Climbing Archives

LPC Trip Archives

The archived reports below may be useful, but their age may make their current accuracy questionable. For more current reports, we recommend that you consult the Lower Peaks Committee page on the Peakbagger site:

http://www.peakbagger.com/list.aspx?lid=5054

These archives are reports submitted to the LPC of trips to peaks on the Lower Peaks List. Click on the name of the trip to see the trip report. At the bottom of the report may be links to related archives. These links point to trip archives on this or another web site.

A - B - C - E - G - H - J - L - M - N - P - R - S - V - W - Y

A

Agua Tibia Mountain

7-Feb-99

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club HPS/LPC

Tom Hill, Mars Bonfire, Richard Withcomb, George Wysup, Virgil Popescu, Don ?, James Carden, Dorothy Danziger, Judy Humminger, Janet Yang

We started in the dark at 6:00 AM at Dripping Springs Campground. At the end of the paved road (pretty nice campground!) there is a trailboard on the left side, with an excellent map. The trail starts here, immediately crossing a stream, then going uphill with many switchbacks. We had a good pace. This is all chaparral, with Red Shank Chamise. The trail dips down to a flat area, then climbs again. There are about 17 logs one has to climb over, some brush, but not bad. Generally, the trail is good. After 7 miles there is a woodsy area and the trail meets the Palomar-Magee road. There is even a sign! This would be a good camping area, but there is no water. We got here around 9:00 AM . Then we hiked east (left) on the road. This road is more overgrown than the trail, many more logs to climb under/over. After about 1 mile we realized the hill on the left was the peak, but it had very thick brush all over. Finally we found an area and went in, but it was heavy bushwacking, climbing on bushes, not on ground, and fallen logs. There are 2 stone outcrops, the USGS marker/can in the area in between on some flat rock. We got here at 11:15. The view was not particular good, but it was clear and sunny. We signed in, some climbed the high summit rock, and 6 decided to go on to Eagle Craig. We left at 11:45, left 2 ducks and a red tape in the tree where we got out. Richard, Judy, Tom, Dorothy and I hiked back together the same trail. Now the sky turned cloudy and it really looked like rain, but when we came down to the campground, the sun was out again. 3:30 PM. That was 9h 15‘ for the 17 miles, 3200‘ gain hike.

Because of the heavy bushwacking this should be an I-rated trip. It was cool all day, good hiking weather. There was some intermittent snow on the Palomar-McGee road. Good hike, but strenuous!

The others continued on the road to Eagle Craig, they arrived 2.5 h (2 pm) on Eagle Craig. The road was fair to good according to George. To the summit (ducks), they stayed on the right side of the gully until 200 yard from the summit, which seemed easier than Agua Tibia. They hiked back to Crosley Saddle where a sign said: Dripping Springs 10 miles. This was a wide road (trail) for the first 4 miles, gradual downhill, then uphill and contoured around Wildhorse Peak, then down to the Dripping Springs Trail. George figured 11 miles from the saddle. They got to the cars at 6:40, total about 25 or 26 miles.

Agua Tibia Mountain

22-Nov-00

By: Gabriele Rau

We got up at 4:00 AM, drove to Dripping Springs and started hiking at 6:15, I signed the register at the trailhead at 6:30 AM. The trail was great, it was still cool, a very nice hike among Chaparral. After 9 am we reached the woodsy area just before the trucktrail – all burnt! No good place for camping for now. There were red streamers to mark the trail to the truck road, because the fire fighters had cut some firebreaks. We had wondered about a lot of footprints on the trail, now we knew: the firefighters! The trucktrail was bulldozed clear, the wooden sign burnt and disappeared. One could see the big cat tire tracks on the road. Both sides were burnt, a rather ghostly view. But no trees to crawl under/climb over! It was easy hiking on the freshly bulldozed trail, brown in color, while the surrounding areas were covered with black-gray ash. We hiked to the area where I remembered the peak: no signs left, everything burnt. We hiked up along the ridge, one bump too early. This posed no problem, because everything was clear, just some black stumps and brushes. I remembered that the register was on some flat rocks, close to the large big rock, and here it was, next to the USGS mark in a cairn, unharmed, I read the names! Alan Coles had been there in October, nobody else.

It was cold and the clouds were constantly moving, no view. We ate and did not stay long, returned. I built a duck on the side of the road, for now the easiest route to come up. At the turnoff to the Dripping Springs Trail I built another duck. On the way back I did some clipping. There are 2 fallen trees to climb over on the trail. We meet 2 other couples, the first said they would like to get the peak, I told them to go up where the duck was.

On the second part of the trail I went ahead. About 1 mile from the trailhead I suddenly tripped and fell on the wide trail. As I was sitting on the trail collecting my bones (no harm done, not even a blue spot) I saw blood dripping from my forehead. I took Klenex, got my mirror and saw that I had a ½“ cut over my right eyebrow. I cleaned it, the bleeding stopped, I put on a Band-Aid and hiked down to the trailhead (3:30) and to the car. 20 min later Mark came. On the way home (lots of traffic, it was the day before Thanksgiving) we stopped at Kaiser Hospital Emergency and asked if the cut needs attention. They said, it would need stitches. Mark and I waited patiently until they called me and I got 4 stitches, very neat, a Band-Aid. Then we drove home. The cut did not hurt at all!

This was a 9 hour trip, I was tired the next day.

This was a fire the Agua Tibia Wilderness July/August 2000.

B

Mount Bliss

21-Dec-91

By: Gabriele Rau

Good conditioning hike, 8 miles rt, 3000 ft gain (3,720'),mostly on fireroad. Good views along the way. Winter hike only, summer much too hot, little shade.

Walk up the hill to a boarded-up canyon, trail starts right side. At the Y take either trail: Left through chaparall, right to watertank-road-steps, both trails meet again. Short time up you reach a Helicopter landing site. Few steps beyond there is the Van Tassel Fire Road. Follow this road up, at times steep, many switchbacks. After 1 hour there is a locked gate, continue uphill for another good hour. There comes a fork in the road. Either take the right side, walk up to the power poles and from there take a use trail underneath the powerpoles along the ridge. Or take the left road and then take a small use trail on the right side up a steep slope to the ridge, then to the peak. The peak has a metal stake and a cairn, no trees. Good views.

Mount Bliss

4-Jan-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Lower Peaks/East San Gabriel Valley

Gabriele Rau/Heidi Udink

We met at 8:30 at the Azusa rideshare, and then drove the short distance to the Trailhead in Duarte. We were 13 hikers, most of them were tigers, looking for a good conditioning hike after the holidays. We started at 9:00 AM on the paved road (left side of Brookridge) leading to the water tank. There is a private residence on this road and a mailbox, and I asked everybody to be quiet while passing the residence. After a few steps we climbed the yellow gate and continued steeply uphill to the water tank. Behind the water tank a good trail leads uphill to a small road which after a few steps joins the Van Tassel Fire Road, coming up from the right.

Since I knew we had tigers in the group who probably would sign out early I stopped everybody and told them to look at this crossing and to remember it. This is, by the way, the only side road until the one close to the peak. I let the young tigers go ahead and told them to wait at the next gate. This is actually a 5 mile one way trip with 3000’ gain. It was a very hot day, it was over 30’ in the sun and there is little shade. The road leads mercilessly uphill. We stopped often for water breaks. Then Ron Schrantz, who is both a leader and a tiger, walked ahead with ½ of the group, while we others walked our own pace. They waited for us at the next side road, a short utility road to the right to the High Voltage Power Towers. From there we walked a few steps on this side road, then turned left uphill on a use trail. Now we hiked on the ridge, underneath three Power Towers, to the peak, which is marked by a pole. It is important not to miss this utility road to the left, the main road turns downhill to White Saddle. The views were truly fantastic! It was a very clear day, all the LA Basin, the Channel Islands, the Mountain Ranges could be seen and identified. We were at the summit at 11:45. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to get there.

As I predicted, 4 members of the group signed out and started downhill, while we others enjoyed the views. We left at 12:15 and met two of the signed out hikers, who got detoured in the brush, but no problem. On the road they advanced rapidly. They must have been in a hiking trance because they missed the turnoff I had pointed out earlier to them. Only when they encountered horses they realized they missed the turnoff and came back. We caught up with them in view of the water tank, and we all came down together at 2:30 PM. All agreed that they had an excellent workout, better views than any gym could offer! 10 miles (two pedometers confirmed the mileage) and 3000’ gain/loss in 5 hours is not a bad time!

Bonita Peak

1-Dec-02

By: Dana Hunter

Crisp, sunny morning. We drove through several burned areas. The way to the peak was untouched by fire. However, the trail is considerably narrower in spots than when we did this one last year. The yuccas are getting big. We could see the new snowfall on Baldy and Baden-Powell. It was a good aerobic workout. Just remember to take the trail left when you get to the first major saddle. And then stay on the trail to the right and not go up to the ridge and the false peak. Plenty of parking this time. Last year we had to park on the road. Someone also trimmed the vegetation around the "Heaton Flat" sign so we had no trouble finding the trailhead.

Brown Mountain

1-Mar-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Leaders: Gabriele Rau, Ron Schrantz

This was a regular scheduled trip Lower Peaks/Orange County. Unfortunately, it was published in the Southern Sierran for Sunday, March 2, but everywhere else it was listed correctly. I got a few calls and hope nobody showed for the Sunday hike. The group started with 8 people, one person joined us on the trail. Since there was a large group meeting in La Canada for a Valley Forge Hike with John Depoy, some people got confused.

