Brown Mountain & Bear Canyon Loop Dec 20, 2008

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:02 pm

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 1:43 pm

JMunaretto wrote:TR Here

Great report! That's cool that you got into Bear canyon. It looks gorgeous in there.

Any more pics of the tracks you found??

That shortcut trail down to Oakwilde is pretty handy, huh?

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:50 pm

cougarmagic wrote: Great report! That's cool that you got into Bear canyon. It looks gorgeous in there.

Any more pics of the tracks you found??

That shortcut trail down to Oakwilde is pretty handy, huh?

Yes it's pretty convenient. I think I'll use it to check out royal gorge and do a loop at some point.

Sorry I only took that one photo. That print was the most clear of the track. The tracks were heading north to south (up from bear canyon side), over a small saddle about 1/4 mile west of Tom Sloane saddle.

Post by **HikeUp** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:39 pm

Cool TR. Sorry now that I couldn't make it out there this weekend.

How would you compare the west ridge of Brown to the ascent of Rattlesnake?

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:22 am

Nice TR. Looks like some good hiking. I like the route you chose, forming a loop from Oakwilde. In terms of going N or S from Tom Sloane Saddle, I think you picked the better route. The Arroyo Seco below Switzer Falls is a neat place as is Bear Canyon. One of my first backpacks after getting out of the army was Brown Mtn via Bear Canyon, staying at the trail camp in Bear Canyon. Good stuff!

EnFuego · Post by **EnFuego** » Mon Dec 22, 2008 9:04 pm

Nice TR and very nice pics. Looks like a beautiful loop I would like to try someday. Maybe in the early spring. How long did your hike take?

JMunaretto · Post by **JMunaretto** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:04 am

HikeUp wrote: How would you compare the west ridge of Brown to the ascent of Rattlesnake?

Steeper. A little more brush. Not as long.

Hikin_Jim wrote:Nice TR. Looks like some good hiking. I like the route you chose, forming a loop from Oakwilde. In terms of going N or S from Tom Sloane Saddle, I think you picked the better route. The Arroyo Seco below Switzer Falls is a neat place as is Bear Canyon. One of my first backpacks after getting out of the army was Brown Mtn via Bear Canyon, staying at the trail camp in Bear Canyon. Good stuff!

Yeah for some reason I thought I heard before that the trail up to Tom Sloan saddle was in poor condition, but that clearly was not the case. A very nice trail I'll take again in the future. Opens up a whole range of loop opportunities.

EnFuego wrote:Nice TR and very nice pics. Looks like a beautiful loop I would like to try someday. Maybe in the early spring. How long did your hike take?

~ 7 hours. We were pretty quick up to Brown, but slow across the ridge to Tom Sloan saddle since there was a bunch of snow. Completing the loop was another 8 miles but mostly downhill, probably took about 3 hours for that portion.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:24 am

JMunaretto wrote:
Yes it's pretty convenient. I think I'll use it to check out royal gorge and do a loop at some point.

I've been through Royal Gorge...we nicknamed it Royal Pain though. It's pretty, but it's about 4 miles of walking on bowling ball rocks covered in leaves. Very stumbly and tough going.

Thanks for the location of the tracks!

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:33 am

JMunaretto wrote:Yeah for some reason I thought I heard before that the trail up to Tom Sloan saddle was in poor condition, but that clearly was not the case.

The Tom Sloan Trail to Alpine Tavern is reportedly in bad shape, but the trail down from Tom Sloan Saddle to Bear Can. is in decent shape. Actually, though, I wonder just how bad of shape the Tom Sloane Trail is in. I took the trail after it was long abandoned in the 80's before restoration work was done in the 90's. The last prior maintenance was probably done in the 30's. It was a brushy pain with a lot of yucca, but it was passable, certainly far better than a true bushwhack. Supposedly, it's been let go again, but this time it's only had 10 years to deteriorate. Just speculating. Haven't been on it for some years.

JMunaretto wrote:A very nice trail I'll take again in the future. Opens up a whole range of loop opportunities.

Definitely. You can get to Tom Sloan Saddle a variety of ways:
1. From Sunset Canyon Fire Road (or Millard CG) via the upper Dawn Mine Trail
2. From Sunset Canyon Fire Road (or Millard CG) via the lower Dawn Mine Trail
3. From Sunset Canyon Fire Road (or Millard CG) via the Tom Sloane Trail
4. From Red Box via Mt. Disappointment (with optional side trip to SG Pk). You can do a nice loop starting at Red Box.
5. From Eaton Saddle (from here, one can do a nice moderate hike of about 8 - 10 miles that ends at the Switzer Pic Nic Area).
6. From the top of Lake Ave via the Sam Merrill and Tom Sloane Trails.
7. From Henninger Flats Via the Idlehour and Tom Sloane Trails.
8. From the Arroyo Seco starting at a variety of trailheads:
Switzer Picnic area
Twin Canyon
Gould Mesa
West end of Altadena Dr.
Gabrieleno Trailhead on Windsor at Ventura.

cougarmagic · Post by **cougarmagic** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 9:44 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote:Actually, though, I wonder just how bad of shape the Tom Sloane Trail is in.

I hiked that section (went from Eaton Saddle to Switzer via Mt Lowe East trail, Tom Sloan, Bear Canyon, etc) a couple of years ago, and it was tough. Some bad washouts and tons of thick brush. But the bad sections were mercifully short, and there were nice views across the canyon. It's interesting from an historical perspective, too. That's a very very old trail. I heard the Mt Lowe trail crew did some work there recently with a Boy Scout troop, so it could be nice now. Worth a look - maybe just bring some loppers to help you through the brush.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:36 pm

Cool. I might do just that (bring loppers).