Mt. Islip Snow Hike - 4/15/12

We were grossly deprived of snow this year in these stubbornly dry San Gabriel Mountains and only got in a grand total of two snow hikes over the course of this 2011-2012 winter season... until last week when Tlaloc finally decided to grace us with the snow storm we were so desperately awaiting.

We were planning to revisit Mt. Baden Powell to get our last glimpse of snow before it all melted, and we were expecting the usual measly few inches of snow that we've gotten used to over the last few months.

Our hike started out at the ever-crowded Crystal Lake Campground and as soon as we stepped out of the car, it was time for the microspikes. (And time for the better-prepared among us to grab the snow shoes and ice axe.) We slowly made our way through the campground to the Windy Gap trailhead to get the snow party started. The ranger manning the parking lot warned us that we wouldn't make it to Baden Powell with our minimal gear, but we scoffed in his naive face and continued on our journey.

We were planning on bagging Throop, Hawkins, Burnham, and Baden Powell, but it quickly became obvious that naive parking lot ranger was right. Our new destination was now Windy Gap to Mt. Islip.

Sal to the rescue

We tried to follow the Windy Gap Trail, which is aggressively maintained by the good folks who volunteer with the San Gabriel Mountain Trailbuilders, but it was buried under several feet of snow and nowhere to be found. We ended up on a steep chute that wouldn't have been possible to cross without our well-equipped hiking buddy creating a trail with his snowshoes and ice axe.

After an exhaustingly steep half mile, we ended up at the saddle between Hawkins and Islip. From there, we descended another half mileish and found an unusually frosty Windy Gap. Another strenuous mile and we were on top of Mt. Islip where we were greeted by a pair of crazy peakbaggers checking out the crazy spectacular views. It's only 8250', but isolated enough to show you some amazing shit.

The descent involved lots of glissading, self-arresting and post-holing, and we finally made it back to the campground. Farewell, San Gabriel Mountain snow. Until next year.

Up to the saddle

Islip summit

Amazing shit

Mt. Wilson via Bastard Ridge - 4/7/12 (with cameos by Jones Peak, Hastings Peak and Mt. Yale)

We tried climbing Mt. Wilson from The Mt. Wilson Trail once a few months ago. We reached the summit and it was enjoyable.  But in the interest of avoiding insanity by climbing the same trail repeatedly, we took a very different and much more exciting route this time. (The quote doesn't really apply to hiking though; climbing the same mountain over and over again will always yield different results, e.g. Mt. Baldy Ski Hut Trail <3 <3 <3)

Bastard Ridge Trail

Start out at the Mt. Wilson Trailhead off of Mira Monte Ave. in Sierra Madre and continue on the Mt. Wilson Trail for about a mile, keeping an eye out for a very steep but obvious use trail going straight up Bastard Ridge (Yes this is the real name. No we didn't make it up.) toward Jones Peak. It's just under a mile from the start of the ridge up to Jones and the elevation gain is about 1700'. Bastard Ridge continues to be a bastard for a few more miles, but after summiting Jones Peak, you're past the toughest part.

The trail gets a bit overgrown in spots, but it's pretty hard to lose the route since you're just sticking to the ridge the whole way. After climbing down the North side of Jones, continue up the ridge straight ahead instead of turning left for the Bailey Canyon Trail. About another mile (and less than 1000' of gain) and you'll end up on Hastings Peak.

Continue on the ridge for another 3/4 of a mile or so. As you look ahead toward the Mt. Wilson Toll Road, you'll see only one option for climbing up to the road. It looks like it'd be impossible to climb without a rope, but it's not quite as steep as it looks and we discovered that it is indeed possible, albeit steep as hell.

The trail leading to the toll road

The trail to Mt. Yale

The trail gets a bit less exciting once you reach the toll road. Follow the fire road around Mt. Yale until you get to the Northwest side of the mountain where you'll see something that looks semi-climbable. It's a short ascent up to the peak and it's your last chance for solitude before you rejoin the Mt. Wilson Trail. From the bottom of Mt. Yale, you have about 2 miles and only about 1000' of gain left to go until you reach the summit of Mt. Wilson.

