Everyone who ever hiked up the San Gabriel Mountains knows John W. Robinson’s legacy contained in a simple, yet wonderful hiking book, “Trails of the Angeles: 100 Hikes in the San Gabriels (1971).” Though he wrote many more books, that is the one for which he was most known.

Robinson died in his sleep on April 24 in Colorado. He spent most of his life in Long Beach where he grew up, then in Fullerton where he lived for decades. He taught grammar school for 35 years at the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

But it was along the dusty trails of the Angeles National Forest where Robinson enjoyed spending his quality, free time. Up there, amidst the craggy canyons and euphoric waterfalls hidden from the Valley dwellers below, is where the man built a unique legacy by studying the land and the people who came there before him, and telling everyone he could about both.

It was with his friends from the Huntington and Los Angeles Westerners clubs and the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter where he made the biggest impression as a historian, hiker, naturalist and a great friend to them and to the mountains of Los Angeles.

On June 2, his buddies held a memorial for their friend at Mount Wilson Trail Park in Sierra Madre.

They spoke of the man who most of all loved to put one foot in front of the other, walking and talking about who tread on the land 100 or more years before in a way that made the history of this incredible open space come alive.

His son-in-law, Ron Franz, married to his oldest daughter, Robyn, who also attended, said it best when he quoted the great naturalist John Muir:

” ‘A man and his books can be said to walk the earth long after he is gone.’ John Muir got that right and it applies to John Robinson, too.”

It was Robinson who taught his friend Bill “Doc” White about the importance of the trail. They decided to lead hikes up the Mount WIlson Trail to Orchard Camp and later Robert’s Camp and Sturtevant Camp with 100 hikers each time.

They called it “Hiking into History” and it led to more books and even a video showing at the trailhead museum.

“It was magic,” White said. “Every time John Robinson was out here we had crowds of people who wanted to know what was happening on the Mount Wilson Trail.”

It was as if Robinson was whispering in his ear that sunny morning when White spoke to the 100 or so who came to honor his friend.

“Where you are sitting is where the old Mount Wilson Stables were located,” White told the gathering. “He (Wilbur Sturtevant) had 140 donkeys, mules and horses to take supplies up and down the mountain.”

Lizzie’s Trail Inn would not have been restored to its current pristine condition were it not for Robinson’s sleight of hand in turning old historical accounts of hikers and San Gabriel Valley pioneers into magic.

“The moonshine still was in the back of the building (during Prohibition days),” White said, getting a chuckle out of the crowd. “It was there in case you needed a little extra boost to get up and down the mountain.”

Robinson led hikes and wrote articles for the Sierra Club newsletter from 1955 to 2007: a half century legacy of living history. Not even counting his books, Robinson became a legend in the Sierra Club.

“One of John Robinson’s hallmarks was his open handedness and joy of sharing his knowledge with others,” said his good friend, Bob Coates.

Like Muir, Robinson’s historical accounts, his folksy writings and explicit advice about hiking, such as his rule not to hike the San Gabriels after April 1 because there may be too many rattlesnakes, lives on to the next generation.

Casey Schreiner, founder and author of the most-read hiking blog in the West, ModernHiker.com, drove from Los Feliz to pay his respects.

Though words on paper are inherently fragile, Robinson’s descriptions will live on, he said.

“Those stories he told, now I tell them. And you can see their faces light up. They want to learn more,” he told the group.

“No, these stories will never vanish.”

Steve Scauzillo covers public health, environment and green transportation for the Southern California News Group. He’s a recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award for Distinguished Editorial Writing. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @stevscaz or email him at sscauzillo@scng.com.