(Sorry, shaky in the beginning with the wind, smoother after)
I’ve always been intrigued by the sharp ridgeline running south to north right along Mt. Baldy road, just south east of the firestation. I scrambled up it once in the past, just to look around, but didn’t get to actually hike the trail. Came across this link on SummitPost
(http://www.summitpost.org/stoddard-peak/282203), which describes taking the ridge to Peak 4324, then following it to Stoddard Peak. Armed with this knowledge, I took the opportunity to hike this ridge.
The trail starts near an interpretive signpost just SE of the firestation. I took this all the way to the ridgeline (watch for the intersection in the trail going southeast or you’ll go too far north). The ridge sharply climbs for roughly ½ mile, gaining a lot of elevation. The trail is fairly clear here, and decently wide, but very, very steep, and offers nice views of the Stoddard Creek Canyon, and just a hint of the many waterfalls (often dry) trickling into it and through it through the dense foliage below. The view back into Upland would have been outstanding, except for a thick carpet of smog, visible in the video.
There are a few planted trees along this ridge, struggling to survive in the exposed sun and dry heat, no more than a foot tall at best. I took several breaks along this portion of the hike, thankful for the large supply of water I brought. At times, the incline would have forced me to almost crawl up, were it not for my trekking pole.
Eventually, I reached a series of saddles and false summits. The going became noticeably easier in terms of elevation gain, but the trail was rough and fairly overgrown at parts. A plant that looks frightenly like Poodle Dog Bush is in abundance along one portion and there is no escaping it. I’m familiar with Poison Oak, but have only seen warning signs about Poodle Dog Bush, and hopefully this wasn’t it.
Finally made it to the Peak 4324 summit. There are several small rock cairns marking it but otherwise it’s empty. Nice views to be had here of the Cucamonga foothills to the East, Stoddard Creek Canyon below, through San Antonio Canyon both south and north, and Mt. Baldy due north.
After another break for photos and videos, I kept on going, confident that Stoddard Peak was close. Should have relied more on my GPS, because I was a little farther away then I thought. Eventually, the path became mostly blocked with thick brush with thorns. After attempting to hack through this with the pole, I called it a day and headed back. In my video, I falsely thought I had possibly made Stoddard Peak, but the actual peak is visible, about a 30 minute hike ahead of me. Darn! I later reviewed the area on Google Earth, it looks like the trail does continue on, but is overgrown at the part I stopped at. A decent machete would get through it quickly.
The descent was somewhat nerve-wracking but far less exhausting than the uphill climb. Eventually made it back down to my car, for a total time of 3 hours. Roughly 2 hours up, 1 hour back down from the Peak 4324.
Access:
Interestingly, this area may no longer be accessible to hikers, including the many hidden waterfalls back along Stoddard Creek. I encountered a couple of folks in a truck at the bottom of the hill, who informed me they had just purchased the canyon and roughly half of the ridgeline. I was a little surprised by this, given the public access to both portions that has been enjoyed by many for years, but they showed me a cellphone photo land map boundary and discussed their plans to start building a road, then a home back in the canyon very soon. They also mentioned planning to place signs forbidding trespassing along the area too, but stated they would be open to giving individual hikers permits at times. They also stated they would continue to allow the firestation crew to hike the ridgeline trail as part of their training routine. They are aware of the many waterfalls back in the canyon (they showed me video of them flowing as of a few days back), as well as the marked vandalism problems at the mouth of Stoddard. They had reportedly secured both water and mineral rights to the canyon too. It would really stink to lose access to these thin but impressive waterfalls (http://www.thehikersway.com/hiking-by-a ... yon-falls/)
Did a little background digging after returning home. Looks like that land was previously managed by the “Grieve Catherine Family Trust.” I can’t find anymore information on it, other than it isn’t on Forest Service land. Perhaps that trust finally sold to someone?
The red box I added, and is close to the area they showed me on their phone. May not be 100% accurate but in general area.
While I’m happy to hear this family plans to clean up the mess left by vandals, I’m sorry to hear public access to the waterfalls and this impressive ridgeline will likely be lost forever. There is no signage up at this time, yet. I wonder if the long history of public access would play a role in securing access, via an easement or something similar, to either the waterfalls and/or the ridgeline. I wouldn’t hold my breath though. Glad to tackle this ridgeline before it is possibly closed forever.
....Good to know the private owners are willing to seek a solution to access.