We started on the road at Eaton Saddle, through the tunnel. The road keeps getting worse, several recent rockfalls block the road but one can climb through and over them easily. Then the snow started! It had rained and snowed during the week but we were doing a Lower Peak, less than 5000’ in elevation. The snow on the road was hard and easy to walk on. We met Fred Goodykoontz and Harriet Edwards with a small group, returning from a conditioning hike. We continued walking on the road, loosing altitude continuously, the road was finally free of snow after about one mile. At Tom Sloane Saddle we took the marked trail on the right side past the water tank, and then headed downhill the good trail. At the next crossing (signed, but no Brown Mtn sign!) we stayed straight ahead. The instructions talk about a firebreak, it is more a use trail, going over and around several bumps. Sometimes several use trails seem to exist, but as long one stays close to the ridge, they all lead to the summit. At every bump I got asked: is this the peak? It really seems forever, and the terrain is often steep, rocky and slippery. Especially the last major bump is very rocky. I chose the left side, but others chose the right side, on the top we met again for the final rather mild gain to the summit. It had been cool all day, clouds drifting in and out, so the views were less than spectacular. It took us 2 ¼ h to get to the summit. We talked about Owen Brown, a lesson in history, somebody just had hiked to the grave site the previous week.

After lunch we returned the same way. The last hill before reaching the water tank is a 800’ gain, and this time nobody complained about it being too hot. By now the snow was slushy, much harder to walk on, but everybody was back to the cars at 3:00 PM. At the saddle we were in thick fog, lots of people and children playing in the little snow near the road. The fog cleared quickly driving downhill to La Canada.

This peak is harder than it looks on the map, and it is an upside-down hike: 900’ gain going, 1600’ gain coming back. Downhill is not any easier because of the rocky ground.

C

Cachuma Mountain

19-Feb-00

By: Gabriele Rau

I had climbed Cachuma Mountain before on my way to Santa Cruz Peak, a Sierra Club backpack trip. Then some of us left the packs at the saddle and just climbed it.

This time we followed all driving instructions, but to our surprise Happy Canyon Road was closed by a locked gate just before Cachuma campground. Late we learned that one can drive to the saddle only via Olivios on the Figueroa Mountain Road. Do not turn on Armor Ranch Road, continue on 154 past Santa Ynez to Los Olivios. From there take the Figueroa Mountain Road for about 19 (?) miles, past the Figueora Ranger Station and past Figueroa Campground to Cachuma Saddle. We did NOT drive the road. It might be advisable to call the Ranger! It is 175 miles one way from Irvine to here, 3 h on a Saturday morning.

We parked the car and hiked the 2.2 miles on the paved road. On the saddle there is no indication the road we hiked on is closed by a locked gate, cars driving down returned. The Cachuma Campground (no services) is at 2,122’ (topo), Cachuma Saddle is 3,104’ (topo) , the milage is 2.2 miles (car) or 2.5 (topo). It took us slightly more then 1 hour to hike there, after all, this was a 1000’ gain, but it did not seem that much. This would be a hardship with a backpack. Then we took the road, obviously not graded with some rock and water damage, but not bad, after all, more rains are coming and grading will be hopefully done later to keep the road in good condition. It ends at McKinley Saddle, the starting point for Santa Cruz Peak. The road climbs steadily and winds around Cachuma Mountain. There is a faint firebreak going up south to the peak, but very steep and then very brushy. We stayed on the road all around it (rather long) to the saddle, here the road drops for a while. From here a fairly good firebreak is open, first gentle, then rocky, but easily found and climbed. There exist use-trails up here. The view from the top (rocks) is excellent: a lot of wilderness, the ocean, the islands. It was a day between storms, so it was exceptionally clear. I left a can, then we left downhill. No problem again. For the total hike it took us 6 ½ hours, 10 miles.

We left shortly to 4 PM.. We took the 405 and immediately it was clogged, until the airport, then with the help of the carpool lane we made good progress. then home shortly before 8 PM

Cachuma Mountain

4-Nov-01

By: Gabriele Rau

SC Hike with Gordon Lindberg

This time I had called the Ranger Station to make sure that the road was open. I picked up Gordon at 6:00 AM in Fullerton, we drove to Woodland Hills ride-share, but nobody was there! We met Mark, who had driven Peter’s truck to Burbank and joined us here. So the 3 of us left at 7:30 and drove to Santa Barbara. I had underestimated the driving time, in addition there was a bicycle rally on Happy Canyon Road. We arrived at the saddle at 10:00 AM, 2 ½ h from Woodland Hills. Nobody was there, only 2 horse trailers. Mark went ahead, I followed with Gordon. We took several rests, it was long for him. He was nearly giving up, when I showed him the map and the water tank marked on the map, he could see, that we were close to the saddle. I had asked Mark to go ahead, climb the peak and bring the register booklet down. Gordon and I ate lunch at the saddle, it took Mark about 40 min to climb and to come down again. We all signed in. Then Gordon and Mark left downhill, I climbed Cachuma (it is really too tough for Gordon, steep, but no poison oak, some brush and small rocks, no real problem), left the booklet in the can and came down again. Then I could walk fast downhill on the road and we all reached the car at the same time. It took Gordon and me about 1h 45’ hours to the saddle, it took me only 55 min at fast speed to go down. But the climb to the peak and down took me 40 min, too.

The weather was great all day, clear blue skies and cool. It had rained a few days before, everything was dusted off and clean, not dusty. The road is actually pretty good, we encountered one Forest Service Volunteer driving up for maintenance on the downhill. We left shortly before 3 PM, Mark and I had a Tasty Burger in Agoura(?), we dropped off Gordon at 7:00 PM in Fullerton and were home (after buying gas) about 7:45 PM.

E

Echo Mountain, Mount Muir

2-Apr-97

By: Gabriele Rau

Two Lower Peaks in one trip, 13 miles and 3000’ gain. Winter-Spring-Fall Hike. Start at the end of Lake Avenue in Pasadena, hike up to your right (Through the old Cobb Estate) and take the upper trail at the sign and drinking fountain. It is 2 m to Echo Mtn. on the Sam Merrill Trail. Look around at the old stuff and exhibit on Echo Mtn. there, then hike up the Castle Canyon Trail, which is steep in places and in poor condition in some places, but ok. It starts just in before the mountain flat area. On the top there is Inspiration Point, good place to eat lunch. Then hike right on the road less than a mile to the turnoff to Muir Peak. The turnoff is just around a corner and it is easily missed. Return to Inspiration point, go on the road to the big crossing. Turn left and hike down to the Sam Merrill Trail, less steep than the Castle Canyon trail. On the left of the beginning of the trail there is a use trail going up leading to an old fox farm, nothing special. This trail is longer than the Castle Canyon Trail and at Echo Mtn. just continue downhill.

It took us 7 h with several rests.

We had exceptionally good views (Santa Ana conditions) with views all over the LA Basin, Catalina, Saddleback, the ocean, even in the afternoon

G

Gaviota Peak, Valencia

17-Oct-99

By: Gabriele Rau

Mark and I left really early to drive to Gaviota Peak, north of Santa Barbara on 101. We drove into the State Park, but the ranger told us, that the peak is farther up, the next exit. So we drove on, left at the next exit and parked the car in a dirt parking area. There is even a sign and an entrance fee post. This is still State Park, but the road later changes into National Forest land. We hiked up the road, smelled the hot springs, but stayed on the road between Chaparral and little shade. There is a first ridge with a trail leading downhill; we continued uphill to the next ridge, where a trail turns sharply to the right and to the Peak. Easy to find! There is a large register can on the peak. A trail leading down the other side of the peak, we did not try it, but returned the same way. Mark took a short cut past the Hot Springs and caught up with me that way. It was a hot day again, but we took 2 hours up and down, no problems.

We drove on to Pismo Beach and Kon-Tiki Inn, where we had a reservation for the night. Mark fell asleep, I sat on the balcony reading. Very nice! Late we went out for dinner in town. Mark was tired again, but I took a long beach walk and really enjoyed this!

Next morning again we left early and drove to Montana del Oro State Park. Mark is really afraid of the heat! No problem finding the trail to Valencia, it is signed. No shade again, this must be an excellent spring hike. From the peak we saw mostly clouds. We took another route down, but we were back at the car early enough.

The drive home was uneventful, early. I liked both peaks. Carcamping these peaks is a good idea.

Gaviota Peak

18-Feb-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Spring is a perfect time to hike Gaviota Peak. The TH is easy to find, take exit Hwy 1 from US 101, turn right and drive to the end. There is a box where you should deposit $2, because this is still State Park Property. There are many high cairns along the road up to the Hot Springs, somebody must have delighted in building them. This time we took the trail to the springs, but one can continue on the road. The water in the Hot Springs was rather lukewarm and murky, but had no hydrogensulfide smell as we noticed on previous hikes. It is best to cross at the outlet of the large pool and then take the trail uphill to the left. There are several use trails, just stay uphill, left and soon the road is reached. After about one mile past the Hot Springs a sign indicates the boundary State Park/National Forest. Climbing steadily the road turns sometimes into a trail, then to road again. After continuing for another mile there is a fallen down gate with a sign ‘No Motor Vehicles’ lying on the right side of the road. Shortly after this an uphill trail turns right, leading to the summit. The old road continues to the left. The summit has a large stone cairn and a large can with the sign-in booklets.