Once you get to the top, you not only have the opportunity to feel superior to the suckers who drove up, but you're also way cooler than all of the people who took one of the four established Mt. Wilson trails. You added three bonus peaks to your hike and cut about a mile and a half off the ascent. So give your hiking partner a well-deserved pat on the butt and feel proud of your accomplishment.

Downtown LA from Jones Peak

Mt. Yale, Mt. Harvard, Mt. Wilson from Bastard Ridge

Los Angeles from the Mt. Wilson Toll Road

Baldy Snow Hike - Bear Canyon Trail - 11/13/11

The Narrows

Our longest standing peakbagging goal is to climb Mt. Baldy from every direction possible. Bear Canyon is usually considered the hardest of the established trails (~13 miles, 5800' gain) so it's been on our list for a long time. After spending several months looking forward to the first snow hike of the year, we finally had our opportunity. We picked a post-storm weekend that was predicted to be clear and went for it, knowing there was a chance storm clouds could turn us away. 

We got through most of the hike without seeing much snow on the trail and we were getting worried our spikes wouldn't even be necessary. In the final few miles, a group of unprepared hikers ahead of us had to turn back and we knew we were finally coming up on some deep snow. Our spikes were definitely helpful for the end of the hike, but they probably weren't completely necessary. The trail wasn't quite what we were expecting; it was more like Gorgonio--less strenuous than we'd heard with some steep sections and an uncharacteristically easy summit push. Surprisingly, we did see a few people at the summit: a few first-timers coming from the Ski Hut Trail and a couple of well-prepared veterans from the Devil's Backbone.

Just like the previous few hikes, we got started at least 30 minutes too late and ended up hiking in complete darkness. Bear Canyon has to be one of the worst trails to be on after sundown. It's completely deserted and dark and forested--a perfect place for mountain lions to attack. Start this one earlier than 8am in the Fall/Winter just to be safe. 

Not much else to say about this one except that we did end up seeing plenty of non-threatening clouds and wound up with the best pictures we've ever gotten in the San Gabriels. Check this shit out.

Baden-Powell hiding behind clouds

The Ocean from Baldy

(Big) Iron Mountain (#1) - 10/23/11

According to John Robinson, author of Trails of the Angeles, "Iron Mountain is the biggest douchebag in the San Gabriels...you have to start really fucking far away and there isn't even a trail."* Iron Mountain turned us away back in February and we've been pining for it ever since. It's one of those mountains that will reject you and then lay on an incessant irresistible charm until you return for another attempt. And once you've bagged Iron, you'll be tormented by this cocky mountain for your entire hike of shame back to the trailhead. Then when you get back home and check out your pictures of all the sexy views from the summit, you'll forget about the bad times hiking this asshole and you'll want to go back to bag it another time, fully aware that you'll be treated like a filthy mountain hussy yet again.

 

Iron Mountain's southeast ridge

We didn't want to attempt to climb Iron in the Summer as it starts out around 2000' and most of the hike is on an exposed ridge, and we didn't want to wait until the Winter when the days get too short since we'd heard of hikers spending around 12 hours on the trail. We kept an eye on the weather forecast and went for it on a day predicted to be clear but hot. As much as we've enjoyed our two night hikes, we weren't excited about having to climb Iron Mountain in the dark, so we planned to get there right around sunrise, hoping we could finish before sunset. 

Because of its reputation as the hardest single peak to bag in the San Gabriels, ballsy hikers are always blustering on about breaking their record times hiking Iron Mountain, while even experienced hikers are happy to complete it within daylight hours. 

Heaton Flat Trail (the calm before the storm)

On our first attempt, we started way too late and weren't really expecting to summit. We only got about half a mile past Allison/Coldwater/Heaton Saddle and reached our turn around time so we only got a small taste of the really steep part of the climb. In my memory, this final section of the trail was at least class 2, but after the most recent trip, I guess I'd agree that it's class 1, even though there are some spots that I'd consider class 2 (which is especially noticeable on the return trip).


On a weekday in February, the trail was understandably empty. After our first attempt, we read a considerable number of trip reports so we were expecting to see at least a few people on a clear Sunday in October, but we were definitely the only people around. We didn't see any bears or mountain lions either, but they left plenty of evidence of their close proximity all over the trail. In the forested area right before the saddle, we heard a large animal rustling around, fortunately lacking the characteristic stealth and aggressiveness of a mountain lion. Unfortunately, we didn't spot the bear that saw us, and we thankfully didn't see any of the mountain lions that were surely aware of and annoyed by our presence on their mountain

Iron Mountain has been called lots of things, but a disappointment isn't one of them. It might not be the highest peak around (8,007') but it's so isolated that it every time you turn around on the trail you see rows and rows of ridges that you've never seen before even though you've done dozens of hikes on trails just a few miles away. 

