Magic Mountain via Soledad Cyn

[David R]

I had wanted to hike Magic Mountain but had little interest in a long fire road hike from Little TJ. I had noticed on the topo what appeared to be a trail that started off Soledad Canyon and climbed the ridge separating Bear and Pole Canyon. Like many trails on topo I had no clue as far as the condition of a trail that I had zero beta on anyone hiking.

I reached the start of the ridge which starts from the Santa Clara riverbed. There was an obvious fire road that began climbing steeply up the side of Bear Canyon. For those that are into mines just as you start up this old road there is a barred mine easily accessible. This fire road had essentially become a footpath but seemed to be used by locals and was in decent shape as it switched back steeply up the canyon.

As it started to reach the main ridge the trail switched over to the Pole Canyon side of the ridge. This section from the river was quite steep gaining about 1,300 feet in a little under two miles. As you finish hiking out of the steep climb onto the ridge views began to open to the south and you can see the installation on top of Magic Mountain. This section of trail has seen much less evidence of human activity but fortunately most of the vegetation was relatively low and there was minimal brush to contend with.

The ridge proper is a delight and it appeared that the hike to Magic Mtn. would now be a fun ramble to the top as the trail slowly climbs further along. Along the way an even older fire road from Pole Canyon intersected with the current trail then leaves it and meets up with it again further on. As you get higher on the ridge a disturbing sight starts to make itself known, a very steep firebreak to the south. Sure enough the pleasant fire road ends abruptly and a steep fire break takes its place. For all practical purposes the trail looks the same but the hiking takes a turn for the steeper.

This firebreak follows the top of the ridge directly and like many ridges has lots of roller coaster action of steep ups and downs. The high point of this ridge prior to climbing Magic Mtn. led to two discoveries. The first most of the firebreak climbing I had just done was going to be lost as there is a shallow saddle that you need to drop down 400 feet prior to climbing Magic Mtn. The second was that the firebreak starts up the final climb but then it disappears in the brush, was I going to have a brushfest to climb the final section?

I zipped down the disheartening drop to the saddle and started up the steep climb to the peak. Sure enough the trail started getting rougher and more brushy. The positive was even though there was brush to deal with, it was short in duration, a couple of pushes through and the trail opened up again. It did make for a challenging descent as the brush was very high and looking at certain sections it appeared like the trail ended abruptly so remember the brushy sections for your return. The peak is a bit shy as you keep on climbing and there appears to be another steep climb after another. Finally you reach the main dirt road and are only about 100 yards west of the actual peak. The top has an installation and two ugly water towers that are covered with graffiti. Some people also left a couple of sofas up here which is very courteous of them but I would've also liked a TV and some corn chips. I circled the installation to take in the view to the south which was quite hazy but a really nice spot to chill out at. The hike up took about 2:15 and I was able to field a cell phone call from the top which surprised me a bit.

From there I took the same route back which other then the fire break climbs back up, was quite a bit faster then the ascent. I was also fortunate with the recent rains as the steep climb downs were soft dirt and much easier to negotiate if it had been baked hard, like it usually is. I got back to the car in 4.5 hours not seeing a single soul during my hike. There were two cars at my parking area with one who had driven directly into the Santa Clara River. The elevation gain was surprisingly significant at about 3,600 feet elevation gain in about 11 miles quite similar to Rattlesnake. I was pleased that a hike that was so questionable based on what I knew, turned out to work out so nicely, definitely a nice winter hike opportunity.

[mattmaxon]

Hey cool! I did this on 10/31/2010!

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=869710

I also rode up to Magic Mtn today from Bear divide

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/692925676

So those fresh Mtn Bike tracks where mine...