The views are fantastic! All the Islands, the coastline, Santa Barbara and green hills! No wonder we met two photographers. One of them told us the trail continuing past the peak leads through private property, but many people hike it. It is named Trespass Trail, forking off the main road near the beginning, and it is a slightly longer distance. We did not try it. This is a great peak, for the hike and the outstanding views!

H

Harrison Mountain

31-Mar-01

By: Tom Hill

Leaders Tom Hill, Gabriele Rau

Occasionally the HPS leads a joint hike to one of the summits on the Lower Peaks List. These outings introduce enjoyable new peaks to our members and have been well-attended.

Harrison Mountain, a classic HPS-type peak but not quite high enough for our list, lies just north of the city of San Bernardino. It languished for many years because of the poor condition of the trail from the north. The proper trail follows a series of ridgeline firebreaks and has now been well-ducked and brushed out, and shows considerable usage.

A great group of twelve hikers assembled at 8 a.m. at Pomona for the 50-mile carpool - short by HPS standards - under crisp sunny skies. We took Hwy 330 north toward Running Springs, stopping at the large pullout at the road junction (3335') with IN09 Manzanita Flat, 2.2 miles past the City Creek USFS Station. The crux for this peak is knowing where to begin the hike! It's obvious only when someone tells you. From the parking area walk over to the Forest Service bulletin board. Pass through the barbed wire fence using a specially constructed hiker's opening next to the board (the fence splits into two parallel lines, with just enough room to squeeze through).

Harrison is the large mountain directly south of you. The beginning of the trail may be somewhat obscured by meadow brush, so it's best to fix your location by looking for the firebreak that is clearly visible going up the small ridgeline to your west, obvious from the bulletin board. Head to this firebreak and then over bump 3867, which is slightly separated from the main mass of Harrison Mountain. Continue south up the main ridge about 1/3 mile, passing bump 4043 to a large duck on your right (west) that marks the spot to leave the ridge. Leave the ridgeline and head downhill and west, passing the head of a large meadow, to a second obvious firebreak that continues to the summit. Our round-trip time including lunch was 6 hours.

Participants: Mitch Cutter, Pete Babij, Mark Hodgson, Bruce Morgan, Erich and Luella Fickle, Ron and Joann Schrantz, Laura Franciosi, and Chris Baxter.

Harrison Mountain

10-Feb-98

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club Orange County Wednesday Hike

Andy Beal and Jack Adsit Leaders

Follow write-up to the trailhead, Manzanita Flats. The Forest Road (closed then) goes to the left. Hike through a barbed-wire fence (there is a narrow walk-thru opening) and toward some trees (perpendicular to the main road), there are 2 steep berms leading to a group of trees. (This is slightly right to the parking area). There is a trail starting there, no signs at all. Follow the steep trail through the brush, fairly open then. After about a mile the trail ends in a pile of brush. Climb over the brush, then you are on a firebreak. The brush was pushed there by the bulldozer. Follow the fire break, also steep at times. At one point the firebreak takes a right angle right turn. Do NOT follow the visible trail ahead, it ends in the brush. Take the right turn at the firebreak downhill, about 300 yards farther take the left firebreak steeply uphill. Follow this one to the top. There is a larger round area, helicopter landing would be possible. At he far end of this, before a drop-off, there is a large rock on the right side. That’s where we placed the can. The peak visible farther away is another high point, but lower than this peak and we count this peak. It took us 2 hours up, 1 1/2 h down. Not a particular beautiful peak, little shade, mostly burned brush.

There had been a fire in the fall of 1997, the firebreaks were made then to stop the fire. At this time there was no growth at all on these breaks, rather wide and poor, already with rain damage because of the El Nino (1998).

Harrison Mountain

8-Jan-00

By: Gabriele Rau

The trailhead is 2 miles farther then City Creek Ranger Station. No problems, we climbed the berms (from the pass-thru in the fence stay slightly to the right) and found the steep firebreak/trail going up. I set out ducks and a streamer. The old trail goes up slightly to the left of the steep break, but it is very undefined, easy to get lost. The steep firebreak meets the trail after 100 yards. Follow this steep trail. Later on it gets better. I clipped some of the brush, but the trail is in fair condition. At a saddle a visible trail leads uphill straight ahead. DO NOT TAKE IT! There is a large duck at this place. Turn right, downhill. The firebreak we hiked down the last time is now overgrown with weeds. At the bottom again streamer, then duck and streamer where the firebreak goes uphill to the left. Lots of Poodle Dog! This firebreak leads up, to the left of the rocks mentioned in the write-up. Views are good! It took us 2.5 hours to get up, less than 2 h to come down. Weather was beautiful, this is a winter peak!

Harrison Mountain

31-Mar-01

By: Tom Hill

Sierra Club HPS/LPC Hike Leaders Tom Hill, Gabriele Rau

Occasionally the HPS leads a joint hike to one of the summits on the Lower Peaks List. These outings introduce enjoyable new peaks to our members and have been well-attended.

A great group of twelve hikers assembled at 8 a.m. at Pomona for the 50-mile carpool – short by HPS standards -- under crisp sunny skies. We took Hwy 330 north toward Running Springs, stopping at the large pullout at the road junction (3335') with 1N09 Manzanita Flat, 2.2 miles past the City Creek USFS Station. The crux for this peak is knowing where to begin the hike! It’s obvious only when someone tells you. From the parking area walk over to the Forest Service bulletin board. Pass through the barbed wire fence using a specially constructed hiker’s opening next to the board (the fence splits into two parallel lines, with just enough room to squeeze through).Harrison is the large mountain directly south of you. The beginning of the trail may be somewhat obscured by meadow brush, so it’s best to fix your location by looking for the firebreak that is clearly visible going up the small ridgeline to your west, obvious from the bulletin board. Head to this firebreak and then over bump 3867, which is slightly separated from the main mass of Harrison Mountain. Continue south up the main ridge about 1/3 mile, passing bump 4043 to a large duck on your right (west) that marks the spot to leave the ridge.Leave the ridgeline and head downhill and west, passing the head of a large meadow, to a second obvious firebreak that continues to the summit. Our round-trip time including lunch was 6 hours.

Participants: Mitch Cutler, Pete Babij, Mark Hodgson, Bruce Morgan, Erich and Luella Fickle, Ron and JoAnn Schrantz, Laura Franciosi, and Chris Baxter.

J

Jupiter Mountain

8-May-98

By: Gabriele Rau

We left at 7:00 AM and drove via 210 to the Valencia off-ramp of the I-5, then followed directions. Bouquet Canyon Road was only 19 miles instead of the quoted 22 miles. When we came to the saddle there were lots of cars there, more coming by the minute. As it turned out they had an off-road-rally for Michelins tires. But the rally was on the right side of the road, we parked on the left and started there. Take the left road, past a water tank and a sharp turn, then the trail to the left, which is most of the time in good condition. When we came to the first saddle we hiked straight up to the left, it is fairly open. We met another trail and followed the ridge to the peak. There is a wooden bench on the peak!! We left a can and build a cairn. The view was nil because it was foggy and we only could see a few feet. On the way back we followed the trail which is mostly washed out to the main trail (there is 1997 marked with rocks on the ground) and then again the main trail. I am not sure but maybe our little ridge was easier to climb. It took us 2 h, 1050’ gain to the peak. Virgin’s Bower, Blue Dicks, Larkspur, Indian Paintbrushes were blooming, the chaparral was very thick.

We drove on the San Andreas Fault Road, which had beautiful views of blooming flowers, Poppies, Owls Clover, Lupine, we were surprised. Whole mountainsides were orange with poppies.

We drove to Gorman, because we wanted to climb go to Alamo Mtn (HPS), but after driving 12 miles through the OHV area the road was closed at Piru Creek (gate) and the creek was a wild stream. No sign ahead of this closure! We gave up this idea, but we both got a Lower Peak.

L

Little Pine Mountain

15-Nov-03

By: Luella Fickle

I believe this was the first Lower Peaks Sections Scheduled Hike to Little Pine Mtn.

Four of us met at 8:30AM at the trailhead located at the upper end of Upper Oso Campground near San Marcos Pass in Santa Barbara County. This is a lovely area. Route goes about ½ mile up dirt road to signed Santa Cruz Trail. Then Santa Cruz trail is followed first up Oso Creek Canyon then up the canyon side to the ridge between two forks of Oso Creeks. The trail crosses an exposed ledge system and two large porteros before gaining the saddle between Alexander Peak and Little Pine Mtn (4459). The route from Oso Creek to this saddle has very little shade so we were grateful for cloud cover. The porteros must be pretty in spring as there were many dried wildflowers in them. From this saddle we first climbed up to right then dipped down to a dirt road.

We attempted to climb the true high point of Little Pine which we found to be extremely brushy from this road to the summit (about 300’ up a steep road bank). We got to within about 40 vertical feet of the summit but were unable to proceed through the nose high brush (I’m 5’101/2 “). We back tracked up this road to the Santa Cruz trail and tried from there. Again we were stopped by brush. Therefore we retreated to the ridge above the Alexander Pk/Little Pine Mtn (4459) saddle. From here we followed the forest service trail to the summit of point 4459 and found a can claiming this to be the true high point?! It does have a wonderful view and is much easier to climb since it has a trail to the summit. On the way down it began to rain lightly. We got back to the cars by 4:30. We hiked further than 13 miles because we were attempting to climb the high point which added about 2 miles and about 2 hours to our efforts due to the extreme brush.