Pine, Dawson, and Baldy

Just like with most of the hardest hikes, the summit of Iron Mountain rewards you with incredible views in absolutely every direction. If you weren't so exhausted from the first 7.5 miles and ready to get started on the dreaded descent, you'd want to just stay up there and turn around slowly until you've seen everything there is to see from Iron. As usual, don't bother giving yourself a foolish pat on the back once you reach the summit; the descent is harder than the ascent. You only gain about 600' on the way back (for a total of around 7000'), but you realize how steep the ascent was when you're trying desperately not to go flying down the trail as you slip helplessly on all the loose soil. I should point out that self-arresting is much harder in sand than in the snow.

Once we finally passed the hardest part of the hike and got back to the saddle, we made sure to make as much noise as possible to avoid surprising any angry lions or bears and kicked up the speed to make sure we got back before dark. We did run in spots, but as smart people might point out, running is not a good way to avoid confrontations with mountain lions since running humans look strikingly similar to running deer, through the eyes of those silly deadly lions.

*I'm paraphrasing.

Mt. Baldy Night Hike via Devil's Backbone - 10/15/11

Winter is an exciting time for peakbaggers--it opens up new possibilities and makes old hikes new again. We may have bagged most of the peaks in the San Gabriels, but we haven't done many of them in the snow yet, so this winter we'll be dusting off our crampons and ice axes and discovering a whole new San Gabriel Mountains.

While we wait for the mountains to get frosted, we've started another idiotic hiking activity: night hiking! We got a taste of it on Mt. Whitney and we've been itching to try it again since. It seemed like it'd be a good idea to start with a mountain we're familiar with, and the mountain we've climbed the most is good ol' Baldy.

There are group full moon hikes on Mt. Baldy where they hike the Devil's Backbone Trail to Baldy Notch and party at the restaurant up there. That sounded cute and all, but why not continue on to the top of Baldy?

The Ski Hut Trail requires some route finding and that wouldn't be fun at night so we went with the Devil's Backbone. We also figured the mountain lions would appreciate us staying out of their territory after dark. The plan was to start in the evening and summit in time for sunset, but we started late and only got to the Notch by the time the sun started setting.

Hiking at night wasn't nearly as creepy as I was expecting. We ran into two groups of hikers descending as we were making our way up. In some ways, the dark makes it less scary; since you can't see the deadly drops on either side of the Backbone, there's no reason to believe they're even still there.


This was my first time ascending the Devil's Backbone and the summit push was actually a little bit harder than I was expecting, and it didn't help that it was also windy and freezing. The view of the city lights from the top was amazing and different, but it wasn't the relaxing summit party I'm used it. There were three tents up there so we weren't completely alone, but we still had the cold to deal with, along with the darkness making it difficult to tell how far we were from the edge.

We got back down to the Notch just as the restaurant was closing, so there were still a few people left on the mountain. We were definitely the only humans hiking on the fire road headed back to Manker Flats however. The rustling of large animals in the trees off the trail was starting to freak us out so we did some speed hiking all the way back to the car.  Maybe those competitive hikers who do Baldy in 2 hours only do it because they think the mountain lions are coming for them.

Matti's pics.

Mt. Hollywood, Mt. Bell, Mt. Chapel, Mt. Lee, Cahuenga Peak - 10/12/11

We took an unexpected day off during the recent hot spell and instead of spending it inside our nice cool Westside apartment, we headed to Griffith Park to bag some Santa Monica peaklets in the 100 degree weather. In addition to the five we climbed, there are a few other nearby peaks that we would've been able to include on a cooler day or if we'd started earlier: Beacon Hill, Glendale Peak, Burbank Peak and Bee Rock.  

Griffith Observatory and Downtown LA

The air wasn't quite as clear as last weekend, but the peaklings still provided us with some impressive views of Los Angeles and the ocean to the south, the San Fernando Valley to the north, the baby mountains to the west, and our San Gabriel mountains to the northeast.

