Sunset sunset

[JeffH]

First full day of Winter, full moon and a holiday weekend meant it was a good time to enjoy those things together. I walked up to Sunset Peak to watch the sunset and came partially down in full moonlight. For this time I went to the western trailhead near the San Dimas Experimental Forest (mile marker 7.88 for those keeping track), since the lighter tree cover is better to let the moon shine on. Instead of walking the same old fire road, I tried to find a good way to get to the ridge. Many years ago I had walked down this route - which was an obvious trail - but even then I didn't find a clean path to the fire road, instead scrambling down through heavy brush. When I parked I noticed what appeared to be an old fire break above and below the road which would get me up to where I lost the trail before. I didn't find a good way up, but when I was on the fire break I could see what looked like trail heading lower so maybe I just needed to walk further along the road to find an entrance. The way I took was a bunch of loose rock and soft dirt, I used the sticker bushes to pull myself up to where I could move steadily. This route, like most ridges, has quite a bit of up and down, meaning I just tired my old self out and built up a good sweat sheen. I reached the cool and breezy Sunset summit about 20 minutes before scheduled sunset, so I briefly talked to a few guys up there before their dog took a loud and violent dislike to me. No problem, I brought the JetBoil so I heated up some water for chamomile tea and had a nice warming beverage while watching the sun disappear beyond the great Pacific Ocean. The trip down was mostly uneventful, except for the batteries in my main headlamp not putting out much juice any more. At the road junction I switched headlamps and was surprised and pleased at the difference in light. A while later the moon made an appearance, shining bright enough to cast my shadow on the road cut and even in front of me over the last few hundred yards. Next time I do this I'll have to wait longer on the summit for full moonlight, it wasn't quite high enough to help out on the road walk back to the Ranger.

Pics:

I went up this crumbly rock but I think the real entrance is around the corner.

Reaching the old fire break, foot- and trekking pole prints were along the left side.

Any idea what this is for? I saw another higher up with a couple of shovels and aluminum motorcycle-type ramp.

Meeting back up with the fire road just before the shortcut to Sunset's summit, also where the camera battery died. Replacement already ordered....

Not quite setting sun as I reached the summit.

Summit register, partially hidden under the sheet metal. The old rock cairn is long gone.

A little Baldy alpenglow.

Almost final view of the sun.

The clouds hanging over the ocean made for a great color show. Around this time Catalina was briefly easier to spot.

AllTrails data for the hike. I made good time on the way down even in the dark!

[Sean]

Any idea what this is for? I saw another higher up with a couple of shovels and aluminum motorcycle-type ramp.

Was there a downhill bike or motorcycle track around there on the ridge? My guess: it's a bike jump.

[JeffH]

Any idea what this is for? I saw another higher up with a couple of shovels and aluminum motorcycle-type ramp.

Was there a downhill bike or motorcycle track around there on the ridge? My guess: it's a bike jump.

I thought that might be the case, especially after seeing the paraphernalia around the upper "ramp", although I didn't see any tracks around and it would be really difficult to get a bike up to that point to begin a downhill. The hill gets really steep just below the lower unit. I would also expect something this remote to look a little more makeshift than these two. Of course, the remoteness might be a real claim to the king of badass.
I found my old photos and it was August 2010 when I last went down this route and I don't remember seeing them and in the pics I have they don't exist. I only have a subset of those originals since they were on the computer that was stolen in 2012.


Views of the upper ramp and the trail just above:

[Sean]

Oh, yeah, that looks like a decent downhill bike route. You might be surprised what some of these freeriders get up to these days.

[Gene]

"JeffH wrote:Any idea what this is for? I saw another higher up with a couple of shovels and aluminum motorcycle-type ramp."

Looks like a launching ramp for hang gliders.