M

Margarita Peak

12-Jun-99

By: Gabriele Rau

See the new write-up. There is no more sign of ‘Sky Ranch’, or a confusing Forest Road #. It is Forest Road 8S01, 16.5 m past the I-215 exit on Clinton Keith Road. There is no more trashbarrel, but I build a duck on the left side, where the old road comes in from the left side and where the hike starts. Hike to the duck on the right on this old road to the firebreak, steep but doable. Near the top one gets to the hard to recognize road, turn right, over a small ridhe, then downhill to a duck on the right to a use trail. Bring clippers!

Mastadon Peak, Mount Mel

18-Apr-98

By: Gabriele Rau

We left at 5:30 AM, ate breakfast in Corona and drove out past Indio to the Cottonwood entrance of the Joshua Tree Monument. Mark bought a new Federal Pass because the old one was lost and we drove the mile to the trailhead, also the trailhead for the oasis walk. The flowers were beautiful!! Large Canterbury Bells, Bigelow Mimulus, many others and also cacti starting to bloom. It is only one mile to Mastodon Peak, 400’ gain, the return loop is slightly longer with 2 miles. Nice short hike! Good views from the peak, I left a register can.

Then we drove through the park, exited and drove to Indian Cove Group Campground. All sites were taken. We hiked according to the instructions. At the wash were several trails crisscrossing, some interpretive sign, but we stayed in the general direction. After about 2 miles, again hiking among beautiful flowers (it was not possible NOT to step on them) we gained the saddle. Mt. Mel is nothing but a stone pile to the right, a class 2 scramble of 200 ft. With hands on and a helpful hand from Mark we soon reached the peak with beautiful views. There was a register tube on the peak!! It is named after Mel Johnson, an Orange County BMTC leader, who climbed it first 1971 as part of the class. Now it is a standard for the class. Then we scrambled down to the saddle and back. It is easier to stay on the ridge on the right and then drop to the wash. No problems. 4 m RT, 600’ gain.

The hardest part is the driving, a 350 mile day!

Mount McKinley

5-Nov-99

By: Gabriele Rau

We started at 6:30 AM and first went to Oak Grove Ranger Station to ask for a key for the Mendenhall Ridge Road. The Ranger told us the road had been closed, it is washed out. So no key. We drove to Mill Creek Summit, the Mt. Gleason Road to the locked gate and started hiking at 9:30 AM It is about 100 miles to this point from home. The road was downhill to Indian Ben Saddle (2 mi), then the road turns right at the foot of Iron Mountain #2 (2.3 mi), here it is slightly uphill. After we hiked about 1 mile we thought McKinley would be the bump to the left, a cone like peak, and climbed it. It did not look right, so back down along the ridge to the road again and up the next bump, which did not look right either. Mark said he did not think the trail on the map existed anymore. We hiked back to the road again (2 steep ridges up and steep ridges down) and continued on the road. Finally we came to a rusty shot sign ‘Yerba Buena Trail 13W02’ and knew we were at Iron Saddle. We took this trail, which contours around the mountain side, for a mile when we came to a saddle. From here the trail went downhill. I marked this spot with a duck. To the left there is an open ridge which leads to a summit. We climbed the steep ridge (about 1/3 mile) to the highest point, checked on the maps and this was Mt.McKinley. I left a can in a cairn. The view was beautiful, total wilderness, many peaks. With all our detours it was rather late, we ate lunch and returned.

After 10 min we reached the trail, after 30 more min the road. From here it took me 2 hours to the car without a break, 5.6 miles (4:15 PM). Mark arrived 20 min later. It t was a clear sunny day, and it was hot climbing the ridges, but in general it was very pleasant hiking weather. The total hike was 7 mi o/w, 1500 loss and 1500 gain on the way to the peak, the same on return, total 3000’ gain. The gain was very gradual, except on the ridges.

On the way back, Mark stopped at Mt. Gleason and hiked up to it. I stayed in the car and watched the very beautiful sunset.

The Ranger had clearly lied to us; the road is perfectly drivable, in excellent condition. He should have told us, that they do not give out keys, but why would he give the key to Hugh and Byron??

McKinley Mountain

22-Oct-99

By: Gabriele Rau

We drove early from Irvine to Hwy. 330 to the mileage marker mentioned in the write-up. We parked in a turnout before this marker. The closed ranger station is farther up the road! We hiked across the road and saw the fire break behind some boulders. There was had been a very recent fire, everything was burnt, but the good thing: no brush fighting! The firebreak was very steep. On the ridge to the right we saw a trail, but it was just as steep at the firebreak we were on. This trail met our break at a cut bank, where the break, nearly a road, turns left and is nearly flat for a couple hundred yards. Then turn sharply right and start again climbing! Here the fire had stopped, but hardly any brush on the break. We ended up on a grassy slope with some wooden red-tagged stakes, probably used as a helicopter-landing site. From here we could see the rusty yellow triangle on the peak, slightly to the right. A use trail was leading past some tress and brushes (open) to this high spot. We built a cairn and left a peak can there.

The peak to the left is higher, but not marked on the map. This is the peak! It was a very hot day, it took us 2 hours to get up there, and we were down at 10:30AM. This is a very steep 1 mile, 1500’ gain hike!

Mendenhall Peak

30-May-99

By: Gabriele Rau

After climbing Bohna Peak the day before and staying in Arvin, we left there early, had breakfast at the truckstop in Frazier Park, drove via I-5 and 210 to Osborne Exit, then into Little Tujunga Canyon for 7 miles. At the ridge (road turns downhill) we parked, Forest Road 3N32 crosses here. The right side is locked by a gate. We started at 7:45 AM on the road. Soon another road turns left, stay right uphill. After a good 3 miles we came to the Power Lines, here the Burma Road comes up on the right. The Burma Road 3N37 continues on the left side downhill. Stay on the 3N32 to the right, there is another gate. Continue steady uphill. There were many flowers on the side of the road, also very healthy Poison Oak. But the flowers really surprised me. From there it is 2 miles more to the Mendenhall saddle, where we turned sharp right to a very old road, a broken gate is still there. This road is badly deteriorated, several spots are hard to pass because the road slipped off. But we made it to the peak, which is an abandoned Lookout site, messy. I left the Register Can on top of the bump South of the Lookout pad, this bump is the highest spot between 2 flat areas. We arrived at the summit at 10:45 AM, ate lunch and returned at 11 AM the same way. We were back at the cars at 1:45 PM, 6 h total round trip.

Specially in the morning it was very foggy, the view from the peak was nil. Later it cleared somewhat up. There is steep firebreak starting at the Power Lines leading to the peak, but because of the dense cloud cover we did not take this route. A good trip to lead in the spring, some difficult stops on the old Mendenhall Ridge Road, otherwise all road.

On the way home we stopped at the Wildlife Way station, but only on the 1. and 3. Sundays there are open for tours, so we looked around and left for home.

Flowers: Virgins Bower, Buckeye (white snowy candle-like flowers), Indian Paintbrush, Monkeyflowers, Larkspur, Yerba Santa, Sage, Golden Yarrow, Farewell-to-Spring (Clarkia), Wooley Blue Curls, Golden Ear Drops, Yellow Chaenactis, Blue Headed Gilia, Rock Cress, Woodland Star, and others I forgot.

Mendenhall Peak

date?

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club LPC Hike

Gordon Lindberg and Gabriele Rau Leaders

To our surprise we had 16 people on this hike! We met 8:00 Diamond Bar and 9:00 at La Canada on a Saturday. Drive about 15 miles on I-210, Osborne Street, then past Wildlife Way Station to Dillon Divide Saddle. Maybe car shuttle necessary because of limited parking. It took us 2 ½ hours up, several fast hikers had to slow down. One person had difficulties on the sliding poor road leading to the peak. It was cold on the summit! Nobody signed in since last year. Down: 2 hours, back at the cars at 3:00 (start at 10 AM, short lunch). Uneventful hike

Afterwards Gordon, Bob and I went to the HPS banquet. Don’t schedule a hike on banquet day again! We changed there. Good program by Kurt Wedberg on Mt. Everest.

El Montañon

25-Mar-02

By: Charlie Knapke

Last year a visitor to the Lower Peaks Committee website sent me an email about a trip he made to Santa Cruz Island several years before. He described a climb of the high point in the National Park, El Montañon. I discussed the route with him and I decided this might be worth a try.

Devra Wasserman and I made reservations in early March with Island Packers in Ventura for a ferry trip out to the Island. When we arrived in Ventura, the weather was fine. It was nice and sunny with almost no breeze. We crowded onto the boat with a lot of kayakers and headed out to sea.

As time went on we noticed that the waves were slowly increasing in size. At about the half way point in the channel, the Captain brought the boat about and announce on the P.A. system that reports from the island via radio indicated that high winds had come up and there was no way to let us off at the island pier.

We then experienced a one hour trip back to the mainland into an ever-increasing wind. We arrived wet but safely at the dock. Oddly enough the weather at the dock was just as nice as it was when we left that morning.

We then made new reservations for the 25th of March. Again we left the mainland in good weather conditions. The wind again came up but this time it was an on-shore breeze so the pier at the island was sheltered from the wind. We were safely delivered to Santa Cruz Island National Park.

