Pacifico Mountain 5/3/08

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Sun May 04, 2008 5:49 am

Hiked to the top of Pacifico Mountain on Saturday via the PCT. Weather was nice with a small breeze at times. Found a large tongue of snow filling one of the gullies on the north side. A bit icy, but no problem to get over.
I was surprised to find a number of trucks at the top, with most of the camping spots taken. The road from Mill Creek Summit is still closed, so they must have driven in from the Chilao area.
Met Mars Bonfire (with a group) about 1 mile away when coming back. For those of you who don't know who he is; He is a prolific hike leader that has completed the HPS list some 13 times. That's ~275 peaks climbed 13 times! Oh, he also co-founded the rock band, "Steppenwolf" and wrote, "Born To Be Wild". Quite an amazing guy.
For a usually isolated trail, I also saw a runner & another hiker up there.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Sun May 04, 2008 8:28 am

Hey Terry, I read a trip report on the internet about a guy that went to Iron Mountain. He said he saw on the register somebody he knew of that was associated with some rock band. And that he had written down something like 18x for Iron. I tried to re find that TR but can't. Sounds like it has to be that guy to me. Does HPS mean Hundred Peak Section?

Post by **Taco** » Sun May 04, 2008 11:05 am

FIGHT ON wrote:Does HPS mean Hundred Peak Section?

Yep.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Sun May 04, 2008 1:48 pm

FIGHT ON wrote: Sounds like it has to be that guy to me.

Probably was him. Although he has finished the HPS list 13 times, I think he has some peaks with more ascents than 13. I don't think he writes up many of his hikes; he let's co-leaders do that if they want to.
If you google his name, it has a bunch of info on him.

Here's a link to the HPS site.

http://angeles.sierraclub.org/hps/

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon May 05, 2008 10:52 am

Terry Morse wrote:Hiked to the top of Pacifico Mountain on Saturday via the PCT. Weather was nice with a small breeze at times. Found a large tongue of snow filling one of the gullies on the north side. A bit icy, but no problem to get over.
I was surprised to find a number of trucks at the top, with most of the camping spots taken. The road from Mill Creek Summit is still closed, so they must have driven in from the Chilao area.

Don't think you can come in from Chilao anymore. BIG washout on the road just past Alder Saddle (since 2005?). You can walk around the washout, but even that is rough for people with a fear of heights.

Terry Morse wrote:Met Mars Bonfire (with a group) about 1 mile away when coming back. For those of you who don't know who he is; He is a prolific hike leader that has completed the HPS list some 13 times. That's ~275 peaks climbed 13 times! Oh, he also co-founded the rock band, "Steppenwolf" and wrote, "Born To Be Wild". Quite an amazing guy.
For a usually isolated trail, I also saw a runner & another hiker up there.

275 peaks, 13 times. At one peak per day, that's about 10 years worth of hiking.

I want his job.

desk-boundily yours,

HJ

Augie · Post by **Augie** » Mon May 05, 2008 4:16 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote:275 peaks, 13 times. At one peak per day, that's about 10 years worth of hiking.

I want his job.

desk-boundily yours,

HJ

I wrote that Iron TR where I mentioned having seen Mars' name with his astronomical number of ascents in the register. As a matter of fact, I was on #5 of Five Fingers in the Southern Sierra yesterday and saw his register entry as 15x. His job is collecting royalties from having written "Born to be Wild." So he has time to hike. I've heard a demo of Born to be Wild" where he sang the lead; he shopped that demo around for awhile before his former band, Steppenwolf, decided to record it. Mars is one of the nicest guys in the world.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Mon May 05, 2008 5:45 pm

Augie wrote:His job is collecting royalties from having written "Born to be Wild."

I'm likin' that job!

Augie wrote: Mars is one of the nicest guys in the world.

Very cool.

Even with time on one's hands, his numbers are WAY impressive. Be fun to hike with him some time -- if I could begin to keep up!

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:48 am

[/quote] Be fun to hike with him some time -- if I could begin to keep up![/quote]

A lot of his hike leads are in the Sierra Club Schedule or on the HPS site. As strange as it may seem, he doesn't run up these mountains either. Many of his hikes are listed as moderate or an easy pace. I just think he has accumulated so many ascents because he is so consistant in his peakbagging. Probably doesn't take many days off from hiking.

Terry Morse · Post by **Terry Morse** » Tue May 06, 2008 5:58 am

Here's an example of one of Mars' future leads; many more on HPS site.

Jun 21 Sat Hundred Peaks
Rescheduled from June 14
I: Pine Mountain #1 (9648'), Dawson Peak (9576'): Strenuous and dangerous hike along narrow, steep, loose, and rocky ridge for 5-3/4 miles round trip with 2809' of gain to two peaks north of Mt. Baldy in the San Gabriel Mtns. Suitable only for experienced and agile hikers. High clearance 4WD advised. Slow pace. Call Mars (661-609-8218) during four days before event for status and details. Leaders: MARS BONFIRE, KATHY CHEEVER

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:41 pm

Terry Morse wrote:Strenuous and dangerous hike

Doesn't pull any punches, does he? Still, not ultra hard core (they're not doing Baldy or doing the loop through Fish Fork). Sounds like a good guy to hike with.

FIGHT ON · Post by **FIGHT ON** » Tue May 06, 2008 2:22 pm

It's all starting to make sense to me now. All coming together. All you people like to hike!

Augie · Post by **Augie** » Tue May 06, 2008 3:44 pm

Hikin_Jim wrote:
Terry Morse wrote:Strenuous and dangerous hike
Doesn't pull any punches, does he? Still, not ultra hard core (they're not doing Baldy or doing the loop through Fish Fork). Sounds like a good guy to hike with.

I'm frankly surprised to see the word "dangerous" in there. I've never seen it in any other Sierra Club outing description and that includes outings which are rated "E" for expert only such as steep couloir snow climbs in the Sierra. This one is rated "I" which basically means that it involves some cross-country. Be that as it may, I'm thinking of going on that one because of the route. If I do, I'll let you know if "dangerous" fits in any sense.

Post by **Hikin_Jim** » Tue May 06, 2008 4:27 pm

Augie wrote:
Hikin_Jim wrote:
Terry Morse wrote:Strenuous and dangerous hike
Doesn't pull any punches, does he? Still, not ultra hard core (they're not doing Baldy or doing the loop through Fish Fork). Sounds like a good guy to hike with.
I'm frankly surprised to see the word "dangerous" in there. I've never seen it in any other Sierra Club outing description and that includes outings which are rated "E" for expert only such as steep couloir snow climbs in the Sierra. This one is rated "I" which basically means that it involves some cross-country. Be that as it may, I'm thinking of going on that one because of the route. If I do, I'll let you know if "dangerous" fits in any sense.

He may just be trying to scare off the non-serious hikers. Assuming he's doing the standard route from the road along Blue Ridge, it's not THAT bad. Definitely not for those with acrophobia.