Los Angeles

The trail is a runner-friendly fire road that starts out at the Observatory parking lot. Each peak requires you to leave the fire road and take a short but steep and slippery use trail to the summit, so it's possible to skip some of the peaks if five is too many. None of the trails are marked, so we ended up on an unnamed sixth peak (the one just west of Mt. Hollywood), thinking it was Mt. Bell. Some of the ascents were actually mildly strenuous, but it didn't really feel like a true peakbagging experience what with the film crew on top of Mt. Hollywood and the cars driving by on the road to Mt. Lee.

Downtown LA

Mt. Lee and Cahuenga Peak were my favorite of the bunch. Even though the "hike" to Mt. Lee is on a paved road and most of the summit is fenced off to protect the radio towers, it's exciting to get so close to the Hollywood sign after seeing it from the city for so many years. Cahuenga Peak was the only one that really felt like a hike, as it was steeper, longer, more isolated, and about 100' higher than the other four.

The Hollywood sign from Mt. Lee

Even on such a hot day with plenty of water breaks, the entire hike only took us around three hours. If you really wanted to, you could knock out all of the peaks in and around Griffith Park in one day and you'd never have to go back, but I think the views are good enough that I'd go back on a cooler day in the winter when the haze is gone and the San Gabriels are snow-covered. Standing on the minipeaks, Downtown LA is right in front of you, a unique perspective that you don't get from any other hike. As much as I love hiking in the San Gabriels, they're also great to look at, and the Griffith Park peaks are the perfect place to go to admire them.

San Gabriel Mountains

Arlington Peak - 10/2/11

Recently we've started coming to terms with the limited number of San Gabriel Mountain peaks, and the fact that we will run out at some point. So to avoid acknowledging the inevitable, we've started venturing out into other areas. Our last four hikes have been in four different mountain ranges: Mt. Whitney in the Sierra Nevada, The Three T's in the good old San Gabriel Mountains, San Gorgonio in the San Bernardino Mountains, and most recently, Arlington Peak in the Santa Ynez Mountains (Santa Barbara).

This was our first time peakbagging in the Santa Ynez Mountains and we weren't expecting too much since the highest point is under 5000' and its proximity to the ocean reminded us a little too much of the Santa Monicas (aka The Baby Mountains).

The Dragon's Back starts out easy enough on the popular Tunnel Trail before you leave the fire road and cross over Mission Creek and start gaining some elevation. There are some fun class 2 spots right off the bat and you quickly get started on the (almost) 3000' of total gain over these 2.5 miles to the peak.

Mission Creek

The really steep section starts about a mile into the hike. For some reason, the day we went it was unbearably hot and we actually considered turning back because the stupid sun was relentless and wouldn't stop squishing my head. Just under half a mile later, after a short stretch of class 3 reminiscent of the Clouds Rest summit push, we came to a nice flat rest spot where we took a break and decided we felt good enough to continue.

Starting the steep part

There is no trail the rest of the way, but there were plenty of other people ahead of us who seemed to know what they were doing so we followed them and when they got too far ahead of us, we followed their footprints. The remainder of the hike is mostly class 2 with a little bit of class 3 mixed in just to piss you off.

Almost the entire hike goes along an open ridge, which gives you plenty of opportunities for unobstructed views of the ocean and the Channel Islands. This also means that you're stuck in the sun for the majority of the hike, but there are a few large boulders along the trail that you can duck behind to escape the heat.

When we got to the summit, we considered continuing on to Cathedral and La Cumbre Peak to make a loop back to the trailhead and avoiding having to climb back down all those rocks (descending class 3 is much scarier than ascending), but based on the map we had, it would have added at least another 5 miles to our hike and we weren't prepared for the extra mileage.

On the way back, we came across a few drops that could have meant the end of our ankles, so we ended up backtracking a bit. It's best to look around for an alternate route rather than rush down this dangerous section of the trail.

La Cumbre Peak

Arlington Peak

We were planning on returning on the same route we took to the summit, but at some point we left the trail and had to descend a very steep and slippery trail straight down into the canyon. We ended up at the top of Seven Falls and the only safe way to get through it at that point was to jump into three separate pools and swim through them to get out. Luckily, there were several friendly beer drinking college students hanging out there who helped us keep our packs dry.