We immediately started on our hike to El Montañon. The hike started on dirt roads that became fainter and fainter until we were on nor more than a rocky use trail. The winds increased until at one point we were experiencing gusts of 60mph plus. The peak was not as windy as the ridges. The view was better than most HPS peaks that I have done.

We returned to the pier a full hour and a half before the boat returned for the trip back to the mainland. We spent this exploring the immediate area and talking to one of the crew who was well-informed on the history of the island and the park.

We had hoped to do some whale watching on the boat trip but we had to settle for a few sea otters near Anacapa Island.

In restrospect, I realize that we did this trip in the wrong time of the year. Spring has heavy seas, summer has fog. Fall might be the better season for this trip.

El Montañon

25-May-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Santa Cruz Island Wilderness Adventure Trip
Leaders: Joel Goldberg and Dave Coplen
Memorial Day Weekend 2003

Last weekend we took a Sierra Club Backpack Trip to Santa Cruz Island. The backpack part was only 1/4 mile on a flat road to the campground at Scorpion Anchorage, no problem here. The next day we climbed El Montanon. Several people in the group (16) wanted to come along, we were 7. Mark started out alone, an hour earlier. I was leading, Dave Coplen was the co-leader. We had topos, a local map, compass and plenty of water.

We started at 9:00 am at the campground, took the road and route as Charlie Knapke has described in the write-up. BUT we had very heavy fog. The road part was easy, there was even a sign to the oil well. From there on the trail was poor. Dave stayed with a slower hiker, and we had to wait frequently because I wanted to at least see them. In the thick fog visibility was about 10 yards. Dave and I checked our maps occasionally and made sure we were still on the correct trail. Then the trail turned slightly left and descended. Of course we did not see how much it descended, out came the maps again, and after checking we continued. The trail contoured around a higher area. Our goal was to get to High Mountain, which we could not see. Suddenly there was a voice from below. It was Mark. He said, we had to come down, we were on the wrong trail, he had been to High Mountain. But he was without trail, we refused, and finally he appeared out of the fog and joined us. The path led to a saddle with 2 ducks and two trails: one trail sharp right up a mountain, the other trail right contouring the mountain. As good peakbaggers we climbed the peak, found the USGS Mark and it was High Mountain. Now everybody wanted to continue in a different direction. This was the point where Mark had taken a wrong way. After consulting the maps with compass again, Dave persuaded everybody to take the trail to the Southeast, as I had suggested. The sharp right trail we were on and the contour trail met soon. Low and behold, shortly after we saw a wooden carved sign: Prisoner 10. Somebody took a picture of the sign with us. We knew what it meant: 10 miles to Prisoners Harbor, and we knew we were on the correct ridge. The ridge is quite pronounced and has an iron stake on each bump, indicating a former property line. Less than 1/2 mile more and a small transmitter station appeared out of the fog, and two people! There were here to fix the faulty transmitter that is used for an eagle project on the island. They had come up from the 'Prisoner' trail, but had used electric carts to get fairly close. By now it was 12:00 noon, we ate lunch, and slowly the fog lifted, we had at least a 180' view. Since we had wanted to do a loop trip, we asked the woman if this was possible. She told us the actual peak was the next bump with the larger building, by now we could see it. From there we should stay left, over the next bump, then take again the left ridge down. There would be very little trail, one has to find their own way down to the grasslands with a track, an overgrown road, down to the farmhouse at Smuggler's Cove. So we left at 12:30, deposited a register at the USGS Marker in a cairn at the actual peak (the one with the larger building and relays station). But the fog had lifted, we could see, and what a great view it was! The way down was slow, the terrain is very rocky, ball-bearing kind of downhill. So the going was slow. Mark, now our 8. Person, stayed with the slow hiker, we went ahead. After one dry creek crossing we were in the meadows. There, at a fence, I stepped on a snare and fell flat on my face. No harm done, but several people fell on the tricky slope, here I fall in the grass! Now it was a long trudge downhill to the farmhouse. One could clearly see it all the time, with an Olive Tree Grove behind it. On the overgrown road the going was easier. By now the full sun was out, clear views as far as Anacapa. Mark was still behind with one hiker, and I stayed with another moderate hiker, while the others went ahead. They waited at the farmhouse. I got there at 3:00 PM, the others maybe 10 min earlier. I suggested that they should go ahead, I would wait for Mark, the slow hiker and the moderate hiker. Dave was also the keeper of the group's 'Happy Hour', so it was important that he should be home earlier, everybody agreed. They left. The four of us left at 3:30 PM. The farmhouse was unlocked and there was water in containers inside, but we did not need it. There is also a lemon tree, fig tree and other mostly dead fruit trees and an Olive Tree grove. Smugglers Cove is a small cove/harbor. From here there exists a good road, but it is 3.5 miles with a 600' gain and loss to get across to Scorpion Anchorage, where the campgrounds are located. We arrived in time for Happy Hour at 5:30 PM. All 8 hikers had reached the summit.

Total Hike: 12 miles, 2500' gain, 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 hours as a loop hike.

Taking the same trail back: 9 miles, 1800' gain, without loop.

I would recommend to return the same way, without loop. It took us more time because of the heavy fog and the slow hiker. The boat arrives about 8:30 AM at Scorpion Anchorage, depending on the weather, then the ranger gives a short talk to the dayhikers (they disembark first), so one could start the hike at 9:00 AM. Normally one should be on the peak at 11:30 AM, leave the peak at 12:00 and then easily catch the 3:00 PM boat. There are no facilities on the island, only outhouses and water at the campgrounds. Check the boat times with Island Packers, as written up in the regular write-up. So the peak can be reached in one day, unless there is heavy fog and one gets disoriented. It is useful to have navigational skills. There is a local map of the East Island available from the ranger. The topo does not show the existing roads, this map shows the roads and somewhat the trails.

Joel Goldberg, the leader for the group, told us that a few years ago a group had climbed El Montanon and got lost. He had contacted the ranger, but they came back very late on their own. I talked to one person of that group, they had gotten off the wrong ridge, then had to climb up to the peak again and returned the way they came. David Coplen is an excellent I-rated leader and I was glad he was with us.

Montecito Peak

26-Feb-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Montecito Peak is a beautiful hike, using the Cold Springs Trail and I recommend this route strongly. But sometimes time is short and there is quicker way to get to the peak: from the top, Camino Cielo Road.

From the Cold Springs TH drive 4.2 miles East on Mountain Road to Gibraltar Road, turn right (North) on Gibraltar Road (this turn off is hard to see!). Continue 6.5 miles on the very curvy Gibraltar Road to the intersection with Camino Cielo. Turn right (East) for 3.4 miles to a wide dirt area below a water tank on the right side of the road. Park here. There is a sign to Cold Springs Trail, Mountain Road, right. On the left side a trail leads to Forbush Flats.

Hike downhill for a mile to a saddle, the trail now leads around Montecito Peak. Continue for a couple hundred yards to a very steep use trail on the left side. Climb up here and follow the washed out trail to the summit. Erosion has formed an abysmal gulch, either hike on the side or in the deep rocky gully. The peak is rather flat. Someone had spelled out NO WAR in rocks on the summit. Great Views! Avoid this hike in dense fog.

From the turnoff down again to the Gibraltar Road you get a fantastic view of Cathedral Peak, and you can see why it got its name!

Mastadon Peak, Mount Mel

18-Apr-98

By: Gabriele Rau

The hardest part is the driving, a 350 mile day!

Mount Mugu

16-Nov-02

By: Dana Hunter

Wide open trail and plenty of parking. Not even that many boy scouts going up the trail. Saw 7 out of the 8 Channel Islands. We could see pelicans diving for fish. Stop by Neptune's Net for a beer or fish and chips-nice view. The register is gone but now there are two stone wall enclosures at the top-one with a tattered American flag. There was still a small waterfall in the canyon.

Echo Mountain, Mount Muir

2-Apr-97

By: Gabriele Rau

It took us 7 h with several rests.

We had exceptionally good views (Santa Ana conditions) with views all over the LA Basin, Catalina, Saddleback, the ocean, even in the afternoon.

N

Newcomb Peak

4-May-98

By: Gabriele Rau

I wanted to do this peak for a long time. Mark was on a business trip, so I left, even if it was drizzly when I left. I started at 8:15 AM at Chantry Flats, took the scenic trail up to Spruce Grove Campground and then the trail to Newcomb Pass. It was drizzling most of the time, which did not bother me, but my pants got very wet, mainly by brushing against greens and bushes while walking. The woolsocks absorbed the water and my feet got really soggy! At 12:00 I arrived at Newport Pass (6.5 m). One trail leads to Mt. Wilson, the other one comes up as the Silver Mocassin trail. There are 2 Picnic tables at the Pass. One can now see the peak, with a huge Powerstructure on it. The trail to here is beautiful, but long. After wringing out my socks and eating I took the far right trail, an overgrown road, leading to a service road just below a watertank. The service road just gets there in a few hundred yards and one can see the peak is not easy to climb. But the write-up is correct, the west side is easiest. Climb through and over bushes and make the most of the steep green parts. Since it had rained the ground was soft and easy to climb. Just climb up underneath the power cables. There was nothing much there, no can. The Lake one can see is Cogswell Reservoir. It was cloudy and the clouds were hanging in the mountains. I went down, but somehow got too much north, had to traverse in thick wood (saw a deer) and finally made it out the same place I got in. From there the walk back was easy. Everything was still wet, lots of flowers, mainly Canterbury Bells, Larkspur, Paintbrushes, Rockroses and one white poppy-like flower on a bush I did not know. Dogwood and Ceanothus were blooming, the hike was really quite beautiful. And -because of the weather- absolutely no bugs!!! I saw 2 newts (reddish-brown, salamander-like). I hiked down the horse trail, I think it has less up-and-downs, fewer creekcrossings and fewer slippery rocks than the scenic trail. I was down at 4:15, so it took me a full 8 hours to do this hike. The drive took me 1 1/2 h AM and 1 1/4 h PM. I call this a strenuous hike, take your time.

