA * HOSPICE * KINSHIP CENTER
First of all, I would like to thank Grant, Marc, Dave, John and Travis for joining me Sunday March 22nd for our first practice hike.. I was surprised everyone showed up even though the forecast was rain, rain, rain.. As it turned out, the clouds were heavy, but we really only got rained on lightly once or twice.. It turned out to be perfect hiking conditions that morning, as the sun was not beating down on us.. The journey that day was to ” The Corral ” near the top of Garland Park.. We went up and down in less than 2 hours covering 5 plus miles. What a great way to start a Sunday… Thanks again guys, that was really fun…
Our next Practice hike will be Sunday, May 17th at 8:30 am.. This hike will be on the Soberanes trail ( AKA: Rockyridge trail ) at Garrapata State Park.. It is about a 10 minute drive south from Carmel… This is probably my favorite local hike.. Not to many hikes you see it all, redwoods, river, steep trails and amazing views.. I personally find this hike one of the most challenging and most beautiful Big Sir hikes.. Even though this hike is about 7 miles and 2-3 hours on the trail, it is a must if you have not trekked it.. This hike will be great preparation for the actual “Hike for Charity “ on Sunday, May 31st, when we will head to the “ Fire Tower “ at the highest point at Garland Park… I am excited to have a big group help me hold the “ Hike for Charity “ banner at the top of the mountain for a picture… Thank you all for joining me on this special personal journey…. Please RSVP for the practice hike, so we don’t leave anyone behind…
See you at the trail head……
Darius
RSVP at: darius.livian@prospectmtg.com
On Sunday March 22nd, 8:30 am.. We will have a practice hike… It will be at Garland Ranch, hiking up to the corral and back… It is about 6 miles round trip.. We will be on the trail for 2.5 to 3.5 hours… Please email me if you would like to join us… This hike will be a great preview for the actual Hike for Charity. Once we get to the corral at the top of Garland Ranch, we will be able to see the fire tower which is the destination for the big hike on May 31st. If you can’t make this hike, we will have another practice run in late April…
Please RSVP for the practice hike @
darius.livian@prospectmtg.com
Dear Friends, Fellow Hikers and Generous Supporters:
Please join me on Sunday May 31st, 2009 at 8:00 AM for the Third Annual Hike For Charity. Our destination this year is Fire Tower at Garland Ranch located in beautiful Carmel Valley. The trail is approximately eight miles round trip and it is strenuous, but oh so rewarding when the finish line is reached.
Once again, our intention is to raise money for these four selected organizations:
1) Kinship Center of Salinas (Adoption Agency)
2) CASA of Monterey County (Court Appointed Special Advocate)
3) YMCA of Monterey County
4) Hospice Foundation of Monterey County
Last year, we successfully raised over $5,000 for these organizations. Let’s try to top that number this year! Will you join me on this Hike for Charity? If not, would you kindly consider donating to one (or all) of the organizations?
Send your donation to my office with your check make out to the organization of your choice from the four above. Also, if you want to tackle and defeat Fire Tower Trail, please RSVP to my office at the number listed below.
I look forward to you joining me in person, or with your spirit of giving. Thank you for your support. This event means so much to me. It is always a way I feel I can honor my late mother, Linda Tumblin, for all the support she gave me during her brief time with me and my brothers.
God Bless your generosity especially during this time of financial uncertainty. Your support is deeply appreciated.