Nordhoff Peak

9-Mar-02

By: Gabriele Rau

I wanted to climb Nordhoff Peak for a long time, then Erik Siering suggested it as an addition for the Lower Peaks. Finally we hiked it, Mark was not enthusiastic about this peak. We left Irvine at 6:15 AM, drove 405, then 101, took Hwy. 33 to Ojai. At the main intersection stay right and pass through town past the Ranger Station. ½ miles past the RS, turn left on Gridley Road and follow it 1.7 miles to the end. Park in the turnaround. The trail starts just a few feet on the left side of the road, it is signed. We started hiking at 8:45. We hiked through high chaparral for about ½ mile, then the trail meets a road. Continue right on the road through Avocado Groves. Then we came to a 5-way crossing. There is an arrow trail sign 2. road to the left. This turns into a trail and continues up the mountain. In 3 miles (10:00 AM) we had reached Gridley Springs, marked by an old water trough and a horse tether rail. We took a break here and continued up the trail. The trail is generally well graded, clipped and goes on and on. Near the road it is leveling out. I reached the road (Nordhoff Ridge Road) at 11:45 and figure the distance 2.5 miles from the springs. Turn left on the road, a steady uphill to the peak for one mile. A spur road leads directly to the peak which has a Lookout Platform on it and a Picnic Table underneath the Lookout. The views were great: Anacapa and Santa Cruz Island, Ojai Valley and Topotopa Mountains and the Sespe Wilderness.

Mark decided to go down the way we went up, I wanted to try the Pratt trail. So on the main road I turned west, after 1 mile I came to a sign: 23W09 Nordhoff Peak 1 mile, 22W05 2 miles (I assume that’s the number of the Gridley Trail, but I never saw it), 23W26 4 miles, 22W09 5 miles, Signal Street 5 miles. I took this Pratt Trail down, also in good condition. The trail comes to a road, and strangely the sign 23W09 turn to the left. I stayed on the road to the right and came to a house, there a trail went steeply up on the right and had a new sign: Pratte trail 22W09. The road was shorter. There is another road turning to the left (east) which in hindsight I should have taken to get to the Gridley TH. But I followed the signs west to the Foothill Trail, marked with several signs and arrows. It leads close to houses and through beautiful gardens, then through chaparral. It is very curvy and rocky. I missed the continuation of the Foothill trail to the Gridley Road, which is on the topo, but I did not see a sign. The Trail ends at the Pratt TH. I walked past the reservoir and a water tank to a city street, Signal Street. It was 4:00 PM. I asked a gardening resident if there was a connector trail to the Gridley TH, he said, yes, a little up the street to the right, it climbs and then leads to Gridley TH, about 2 miles. He thought it would be easier to walk down to Grand Ave, left on Grand, then to Gridley Road and back to the TH. Since I was tired I hoped Mark would be down and called him, but he was not down yet. Finally I talked to him, he was still in the Avocado Grove, but when he arrived at the car, he called me. I was at the corner of Grand/Gridley, he came down and picked me up. I showed him the Pratte Trailhead, I had walked 2 miles to the corner where he had picked me up. By now it was 4:40 We stopped at the Deli, Mark got a Sandwich, I got an ice cream and we drove home. There was a lot of traffic on Sepulveda Pass and we were home shortly before 8:00 AM.

Mark was very tired, I went on a Plant Walk in Evey Canyon the next day (Sunday), but this is a long hike. I would say 6.5 miles one way on the Gridley Trail, 15 miles the loop. I would recommend to have a second car at the Pratte TH.

I had called the Ranger the day before (Ojai RS is closed Sat/Sun), the guy had never heard of the Pratt Trail or another trail to reach Nordhoff Peak!!

This was not a good year for flowers, but we saw poppies, prickly phlox, wild hyacinth, a few more.

P

Pleasants Peak

17-Jan-96

By: Jack Adsit

Sierra Club Orange County Wednesday Hike

Jack Adsit, Andy Beall Leaders

Yesterday it rained, today it is beautiful, clear and sunny. Drive to Corona, to the very end of Main Street (which makes several unexpected turns), road ends. Park. There were 12 hikers. Start hiking through a large ditch on the road, but soon take a trail to the left, uphill to a more open area (Private), roadlike, go north, then left up to a ridge. This is basically a ridge hike. Turn left up the ridge and follow it all the way up, there are several side trails going parallel through the Chaparral, but generally the trail is in the open. Some parts are very steep! On one hill (about halfway) is a huge cross mark for helicopters (?). Continue uphill. You can go around the last hill to the right side on a use trail, then meet a road. Follow the road (300 ft) to a small duck on the right and climb that ridge straight to the south, then more to the west. Do not continue on the road to the Radio Towers, that’s much longer. There are good views to all sides. It took us 2 1/2 hours up, few breaks. Downhill is faster, be careful not to go on a wrong ridge!

Potato Mountain

21-Feb-98

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club LPC Hike

Gabriele Rau, Gordon Lindberg Leaders

I made a mistake by not scouting out the route. The old Padua Hills Theater is gone. We started at the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park. Go straight on Mills Ave, do not turn right on the Mt. Baldy road. There is a graveled parking lot and an outhouse. No fees. The hike starts on the road, we had a couple small creek crossing after El Nino, they should be dry most of the time. Keep right, up to a Watertank on the right side of the road, keep right again. Then a gradual uphill on this road. There are bikers on this road, no cars, because it is in poor condition. The beginning of the hike is quite beautiful in a canyon with a creek running (Poison oak!). Then it is through chaparral, constantly uphill, a few up’s and down’s, but in the open, no shade. There is another road going off to the right, marked ‘private property’. Stay left on the main road. After a short downhill you see a steep firebreak going up to Potato Mountain, but one can stay on the road (left) which also leads to the top or take the firebreak. On the peak is a cement water tank, good to sit on, but not much else. We had good views to snow covered mountains. It was cool, somewhat cloudy. It took us 4 1/2 hours hiking, with breaks. We figured the distance is 4 m o/w or 8 m RT with 1700 gain, a good hike. Don’t attempt in the summer months!! Bob is changing the write-up for the Lower Peaks Section. Gordon made it, but Bob didn’t.

It is much easier to climb this peak via Eevy Canyon.

R

Red Rock Mountain

9-May-01

By: Gabriele Rau

With Hugh Blanchard, Mark

Hugh had offered to show me the trail to Red Rock Mountain, deleted from the Lower Peaks List, for possible putting it on the List again. We met 9:00 in La Canada and exited to the Templin Hwy on I-5. After 4.3 m (after the bridge) we encountered a locked gate, but Hugh had a key for it. After 0.6 m the pavements ends, 0.2 m take left fork (Fish Canyon), after 0.1 m again left. There are 4 stream crossing, easily passable. Shortly there was another locked gate, many locks, but the key did not fit any lock. So we parked the car and hiked in about a mile to Cienaga Campground. We hiked through the narrows, very impressive narrow canyon. There are many stream crossings on concrete aprons, easy to pass. The campground was junky. At the end of the campground a trail turns to the left behind an old rusty gate, which is actually an old road to the piano box mine. This is again a pretty walk, several crossings again. At the mine located to the right of an old huge oak tree we took a break. It was a very hot day and Hugh mentioned, if I wanted to return any time, I should say so. Up to here the hike was flat. We crossed the stream and hiked up a barely visible trail near a sycamore tree, steep, with poison oak which we avoided as best as possible. The trail gets somewhat better in the higher reaches. It climbs steadily in switchbacks, sometimes ducked by Tom Hill and Hugh on a previous hike. An occasional tree provided shade for a break because it was getting hotter and hotter. It must have been in the high 90’s. At the high point of the trail I decided not to climb another sunny 1000’ to the peak, x-country and steep. It is only ½ mile to the right, but no trail. It was already 12:30, very hot and I had finished more than half of my water. Hugh agreed readily to go back, Mark also. We took a break. The trail continues downhill. We took the trail back downhill again, to the piano box mine and the campground. When we reached the car I had finished my water, so had Mark. Water was available in Fish Creek. We drove back to Glendale and home. I was glad not to have continued, I would have had a heat stroke, I think!

Otherwise this is a pretty hike. The piano box mine is called that way because once the miners brought a piano to a mine settlement! Hard to believe. Mark thinks he drove on the road to the pianobox 30 years ago, but now it is not drivable any more. Hugh knows this area very well. The trail reminds me of the Warm Springs Mountain Trail, which is even more overgrown. Thanks Hugh for going with us and showing us the way! On a cooler day we would have made the peak. We hiked about 7 m (because the second gate was locked, 1000’. We try this one again!

Red Rock Mountain

7-Jan-02

By: Gabriele Rau

Mark and I tried again, this time we drove to Cienaga Campground. We started hiking at 9:00 AM along Fish Creek. There are 4 crossings and recrossings, no problem, the water was low. We came to the magnificent oak and the mine (right side). There is a piece of rusty equipment left. We climbed down the bank to the creek, crossed the creek a last time and found the trail across real easily. To our surprise it had been clipped in the beginning, about ½ mile!! We had loppers along, but it was not necessary for us to clip. The trail is easy to follow, there are also ducks in some cases of doubt. We got to the saddle. This day was nice and cool, not hot as the previous time. Now we started up the steep ridge. It is really steep, lots of use or game trails and run-off gaps. This is a 900’ climb in about ½ mile, it is steep and difficult, but open, with cacti and low brush. We stayed to the right of the first outcrop, then switched over to the left side of the second one. The outcrops seem to run into each other at this point. Mark built a duck at the cross-over. Now it is just up to the peak, the USGS Marker and the can are at the second rock, where there is also a stake. The views are superb. Except the installations on Burnt Peak there is absolutely no sign of any human development. We were up at 12:00, left at 12:30. The way down was not any easier. I fell once, Mark 3 times. From the saddle Mark went ahead, I did some light clipping on the way down. We were down at the car at 4:00 PM.

Then Mark wanted to drive out the other way. There was little water in Fish creek and to our surprise the gate, that was locked the previous time, was open. We drove on. Then Mark did take a Forest Road to the left, he wanted to know where it went. It did go to Lake Castaic. He wanted to cross over there, but this is a Government Hydroelectric Facility, everything is fenced in and there is no way to cross. He asked some bikers, they said, there is no exit, except an ORV road. Mark drove on and on, we did not get anywhere, but got different views of Lake Castaic. Then we returned. The gate to the road was still locked, but on the right side some cars had broken through and it was easy to get to the main road. We drove to the freeway. Now it was 5:15, we went and ate a Tasty Burger at Lake Hughes Road, then Mark drove home. We were home at 7:30 PM, we had started 6:15 AM. The weather was great, it had rained the week before, still cool temperatures.

Red Rock Mountain

7-Dec-02

By: Luella Fickle

Report Scheduled Trip 12/7/02 Leaders: Asher Waxman, Luella Fickle

First: we should have the mountain spelled as it is on topo: Redrock Mtn. Second: Redrock Mtn is visible from Cienaga Campground. Both summits are in view and the lower named summit is on the left looking up canyon. Third: Finding the connector trail that leaves Fish Canyon at Piano Box. Sight Redrock Mtn from Cienaga Camp. Hike up Fish Canyon on old dirt road. At the first washout which is almost a mile up canyon, go into creek bed on left and see rusty gear box sticking out of middle of stream bed. Continue up canyon in creek bed for about 1000 yards. Stream makes big turn to right away from Redrock Mtn. Streight ahead is the old trail that goes over the saddle 3150. The first ten feet are washed out so there is a big step up out of the creek bed.

Fourth: Asher and I both saw Hugh Blanchard's "two outcroppings" as one. The formation is visible from Cienaga Camp and Saddle 3150. From Saddle 3150 notice that there is small pass that goes thru the outcropping. Hugh's trail goes up the divide from Saddle 3150. Stay to right of outcropping until one gets to this pass. There is a large duct at the pass where the trail crosses to the left side of the the outcropping. Hugh was on our hike so he set us straight.

10 people started and 10 people made the peak. We had several falls going down ridge but none serious. The fall color was beautiful. This hike could be difficult to impossible after a heavy rain.

Participants: HUGH BLANCHARD, DAN BUTLER, KATHY CHEEVER, WINNETTE BUTLER (no relation to Dan), ROBERT YOUNG, KYLE MCDONALD, BARBARA GUERIN, ERICH FICKLE.

Mount Russell

3-May-98

By: Gabriele Rue

2 1/2 m 900’ gain

We started early and arrived at Lake Perris before 8 AM. We parked at 11/12, none of the Ranger Personnel we asked knew where Mt. Russell is. We headed north, past a group campground, road, to an open dirt staging area (gate was open, parking possible) with a sign. There it said ‘Hunters Trail’ and hunting rules were posted on the sign. This road led to a horse trail, we took it east or right and followed it. We could see Mt. Russell with a telephone post on the side, near the peak. After 3 marked horsetrail posts we turned to the left cross country (white metal post and a very small ditch) and headed to the canyon between the two hills. Mt. Russell cannot be seen from here. We hiked up the left side of the canyon, but it is easier to go directly to the mouth of the canyon with 2 huge rocks, go on the left side of the left rock. Now it is climbing between rocks. It had rained and everything was wet, we got wet by walking through the tall weeds, mustard and many flowers. On the right side one can see 2 telephone poles. I think it is easier to stay close to the canyon. A good way up one can see a burnt telephone pole on the right. Somehow go directly to this pole, keep right and go up to a ridge. Sometimes one can see an old trail, built for the poles, mainly rocks placed in a line to simulate a trail. Follow this way up to the peak. There is a large flat rock to sit on, the benchmark has been pried off and I left a can. The hike down was easier, because we had come up more on the left side, Mark even tried to climb the west side, but the east side is much better and doable. This hike is quite brushy and it is not easy to find a way between rocks and brush. The view is excellent. The sun came out and dried my soaked pants, but everything had black fire marks and there a lots and lots of stickers (socks, shoes and pants).

We started at 7:50 and were down at 11:50, 4 hours with 2 rests.

Mount Russell

9-Nov-02

By: Gabriele Rue

Sierra Club LPC Hike

Gabriele Rau, Bart Bartlow Leaders

On Friday we had the first rain, it rained the first time 1” that day after a 604 days of draught. Who would go hiking on Saturday in this weather? At the rideshare it drizzled, but we had one hiker there, plus I knew a second one would be waiting for us at the trailhead. Both ‘needed’ this peak in order to finish the List. No trouble finding the trailhead. The park has changed their signs and now we start at a dirt dumping area near the group camping area. It was hunting season, one hunter was there. I ask him what he hunted for, because the area looks very desolate, dry and empty. He mentions rabbits, quails and doves. We show him the direction where we would be hiking and ask him not to shoot at us. The hike starts at the sign, soon we are on an old road and we can see clearly the canyon where we have to go up, including one telephone pole. At the highest point we leave the road and follow use trails to the mouth of the canyon. Huge rocks block the mouth, one can see a faint trail on the right side, but we take a slightly more used steep trail on the left. The ground is wet, but it is not raining, we all carry raingear in the packs. There is only dried-up and dead brush, nothing green, and one can see the use trail. After about ¼ mile we cross the canyon and take the right side use trail. Sometimes it disappears, sometimes it forks, we stay fairly low and pass two more telephone poles. There are some steep parts to this, but we can walk easily around the rocks. Now we see and soon pass the burnt 4. telephone pole and the old road behind it. This old road switchbacks up to the peak. We assume a power company built the road a long time ago, and now it is very deteriorated, but easy to hike. The summit, a pile of rocks with a metal rod, is easy to reach. The USGS marker has been removed by vandals, probably the USGS does not even know this. The view was fairly good, but the high mountain ranges were all in the clouds.

We follow our footsteps downhill, but somehow we take different trails, ending up at the same place at the mouth of the canyon. After 2 ½ hours we are back at the cars, still no rain! But it rains heavily on the way home. I have done this hike 4 years earlier in the spring, then it was a lot harder to find the trail among the green brush.

We discussed that this was not really an I-rated hike with all the use trails, but it does require some navigational skills finding the use-trails. Since we used our hand to hold on to some rock, we would call it overall a moderate class 2 hike.

Our two hikers were Luella Fickle and Barbara Guerin.

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Saddle Peak East

17-Feb-03

By: Dana Hunter

Most of the peaks in the Santa Monica Mountains have a great view on a clear day. Saddle Peak East is even more exceptional because you get great city, coastal and island views.

You will find the trailhead about 100 yards up the road from the mile marker mentioned in the write up. There is a sign for the Backbone Trail. Take this well worn path up to a fork. Stay to the left. The other path has a sign you can read from the oncoming direction. The trail switchbacks through lush chapparal. Halfway through the rock formations you come to another fork. Take the left. Follow the directions up to the peak. Saddle Peak West is the one with all the radio towers. We had some fantastic views of the Channel Islands, the South Bay, downtown L.A., and Malibu. The hikers on this trip unanimously agreed this was one of the better hikes on the list-nice stroll and great views. Still not feeling too bad? Head for Calabassas Peak-just down Stunt Road. Look for the gate with the road going uphill. The Peak is on the ridge to the left once you get to the top. There is a small enbankment that curves to left and up to the saddle before the Peak.

Santa Margarita Peak

14-Feb-96

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club Orange County Wednesday Hike

Walt Whisman and Charlotte Clark Leaders

Drive past Santa Rosa Plateau, continue on road. Road turns into Tenaja Road, follow this one. To the right a paved road leads (about 1 mile) to the Tenaja trailhead for fisherman’s camp, which is supposed to be a nice hike in spring (Poison ivy, flowers). Continue on Tenaja Road, the pavement ends. There is a crossing where it shows S801 right, S802 left w. two short arrows. This sign is wrong. Take left S802, even so the write-up tells of the 1 road. The next sign on the S802 road shows the correct marker S801. Continue on this road, several ranches, keep right, the road gets pretty bad. Truck or 4 wheel drive is needed. At the starting point (11.2 m) there is a trashcan and some parking. Go up the road to the left, really washed out. We build 2 big ducks where a use trail goes up on the right side, through brush. Follow to some kind of steep firebreak, very eroded. Mark this spot where you came out for the way down and follow the steep and crumbly fire break up as far as it can go, about a good mile. (about 1000’ gain). Then turn slightly left, and soon there is a washed out dirt road with views to Camp Pendelton. Follow this for about 200 ft (The first duck goes into the brush) to a duck to a use trail, about 500 feet to the top. On the top are rocks a metal tripod. Good views all around. Total: about 1.5 miles one way.

Santa Paula Peak

23-Jan-05

By: Coby King

Doug Gardner and I hiked Santa Paula Peak today. It was a good but strenuous hike marked with a little more adventure than we anticipated. Here are the highlights:

I called the day before to ask permission to cross as suggested in the Peak Guide. Was I glad I did! I spoke with Mrs. Diamond who was happy to grant permission. Just before I hang up, she asked “do you know the gate code?” I had no idea there was a gate or the need of the code. She gave me instructions on getting through the gate, which was invaluable because the gate is about 50 yards north of the 126, and thus it would have added many miles to the hike (assuming we could get past the gate on foot).

We got through without incident, and parked in the appropriate place, hiked past the house, and on up the fairly rutted road alongside an avocado grove. The road did not look passable for a truck, and there was a fairly fresh mudflow covering the road at one point. This will be a theme of this report. This was less than two weeks after the torrential rains that had caused the tragedy at La Conchita and the closures of roads throughout Southern California.

We hiked to the gate, and climbed over the barbed wire. From here the landscape changed, as the grove was replaced with massive coast live oaks. We could hear a rushing creek, and in fact rivulets ran down the road, which was becoming more like a trail. We hiked on, listening to and occasionally glimpsing the great creek, and finally came to where the main road turned west, but we were to continue north. The western road had been completely washed out by the creek, and it was clear there was no vehicle that could cross it.

We then hiked through a very wet area, and I was having visions of wet boots all day. The photo below does not do the creek justice. We quickly passed through this, though, and continued up the road, which soon switched back south up and around the main south ridge of the peak. At the high point of the road we mistakenly continued, until 15 minutes later realized that we needed to climb the ridge at that high point. We doubled back, but missed the trail (admittedly well-described in the peak guide). Instead we climbed straight up the ridge, and when we reached the top we found the trail. (I knew from the map we had missed the trail and would catch it on the way back.)

After that the trail was in good-to-excellent shape with two minor exceptions and two major ones. Soon after crossing the ridge we came to two minor mudslides, each of which was fairly easily negotiated. Around this time, we saw a group of five mule deer on the road below. Also, because of all the mud on that road, there were numerous animal tracks, including raccoon, mouse, deer, coyote and (I think) cat. However, much higher up the trail, after crossing over the head of a canyon to start switchbacking to the summit ridge, we found our way blocked by a major slide that had gouged a huge gap in the mountainside. The trail was completely gone, and in its place was a drop of about 5 feet to the gouge “floor.” We had to carefully pick our way across about 15 feet of very loose dirt and rocks, and then climb up out of the this new ravine back to the trail. It was not easy, but we did it without incident.

Because the trail is switchbacking at that point, we had to do it again a little later. Same story, made somewhat more interesting because we could see just a hundred yards or so up the ravine where the mountain had given way.

From there, the rest was just climbing to the summit. The trail marker for the summit use trail had been knocked down, but the trail was fairly obvious. The trail is pretty steep, include a slog over reddish talus. The summit is broad and gives a spectacular view 360 degrees, including the many streams of the Santa Clara River and a number of HPS and LPS peaks. The register can needs replacing.

It took us exactly 3 hours to negotiate the exactly 5 miles.

After a 40-minute break, we headed down. At the second (lower) ravine crossing, I slipped and slid about 10 feet, but stopped rather easily, suffering only some minor scrapes and a small but painful splinter in my thumb. As I expected, we found the correct trail from the ridge back to the road, and this pleasant trail added 2 tenths of a mile to our journey.

We returned without incident, taking 2½ hours to return, for a total mileage of 10.2 miles. One other note: Doug and I picked dozens of ticks off of our pants.

A great hike, but people should be prepared for the difficult ravine crossings.

Coby King

Encino

Silver Peak

31-May-03

By: Luella Fickle

Barbara Guerin and I climbed Silver Peak (1804) above Two Harbors May 31, 2003.

Notes: Lower Peak Hikers who can hike with a moderate pace would enjoy this peak as a day trip, if you are slow think about doing this as an overnight camp out at Two Harbors along with a day hike.

Barbara and I caught the 6:45 AM boat out of San Pedro and returned via 6:30 PM boat out of Two Harbors. We did the hike in six hours and twenty minutes. We had no wait to get the hiking permit from the Catalina Conservancy. The process took about 5 minutes. We were hiking out of Two Harbors by 9:25 AM we returned 3:45 PM. The hike begins on the road straight ahead of the Vistor's Center keep right around Catalina Harbor and in a mile turn northwest and begin a 3 mile 1700 gain climb up a jeep road to a road crest just under Granite Mtn. It took us 2 1/4 hours to go from Two Harbors to this crest. We made up time doing the mile 500 feet down hill to the Boushay Trail junction (none of the junctions are marked a map or two is very helpful along with the peak guide). Boushay Trail is another jeep road. We then climbed about 700 feet gain and another mile to the summit of Silver Peak. Catalina Conservancy maps says is 1804'. My topo map was metric so I'll agree. On the return we climbed Granite Mtn (1794') which is about 90' feet above the Silver Peak jeep trail. There are great views along the trail. We saw Island Oak, two kinds of maraposa, two kinds of lupine, Island poppy, Ironwood, and Yellow Stars. The Catalina Island Conservancy has a nice web page with a plant and animal list complete with pictures.

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Gaviota Peak, Valencia

17-Oct-99

By: Gabriele Rau

The drive home was uneventful, early. I liked both peaks. Carcamping these peaks is a good idea.

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Wilson Peak

15-Feb-03

By: Gabriele Rau

Lower Peaks Hike, Gabriele Rau and Luella Fickle

What a great desert peak hike! The weather could not have been better, a few days after rains and now sunny and clear. Seven hikers met at North Orange County rideshare for the long drive to the desert, but the long drive was worth it. We had two 4WD vehicles. A 4WD is a MUST for the 3 miles of very poor dirtroad. After passing Warner Springs, take S2 to the left, after 4.7 miles at a Y-crossing take S22 to the left, leading into Anza Borego State Park. At milepost 10.4 an inconspicuous dirt road leads right, along the main road is a small sign ‘Culp Valley Road‘. The dirt road immediately dips down, than flattens out. Very often you can see campers ahead to your right on two large turn arounds. Continue past the campers, then take the right road. There are several short spurs, keep on the main road. Sometimes this main road splits, take the one that looks better or easier for your car, these splits meet again shortly. After 3 miles of a very bumpy ride you see a small turn around on your left side, and a sign: ‘Wilson Trail‘. Start hiking on the trail, it is hard to believe that this was once a road. There are interesting rock formations on both sides of the trail, it was too early for flowers, but it was green. The rather moist sand was easy to walk on, there was a silence and tranquility hard to imagine. There are several ups and downs, none of them very long. We got to the ducks, I wanted to go up to the summit, but Erich thought climbing the back side would be easier. So we tried this, there was no problem and we soon got to the peak. We had lunch and we identified most of the peaks we could see. Luella sure knows her peaks! Then we climbed down the other way, which was ducked very nicely. The way back took us longer than anticipated, nobody realized that we had hiked such a long distance in the morning!

Participants were Erich Fickle, Laura Franciosi, Charlotte Gulsby, Mark Hodgson, Linda Landau. Thanks to Luella for assisting!

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Mount Yale

16-Nov-02

By: Gabriele Rau

Sierra Club Lower Peaks Hike

Gabriele Rau and Ron Jones, Leaders

The Angeles National Forest had been closed because of extreme fire danger for 46 days, now it just opened again. This was one of the first hikes, a few days after opening. At La Canada Rideshare a K-9 group also met, some people did not know with which group to go: either with the dogs or to get an education at Yale. We had a total of eleven hikers, a good group. We drove to Mt. Wilson Sky Park gate and started our hike here, on the old Mt. Wilson Toll Road. This road has had several severe rock falls in the last few years, no car could pass. We passed Harvard and came to the spot where one has to climb the very steep slope. Everybody looked skeptically, but everybody made it up fine. The slope was sandy and wet, easy to get to the use trail. The use trail was trimmed and fairly open and in a few minutes we were on the peak. This was an exceptionally clear day, light Santa Ana conditions and the views were outstanding. We could clearly see downtown, the ocean, all the peaks on Catalina, San Jacinto, San Gorgonio and some peaks in Los Padres NF. Ron related the story years ago, when the smog was even worse, a couple moved to Pasadena and after 6 month finally realized they had mountains behind their house! They had not known this, never seen them before. We all got our ‘summit degree’ from Yale. One young couple checked out and left, we hiked down a little later and a little slower. But soon we were at our cars, and to our surprise the couple was still there, on the phone. They had lost their car key!! But they already talked the dealer into bringing them another key (it was a new car) up to Mt. Wilson. I hope we all learn from this, not a good experience.

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